So here it is! An update!... eight years later, um… oooops? Hehe. I could bore you with the hundreds of reasons but… really, who gives a crap? I updated! I greatly apologize for my rustiness, I have not written in a very long time. Language in this one people! Language! I may change the rating actually. We'll see!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Ducks or anything related to them. I just like to play. Remember, in this story the ducks are older, matured.
Julie stood in the bathroom of the hotel, turning this way and that, running her hands down her tone frame, smoothing the fabric of her short black dress with a cutout middle. Smiling at herself she felt satisfied.
Adam had text the girls an hour or so after the Penguins had lost the game. He had reserved a private room at a bar restaurant. Connie had replied their condolences on the loss only for him to respond it was just the first game and a one-nothing close out wasn't a huge set back. As they began getting ready, assuming that was it for the conversation, Connie's phone pinged again. Giggling she had read out loud "Look hot and bring your drinking pants."
Julie emerged from the bathroom to find Tammy leaning over the desk into a mirror, poking silver hoops into her ears while Connie was sitting on a bed, buckling her strappy black Steve Madden heels.
"Connie, that dress is awesome! Is that the one you got when we were shopping a few weeks ago?" Tammy turned, admiring Connie in a cream bandage dress, showing off her ample amount of cleavage.
"It tis my dear!" she accentuated by dramatically throwing her dark hair over her shoulder.
The women chuckled as Julie maneuvered through their suitcase-explosion of a room. Articles of clothing and bags were strewn everywhere; floor, bed, desk and dresser, side chair and bathroom. As she bent to reach into her large bag, she pulled out her small travel case for earrings and bracelets as well as her black pumps.
"If I didn't know any better, I would think we had been here a week!" she smiled, as she stood.
Tammy sat in the chair just then, her black and white bandage skirt and low cut red top all riding up a bit. "Um… I think this is pretty par for the course at this point? Don't you remember spring break in Panama?"
The other two ladies just smirked at the memories they shared. Standing up, Connie declared it selfie time as the three snapped a few quick photos and collected their small purses for the evening. Filing through her small, leather leopard Nine West clutch, Julie felt herself begin to feel nervous… nauseous almost. Her thoughts had not stops once over the course of the last few days. From her quick email from Dean Portman wanting to catch up soon to seeing him in Detroit just days later on a jumbo tron. Placing chap stick into her bag and triple checking on her ID and debit card, Julie just knew he sent that email knowing he would be seeing her and with that thought it mind, she panicked. A classic over analyzer and planner, Julie realized that she didn't have a single thought prepared. What would she say? How should she react to him at first? How to greet him. The few times she had seen him over the last few years since high school had been far and few between. Banks swim party, she was with Anthony, an Italian law student with her who came from old money, absolutely nothing like Portman… or many of the other guys. He had spent more time talking to Adam's dad at the party than anyone else, herself included. Portman had barely addressed her of course since she had brought a date, but they had still been cordial and friendly. Guys house a few years ago was the last time she had really seen him and they had…talked. It was heart breaking really, but not as heart breaking as the end of their senior year at Eden hall….
"Julie! You ready?" Dean Portman yelled from the outside of her door, opening it as he yelled.
"Yeah Dee…" She laughed lightly, calling him his nick name from her mirror, standing to greet him as he entered her dorm room she shared with Connie.
Portman stopped abruptly, taking in her appearance and smirked. "Your daddy know you're wearing that?"
"You're a dick." She laughed as she walked up to him and put a hand on the front of his tux jacket. He chuckled deeply and reached around to pat her on her bottom.
"This green blue color looks good on you Jules." He smiled and leaned in to peck her on the lips.
"Thank you, and its turquois. And yes, my dad knows I'm wearing this. I showed him over spring break when my mom and I brought it home from the store." She rolled her eyes as he handed her the small bouquet of white roses he had purchased for her. "These are perfect, thank you." She smiled genuinely at him.
"Well… do I have this shit on right?" He asked taking a step back, beginning to flex dramatically for her.
"It all looks good." She smiled, walking towards him. He stopped his show, pulling her into him. He brought their bodies flush together with his hands on her hips, the white roses smashing beautifully within her arms that were trapped under Portmans embrace. He gazed at her then, faces inches apart as a small smile tugged at his lips. She smiled back as he brought his lips to hers. They kissed softly for a moment before he pulled away and breathed "I can't wait to take this dress off later."
