Perfect Symmetry

I woke up to a large hand gently touching my arm and a voice calling my name.

“Jazz? You’re home,” Jon murmured, brushing some stray hairs off of my face.

I opened my eyes in embarrassment. “Sorry!” I blurted out, sitting up immediately and checking my cheek for drool. Luckily, there was none.

“Don’t apologize for sleeping,” he chuckled incredulously.

I unbuckled my seatbelt. “Well, thanks for dinner, Jon.”

“I have practice tomorrow. Are you busy?” he asked.

I glanced up, trying to think. “No, I don’t think so.”

“You should come watch our practice. It’ll be fun, we’re much more relaxed. Plus, you could meet the rest of the team,” Jon suggested.

I looked at him. “Really. You want me to come to practice?”

“Friends, remember?”

I laughed. “I don’t know many friends who see each other this much.”

“Fine, come to Monday’s game then. I’ll get you the tickets this time,” he countered, refusing to back down.

I put my hand on the doorknob. “God you’re stubborn.”

“You can meet the team after the game,” Jon continued like I hadn’t spoken.

“Goodnight, Jon,” I shook my head affectionately and exited the car. I hated the way he kept invoking “friendship” as his motivation for wanting to hang out with me. It made me feel slutty when I was attracted to him. Which was a lot of the time.

I tried to explain this to Hailey when I got back inside, but she was inconsiderately honest with me.

“Look, Jazz. If you like him, put the signals out there. If he doesn’t like you, don’t waste your time. Just date Kane instead. He’s cute! And I’m sure he’d gladly kiss you,” Hailey put in her two cents.

I giggled at the thought of dating Pat. He was cute, but he was way out of my league. Which means Jon is also out of my league.

“Maybe you’re right,” I replied thoughtfully. “But you know, I like being Jon’s friend.”

Hailey snorted. “Yeah, except most of the time you want to suck his face.”

My cheeks burned. “Shut up.”

Sunday went by quietly; I spent the day with Hailey, who wanted to go shopping. We spent the whole day at the mall, not coming home until Hailey had bought several outfits for herself. After a quick dinner I fell asleep at nine like an eighty-year-old woman.
~

On Monday at the end of the day, Liza told me that a package had come for me at the office. I was nonchalant about this, since the only things that came through the office were boring items, like trial products or my own posters or ads. This box was medium sized, and was wrapped in white paper with a red bow.

I opened it, almost excitedly, at my desk. Ben looked over his cubicle to spy on me. I ripped the paper off and opened the box to find a card and a lot of tissue paper. I snatched up the card and read it rapidly.

I know Pat had the other tickets delivered to your apartment, but isn’t this better? Wear the jersey tonight. I’ll meet you in the locker room after the game. -Jon

I rolled my eyes immediately. This guy definitely has some competitive issues. Sure enough, under the tissue paper was a bright red jersey with a big letter C on the top. I didn’t have to flip the jersey over to see whose name was on the back.

“Ooh,” Ben whistled, “someone’s spent a fortune on that.”

“I guess someone likes me,” I shrugged.

Ben looked at me expectantly. “So, who’s it from?”

“Just one of my friends,” I replied vaguely.

Ben laughed. “That’s one nice friend. I sure as hell don’t get my friends brand new Blackhawks jerseys.”

I didn’t really have a good response to that, so I just shrugged again. “You going to the game tonight?” he continued.

“Yeah I am, actually,” I smiled, repacking the box and stuffing it under my desk and out of sight.

“Lucky! I tried to get tickets but they were either too expensive or too cheap,” Ben explained with a grin.

I chuckled. “Yeah, there’s something about those forty dollar tickets that just doesn’t smell right to me.”

“Well, have fun tonight. I hope the ‘hawks crush Anaheim,” he packed up his briefcase, and left after one last smile.

I gathered my bags and was just putting on my throat when Liza marched up to her desk.

“What was in the package?” she asked, her voice dangerously calm.

I had some choices here. I could lie and tell her it had to do with work, or I could tell her the truth and tell her that somebody sent me a present. Liza’s eyes bored into my brain, and under the pressure, I found word spilling out of my mouth.

“Uh, one of my friends sent me a present,” I felt my cheeks getting hot, and my palms were sweating.

“They sent you a personal package to your workplace?” Liza clarified, crossing her arms over her chest.

I winced, but nodded in confirmation. “It won’t happen again.”

She was silent for a moment, and I fidgeted; sweat building up pretty much all over my body. I was very uncomfortable.

“You still haven’t really answered my original question. What was in the package?” Liza’s stern voice was still low enough for no one else to hear, but I was practically sweating a lake in my cubicle.

I wanted to tell her it was none of her business, but I knew exactly what she would say in response,
“When your personal life gets delivered to my office, it becomes my business, Jazz.” I sighed in defeat and thrust the box at her. She opened it and once she saw the jersey. I waited for her to say something.

She handed the box back to me and offered me a small smile.

“Jazz, tell your boyfriend to send you gifts to your apartment, okay?” she rolled her eyes and walked back to her desk. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I took the cue and got the hell out of there without telling Liza that I didn't even have a boyfriend. I would definitely be having words with Jon about this ridiculous package.
~
The Madhouse was packed for this game, as it usually is. I found my seat and played with my phone until the players came out to warm up. An older couple occupied the seats next to me, and I instantly started chatting to them. After all, I was alone, and these people seemed really lovely. The Foster’s (as they were called) apparently had season tickets, and came to almost every game. When Kaner waved to me during the warm up, both of them were very excited for me. I explained kindly that I was friends with a couple of players, but we weren’t that close.

“He waved to you, though,” Mr. Foster winked at me and I laughed out loud.

The puck dropped and immediately I could tell the Blackhawks had the upper hand over the ducks. Corey Perry had a good chance at the end of the first period, but by that time, the Blackhawks were already up by two, thanks to two good goals by number 25, Stalberg.

Then, in the middle of the second period, Ryan Getzlaf scored on a breakaway, and I groaned. It was a close game again. However, just a few shifts later, Sharp scored with a great pass from Kane.

From then on, the ‘hawks were in total control of the game. By the time the final whistle blew, it was 5-1, thanks to goals by Keith, Hossa, and another goal for Stalberg, giving him a hat trick.

I said my goodbyes to the Fosters and waited around for the crowd to clear. It was always amazing to me just how fast the Madhouse emptied out. Then I made my way down to the lounge, showing my pass to the security guard at the front of the door. He waved me in with a quick smile, and I walked in quickly. The door to the locker room was just opening, and Duncan Keith nodded at me.

“Jazz right?” he walked up to me with a wave.

I nodded. “Duncan, right?”

He offered me a hand to shake, and I did.

“Go on in; most of us are decent,” he winked.

I smiled at him. “All right. Hey, great goal by the way.”

“Thanks,” he replied and then strolled away.

It was only after he walked away that I realized that he had only said that some of them had been decent. Dear God...