Chapter 21 - First Fight

Marie closed one eye and concentrated on the target. Swinging her arm back and letting go midway through her throw, the arrow landed close to the 15 mark. She went up to the dartboard and took the three darts off it before writing her score down on the chalk board. Turning back to Silk, she handed him the darts. She took a sip of her beer while he got ready. "Don't miss!" she suddenly said right as he went to throw.

"Hey!"

Marie laughed. "Don't miss, don't miss, don't miss!"

Jack put a hand over her mouth so Silk could take his turn. Marie laughed against his hand and watched her boyfriend take his turn. When done, Jack let her go, but Silk went up to her and started to tickle her. Marie laughed after she let out a small shriek. That was when Jack told them that they needed to get a room. They gave him a look before laughing.

"Jealous?" Marie asked him.

"No. Sick of you two," he replied.

"Nuh uh. You, sir, are so jealous," Marie said to him before taking a sip of her beer.

Jack sighed and turned to Rizzo. "Is it time to sing happy birthday?"

Rizzo shrugged. "That's Connie's department."

Marie turned back to Silk and smiled at him before going over and hugging him. Silk handed her the darts again and she turned to the board. After throwing the first two, she ran up to the board and placed the third one right on the bulls-eye.

"That's cheating," Silk told her.

"I swear it's the only way to make it on there," she said.

Pav took a dart away from Silk and concentrated before he threw it. The dart hit the bulls-eye, of course. "It can be done."

"A dart expert I see," Marie stated. "I am so jealous."

"And you have every right to be," he replied.

Marie laughed. After a few more minutes of playing, Marie decided to head over to where Connie, Regan, Buzz's wife, Gayle, and Mrs. Thompson were sitting. They were talking about how Buzz proposed.

"Did Rob ask you for your permission, Mrs. Thompson?" Regan asked.

"Yes, he did."

"That is so sweet," Marie said. "For me, I hope the guys does that."

"You mean Silk, right?" Connie asked.

Marie blushed. "In the future. I'm not talking about tomorrow."

"I know that."

"Ok."

"So how did he ask?" Regan asked Connie's mom.

Mrs. Thompson replied, "He had called Connie up on thanksgiving, but before we stopped talking, he said he had something to ask me. He said they've been dating over two years and that he loved her so much. He told me how much he cared for what she cared for. He dreamed of their future and he couldn't wait. Then that's when he asked me if it was all right to ask her to be his wife."

"That's why you kept smiling at me and asking how Rob was," Connie muttered. "God, I love that man."

"Is it time to sing happy birthday to Jannie and Mac yet?" Jack asked coming up.

"What is your hurry? Do you have a hot date or something?" Marie asked him.

Jack shook his head. "No."

Regan asked, "What's her name?"

"I'm not seeing anybody," he insisted.

Marie said, "For a second there I believed you."

"Fine. I have a date. I called her to see if we can reschedule, but she thought I was blowing her off," Jack told them.

"Why didn't you bring her?" Gayle asked.

"I don't know. To early to meet everybody," he told them.

Marie and Connie looked at one another and made a decision that they would let him go. "Go have fun."

"What about the cake?"

"I think it's ok."

"Go before I stand up and push you out the door," Marie said. Jack gave them a thank you look before heading over to the guys. They heckled him as he left. Marie laughed her butt off before getting up and joining the boys again.

vvv

Eleven days later, Marie was working when she caught a glimpse of what she thought was in her past and would never show up again. A guy that she thought she would never see again. "Shit," she whispered, "Justin." She didn't think he saw her, but a few minutes later he came up.

"I'm surprised to find you working at a bar."

"Why?"

"Because of whom your parents are."

"They're fine with it."

"Are they really?"

"Yes," she said slowly.

He asked her, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she told him, staring at him with a little annoyance.

"Are you really?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said annoyed. "What do you want?"

"A beer." After placing the bottle in front of him, he took a swig. He didn't move, he just stood there admiring her.

"What?"

"Do you really think your life is perfect?" he asked in a low voice.

Marie stood still. "Excuse me? What is this? Aren't you a little old to be harassing me?"

Justin smiled. "What's his name?"

Marie tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. She angrily said, "That's none of your fucking business."

"Hostility, where was this when we dated?" he taunted.

Marie went to grab the pop dispenser spray and she sprayed him with the water. One of the owners and a bouncer came over and grabbed him. He smiled at her before he left. "It's been fun."

Marie hissed, "Whatever." She watched him as they dragged him out and was surprised that he wasn't giving them a fight. She sighed and went back to work.

vvv

Marie entered the apartment building three days later and went over to the mailbox. After opening it, she shifted through the mail and stopped when there was an envelope addressed to her that looked personal. She opened it up and the first four words made her gasp. She turned the envelope over to see who would send her this nasty note, but there was no return address. "That bastard," she whispered when it hit her that Justin sent it. She looked at the letter again and shook her head.