Struggling free, Julie laughed and shoved him with one arm. "You sure know how to compliment a lady!" Grabbing her small purse off the dorm room desk and locking the door behind her as she reached for Deans arm that he offered her.
"You, Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney, are no lady!" he winked at her and then yelped as she pinched the sensitive soft skin on the underside of his arm.
The two seniors strolled through the dorm and into the cool spring air to begin their walk to the old but beautiful administrative building on school property. The large, old, grand building on campus now housed the school's faculty and administrators, but was once an amazing stone mansion built at the turn of the century. When the school had purchased the building, they began using its elaborate ball room for Prom each year.
Dean walked, letting the heels of his rented dress shoes scuff along the pavement as Julie held onto his arm with her left and clutched the roses in her right. Hearing him heave a deep breath, she turned her head as they walked slowly, knowing they were already 20 minutes late and apparently the last couple on campus out and about.
"What's wrong Dee?" she asked casually. In the last few years, she had done a pretty good job of getting him to share his feelings… on any matter. She was the only one to ever see this side of him, another reason their closeness always seemed to baffle their team mates.
"Nah… it's nothing." He shook his head lightly.
"You're not still thinking about the other night? Are you?" she asked, her fear and pain seeping into her words.
"Jules.. I don't want to ruin tonight. Ok?"
"I don't want to either, but you're obviously still thinking about everything."
"Julie, I don't want to talk about it, alright?" he stopped and turned on her abruptly.
"Fine, just…. Fine. I'll pretend you didn't bring up college to me and I'll pretend I didn't tell you I'm in love with you! Fair?!" she turned on her heels and began marching towards the sound of soft music up a head.
"Julie, don't start this shit!" he jogged a few steps to grab her arm and turned her. "We have talked about this. We're both going to college in totally different states, ON scholarships, a fancy word that was never uttered in my house growing up, and we need to just enjoy what time we have left!" he pleaded with her… out of anger and exhaustion over the topic.
Standing there, she stared at him quietly. Her eyes watering. "I can do that. But just once, I want to hear you say it. Just once before we leave school, Dean." She swallowed hard. Part of her was ashamed she even had to ask him to return her verbal declaration. And the prideful part of her just smirked at his wide eyes and tight lips. "You know what, actually, don't. Someone shouldn't have to beg for someone else's love."
She let out a calm breath, looking to the darkening sky and willed the tears to not come. To make it so apparent to everyone else that she had been crying. Dean just stood there and stared at her in silence. She could hear him breathing deep and slow.
"Julie you know I can't…"
"Don't Portman. Ok?" She whispered at him and smiled sadly. "Just let me take your arm, let you lead me into prom where all of our very best friends are, we'll have a good time and … just let me pretend. Ok?"
It was officially the saddest smile he had ever seen on her beautiful face, and he put it there. Even after the other night when he thought he was being mature about their future. Julie had such a promising one, and so did he but unfortunately they were going to happen at different universities, in different states. The other night Portman had recited the mantra If you love someone, set them free. That was right, Dean Portman, enforcer and meat head extraordinaire was head over heels, all consumed, heart thumping, tongue wagging, wolf whistling, children and marriage imagining-ly in love with Julie Gaffney. The only problem was, by the time he realized it a few weeks ago… there was only a month of high school left.
They never once talked about titles, if they were boyfriend and girlfriend, he always just considered her that, so what was there to talk about? He knew he had loved her for a while, but that night a few weeks ago, he was lifting late in the gym alone, he had glanced over at the door in-between sets and noticed a poster of a dark haired man with his arm around a blonde woman who was holding a toddler, all of them smiling. In that very moment, Dean watched his entire fantasy-like future shoot across him mind. He stood there for what felt like an hour, just holding the 40 pound weights, staring and breathing hard and not from the weights. He loved the idea because in his family, people didn't do the college thing. They went into a trade, met someone at the bar or through a friend and married young. It was simple and beautiful really. Then, he panicked over the idea because he was about to do something no one else in his family had ever accomplished, a higher education. But Julie, she was bread from a high-brow lineage, every single one of her family members in the last 100 years had attended a college of some sort and her mother's father had built a pretty impressive CPA firm in Bangor that her father and uncles now ran. He wanted that dream life with her that he saw up on the wall, but he also wanted his own path that was coming. So he decided to be uncharacteristically mature about it and instead of making her choose him or her future, he was setting her free. But he knew, boy did he know, he would always have the 'what if' and the regret.
