Tangled Heartstrings

It's been a couple of days since James received Ayla's phone call. He overflowed with joy as he starred down at the number popping up on his display screen realizing that she had contacted him. Her breath hit a weak spot that sent a fluttery chill down his spine. It was an unfamiliar sensation.

The power forward admired her soft, innocent, soothing tone while sitting comfortably and cross legged on his neatly made bed. His cell phone was in his dominant hand with his ear resting over it. It was nice to hear her talk but deep down he'd rather be with her in person where he could gaze upon her as if she were an art masterpiece and take whiffs of her scent. That vanilla bean was like a magnet drawing him in.

Ayla twirled her hair while leaning back onto the edge of her counter with her back at an obtuse angle. The corner of it digging into her skin didn't bug her. For the most part it was relaxing with the mechanism supporting some of her weight, making her crave to shut her eyes. As she closed them she concentrated on the conversation. The sole sound that she could hear was James's seductive voice communicating through her speaker only making her snugger in her standing up position.

Much to his pleasure she expressed that she wanted to see him again and asked when he was available. He knew his schedule by memory. While he responded she visualized him at that very moment and what he might be doing. She pictured James's ocean blue eyes, his always perfect and combed through hair, and his tall frame. Although she could remember some things about his appearance Ayla was quickly forgetting some details. Like his teeth and smile. All she remembered is that she liked it when he turned the corners of his mouth up.

They were both disappointed to learn that they'd have to wait until Saturday to hang out. Ayla has been overflowed with work lately causing her to feel like she's working full time instead of part time, which she signed up for. In addition her photography instructor has been feeling the need to assign multiple projects. The semester's in full swing. As for the athlete going to the gym and the rink have been consuming the majority of his time. The two seem to have caught a break today.

"Open up girly." Cassidy screams loudly knocking at her best friend's door early that morning. Ayla emerges from her bedroom with wet hair, a terrified look on her face, and a lime green housecoat wrapped around her.

"Be careful, you might wake the old woman up at the end of the hall and trust me: she will whip you with her purse." The home owner advices letting her in, being careful not to slam the door shut with too much force. "And anyway: don't you have a key to my apartment? I gave it to you when we both got to Pittsburgh."

"Right, I forgot about that." The two girls work their way to Ayla's small, kitchen table leaned up against the wall. It's the size of a computer desk. Cassidy looks over at her sister from a different mister acknowledging how thoroughly she's brushing the knots out of her hair making it tangle free. Rather than watching she tugs on the fridges door handle and reaches for a half empty bottle of red wine and a glass to spill it into.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather try a blueberry or cherry one?" Ayla offers pointing towards the back of the top shelf. Sure enough there's two bottles with inches between the cap and meniscus.

"Blueberry please." Cassidy requests with excitement in her voice, she's only ever tried the beverage made from grapes. The wide selection of wine doesn't surprise her; the woman who purchased it is part Italian after all. That also means that she's intelligent and knows to limit herself to one, maybe two on an optimistic day, with dinner. To be fancy she grabs a yellow umbrella to place in the cup.

"There you go, now it's stylish." She exclaims when it's decorated and picture perfect. Once she's able to smoothly run the brush through her hair strands and Cassidy has downed her beverage they head to the bedroom at the end of the hallway. Her bed's coated in a squishy purple comforter with white and grey leaves expanding outwards, it matches her walls which are painted crème.

Above her dresser containing all of her clothes is a long, bordered mirror with her cosmetic bags lined underneath of it. There are four, all of which have a different design imprinted on the case and contain different supplies. Ayla has one dedicated to items she uses on a daily basis. To be honest she doesn't bombard herself with too many products to avoid looking like a clown. She's happy to have her Vancouver buddy, who is a master at aesthetics, here to help her.

Cassidy smiles to herself while looking at Ayla when she's finished. It's not the first time that she's experimented on her friend with hairstyles and maquillage but it's the best that she's done by far. Satisfied with her job she hands the client a smaller, portable mirror. In her reflection Ayla sees light blue and white eye shadow blended together for a nice winter look. Silver eyeliner's thinly spread over top by her curled lashes. She also notices her hair groomed into a side braid with each front piece neatly pulled back as if she combed her hands through it. Quickly she catches on to the familiar look.

"You modeled me off of Elsa from Frozen didn't you?" Ayla laughs recognizing the phenom hairdo. Her question of course is rhetorical since she knows that the answer's yes. It hasn't been that long since they went to the theatre back in Canada to see it together and dragged her twin brothers along with them. Both the kids thought that they were going to see Thor: The Dark World. You can imagine the horrified and disappointed expression on both of their faces when they learned that they weren't going to see their movie of choice. For the older girls it was hilarious. What are little siblings for if you can't mess with them on occasion?

"Ah you caught me." Cassidy pleads guilty standing up straight with her arms crossed in front of her chest. In her head she's critiquing her work. " I can do a different style if you don't like it, I wanted to try it since you're my only friend with long enough hair."

"I love it." She exclaims tossing the braid around in the mirror admiring it. To her jubilation there's no pieces falling out and it feels nice and tight in order to stay in. For Cassidy's first time attempting it, Ayla has to admit, she's impressed.