You're not worth it. Sooner or later he'll figure it out. You're just a sad little girl who nobody cares about. You aren't that pretty. You aren't that smart. Get that through your head. He doesn't know the real you like I do. Life isn't a fairy tale like you think it is.

Marie was pissed off. She had gone through that shit when she started dating him that first year in college. She felt awkward, alone, and she thought he understood her. She stuffed the note into the envelope, walked to the apartment, and into her bedroom. She lied down on her bed and wiped a stray tear that fell. She hit the bed, and she was so glad she didn't know where he was because she would go find him and kill him.

"Asshole," she said out loud. She stood up, paced back and forth, and counted backwards starting at twenty. A few minutes later, she calmed down and headed out to the family room with the mail and her book bag. The only thing she could do about the note was to ignore it. That's what she planned to do.

vvv

The next week, Marie was about to get off from her afternoon shift when some of the guys started to come in. They looked sad and when they told her why, her heart skipped a beat. Cox got cut that afternoon. "Is he ok?"

"Coxie is dealing with it quite well actually," Christian replied. "If it had been me, I would have… seriously cried over the news."

"Is Dave at the dorm?"

Ramsey nodded and she gave him a smile. She clocked out after the other bartender came in and headed over to the college resident dorms. She headed up and knocked on his door. When he opened the door, she smiled and lifted up a bottle of beer. "Thought you could use this," she told him before giving him a kiss.

"Thank you," he said before going over to his bed. He plopped down and sighed.

Marie closed the door and took off her coat. "How are you feeling?"

He looked up and shrugged. "How do you think I'm feeling?"

Marie went over and sat down next to him. She put her arm around him and looked straight at him. "What's on your mind?"

He was quiet for a few minutes before he finally spoke up. "I knew we weren't safe still, but when Coach Craig came in and went straight for Coxie…" he started, "… deep down there was relief. I thought thank God, but felt horrible for thinking that."

"Did he say anything?"

"He mentioned how much coach looked sad," he told her.

"You guys worked your asses off. He probably didn't know what to do."

"What if it had been me?" he asked.

Marie tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "It wasn't."

"But what if it had been?"

"Then we would have driven off toward the horizon and never looked back," she replied.

Silk replied, "You say that now, but what about the future?" Marie's arm slid down from his shoulder to the bed and she gave him a confused look. "What if I go back to Boston and the long distance is too hard on you, me, and…"

Marie put a hand over his mouth. "That is not going to happen."

He reached up and brought her hand down. "What if…"

"Stop! We're strong enough to survive the long distance," she told him. "I only have three months left of school before I graduate. From there, maybe I'll move to Boston."

Silk got up, placed the beer on the desk, and started to pace back and forth. Marie watched him and it started to freak her out. Then the note she got flashed in her head. "Please tell me what is wrong?"

He stopped and turned to her. "I don't want you to move away from your family for me."

"What?" she asked astonished. "You were willing to move here away from your family and friends."

"What if we actually win the Gold and we get called to play for the NHL? Do you want to move somewhere where I might not even be?"

"Wherever that place may be, I want to be there with you," Marie told him. "It's not like I won't see my family ever again. There is a plane that goes over 300 miles per hour though the sky. Only a few hours by plane and I'll be with them again. There's also the phone."

Silk didn't say anything and leaned against his desk chair. Maybe he was freaking out a little too much because of Cox. He wasn't sure why he felt so guilty, but he did. He was relieved to be on the team still, to be around Marie still. He was kicking himself. He knew deep down they were going to be together forever. They'd make it work. When he looked over at her, she had a look on her face that he wasn't sure about.

Marie was nervous, but also a little miffed. When he hadn't spoken up, she was thinking the worse. Did he lie about his feelings? Was he bullshitting her? "So all those promises we made the past few weeks have been bullshit? You really didn't mean them?"

"What? No!" he exclaimed.

She got up from the bed n a huff and got her coat. She went for the door, but his hand on top of hers stopped her from turning the knob. "Whatever. I knew this was to good to be true. Just let me leave."

"No… I'm…"

She turned to him right before he got to say he was sorry and shoved him. "I thought you knew, but I guess I was wrong."

"What?"

"How much I care for you, love you." He went toward her to tell her that she was wrong, but she shook her head. She opened the door and slammed it behind her.

Once in the car, she left like a herd of mustangs in the desert kicking up dust, only with snow. Deep down she knew she might have really overreacted and that they could talk about it, but if he didn't feel the same way there was no point in staying around. She was mad more at herself for acting like that, for believing him, for thinking it was going to last. She was half way home when all of a sudden a deer come running out in front of her car and she made the stupidest mistake she could have made. She shrieked in terror, swerved her car to the right, and the last thing she thought before the darkness consumed her after crashing into a pole was Silk.