"Ok.' He stated simply and held out his arm. Taking it, she let out a breath and finally made eye contact with him.
"You look amazing." He breathed at her softly. Taking in her face.
She gave him a portion of a sad smile and turned to pull him along "Thank you. So do you, Dee."
"Juls! Shake it mama!" Connie yelled from the hotel hallway as Tammy held the door.
"Yeah… yeah." She called as she chucked her cell phone into her purse and zipped it up.
As the girls walked down the busy street, their heels clicking as they went, Connie stopped them at an intersection.
"I'm nervous." She turned to them and breathed with a pathetic chuckle.
"You?! You're nervous? What about us?" Tammy practically yelled, throwing her arms out to her side.
"Yeah, you and Guy still talk occasionally…" Julie stated with a raised brow, arms crossed.
"That doesn't make it any different when I actually see him!" she exclaimed. "He was still my first love…"
"Ok, so maybe we beat them there and do a shot at the bar first?" Tammy brainstormed as they began to cross the street.
"Yes… yes, we are about 15 minutes late." Julie rolled her eyes as they saw a group of people up ahead.
Walking closer the women realized exactly who was outside. And Julie felt immediate anxiety and thrills all at the same time.
"This can NOT be who the hell I think it is!?" Russ yelled out over the distance.
A chorus of whistles, a 'Yea baby', a 'hot damn' and chuckles could be heard in the short distance the girls walked into opened arms of many tall and large hugs. Being picked up by many of them was not something new to the girls, but the gentlemanly cheek kisses and sweet compliments were.
"Ladies, it has been entirely too long." Luis smiled as he was one of the last to hug Tammy before she met eyes with Fulton. His long hair gone, replaced with a buzz cut that his neatly trimmed beard matched the length of. He said her name as he reached to embrace her quickly. Julie practically laughed at the ridiculous smile on Tammy's face as she reached out to him.
"It has! I don't remember ever getting this kind of reception from you guys before!" Julie laughed as Portman moved in closer to her and nudged her shoulder.
She turned to him and smiled, having spotted him immediately but was cut off by the others first. "Does the NHL require etiquette classes now?" a few of the guys smirked at her.
"Nah… that would interfere with our fighting skills." Fulton laughed.
"Yeah, can you image?" Averman goofed, turning to Goldberg. "Excuse me sir, but your hit was cheap, allow me to whoop your ass!"
The group laughed as Adam spoke up while reaching for the door. "Hey… I got this place till 1am, so let's make the most of the night, huh? I've got to drink off a loss before I fly back to Pittsburgh tomorrow!"
"Lets do this! I missed you fuckers!" Portman yelled over everyone as he shoved Charlie who smirked and shoved him back.
"Ladies first of course!" Dwayne smiled and gave a small bow to them as the guys all stopped abruptly to allow them to walk ahead.
"He means you too Kenny!" Russ laughed as Julie was the last to walk through the door.
The rowdy, happy group was escorted through the contemporary, updated bar area into a private room with its own saloon-style bar with tables around. A bartender and two servers greeted them warmly and informed them of the informal serving style for the evening, requested by Adam for a more casual feel. No sit down dinner required.
"So you got this room only until 1am?" Connie turned and asked Adam.
"Yeah, the guy on the phone said that they have a band on the weekends, so I figured since they are open until 2:30am, we could venture into the regular bar area where peasants like yourself would feel more comfortable." He poked at her with a smirk.
"You jerk." She laughed, swatting his hand.
The servers began to return with large trays of stuffed mushrooms, olives, dips, large cuts of meat, cheeses and vegetables as Charlie yelled "Shots!" to the bartender. Julie placed her purse on a table and turned to see everyone standing at the bar, Connie next to Guy, already talking and flirting. It was their natural reaction to each other, like magnets. Tammy standing near Fulton, handing him a small plate of items that Julie was sure that she knew he liked. And Dean Portman was the only one facing her, moving down the bar away from everyone to make room for her.
He looked incredible. Dark, nicely fitted jeans that she was sure were well over $150, a gray V-neck t-shirt that she was absolutely certain was probably the softest article of clothing she would ever feel on a man and a black suit jacket. His dark eyes took her in with a nod of his head motioning her over.
