Come Fly With Me

She was waiting under a tree in their favorite park. It was their tree. The one they had reunited underneath five years ago. She had gotten lost on her way from their airport and pulled up to Jefferson Park to call him. While she waited for him, she had decided to explore. Several yards from the parking lot she found a huge basswood tree. The trunk was too big for her to wrap her arms around it, but she enjoyed the shade it provided. Book in hand she had propped her back against the tree and opened the pages to where she had left off. It felt like five minutes, but it had surely been twenty when she heard a deep voice call out her name.

She stood and had shielded her eyes from the sun when she saw a tall figure in the clearing. He hadn’t looked like the boy that had left the University of North Dakota several years ago. He looked bigger, but she had chalked that to not being around him for two years –or perhaps it had been the rigorous training. He jogged toward her and she had launched herself into his arms. Two years was a long time without your best friend. Catherine smiled at the memory.

While Jon had gone off to play for the Chicago Blackhawks, she stuck around for the extra two years to get a degree in accounting. Merely two months following graduation, Catherine had been offered a job in Chicago. She accepted immediately.

She saw him out of the corner of her eye before she felt him lay next to her in the grass. She rolled over to face him, resting her head in the crook of her arm.

“What’re you thinking about there bud?” Jonathan asked meeting her gaze.

“Life,” she replied ambiguously.

He playfully pushed her back onto the ground. “Well that’s descriptive,” he told her sarcastically. She merely stuck her tongue out.

“Real mature Catherine.”

She sat up. “Well once of us has to be the fun one and you don’t seem to fit the bill Captain Serious,” she teased poking him in the chest.

“That hurts. That hurts real deep,” Jonathan placed a hand on his chest, feigning heartache.

He looked back at his friend to see her attention turned elsewhere. Overhead a flock of birds had landed in their tree. He saw Catherine push her glasses back into place. She meant business. He watched her grab a book from her bag. He looked at the cover. It was a book of ornithology. She studied the group in the trees while madly thumbing through her book. She bit her lip and shook her head. He heard her mumble. Then her heard her cry out in epiphany. Her enthusiasm scared that which observed and the birds evacuated shortly thereafter. Catherine smiled. She flipped the book over and pointed at the image of an oriole. Every detail matched from the black head, to the orange belly of the unidentifiable group. In thirty seconds or less Catherine had managed to find the answer. He knew her job required attention to detail, but hadn’t realized that it had translated into other aspects of her life. He shrugged it off and lay down next to her once more to enjoy the sun.

It was ten minutes before either of them said anything. It was a comfortable silence, one that was appreciated by both parties. This was the first time in weeks they had seen had each other, but sometimes the silence said more. To be quiet without the need for words renewed the belief that their friendship was stronger than it had ever been. Jon closed his eyes in bliss. Between road trips and games he had barely any time to think about anything other than hockey. It was nice to finally relax. He heard the beating of bird wings and felt Catherine sigh beside him.

“Do you ever just want to fly away?” she asked. He thought it was a rhetorical question and remained silent.

She rolled onto her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows. “I’m serious Jon. Do you ever just want to get on a plane and leave? Go somewhere? Anywhere?”

He turned and faced her. She usually started thought processes like this. They often led to their most memorable conversations.
“No,” he answered truthfully.

Catherine rolled her eyes and Jonathan laughed at the action. “I thought I was supposed to answer honestly. Would you like me to play along instead?” he asked.

She dropped her elbows. Her body collapsed on the ground, a cascade of brown waves pooling around her face. A huff escaped her lips.

“Catherine, what’s the matter?” he asked, lifting a strand of chocolate away.

She mumbled something incoherent. He asked her again. She sat up and faced him. “I sometimes forget that I’m friends with Jonathan Toews, NHL extraordinaire. Youngest Captain, Stanley Cup Champion, Conn Smythe trophy winner…” she trailed off.

“And?” he asked, completely missing the point.

Catherine groaned. “You have the life you always wanted. It’s perfect, that’s why you don’t want to leave,” she elaborated.

“You should be lucky that I’m still friends with you given my superstar status,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

He was greeted with the exact opposite reaction. She shunned him in an instant. Her back was straight, her shoulders squared off, and her arms were crossed. She was pissed.

He knew how much she wanted to travel. He also knew about the extension she had signed to stay on with the bank she worked for. It was the logical decision, but he knew how much she had wanted to rip it up instead.

Catherine felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and Jon’s head rest on her shoulder. “I’m sorry Menace,” he spoke using her nickname.

Despite her anger she smiled. Catherine had been christened with the nickname Menace shortly after meeting Jon for the first time. Young and new to the campus scene he had strolled up to her like he owned the place. He introduced himself and was taken for a turn when she told him he reminded her of Tom Cruise from Top Gun.

