Kara stayed in her apartment for the next days. There was no reason for her to leave the house and she’d already told Coach Claude that she had enough information for now. His response had been that she’d always be welcome to join them. The next person she’d talked to, had been Soupy. He’d called her multiple times until she’d finally answered. She couldn’t tell him the truth even though she wanted to. Benoit and Greg were such close friends, that he’d probably tell him and she didn’t want him to know about her feelings. Well, one part of her wanted him to know, but she didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of him and get rejected. It was already hard enough for her. So she’d told Soupy that she’d broken things off with Benoit and that she needed a break, start writing. It was the truth, just not the whole truth. She didn’t know when or if she’d be back.
“Okay.” He didn’t ask her any questions anyway, for which she was grateful. “But promise me, you’ll come to me party on New Year’s Eve. Benny will be with his family, but some of the other guys will be there along with their wives.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on. Or do you have other plans?” She didn’t and she told him that. “Then it’s a deal. I’ll see you then.”
Now she was looking forward to the party. Knowing that Benoit wouldn’t be there made it a lot easier for her to decide to go there. She wasn’t ready to see him.
He’d tried to call her multiple times. While she was on the airplane, the whole day afterwards before his flight and after the flight. He’d even come to her complex and made it to her apartment door. He’d knocked again and again, trying to get her to open the door. He’d told her that he knew that she was there. What he hadn’t known was that she had been leaning against the door crying.
When a neighbor had complained about his noises, he’d finally given up and gone home, but he’d left her a note that said that she should call him. She hadn’t done that so far. Maybe she would do that in the new year. He deserved an explanation, but right now she wasn’t ready to give him that. Not in detail and he wouldn’t let her off the hook until he knew what he wanted to know.
It was time to go to Gregory’s place. She would have the possibility to stay there for the night, but she didn’t plan to do this. Tonight she wasn’t wearing a dress. It was much too cold for it and she didn’t feel like it. Instead she’d opted for a dark pair of jeans, ankle boots and a white blouse with a thin black tie. Soupy had to have some sort of motto for his party, so he’d chosen black and white. Not very creative, but that way Kara didn’t have to worry so much about what she should wear. Her lips were a deep red and her eyes rimmed in black, but not too much. She just felt like doing this, especially to look happier than she really was. She’d lost nearly six pound between Los Angeles and today, because she had forgotten to eat at times.
She got in the taxi and looked in her purse one more time to make sure she had everything she needed. Benoit’s bracelet was in the box in her purse, because she couldn’t leave it at home. Maybe it was time to wear it today. She loved it and he wouldn’t be there to see it, so she took it out of the box and put it on her wrist. It was the first time she actually saw it on her body. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. She wouldn’t cry now, she wouldn’t cry today.
When they arrived at the apartment complex, Kara paid the taxi driver and got out. It was even colder than she’d expected, but she liked it. Winter and spring had always been her favorite seasons.
“And I thought you wouldn’t show up”, Gregory said and embraced her in a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“So am I.” It was the truth. She could have gone to Madison’s place, but she didn’t want to hang around with couples only. Here she knew that there would be couples as well as singles. “I brought some Vodka. I thought that’s a bit better than wine or beer for today.”
Gregory helped her out of her coat and took the bottle from her. Together they walked into the big living room where everybody was already gathered. His apartment was beautiful and he even had a balcony attached. When Kara didn’t feel like talking, she could sneak out and get some fresh air.
Kara got a glass of champagne and joined the others. Everyone said that they’d missed her during the last games, which was nice for her to hear. She told them, that she’d started writing her book and that this took up a lot of time. What she left out, were the evening she spent in front of the TV, watching re-runs of Drop Dead Diva and Hart of Dixie, crying her heart out. Nobody had to know about this.
She’d talked to pretty much everybody, had gotten to know Seidenberg’s and Horton’s wife and Looch’s fiancée. They were beautiful and extremely nice women and had already invited Kara over for dinner sometime. A little Ladies’ Night with cocktails and a movie. It sounded perfect and she was already looking forward to eat.
With her empty glass in hand she wandered into the kitchen, just to nearly bump into Soupy and Benoit. What the hell was he doing here? Soupy had told her that he wouldn’t and yet, here he was, looking down at her.
“Hello, Kara.” His voice was flat. He didn’t know that she’d be here, but he’d secretly hoped so. When Greg had asked him, he’d said he’d probably be with his family, but his plans had changed. Being here with his friends sounded a lot more appealing and since Soupy never had a problem with having more people over than he’d planned for, he hadn’t bothered to call him.