A knock emerges once again from the front door of the apartment startling the girls slightly but immediately they know who has arrived, James. It's the only person Ayla's expecting. Standing up they race each other to the opening. The girls push off of the muscle in their legs attempting to win the contest, both are making quite the amount of racket from their socked feet slamming against the stain free, thin layer of white carpet . The male can hear the noise knowing that someone's in there.

"Hi James." Ayla greets opening the door; she had to body-check her friend into the wall with her shoulder to succeed. Her friend argued back and it turned into a battle of strength to see who could pin the other one down first. After letting him in she catches her breath. Cassidy's in the corner hunched over panting with her hands cupping her knees.

"You look nice." He compliments on impulse observing her wondering after if he's crossing any boundaries. James stares at her noticing that her cheeks are going red. That being said that's a bad indicator with him knowing that they were both engaged in some types of physical activity. It's easy to tell with them looking like Sidney does when he spends a full two minutes out there on the power play. What they were doing remains a mystery to him. "Are you okay?"

'"Yeah we're fine." Cassidy feels back to normal pushing a short hair strand out of her face.
"We were just having a little race to the door, I won by the way." Ayla provides him with an explanation as to why they're glowing. He heard the loud banging and wondered whether they were banging pots and pans together or something. Yikes! Ayla makes a mental note to apologize to the elderly lady down the hall. Her hearing's identical to a hawk's.

"A little race, excuse me: That was a hard-core wrestling match." Cassidy corrects sensing a bruise already forming above her hip. Her hand lifts up a section of her tight fitting cotton shirt only to find a red, circular mark stamped into her tanned skin. It's tender to touch. James studies her and from her outer appearance and playfulness he can predict that this is Ayla's best friend standing in front of him. He laughs at how loose they are. It reminds him of how close he is with the guys, especially Geno. Man does he miss his linemate!

"I'm James, nice to meet you." He introduces himself unfolding his arm out from his side and extending it. Gladly she takes his hand and shakes it.

"Cassidy, and you too." She accepts his offer secretly whipping her sweaty, clammy palm onto her black flowing skirt prior to connecting her hand to his for a split second. A smile emerges from her face. Needless to say that she's fairly protective of Ayla.

They've been as tight as a knot for as long as they both can remember. Back in middle school they purchased a set of handcuffs, attached one end to each of their wrists, and convinced the teacher that they lost the key so that they would be paired up, they were a package deal. Stupid teacher! Not only were they bluffing but the set they bought wasn't real. The set was a mimic designed to look authentic, they didn't even need a key to open them up.

Cassidy zones out from her flashback not realizing that James and Ayla are continuing in a whole different conversation which, at this point, she doesn't understand. Instead of jumping back in she observes the pair. Instantly a warm, fuzzy feeling crawls underneath of her skin. The temperature of her whole body heats up dramatically in comparison, it's not overbearing. It's a comfortable flow of empathy. She may have only just met James but she approves of him as fast as Ayla did, it's something in his personality or body language that makes him captivating.

"I better head out but it was nice to meet you." Cassidy concludes tilting her chin up to face the tall male. He agrees with her and gives her a light, meaningful wave by raising his hand. Before exiting she stretches over to give Ayla a quick hug. The sound of the door shutting is all that needs to be heard from the two still trapped inside.

"We better get going too." Ayla declares itching to leave. Their phone conversation ended with them making plans to go skating at Consol Energy Centre which is completely unfamiliar to her, like most things in the Burgh. But it's not just any tourist attraction, it's special to James. He spends most of his days there practicing, playing games, working out, and hanging with his friends. The arena's a second home to him. If he's that dedicated to something it seems only fitting that she should get an opportunity to see something that's evidently special to him for herself.

"Agreed." He impulsively breathes with eagerness eating him alive. Ayla gestures to lift her gym bag containing a pair of Bauer hockey skates onto her shoulder, she can't even complete the action without James interjecting. Instantly he doesn't approve. "Relax, I've got it. Your shoulder's probably sore from carrying a backpack around all day and plus: The male always lifts the heavy stuff."

"Me carrying a Goodlife bag is threatening your masculinity now is it?"

"Very much so." He admits truthfully, he leaves out the part where it's customary. Despite motioning to object she allows him to remove the contained skates from her possession and into his arms. Even through his t-shirt she has a clear view of his strong muscles curving around the material. Ahh! She has mixed emotions when he puts his coat back on. Sure, she's excited to spend the day with him, but at the same time looking at his built arms is a pleasure on it's own.

"Don't worry: I would never question your virility for a minute." Ayla assures him. James nods thankful that she accepts his explanation and opens the door for her, proving her point to a further degree. What a gentleman! As sad as it may sound Evan never used to be considerate enough to do little things like that for her, it didn't cross his mind. Having a man be that kind to her isn't something that she's experienced and deep down she gets a gut instinct that it won't be the last thing that James changes.

Ayla bursts with excitement. She knows that today, no matter what, she'll get the opportunity to tell him her feelings in person. The words are on the tip of her tongue and she can't wait to kick them off.