Night Changes

Joanna’s POV- Mid September 2014
I was currently making dinner for myself and I had made to much because you really can’t cook food for one person. Aria and Beau had a date and forgot to tell me so now my hamster and I were going to eat dinner alone. I could always call my parents and talk to them while I ate. I could call Josh, I’m sure he would like to talk to me.

My phone interrupted my thoughts. I looked at the phone that was on the granite table and I saw it was a text from Sidney. I opened the text and I was surprised to read what the text said. I carefully peeked into the living room and saw no one was there. I shook my head slowly and looked down at my outfit. I had leggings on and a pink V-neck. I was wearing flip-flops and my hair was up in a ponytail. Should I change? I shook my head and continued making dinner. I finally looked down at my phone again and re-read the text. I heard the front door close and the TV turn on in the living room indicating someone was here.

What did the text say?

“I need to see you”

I looked into the living room noticing my hamster was not in its cage or in it’s little running ball. I then noticed it was on Beau’s thigh eating a little treat he was offering it. Beau had just come from conditioning or something because he looked pretty tired. He was wearing black pants and a navy colored button down. Beau was very attractive so he could pull of anything actually.

“Why are you spazzing out over there in the corner. Come tell Beau”

I rolled my eyes as he referred to himself in third person but made my way over.

“Sidney texted me” I said.

He looked at me and wiggled his eyebrows. When he noticed my glare he frowned.

“Gosh so mean, what did he text you?”

I showed him the text and all he did was put the phone down and turn back then yell “ARIA HURRY UP!”

Ariadne walked out and looked at him.

“Sidney texted her”

That explains why Beau was dressed all nice and smelled great. He was taking her out to eat at a nice restaurant. She looked at my text and said she would be out in a second. Beau stood up and put little “Hammy” as he called the hamster back into its little cage. The hamster had a name; my brother Josh had named him. He named the little Hamster Bailey after the Kings Mascot. Beau refused to say the name so he referred to it as Hammy or Hamlet.

There was a knock on the door and Beau looked at me.

“Go answer it”

I rolled my eyes and made my way to the door. Sidney was in fact the person who was waiting for me to answer.

“Hi, come on in” I told him as he stepped in.

He looked around as I closed the door and gave Beau a smile.

“We were just leaving”

Aria gave us a wink as she and Beau left. Sidney then turned to me and I smiled at me.

“It smells great”

I nodded at him.

“I didn’t know they were going on a date, and I made dinner. I can’t eat it alone though” I told him making him smile.

“Mind if I join?”

I nodded and smiled.

“Of course you can” I said.

“What’d you make?”

“BBQ ribs with Mashed Potatoes and corn” I said.

He smiled and nodded.

“You look beautiful”

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“I thought we were friends” I told him.

He looked at me and nodded slowly.

“Can we talk about that?”

I nodded and he let out a deep breath.

“I thought if I told you who I was that you were going to treat me differently”

I crossed my arms and looked at him.

“I told you that I understood why you did that” I told him.

He looked at me.

“Which I don’t get at all. You’re supposed to yell at me and call me a liar”

I looked at him and smiled.

“Do you want me to yell at you?” I asked him.

He looked at me.

“If you want”

I laughed and shook my head.

“I’m not going to yell at you. You’re guarded, so what?” I asked him.

He looked at me and let out a chuckle.

“As you can see I am not good with the ladies”

I laughed and smiled.

“Don’t worry, men and me aren’t that well of either” I told him.

He nodded slowly and let out a deep breath.

“I’m an idiot for thinking I could be just a friend with you. I really like you and”

I looked at him and saw he was looking at me.

“I want to take you out to park walks, to hold your hand, to have someone after a rough game and even a good game”

I smiled and he let out a deep breath.

“I wanted to be more when you asked what we were but I wasn’t exactly telling you what I really did”

I nodded.

“If I said yes, and told you what I really did our relationship would have been a lie”

I nodded slowly and he looked at me.

“Do you want to maybe go to dinner with me?”

I smiled and raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I would” I told him making him smile.

He nodded and I laughed lightly when he let out a sigh of relief.

“Most girls would say no”

I looked at him and nodded.

“Girls” I said.

He looked at me.

“I’m not a teenager Sid” I said making him nod.

“I know but”

“I grew up, doing that to a guy is stupid” I said.

He laughed and nodded.

“Are you even real?”

I laughed.

“Yes because I’m starving. Come on, let’s eat” I told him.

We ate dinner and I got to know that Sidney was drafted 1st overall in 2005 in the NHL draft.

“Aria mentioned this guy”

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He just rubbed his neck as he looked at me.

“Who?” I asked confused.

“Robert?”

I laughed lightly.

“Robert is my boss who is married” I told him.

He nodded slowly and smiled.

“Well I feel pretty stupid now. Aria said you were gone late and that Robert would drop you off and that he had dinner. I assumed you were moving on and I had blown my chance with you”

I waved him off.

“Aria and Beau are sneaky people” I said to him earning a laugh and a nod from him.

“Yes they are”

“I’ve had late meetings with him because I’m taking over his job” I said.

He nodded slowly and took a bite from his mashed potatoes.

“Why is he leaving?”

“My like boss like the main one back west is sending him to Texas” I said.

“Why Texas?”

