Hooked on a Feeling

The next morning, when Annalise was getting ready for work, her phone started buzzing with text messages.

Lars Eller: Hey.

Lars Eller: Did you see?

Me: Yes. Congratulations.

Lars Eller: Thanks.

Lars Eller: How were your games?

Me: Good. I won. Complete shut out.

Lars Eller: I knew you would.

Lars Eller: Hey, so, my best friend from high school is visiting next week. To see the home opener against Boston. I have an extra ticket so I was wondering if you’d keep him company?

Annalise’s jaw went slack in surprise, and she jumped when her toothbrush clattered into the sink. Unlike what the general public seemed to believe, Annalise knew perfectly well that players had to pay for seats for friends and family. The NHL would lose so much money otherwise. But home opener tickets? There had to be someone he could give them to before herself.

Me: What about the girlfriend?

There was a good ten minutes before she got a reply, which made Annalise honestly wonder if he was lying to her.

Lars Eller: She’s traveling.

Me: Well in that case, I would love to.

~*~

The day Lars returned to Montreal, he went straight to Annalise’s apartment. Olivia was the only one home, but she let him in and laughed as Lars and Casanova greeted each other. It was hard to tell who was more excited.

“Where’s Annalise?” Lars asked.

“Still at work. She’ll be home soon if you want to wait. Want some food?”

“Sure.”

He followed her into the kitchen and sat across from her at the table, where a layered Mexican dip and some chips were set out.

“What do you study?” he asked, looking at the text books spread across the table.

“Mathematics.” She said, picking up her pencil and looking at the problem she was working on. “I used to have a minor in philosophy but I dropped it.”

He blinked at her. “And I thought Annalise is the smart one.”

Olivia shrugged. “We’re smart in different ways. This all makes sense to me. It’s all logic. It flows. But Annalise, she studied biology and thought it was easy. She can see how the world fits together.”

“Huh.”

She chuckled. “Lars, my friend, you’re in way over your head. Now’s the time to run.”

But before Lars could ask why, the front door opened and Casanova sprinted through the house towards it.

“Olivia?”

“Kitchen!”

“Did you walk Cass?”

“Not lately.”

Annalise appeared in the kitchen. “Oh, Lars. Hello. Welcome back.”

He smiled at her.

Annalise looked at the sight before her. Olivia was watching her and Lars but pretending to be bent over homework. Lars had dropped some Mexican dip on the table and was searching for a napkin under Olivia’s books. Cass was wound up and trying to get someone to play with him, probably mostly wanting to go for a walk.

Why did this look like a family?

“Anyone want to take Cass for a walk with me?” Annalise asked.

Cass, Lars and Olivia all perked up.

“Right.” She sighed. “Let me change my shirt.”

Soon they were all walking down the street towards the park where Annalise and Lars had first met. It was a cool day, soon it would be getting really cold. There was some sort of street fair set up at the park. Casanova sniffed every bush and lamp post as if he had never seen it before.

“What are you doing for American Thanksgiving?” Olivia asked Lars. “We’re having a dinner party. You should come.”

“Olivia.” Annalise sighed.

“Annalise is the best cook in the province!”

“Why aren’t you guys going home for that?” Lars asked, amused at Annalise’s embarrassment.

“She wants to study.” Annalise explained.

“We can make turkey soup afterwards!” Olivia grinned. “And mock-pie!”

“What’s mock-pie?”

“Think Sheppard’s Pie, but with Thanksgiving leftovers.”

“Maybe I’ll just come by the next day for the leftovers.” Lars smiled.

Olivia shrugged. “Suit yourself. Ohhh, pretty.”

She ran up to one of the tents, Casanova’s retractable leash streaming behind her. As soon as Cass realized a race was going on, he sprinted after her.

“Really.” Annalise smiled. “You should come. I think she wants you to bring a hot friend for her.”

“Maybe.” Lars said. “Tess is American. Usually we have to go to her parents.”

“Oh.” Annalise said quietly. This woman she didn’t know kept making things awkward for her. She found herself starting an internal mantra of Just friends.

“We’ll see though. I’d much rather spend the day with you.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

Lars opened his mouth to argue that it was the truth, awkward as it was, but Olivia ran back to them clutching handmade paper flowers. With a giggle she stuck one behind her sister’s ear and tried to stuff the other down the front of Lars’ sweater. Annalise shook her head with a smile and took her flower out.

Lars knew better than to tell her how adorable she looked with the bright yellow flower sticking out above her ear.

“You girls want coffee?” Lars offered as they crossed the street infront of a Tim Horton’s.

“Mmm! I want a double-double*!” Olivia said enthusiastically. “You guys go in. I’ll stand here with Cass.”

Lars opened the door and allowed Annalise to walk in ahead of him. They both joined the line, and Annalise instinctively looked at the menu even if she knew she’d never change her order.

“Are you excited?” he asked her. “For Thursday? The home opener?”

She gave him a smile. “Of course. Are you?”

“Of course. And Joonas, my friend, he can’t wait to meet you.”

That thought flashed through her head. The awful, What if his best friend doesn’t like me? She shook it off.

“How was your week?” he asked her.

“Good. Cass has been great. I had a job interview.”

“Really? How was it?”

“Good. I think.”

He smiled. “You’ll get it.”

In that second, she really believed she could.

They stepped up to the counter. “We’ll have a large double-double, a large with cream, and…” Lars looked at the redhead, “…what do you want?”

“A medium black, s’il vous plait.” Annalise said. She smiled at Lars. “I can’t wait to meet him either. Joonas. And it will be my first game at the Bell Center.”

“Really?”

“Don’t act so surprised. Tickets aren’t easy to come by with my income.” She hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He said quietly.

The tired cashier cleared her throat and Annalise flushed and released Lars so he could dig his wallet out of his pocket.