How We Are Meant to Be

My birthday with my sisters did not turn out as terribly as I had imagined it would have. We had dinner after the spa and then headed back to the apartment.

I let us in and immediately go to my room to change into my work clothes. I choose a gold top to go with my black Dockers. I add a white scarf, my black and yellow tennis shoes, and my Slasher’s jacket before returning to the living space near the kitchen that my sisters are getting comfortable in.

“Why are you wearing that?” Aires questions. I gave her a dumbfounded look.

“I have to go to work. Micah’s team plays tonight.” I tell her like she couldn’t figure it out and she probably couldn’t until I said something because she’s tipsy and a ditz.

“Aires, I thought I asked you to check the schedule!” Paris groans. Obviously, they had more plans for celebrating my birthday than they let on. That causes me to groan.

“Oops,” Aires giggles, revealing that she has had a little too much wine for her lightweight mind to handle at dinner. I limited myself to a single glass since I knew I had to go to work.

“Damn, I wish we could still finish off your birthday the right way,” Paris adds, apparently annoyed at our sister.

“I can get the two of you into the game if you’d like? I get two tickets a game, usually I don’t use them,” I offer to my sisters and Paris grinned. Internally, I groan knowing I have just made my night longer than it has to be. Ten minutes later, I have them out the door donning new outfits fit for a hockey game and we are headed to Harborage Arena. The drive isn’t long, but you get to see a lot of what Sewickley Borough has to offer. We pass the zoo, town hall, the post office, and the movie theatre on the drive from the apartment to the Arena.

“What building was that?” Paris asks as I drive into the employee parking lot.

“That’s the security office building. It is environmentally friendly and it makes it easier to watch over things with the glass walls. Some of the guards say it is creepy, though,” I tell her with a little additional information.

“I can only imagine,” she responds quietly and I unbuckle once I have parked the Chevy Cruze Eco in my usual parking spot not far from the door. The guys are usually nice enough to leave me a space so it wasn’t as dangerous to leave the building at night.

“Stay close, first I have to get you in and then give you the tickets. Do not try to go into any room that I don’t go into. This is my job, do not do anything stupid,” I warn my sisters but mainly Aires because she is still a little buzzed. It’s tragic how much of a lightweight she is in terms of wine consumption.

I lead us to the door where the regular guard stands watch. It’s the hallway that leads to the locker rooms and offices of personnel such as me. The regular guard is Gator, a man of freakishly tall stature at 6’9” and he is originally from Uganda in Africa before moving to Chicago as a child. He has a buzz cut and looks to be one tough son-of-a-bitch.

“Hey, Gator, how’s the wife? Is she driving you crazy yet?” I ask in reference to his very pregnant wife. Hope is also a native of Uganda who met Gator here in Chicago by pure chance. She’s at the eight month mark and is always complaining that she can’t wait another day for the baby to come. I was invited and attended the baby shower a couple of weeks ago then joined the couple for dinner a week or so ago.

“All the time, Miss Sydney. She’s been asking about when you are coming for another visit though. Who are your friends? Wait, these are not the infamous sisters, are they?” I nod sheepishly. “Good to see you using those tickets finally.” He gives me a little ribbing. I have worked for the Slasher’s for this season and part of last season but have only used my personal tickets a handful of times.

“You know I would give them to you most times if you just asked, G. Anyways, do you mind if they come through this way with me? We are headed straight to ticket sales. I will avoid the locker rooms until after I get them situated in their seats. Because then, I have a job to do.” He nods and gives them both a smile before allowing us to pass his big form in his chair in the hall.

“Sure thing, have a great time, ladies. You have a lovely sister,” he waves us through and I lead my sisters to the right, up three flights of stairs and then into an elevator that will take us to the main level of the Arena. The elevator is the nicest in the building since it is for staff and the big wigs when they hold meetings here. The nice thing is that it exits right near the ticket sales office.

“Trina, hey girl. I need those tickets of mine for tonight please!” I say to a close friend of mine. She and I met in photography 101 at the University of Pittsburgh. She’s kind of gothic and has black hair with random blonde highlights that compliment her fair skin well. If her personality matched her clothing, we probably wouldn’t be friends, but they were complete opposites. Where her hair and clothing are dark, she is one of the bubbliest people I know. It is so refreshing to meet someone in a big city like her.

“Sure thing, Sydney, who’d you bring?” she tries to see around me to my sisters.

“My sisters surprised me with a visit. I figured they might as well watch Micah play.”

“He sure is talented, that boy. Here are the tickets. Four rows off ice per Micah’s request. He must have known they were coming then, huh?”

“Must have, thanks again, I’ll see you Monday!” I grab the tickets and give them to Paris not at all trusting them to Aires. We walk away from the booth and closer to the arena’s entrance. “Take these to one of the guys in yellow. They can show you to your seats. I’ve got to go, have fun!” I tell my sisters before racing back to the elevator and going down to my office.

On the way, I run into one of the assistant coaches. “Sydney, they are about to take the ice for warm ups,” he reminds me of my late timing. I blame it solely on my sisters, however. They took forever picking the ‘right’ outfit for a hockey game seeing as they weren’t prepared. They even raided my closet. It’s a good thing we are all relatively the same size.

I thank him and run the rest of the way to my office to unlock my camera. I head through the locker room and join the guys as they head out. I take my usual spot on the bench for warm ups, capturing some really amazing warm up shots on film. I also get some candids as the guys skate by and make funny faces at me or their family nearby the bench. Its only minutes later that they are heading off the ice, passed me, and back into the locker room for the last minute pep talks. Each man smiles at me, but Micah has a goofy grin on his face. I smile and follow the Captain’s sweater into the locker room. I go straight to his stall near the door to the ice as the team huddles in the middle of the room for a prayer and a pep talk by the head coach, a legendary man who has only lost a combined total of 100 games in more than 15 years. Geno Valag was amazing as a player twenty plus years ago as he played for the Slasher’s and led them to three Canter Cups then and another three as Coach. He is Russian and is of average male height at 6’1” with dark features that are purely Eastern European. His accent too, is strictly European, even after spending most of his adult life in the US.

“Alright team, we are playing our cross country rivals. You know what that means, right? It means more aggression and a lot more penalties. Just stay clear of Baxter, he’s injured more men than what makes up an entire team in his career. All I ask is that you play hard and fair. Make them draw a penalty, but no stupid ones on our part. Just kick ass, men. They are in our house, show them who owns the house.” He grins widely. “Finish your rituals, we take the ice in five,” he lets his team independently finish their own things. Some go to their stalls, others just joke around where they sit. Micah comes back to his stall, just like he always does when I’m here.

He comes and sits facing me on the bench in front of his stall. I start to lightly massage his neck like I always do, but this time he stops me. “Can we talk about this morning?” I nod but bite my lip like I always do when I’m nervous. “Hey, don’t bite your lip. I want to ask you to be my girlfriend,” he says as his hand holds my chin gently. It is so cute and romantic that my heart gushes.

“Really?” my eyes must have given me away because he just pulls my lips to his. We kiss until the others notice and start to holler for us to get a room. I turn beat red as my face flushes with heat. Micah doesn’t care as he quickly puts one more on my lips. Then he gathers up his team and leads them to the ice pumped as ever for this game.