“They’re opening a place just like this one. There’s not much competition so you know an obvious interest. Rob doesn’t mind, Texas is his wife’s home state so you know good for them” I said making him nod.

“Wow, your boss really trusts you”

I nodded slowly and took a drink of my water.

“Yes, I’m thankful for that. He trusts me so much and I wouldn’t be anywhere in life without him. He hired me while I was still in College. He had a leg in San Jose, which he closed down right after I shortly graduated. He offered me a paid internship right out of college in LA. I took it and I got my credentials, and like shadowed him. He’s the best” I said.

He smiled.

“You earned his trust”

I smiled and shrugged.

“He says I remind him of his daughter, she didn’t follow his footsteps but she’s a doctor doing something she loves doing” I said.

He nodded slowly and leaned back on the chair.

“Have you ever been to a hockey game?”

I looked at him and laughed.

“Yes I have, my brother is kind of a big Kings fan” I said.

He frowned and I smiled.

“The Hamster’s name is Bailey” I said.

He laughed and I nodded.

“I went to Game 5 with my brother. He has a picture with the cup and all. Wouldn’t touch it and it was quite adorable” I said.

“Does he play hockey?”

I shook my head.

“My brother plays baseball” I said making him nod.

“I remember you mentioning the Dodgers”

I nodded and smiled.

“Yes, I was actually born the day the Dodgers won their last World Series” I said.

He looked at me.

“My parents were at Game 5 in Oakland, but had to leave because my mom’s water broke. I was born October 20, 1988” I said making him smile.

“The day they won the World Series?”

I nodded and he smiled as his guess became a correct guess.

“My mom was a big Giants fan, yet she married my dad the biggest Dodgers fan” I said making him laugh.

I leaned back and took a sip of my drink.

“It was the first inning and they were winning 2-0. My mom’s water broke and my dad freaked out when she told him. He rushed to San Jose with her and I was born a few hours later. That was also the last time they won the World Series so yea I think I might have cursed them” I said making him laugh.

“Wow”

I nodded and smiled.

“Yea, it’s a shame my mom never got a chance to see her Giants win” I said.

I looked at him and smiled.

“What about you? Hockey is like a big in Canada right?” I asked him.

He smiled and nodded.

“Yes it is, they’ve won gold in the past two Olympic games”

I looked at him and nodded.

“Did you play?” I asked.

He nodded and I hummed.

“Nice, so like what made you want to play hockey as a career?” I asked him.

“I was good at it, you got into engineering because you’re good at numbers right?”

I nodded and he smiled.

“It was my passion”

I smiled and hummed.

“Did you play sports?”

“I did softball and gymnastics up until I was like 12” I said making him nod.

“Why’d you stop?”

“I was tall for gymnastics and Softball well I lost interest when I saw I could watch the game and not play it. I also kinda discovered track and field and joined the pole-vaulting team. Softball and Track were the same season so I chose” I said.

He looked at me a little surprised. I then noticed he was done with his food. I finished up my ribs and wiped my mouth

“I hold a record in Berkeley” I said making him smile.

“Nice”

I nodded and he let out a deep breath.

“Let’s go to the living room” I told him.

He nodded and my phone vibrated. I saw it was Lucy asking me if we could have lunch tomorrow. I responded telling her we could during my lunch break. She agreed and I replied to her with my work address.

“Do you have siblings?” I asked Sidney.

He nodded and turned to me.

“Yea, a little sister”

I nodded.

“Her name is Taylor, she plays hockey as well”

“Is she a forward as well?” I asked him.

He shook his head and I sat next to him.

“She’s a goaltender”

I nodded and hummed.

“You mentioned you have a little brother”

“Yup, just him and I. My dad remarried and Joshua came from there. I love him to bits though” I said.

He nodded slowly and I smiled.

“Pets?” I asked him.

“My parents have a Labrador”

I nodded and he looked at me.

“You?”

“I have 2 dogs, a Pit-bull mix and a beagle. Leah and Frodo” I said.

He raised an eyebrow.

“I love Star Wars. The Pit-bull’s name is Leah. My brother named him Frodo because he loves the Lord of the Rings and all” I said rolling my eyes at the end making him laugh.

We just asked each other questions until we realized how late it was.

“I should probably head home”

I nodded and he smiled.

“We can set up this date later”

I nodded and he pulled me into a hug. I accepted his hug and hugged him back. He kissed my forehead and I pulled away to kiss his cheek.

“I have the day off Wednesday” I told him.

He smiled and nodded.

“I’ll see if I’m not busy”

I smiled and nodded as he walked to the door.

“Just text me” I told him.

He nodded and I closed the door lightly. Not even 30 minutes later Beau and Aria walked in. I had just showered so I was on the living room floor looking at paper work.

“You know Jo-Jo there is such thing called a couch?”

I looked up at Beau.

“I get sleepy” I told him.

He nodded and excused himself to change. I guess he was staying over; I looked at Ariadne who smiled at me.

“What did he want?”

I looked at him.

“We just talked” I said.

She looked at me.

“And he asked me out” I said making her squeak.

“Yes!”

I shushed her and she smiled.

“This is big! Sidney can finally bring a date to the Halloween party!”

I ignored her and looked back at the paper work. Yes Sidney was handsome and perfect but he wasn’t going to get my job done. I needed to put him aside and work.