I'll Be There

It was Saturday night and I was working at Diesel. Hannah had come with some of the other nurses, just to have some fun. I was only scheduled to work until 1 and then Keith would take over for me and I could go have fun with Hannah. Her and her friends were seated at a table near the bar and Tyler, one of the guys that had come with them, was constantly hitting on me, as usual.

It was 11:30 when I heard the excited roar of the crowd as they recognized the Pittsburgh Penguins walk through the door. I was used to them coming here, as they always did after a big win. They always went straight to the VIP area and I never saw them after that because I usually left before they were done. They never came to me for drinks because the VIP area had its own personal bar and I had not earned the privilege to work in it yet, so we had never run into each other.

Hannah notices James walk in with the group, as did I, but I wasn't going to say anything about it. Hannah, on the other hand, came bouncing over in her slightly drunk state, giggling ridiculously.

"Andy," she called, dragging out the 'n', "Look who just walked in. James is here. Are you going to go talk to him? He looks adorable with his suit and tie, dontcha think? I would totally go make out with him right now if you didn't already have dibs on him." She slurred.

"First of all, I don't have 'dibs' on him, we are going on one date, that's it. If you want him, you can have him. And, Second of all, I can't talk to him, if you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly VIP area material." I told her while I mixed a drink for another person that was drunkenly leaning over the bar just like Hannah happened to be doing.

"But, Andy, you guys are so cute together. Why don't you just suck it up and admit that you would love to be dating him exclusively." Hannah whined.

"I told you the kinds of crude things he said to me when I agreed to go on a date with him. There is no way I would ever date a guy like that." I told her while gesturing in the direction of James in the VIP area.

"Actually," Hannah said, moving my arm, "a guy like that."

I looked up to see she had moved my arm in the direction of the dance floor, where James was dancing with a scantily dress blonde. He stood behind her while she ground her body all over him, which he seemed to be enjoying.

"My point exactly, Han. I definitely don't want to date a guy like that." I walked to the other end of the bar to help some of the other patrons. My curiosity got the best of me and I looked up to see if James was still dancing with that girl. Just when I looked up, as if he knew I was watching, he leaned down and started to make out with the girl. I quickly looked away and began serving people again. About a half hour later, I looked up again, just to search the crowd, and saw James pulling the girl towards the VIP area.

"You know, you could just admit you're jealous and go after him." Hannah said as I got her another round of beers.

"I'm not jealous, disgusted, yes, but not jealous. I just can't wait to be off so I can go home." I sighed just as I saw Keith come in from the back door to take over my shift.

"Hey, Andy." He said, giving me a side hug. Keith and I had been working together since my first day here, he trained me actually. He was like a big brother to me and it was great, he treated Toby as a little brother as well. Keith was a great guy, he was muscular which was very intimidating to others and very helpful when there was a guy at the bar that would not leave me alone. Keith, quite often, spent holidays with Toby and me because Keith wasn't really welcome at his own family gatherings. Keith and his family didn't really get along very well after he told them he was gay three years ago. I had known, from the first time I saw Keith, that he was gay. It was very obvious and I was surprised that his family hadn't figured it out for themselves. But, all well, their lose is mine and Toby's gain.

"Hey, Keith. Thanks for taking over for me. I'm ready to get out of here." I told him.

"Long night?" Keith asked and before I could reply, Hannah butt in.

"No, she just wants to get out of her so she can go after her man up in the VIP area." Hannah said.

"'Her man'? Is there someone that you haven't told me about, Andy? I'm hurt, I thought you trusted me." Keith feigned sadness while holding a hand over his 'wounded' heart.

"He's not mine, actually. I just agreed to go on a date with him. Though I greatly regret it now."

"Why would you regret it?" Keith asked and began serving people simultaneously.

"Well considering after I agreed to the date, he started talking about fucking me and then I saw him on the dance floor, about twelve seconds away from fucking a girl on the dance floor." I explained.

"OH he's here? Where? Show me!" Keith demanded.

"He's in the VIP area. If he comes down before I leave, I will let you know."

"You landed a guy good enough for the VIP area? Where do you go to meet such a guy? You're always at the hospital, here, or school. Have you been sneaking off without me?" Keith joked.

"Oddly enough, I met him at the hospital, he and some of his teammates came to see Toby." I told Keith.

"Teammates!?" Keith asked while I grabbed my coat and pulled it on.

"Yeah, teammates, he plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins." I explained.

"Damn girl, you landed Sidney Crosby?" Keith asked.

Oh how I wish it was Sidney Crosby, he probably wouldn't have done the things James had. "Actually," I told Keith, "Its James Neal."

"Oh, well then, I understand why you regret it, I see him in here at least once a week and he never leaves alone," Keith told me sympathetically.

"Yupp, well, I'm leaving. Call me tomorrow and we will have lunch, yeah?" I asked.

"Definitely, maybe I'll pick something up and come up to the hospital and I can see Toby," he suggested.

We said goodbye and I slipped out from behind the bar and went to Hannah's table, "Who wants a ride home? If so, I'm leaving now, so get your stuff and let's go."

Hannah, Carrie, Grace and Seth followed me out the door and climbed into my car. I dropped everyone except Hannah off at their homes and then drove to the apartment. I helped Hannah up the stairs and to her bed then went to my own room to shower.

After my shower, I walked down the hall to the room that would be Toby's when he came home. The walls are his favorite color, green, and his bed set is none other than the Pittsburgh Penguins. Everything in his room is the same as it was at the house that just me and him used to live in. I made sure it was as similar as possible so he would feel comfortable when he came home from the hospital. I walked over to the calendar hanging next to his dresser and crossed off another day, three days till he comes home.

Tomorrow morning, I was going to return the game and go buy him his very own hockey gear. I had made a very generous amount of tips last night and, after returning the game, I will have just enough to buy Toby some gloves, pads, and a stick. The skates will have to wait, but at least he will have everything else, right?

I went back to my room and got in bed, thinking of how much fun it will be to finally have Toby back home.