She felt bold already without a lick of alcohol and winked at him as she saddled up next to him. He leaned on the bar with his one elbow as his body faced hers. She could smell his musky cologne and feel him watching her as she made herself appear aloof, watching the bartender pour the shots down the line in front of everyone.
"Your hairs colored." He stated matter of fact.
"It is. I get it highlighted now." She smiled in his direction, picking up a portion of beach-waved hair.
"I like it."
"Thank you. So do I."
The bartender made it to them on the end, both keeping silent as he poured their shots of tequila and handing them their lime wedges. Julie thanked the man politely and he responded in kind.
"What are we toasting to?" Goldberg questioned, holding up his shot.
"Your mom!" Yelled Kenny.
"Hey, my mother's a nice lady Woo, you take that back!"
"Adam making it to the finals?" Tammy asked.
"No No… not about me!" Adam replied.
"Yeah, not that cake eater!" Russ laughed.
"Trying to get together more than once every two or three years?" Connie questioned, shrugging her shoulders.
"Perfect!" laughed Charlie as he raised his shot. "To making an effort, starting now, to plan a weekend, every year in the off season to get together!"
Everyone 'Cheers-ed' and 'Here here-ed', Licking their salted hands, downing their shots and scrambling for their lime wedges.
"How's work?" Portman asked Julie as he stuck his lime rind into his empty shot glass and nudged it away from him with his middle finger.
"Not nearly as exciting as the NHL and photo shoots I'm afraid." She giggled.
"Probably not." He chuckled. "But it's pretty impressive to me in its own right."
Julie glanced up, making eye contact with him, turning to face him fully. "I like it some days, and other days I hate it." She sighed. "Sometimes I think about quitting and just becoming a coach somewhere."
They both laughed softly, knowing she was clearly messing around. She had put far too much work into her education at this point to give up.
"Can I get either of you anything?" The bartender asked them both as everyone else had been served.
"I'll have a scotch on the rocks man." Portman pulled out his wallet for a tip.
"A gin and tonic please." Julie asked smiling politely again. Portman layed a tip down, motioning to her that it was for both of their drinks. She gave him a smile.
"I'll buy you a drink out in the bar later."
"I'm going to hold you to that." He chuckled.
"So I have to ask." The bartender started. "Are you Dean Portman? And… is that Greg Goldberg? And Charlie Conway?... I know Adam Banks reserved the room, but we had assumed it would be for Penguins players…"
"So you're confused?" Asked Julie with a smile.
"I am ma'am." The man laughed nodding his head.
"We all went to high school together… This is Julie Gaffney. Her and the brunette over there played with us too actually." Portman spoke up, answering the man. "Jules here is actually a better goal tender then Goldberg over there, but… She's got tits so no NHL for her BUT she has a brain, so she went to law school."
Julie laughed out loud and grabbed Deans arm as the bartender laughed out of nervousness of not knowing how to react. "Well, that's pretty awesome then." he smiled and handed them their drinks.
Julie, still giggling from Deans comment, left her hand on his arm, steadying herself as he grabbed his drink, taking a sip, pretty pleased with himself.
"Hey, Julie… You remember that time I tried to get you to put on weight freshman year?" Goldberg called over and their moment was gone, but they soon joined everyone else for the retelling of old tales.
As Julie stood laughing to Goldberg recant the eating frenzy he tried putting her through when they were fourteen, Julie felt Dean place his hand gently on her lower back. A warmth spread through her as she held her balance, trying not to seem nervous. She glanced up at Connie just then, making eye contact with the brunette who understood her nonverbal communications very well at this point in their friendship, she nodded her head to the food. Smiling politely up a Portman, she walked to the food to meet Connie.
"Did he just have his hand on you?" Connie whispered. Their backs to the group.
"Mm hmm," Julie responded while loading a plate of finger foods.
"Ahhhh…." Connie just glanced at her as she picked up a few olives. "Julie?" Connie gave her a confused pause and then couldn't let her respond however, her eyes widened as she whispered "Julie, he's looking over at you."
Julie just smiled at her friend. Picked up her plate and made her way back over to the group. She wasn't sure what was going on yet, but she wasn't about to start over processing it like she usually did. But the night wasn't over…not by a long shot.