#32 - Charm And Attention

Slow Club - When I Go


I stood in between Mike and Feds, watching Alex handle the press like a pro; alright maybe not a pro… I thought, smiling to myself as the reporters erupted with laughter around him.
It wasn’t like watching my dad or Sidney do interview; they were both so proper. I always assumed that it was the best way, but they always sounded so plain; so cut and dry. There was no laughter, no jokes; just text book responses.

Alex was different. The Capitals’ PR workers always tried to make him say certain things; he never did though. He said what was on his mind, what he was thinking; he spoke the truth - or at least the truth as he saw it. It was endearing enough that you couldn’t help but be charmed by him. I was positive he could win anyone over, well, when he was behaving and not allowing his ego to inflate again.

“So what’s up with you guys anyway?” Mike whispered, leaning over to hear me better.

I shrugged my shoulders, not really wanting to have this conversation with Mike. I loved the guy to death, but Alex and I hadn’t even figured that out yet. “I don’t know.” I answered honestly, blushing as I felt Feds turn his attention on me too. “We haven’t discussed it really…” I sighed.

“He told me he you said no when he asked you out.” Mike said, grinning sheepishly.

“I did not say no! I just said I needed time to think about it… and why was he telling you about that?” I asked, completely shocked that Alex was saying anything about his relationship with me.

“He was over at my place a few weeks ago.” He explained, still grinning. “He seemed very put out but… I just can’t figure it out. I mean, you get along so well and you’re always together… why not just make it official?”

Sighing, I looked away. I had no idea what to say to that; because for someone who didn’t actually understand the relationship’s implication on me, I had no solution. We did get along great, fantastic even; and we were together almost all the time. It seemed like only a natural progression to move into the ’official’ relationship stage. “It’s complicated.” I finally said, as Alex made him way over to us.

“Sorry about that…” He grinned, keeping a respectful distance from me as the cameras continued to follow him.

“No worries.” I said as I ran my hands down along the sides of my dress; I really needed to tell Alex that pink wasn’t my colour.
It was another random charity dinner for the Capitals; it seemed like there was another one every other week.
This time however, I had gone as Alex’s unsanctioned date; that was the best explanation I had for the attention grabbing dress.

I thought it made me look horrible, but I kept seeing Alex’s eyes drift down my curves every now and then; that was the upside to it. The only upside.


When the dinner started I took my seat with beside Ben and a few of the upper scale employees; much to Alex’s dismay. I hated the idea of sitting across the room from him for the rest of the night; but it was the only way that made sense if we were trying to remain inconspicuous.
With my luck this whole thing was probably being televised, and the last thing I needed was a phone call from my dad wondering why Ovechkin had his arm around me.

I sighed, wondering how easy this all would be if my dad was someone else; than I instantly regretted the thought. I felt guilty for even allowing the words to filter through my brain; this was my problem not his. I needed to stop using him as an excuse as to why I couldn’t be with Alex.
Maybe he’d be as tolerant as mom. Maybe he would say that he was fine with it, as long as it was what I wanted. That, was most likely wistful thinking, but then again, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d surprised me.
Suddenly, the idea of going official didn’t seem so bad.

I liked Alex, too much for my own good; but regardless, I knew he was the one that I wanted to be with.
The realization hit me like a ton of bricks, and had me searching the room for him at once. He was chatting with Mike, both of them looking intense. He caught my eye a minute later and shot me a pitiful look; tugging at my heartstrings, as if he was actually in distress. He was such a baby sometimes… I sighed, not necessarily viewing that as a bad thing.
He had enough charm that he was able to get away with those kinds of things; more charm than any one man should be allowed.