“You’re a definite hotshot, I can tell already,” she had said. He didn’t care what she thought he had liked her attitude and declared they would be friends within the week.

Being from a military family, Catherine was accustomed to call-signs members of the air force dubbed each other. She started calling Jonathan Maverick claiming it was a term of endearment. When he finally got her to explain what a call-sign was and discovered it was indeed a nickname of sorts he asked why she called him Maverick.

“Maverick was Tom Cruise’s call-sign in Top Gun. You’re a hotshot, he’s a hotshot, so you’re Maverick,” she had explained pointing at him.

“What am I going to call you then?” he had asked.

“Well, when my dad was in the military his call-sign was Menace because his name is Dennis. You can call me Menace,” she had replied with a satisfied smile.

Jon blew raspberries into Catherine’s neck shaking her back into present time. “Am I forgiven?” he asked, squeezing her into him once more.

She turned in his arms. He wore an overly exaggerated frown that made her laugh. He always knew the right buttons to press. He could always make her smile –even when she was angry apparently. “Of course you are Maverick,” she said with her mouth but quickly looked away before he could see the truth in her eyes.

For they had been flashing, ‘I love you’ instead.



Catherine knocked on the door. It opened to reveal Jonathan on the phone. He smiled and motioned for her to enter. She walked right in and headed straight for the kitchen.

“Yes, can I have uh, two orders of kung pao chicken? Uhm, one with fried rice, the other with low mein,” he spoke into the phone as she grabbed to glasses from the cupboard.

It was her birthday. And as per birthday routine, Chinese takeout was on its way. Catherine glanced on the counter and smiled. An upturned bowl was there and without a doubt covering a Bundt of confetti cake. She glanced at the TV and her smile stretched into a teeth-baring grin. The title screen to ‘Top Gun’ blazed upon the screen. The routine had been the same for six years now. It never changed. Not the movie, nor the cake, or even the Chinese restaurant where everything was ordered. It didn’t even change whether it was her birthday or Jonathan’s.

Catherine felt him plop down on the sofa next her. “We’ve got a ten minute wait,” he informed her, gratefully receiving his cup of water.

“What shall we do in the meantime?” She asked.

“We can start the movie,” he suggested but upon observing Catherine’s crinkling nose he continued on, “…or we could eat a piece of cake.”

Before she even began to nod her head, Jonathan was up and serenading her with a hilariously awful rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’. A shy blush bloomed on her face –he knew she didn’t like it when people sang to her. He apologized by bringing her a healthy chunk of cake. After two pieces of cake and several boxes of takeout the pair was sufficiently full.

“I feel like I’m going to burst!” Catherine groaned.

“Well try not to burst until I’ve given you your birthday gift,” Jonathan instructed her as he reached behind his back.

She turned to him in anticipation. She saw a flash of paper. Within the blink of an eye the paper was in her hands.

“What do you think?” he asked eagerly.

Her eyes grew to the size of saucers. Two plane tickets were within her grasp. She opened and closed her mouth twice but nothing came out. She sputtered in complete amazement.

“Speechless is good,” he elaborated.

“The tickets are blank. You can go anywhere you want,” Jonathan explained.

“What’s the other one for?” she inquired.

“That one is for your travel buddy,” he replied. “Someone other than me of course,” he added as an after thought.

“Why not you?!” she asked, horrified at the idea of traveling without her best friend.

“I have to train,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“You can spare a few weeks,” she argued.

Jon shook his head, “No I can’t.”

Catherine mulled this over. As though a tiny light bulb flashed on above her head, Catherine cast a sideways glance at Jon and a sly smile grew on her face. “Fine, I’ll take Kaner with me,” she lied.
Jonathan’s head snapped in her direction. Her smirk grew. She had his full attention now.

“He has to train too,” he spoke, alarmed by her statement.

“Kaner would spare the two weeks. He’d never pass up an opportunity like this,” she continued. She watched him squirm before pushing on, “I hear he’s rather fond of me.”

Jon’s face turned red with frustration. “Catherine don’t,” he pleaded.

She stood, “Madrid is lovely this time of year. It would be a good place to party with Kaner,” she teased, drawing out his teammates name.

Jonathan finally managed to detect the joking tone in her voice. She saw realization dawn in his eyes, before they narrowed at her.

“Why you little shi-“ he said as he pounced off the couch.

Catherine ran with a squeal. He chased her around the couch. Her effort was all in vain. It only took him thirty seconds to catch up. Wrapping his arms around her waist like a vice he shouted, “Take it back! Say you won’t take Kaner!” To which she replied, “No!” through peels of laughter.