“Benoit.” She nodded at him, but turned her face towards Gregory. “Did you put the vodka in the fridge?”
“Yes, help yourself.” And she did. She poured herself some vodka and filled the glass up with passion fruit and peach juice. She was gone faster than they could react.
“What happened exactly?” Gregory crossed his arms and looked at his friend, who was still staring after Kara, so he had to repeat his question.
“She said she couldn’t do this anymore and that was it. No explanation. She didn’t return my calls and she didn’t open the door when I was at her apartment. What the fuck?” Benny took a glass out of the cupboard and opened the fridge. He really felt like some whiskey or vodka, but instead he took the bottle of water. “Did she talk to you?”
“She only said on the phone that she’d broken things off with you and that she needed a break.”
“Fuck.” Benoit heaved a sigh. “I’ve been going crazy. Not seeing her seems so wrong now. She’s been with us nonstop and all of a sudden she’s not there anymore.”
“Oh come on. You saw her more than during the games. You were with her most of your free time, Benny.” Someone had to point it out to him.
“So? I really enjoy talking to her and spending time with her.” He didn’t know what was wrong with that.
“And now you miss her.”
“Well… Yeah.”
“And do you remember when you’ve felt like this about a woman the last time?” This was new for Soupy. They were friends, good friends, but so far, Benny had always been a guy to bed a woman and then leave her without leading her on. His behavior with Kara was totally different. “You bought her a Christmas present. A bracelet she’d told you about. If you ever gave a gift to one of your women, it was either chocolate or lingerie.”
“That’s because Kara is different.” Benny tried to defend and explain his actions, but he knew what Gregory was getting at.
“Yes she is. Good that you finally see it.”
“I have to talk to her.” He put down the glass and left his friend, who was smiling like a maniac, alone in the kitchen only to be faced with a living room full of people, but without Kara.
“She’s on the balcony.” Tuukka said from behind him with a smile.
“Thanks, man.” Benoit wove his way through the guests and stepped outside, closing the door behind him again. Kara turned around and stared at him. “I need to talk to you.”
“Benoit, no.” She shook her head and turned away from him. This movement hurt him. A lot. He wasn’t good at these kinds of situations.
Carefully he stepped closer and took her hand. “You’re wearing my bracelet.” For a second that made him happy, proud, but then she opened her mouth.
“Yeah, because you weren’t supposed to be here.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I only agreed to come here because Soupy told me that you wouldn’t be here. It hurts too much to see you.” All of a sudden she turned around and looked into his face. “You want to know why I didn’t want to see you anymore?” She was tearing up and for once she didn’t care who saw her crying. “Because I’ve fallen in love with you. There was nothing I could do against that.” Her voice was breaking, but she had to get these words out now. “You were so wonderful to me and when you gave me that bracelet, showed me that you’d remembered my silly talk, I couldn’t lie to myself anymore.”
“And that’s why you didn’t want to see me anymore?” He sighed and took both her hands in his, fixing her in place. He wouldn’t let her run away from him this time. “I’ve been going through hell the past days. You didn’t return my calls or open your door. I was going crazy, because I missed you, Kara.” He let go of one of her hands and wiped away her tears. He wanted to hold her close, but he needed her to look in his eyes, see that he was telling the truth. “I fell in love with you the night you came to my house because you were worried. Seeing you cry because of me, because you feared about my health, made me realize how much you mean to me, but I couldn’t tell you.” He pushed her hair back from her face, a little amused by the confused look in her eyes. “Because we agreed to quit seeing each other should one of us develop feelings. And I wasn’t ready to let you go.”
“Are you serious?” Her hands were shaking and her pulse was racing. She didn’t even feel the cold. Her heart was aching, her fingers numb.
“Look into my eyes.” He took a deep breath. “I love you, Kara Davies, and I want to be with you.”
Her heart burst, her knees grew week and she threw her arms around his neck, holding him close. She had to make sure that this wasn’t some kind of weird dream again, that would leave her aching and crying in the morning.
Benny held her close. Finally, she was in his arms again. When she raised her head, he kissed her lips. The moment he’d laid eyes on her, he’d wanted to do that. He simply couldn’t resist her.
“Finally.” They heard a voice from the door and turned around to see half of the guests staring at them. Kara couldn’t suppress the laugher erupting from her body and Benoit joined in. Gregory smiled at both of them, as did the rest of the people, except for Tuukka, who was already on the phone with Mika to tell her everything about this.

Notes

I hope you enjoyed reading this. It would be really nice if you'd let me know what you thought of the whole thing.
Oh and therre's a spin-off/sequel to this called The Power of Memories If you want, go check it out. It's Soupy's story