I continued to watch him and Mike as their conversation became less serious; eventually leading to them getting scolded by Boudreau for being too rowdy. I couldn’t help but grin; both at them and at my revelation. I was going to tell Alex that I was ready for it, for us.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kiss A Girl - Keith Urban


She smiled at me from across the room and I pouted back. Normally, when I dated someone, it was as eye-candy, a trophy wife; so to speak. I didn’t actually care if they were beside, but they always were - making sure no other girls were coming on to me.
I looked at Jespin, wishing that she had agreed to sit with me. I was already ecstatic that she came here tonight, but I would have enjoyed the evening more if she was beside me. “So… Jespin‘s still not dating you, which makes total sense to me. She‘s a total fuckin’ babe and you‘re… you... but for some reason she‘s all gaga eyes over there. What the hell did you do to her?” Greener asked, leaning towards me.

I grinned sheepishly, my mind automatically falling into the gutter. I started remember specific details about the quickie we had in the shower before we got here. “You’re gonna have to be a lot less vague than that…” I chuckled causing Greener to groan.

“Why is everyone else getting some except me?” He huffed, unintentionally loud enough to draw the attention of some other team-mates. It didn`t bother me any though, I was too busy wishing Jespin was close enough to kiss.

“Mike…” Brooks whispered urgently from down the table.

“What?” He hissed back, folding his arms across his chest. Brooks mouthed the word ‘I’, pointing at his actual eye. “I…” Greener repeated out loud. Brooks made a thrusting gesture and mouthed the word ‘fucked’. “Fucked…”
Brooks leaned back and grinned, pointing a thumb at Greener’s sister, Kelly; who was sitting beside him. “Oh! Fuck you dude!” Greener yelled loudly, gaining the attention from some other tables. “I hate you so much…” He groaned as Boudreau came over and began to cuss us out.

“Cocksucker…” Greener said quietly as Coach B finished his rant and walked away from us.
We both looked back over at Brooks who was grinning broadly. He lifted up his hand, closing his fingers one by one until only his pointer finger and middle finger were still stick up. He wrapped one arm around his girlfriends’ shoulders, and lowered the other hand below the table, in her direction.
Kelly stiffened as her mouth opened in shock. She snapped her head in Brook’s direction staring at him incredulity as his arm began to make slow jerking movements. I heard Greener hiss beside me before he launched a dinner roll at Brooks’ head.


“What were you guys doing over there? I thought Boudreau was gonna have a heart attack… he doesn’t even get that upset during games…” Jespin asked absently, gazing out the window as we headed back to her house.

“Ah…” I said slowly, trying to buy myself sometime. I was very sexually active with Jespin, but for some reason; talking about something sexual in the manner Brooks did, didn’t feel right. “Brooks and Greener were just… fighting with each other…”
I was glad when she didn’t pressure me anymore than that.

Her phone began to vibrate in her pursue and she answered it. Speaking for a few minutes before hanging up, sighing.
It vibrated again a minute later and she acted out the same thing. Answering, speaking for a minute, then hanging up.
The third time it went off I glanced at the dashboard’s clock; wondering why so many people were calling her at midnight. “What’s going on?”

“Just my family calling…” She replied, sighing again.

“At midnight? Three times?”

“My mom, my dad and then one of my sisters…” She explained still not making much sense. I raised my eyebrows at her, still wondering. “It’s officially my birthday now…” She said quietly, glancing back out the window.

“What do you mean it’s your birthday?” I spat, nearly taking the car off the road.

She turned around to face me. “It’s February 3rd now… my birthday.”

I looked back out the windshield in complete shock. Did I know this? Did she tell me this? How did I forget this? I don’t have anything for her… oh shit! I didn’t get her anything… fuck! “Ah… I didn’t know.” I said, completely apologetic, hoping she wasn’t about to freak out.

“I know. That’s cause I didn’t tell you.” She said simply, reaching over to squeeze my knee reassuringly. “I don’t like making a big deal out of birthdays and I knew that you’d try to make a big production out of it.”

“Well, what do you want then?” I asked, not disputing her. She was right after all, I would have thrown a huge party for her.

“I don’t know… long road trip coming up, we could just hang at my place, watch movie or whatever…”

I nodded, still trying to figure out what I was going to buy her. “Alright, that sounds… reasonable.”

We fell silent after that, even though my mind was racing. I needed to get her something special, something fantastic, something great. But what?