JUNE 2011

“Are you kidding me?” Mike almost yelled into the phone, “Traded?”

“I know, it’s crazy with such a huge contract, but there’s not much that can be done now,” Mike’s agent, Craig, told his client.

“Why?”

“Not sure man, they just released the information and it’s a good trade for both teams. You’re going to a team that you can really do some good on, be the big name hockey player you are, and they are getting a couple young guys they can mold. I just think that they might be looking to weed out their more veteran players.”

Veteran? I’m only twenty-six.

“Well, thanks for letting me know. Where am I going?”

“The Kings,” he replied.

“The Kings?” Mike asked, “How is this good for me again?”

He sighed, “It seems worse than it actually is. You can go out there, make a new name for yourself. Hockey players in LA aren’t nearly as well-known as they are in Philadelphia. You can go out and not be noticed or you can buckle down and become captain of a new team, it’s really all up to you.”

“LA,” he repeated.

“Los Angeles, the city of angels,” Craig laughed.

Mike sat up straight in his chair, “Hailey.”

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing, sorry. Look, thanks for letting me know.”

“No problem. You let me know if you need anything, okay?”

“Sure, thanks,” Mike hung up quickly.

Mike’s first phone call was to Jeff. He too had been traded only to Columbus, the Blue Jackets
to be exact. Though, with the way the Jackets had been playing, Mike wasn’t sure the city even knew they had a team anymore.

“You too,” Jeff answered.

“Yeah. Sucks,” Mike plopped down on a lawn chair on his deck.

“I know,” Jeff agreed, “At least you’re going somewhere that doesn’t make others cringe at the name.”

“Neither city remembers they have hockey teams,” Mike reminded his now ex-teammate.

“Yeah,” Jeff let out a long sigh.

The two friends were quiet for a moment until Mike heard his mom talking to him in the background, “Hey, I gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow or something, we’ll plan a couple weeks in Sea Isles, take the edge off, okay?”

“Sounds good. Later man,” Mike hung up the phone and then dialed his dad’s number.

“Hey Mike, what’s up?”

“I just got traded to LA,” he wasn’t going to pussy foot around it.

“Oh, wait, what?” his father, Norm, gasped.

“Yeah, the Flyers traded me for some young guys.”

“You okay? You want me and your mom to come over?”

“Nah,” Mike told his dad and smiled at the support they always gave him, “I’ll be good.”

“Okay. You know me and your mom and your brothers are behind you wherever you end up, right?”

“I know,” Mike chuckled, “I just thought I’d tell you guys before you heard it on the news or something.”

“Well thanks,” Norm chuckled too, “Who have you talked to?” he asked.

“I just got off the phone with Jeff, he got traded to Columbus,” he waited for the groan from
his father.

“Really? Poor guy. Well, call your teammates and then I’d seriously consider calling Hailey. I
know your first thought was of her.”

Mike looked down at his bare feet and nodded, “I hadn’t even thought about her,” he lied.

“Lying sack of shit,” Norm laughed, “You want to call her, I know you do.”

Mike laughed, “Think she’d even answer?”

“I do,” he told his son, “Call her.”

Mike hung up with his father after a few more minutes and looked at his phone. He typed in Hailey’s name, then deleted it, then typed it again. He considered sending her a text message, but typed it out and deleted it right after he finished it. Then he wanted to call her, to personally tell her the news, but he chickened out.

This could be Mike’s second chance with her, this could be the real fucking deal and he was too much of a chicken shit to even send her a simple text message. Then again, in the back of his mind, he realized that LA was a big city and he may not even see her. She might be dating another guy by now, maybe a guy she worked with, an actor, another athlete; she was with someone else by now and wouldn’t even respond to him, he knew it.

July 2011

“Arnie, let’s go!” Mike Richards yelled through his new spacious condo in LA.

He had found his new place right away and thought it was amazing. It was close to the beach, within a half hour of the Staples Center, and it was a beautifully large condo. It was very open but could be comfortable and homey if decorated the right way. There were three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen he would never use, a large living room, a great back porch with a hot tub, and a backyard. It was more like a small house than a condo.