“You asked for it Menace!” he spoke, lifting her off her feet. He threw her back onto the couch, but tripped in the process and landed on top of Catherine. He continued to laugh until he noticed she had stopped. She had a peculiar look on her face he couldn’t quite place. Taking in the gravity of the situation he notice how tightly their bodies were compressed. Their bodies complimented each other well, like a lock and key. His face grew hot with embarrassment at the thought of how nice it felt to be pressed against her. Coming to the conclusion that their position was precarious, Jonathan began to lift himself up–only to have himself dragged back down at the neck.

In the midst of Jon’s thought process Catherine decided it was time to act. Shoving her glasses up the bridge of her nose, she clasped her arms around Jonathan’s neck and tugged down. She felt a flicker of hunger deep in her belly as she put her lips against his. His lips were a lethal combination of soft and hot. As she devoured her need she could’ve sworn he kissed her back. Her lips separated ready to go in for the kill when a wrench in stomach stopped her. This wasn’t love she was acting on. It was lust. The thought made her frigid.

She pulled away immediately and shimmied herself out from beneath Jon. She saw his eyebrows pull together in confusion. She was sending him mixed signals and it wasn’t fair to the both of them. She turned away and then scurried around the condo collecting her things at break-neck speed –Jonathan hadn’t even left the couch yet. She mumbled a quick apology and bolted out the door.

She ran to the elevator and pressed the ‘down’ button. She heard Jon call her name from the end of the hall. She pressed the button five more times. The elevator needed to come now. Relief washed over with the familiar ‘ding’. She slid through the doors and pressed a piece of plastic labeled ‘lobby’. She watched the doors shut on Jon’s guilt-ridden face before she placed her forehead on the cool metal.

“What have I done?” she whispered as the first of many tears fell.



She returned to the condo two weeks later. Chicago’s hockey season had come to a close just two days ago. From her couch she had watched the Phoenix Coyotes obtain their stranglehold with a 4-0 victory at the Madhouse. She hadn’t seen Jon since her birthday. They had not spoken either and Catherine knew it was for the best. Her words were better on paper than in person. For that was what she was doing there.

The doorman knew her by name and had let her up without any fuss. As she approached his front door she slowly removed the letter from her pocket. The one she had spent all night writing. She knew he wouldn’t be there. He would be cleaning out his locker at the United Center. He wouldn’t open the door or demand for answers she may not have. Yet she was still nervous. She was risking so much, although she also realized she had ruined their friendship. This was her means of trying to salvage it –to offer an explanation.

Catherine clutched the letter to her heart and whispered a prayer. She slid the envelope beneath the door. She let out the breath she had been holding and then departed.

Jonathan returned to his condo five days after being knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs. He couldn’t bare the failure alone, so when Kaner suggested Jon crash at his place he agreed instantly –drunken Mario Kart was far better than the silence awaiting him at home. He begrudgingly opened the door and flung his keys missing the bowl on the adjacent table. He scowled. Just another failure to add to the list, he thought glumly, flicking on the lights.

He saw the envelope just before he stepped on it. It had his name written on it in Catherine’s elegant handwriting. A pang strummed through his heart. Another failure, he had failed her. If only I had…Jon cut the thought off immediately. He couldn’t alter the past. He knew he should’ve gone after his friend. He should’ve ran faster and told her.

He flipped the envelope over and ripped open the seam. The smell of fresh grass, lilacs, and homemade cookies breathed new life into his condo. God, it even smelled like her, he thought inhaling deeply.

He pulled the letter out with vibrating hands fueled by adrenaline. Unfolding it, he began to read with bated breath.



Jon felt an overwhelming sense of relief. She feels the same way. He closed his eyes and gripped the table for stability. She loves me too. He glanced up at the calendar. An expletive escaped his mouth. Today was April 28th. He ran out the door immediately. I need to get to the airport now, was all he could think.

Catherine took a seat in the airport, just before security. She still hadn’t managed to decide where she wanted to go and was hoping the change of scenery would help. Propping up her travel bag she began to deliberate. Within minutes she heard the screech of running shoes on the linoleum floor. She looked up.

Her eyes widened and her eyebrows cinched together. What was he doing here? Jonathan caught sight of her and sheepishly waved. She waved back. He rose up his airline ticket and she realized what he was doing there after all. She smiled. It widened as he half-heartedly jogged toward her.

“I thought men were supposed to make the big gesture?” he teased with a smirk.

“I got tired of waiting,” Catherine replied grasping his coat collar.

He wrapped both arms around her. “Well then, I guess I shouldn’t make you wait any longer,” he said pushing her tightly against his chest.

Catherine raised herself up on her tippy toes and Jonathan closed the distance between their lips.

“Where shall we go Menace?” he asked pulling away and kissing the side of her mouth.

Catherine grabbed his hand, “Wherever the wind takes us Maverick.”