Chapter 611: Dru XIII--Long Face

Chapter 611: Dru XIII—Long Face

 

 

 

            “You look pretty good today!”

            Dru raised his eyebrows and looked at his fiancé, Rory. Her round face seemed pensive, concerned almost by the way her eyes widened and her eyebrows crinkled. It made her look like a small child trying to mentally figure out a difficult problem, and it warmed his chest through. Grinning, he went to her and kissed her cheeks. “Aww, honey, you care!”

            Rory smiled, “Well, no offense Chris, but you always look so depressed in the morning. You look great! I mean, I haven’t seen you look this good in the morning since we first met!”

            “Really?” Now, that did intrigue Chris and he stepped back and crossed his arms. “Am I really that much of a drip?”

            “Hoo boy!” Rory sighed.

            “Wow…thanks.” Chris frowned, and his cheeks burned.

            Rory caught his embarrassment immediately and she held her hand out, “Oh, no, no, no I didn’t mean it like that! I think you look cute when you’re pouting honey, it’s just part of your natural charm.”

            “My natural charm?” Chris squinted.

            Rory laughed, “Of course it is you dope! Why else did you think I went for you?”

            Chris wrinkled his nose. “Ehhhh…”

            “You’re like Eeyore normally!” Rory giggled. “I LOVE Eeyore.”

            “Great…” Actually, Chris felt amused, touched even. Not often was he compared to some dopey, cutesy little kids cartoon character. It beat being called a little shit anyway. He kissed her. “Ah, I don’t know why I’m in a good mood today, honey. It must be some miracle or something, huh?”

            Rory nodded and flopped onto the couch, flicked on the television. She stretched and yawned. “I’m not going in today, I’m too tired from the trip. You should hang around too, hm? It’s an optional practice isn’t it?”

            “Sure.” Chris crossed the room and slipped onto the couch with her, folding her small body in his arms. “I can stick around a little while longer. I’d still like to get to practice though. Okay, honey?” Her hair smelled so nice, he closed his eyes and inhaled. She smelled like most young women did, fruity, sharp, like the latest herb disguised chemical product advertised to soften and add shine.

            “Okay,” she said in a soft voice. They sat in silence for a little bit and then she craned her head up, trying to catch his eye. “You seem awfully cheerful about going to practice. Don’t you?”

            “Do I?”

            “Mmhmm.”

             Chris nuzzled his chin into the top of her head and squeezed her. “Eh, I guess, quite frankly, I’m kind of enjoying Peter’s latest misfortune.”

            Rory burst out laughing and she rolled on Chris and slapped at him playfully. “You’re a jerk!”

            “I am not!” Chris held his hands up, nudging her back and then shielded himself from her little fists. “Ow! Stop it! I am not!”

            “Yes you are!” Rory gasped, and she was laughing as Chris grabbed one of the couch cushions and unleashed on her. “Ow! Ow! You jerk! You can’t be that happy about what happened to your own teammate! That’s not nice, Chris. You should show a little more solidarity!”

            “I’ll show you some solidarity!”

            “OW! Ha!”

 

           

            Chris had always known that Peter was the biggest screw up on the team, it’d only be a matter for the dumb jock to show it. Actually, quite a few of these guys got away with being brainless idiots too much. They looked down upon him for having a college education, as if he were the spoon-fed spoiled boy from hell! Ha! He’d be damned if he ever pulled a desperate stunt like Peter had. Idiot.

            Chris saw Alex Tanguay first off as soon as he entered the locker room before the night’s game. Busy with Rory, he’d actually ended up missing the optional practice, but at least no one called him to bug him about it. Chris nodded to him in greeting. Alex raised his eyebrows. “What’s with the smile Chris? It’s kind of scary…I mean I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile before. Have I?”

            Chris rolled his eyes, flushed quickly with irritation. “Cute, Alex.”

            Alex sniffed. “Oof, I know I’m cute.”

            Chris stretched and grinned. “Yeah, you are.” He flopped down on the bench next to Alex. “So, what’s the verdict? What’s going to happen to Peter?”

            Alex shrugged, suddenly seeming grumpy. His bottom lip stuck out. “If anything’s going to happen to him I don’t know about it. No one tells me anything lately.”

            Chris shrugged. “Well, they’re probably afraid you’ll tell Peter.”

            Alex nodded. His eyebrows straightened somberly. “Giving him a heads up would be the only humane thing to do. But really, if anything were going to happen, they’d let you in on it. So, if you don’t know about it, then nothing’s probably going to happen yet.”

            What the… Chris squinted trying to re-run the exact order of words he’d just listened to. Actually, his brain hurt. “Wait…why would you automatically assume they’d let me in on it? I’m not exactly a hardcore veteran.”

            Alex sniffed and grimaced. “No, but you’re going to be captain someday, or something. At least you want to be…or something.”

            Smack! Chris dropped his face into his palm. “I’m not…” he groaned but he didn’t finish the sentence. Where this retarded rumor about him wanting to dethrone Joe as it were was killing him, but he couldn’t figure out how to defuse it. It didn’t seem to matter how many times Chris refuted it, dammit. He rubbed his face and from between his fingers he noticed Danny Hinote who sat despondently in a corner.

            “Why the long face Danny-boy?” Wow, it felt good to actually bring to attention someone else’s pouting ways for a change!

            With a sigh, Dan started up immediately, obviously pining for someone to talk to. “It’s Cecile. She’s killing me! She’s moved out of Joe’s house, and she’s not returning any of my phone calls. It’s like she’s acting as if I chased her away or something.”

            “Have you?” Chris couldn’t help asking.

            Dan shook his head. The barb apparently had not registered with him. “I don’t think so. Not on purpose. We just haven’t been on the same page lately. But…she’s moved out of Joe’s house. And I guess she got her own place and everything!” He groaned and fell to his back on the bench, covering his eyes with his fingers. “Kill me!”

            Mike Keane decided to join the group at this point, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Sweet, Dan. Look on the bright side, aye! Now you actually have her all to yourself.”

            “That’s just it!” Dan cried, sitting up and throwing out his hands. “That’s not the point, Keaner! She won’t tell me where it is. She just told me that she needed to be by herself for once! She needs time to think or something. I don’t get it.”

            Keane shrugged. “Sounds like a typical woman to me, Danny.”

            “It sucks!”

            “Oh quite whining about it, Danny,” Sakic said curtly, crossing through the room. Drury couldn’t figure at which point Joe had actually entered the locker room. Sneaky old Joe. “She needs a break. Don’t you be bothering my nanny with your issues!” Joe disappeared into the bathroom.

            Dan groaned again. A bunch of the other guys joined in at this point, offering condolences and experiences and advice for Dan. He continued to lay on his back, squinting at everyone and accepting their words of wisdom.

            Chris sat back quietly, crossed his arms and looked at Patty who’d begun slipping into his gear. Patrick asked a few questions about Dan’s relationship, but didn’t seem too interested in the situation. Of course because it wasn’t about him, why would he care? Looking at Patty, however, reminded him of Michele and that annoyed him.

            Dan’s issues with Cecile, of course, were stemming from his dalliance with Michele. Whether Cecile knew or not, he didn’t know, but of course she’d sense something wrong and she had Dan in the doghouse for it. Pfft! What if she did find out about it? It could cause a lot of trouble.

            What the hell was Michele thinking? Dan wasn’t worth the trouble! He didn’t even know how to hang onto his own fiancé!