Mike’s first thought when he saw the neighborhood and the actual condo was Hailey, she would have loved it. It would have become a project for her to make into a place that was more of a home for him than just a place he slept when he got the chance. She would have loved the yard for the dogs to run around in, the beach being only a short walk away, and the kitchen to cook in.

“Arnold!” Mike yelled again, “Let’s go buddy,” he patted his leg to get the five year old dog up and going.

He wagged his tail as he finally strolled up to his owner, “Come on,” Mike hooked his leash onto his collar, “Walk time.”

They walked the short distance to the beach and then let Arnold loose because it was early enough in the morning that no one was really around. Mike tossed a ball for him to fetch and the man nad his companion just played around for a while until he ran off with the ball. As Mike waited for his dog to return he drifted off into his own mind.

When Mike arrived in LA and started to get his things moved into the new place he also started to realize that this might not be so bad. He could really make some changes in his life in a new city.
Truth be told, He had expected this to come at some point in the future, not this soon, but somewhere down the road he figured he would be playing in a different city.

Coming to terms with the trade was rough though. Mike had a lot of teammates who he considered good friends. Even though there had been some bad times, some crazy rumors, and some depressing moments, they were all still friends and a kind of dysfunctional family. He knew he wouldn’t lose them as friends, but losing them as teammates was almost harder to bear. Learning to play with new teammates, under new coaches, getting into a routine and a new group of friends is always hard, but it wasn’t impossible.

Yeah, this could be great or this could be terrible. Either way, it was a change and I liked a little change in my life.

“Good boy,” he patted Arnold’s head when he came back with the tennis ball.

Mike tossed it into the water and he charged into the ocean to retrieve it. He liked the new scenery around here; the water, the warmer air, the sand, if Arnold could do it, Mike could too.

After a while the pair walked back to the condo. Mike let his dog in first and while he held the door open for the big lug he heard someone laugh from a short distance away. The sound made Mike turn his head, but he didn’t see anyone.

It was eerily familiar and made him shiver when he heard it again, only closer. He turned the other way and caught a glimpse of dark hair. The dark head was facing away from him so he couldn’t see the face, but the body frame matched up almost perfectly.

He froze. It couldn’t be.

She was walking backwards in front of a tall, blonde man who also looked familiar but was just far enough away that Mike couldn’t figure out who he was. Arnold barked, “Shh,” he whispered to him as he shut the door and made his way just a little closer to the couple.

The girl put her hands on the man’s chest and shoved him back, only to make her stumble backwards a little. He grabbed her arms so that she didn’t hit the concrete sidewalk, and held her up, “You’re a ditz, you know that?” he laughed loud.

Fucking balls!

Jeff was standing there with Hailey on Mike’s fucking street. For a brief moment he wondered if Jeff had found out Mike’s address and brought Hailey to him. He was a good guy like that to his friends, but if you weren’t his friend he was a dick and would pull a robbery on your girl.

Mike slipped into his garage as they approached, “I still can’t believe you did that last night,” Hailey’s sweet voice said to him.

“Eh, I had to prove myself somehow, didn’t I?” Jeff replied.

Mike couldn’t see them but he wondered how they were walking; if jeff had his arm around her shoulders, if Hailey was still facing backwards, if they had stopped to kiss—SON OF A BITCH.

He was out here strictly to see Hailey. Yeah the two were friends and really close, but Jeff knew how Mike felt. Did Jeff fly out to be with her? did they decide that they were attracted to each other and start something? Had this been going on in Philly and Mike was just blind?

Mike opened his car door just as they walked past the garage so they couldn’t see my face. He peered through the window and saw that his old friend’s arm was around her shoulders and she was wrapped around his body. they both had smiles on their face that went on for miles. That mother fucker.

As they passed his house Mike walked back out to the sidewalk to see them better. They were still at each other’s sides, laughing and joking, making his blood boil. Mike wanted to chase after them, to punch his so called friend in the face, to grab her and carry her into his bedroom and make up for lost time, but he didn’t. He just stood there in complete shock as Jeff’s lips made contact with her newly darkened hair.

He closed his eyes for a moment to regain his thoughts and emotions.

LA can get fucked.