The Maroon Beret

-Charlie-
“Hey babe, it’s me.... Sean.”
It’s adorable that he feels like he has to say his name when he leaves a message. Like I can’t recognize my fiancee’s voice. Or like anyone else would be calling me babe on my voicemail.
“Listen, something’s going on and I really need to talk to you.”
Uh.... what?
“Like, really really really need to talk to you.”
Uh oh.
“Give me a call when you get this, okay? Please.”
This can’t be good.
“I love you.”
I love you too.

I hang up my voicemail and immediately dial Sean’s number. It doesn’t even take two rings before he answers.
“Please tell me you haven’t been online.” He says.
“I just got done having dinner with Matt and we made a deal not to have our phones with us. So no, I haven’t been online.” He breathes a sigh of relief. “What’s going on, Sean?”
“Babe, before I tell you what happened, I want you to know that I love you more than anything. I need you to believe me, baby. I swear I have never told you anything but the truth, and I never will tell you anything but the truth.”
“Sean, you’re scaring me.”
“Promise me you’ll listen to everything? Promise me you’ll believe me.”
“Sean, you’ve never given me a reason not to believe you. Please tell me what’s going on.”

He takes a deep breath.
“You remember the girl Kelsi that I told you about?”
“The one who’s obsessed with you? Yeah...”
“Well... The day I found out you got hurt, she showed up at the arena after our game against the Devils. Mase and I were the last ones leaving cause we got stuck talking to the media for a long time. She had a friend with her and she was waiting for me by the door. She basically threw herself at me and kissed me... I SWEAR Charlie, I didn’t kiss her back. In fact, I pushed her off me and told her to leave me alone. Then on the way to St. Louis I filled out an application for a restraining order and submitted it. I even sent a note to Detective Beck, asking him to help me speed up the process.”

He pauses.
“Why would I be mad at you for that? I understand. You did the right thing.” I say.
“I’m not even close to done yet.”

“Oh.”

“So anyway, a couple of weeks later she shows up at practice and tells Paul that she’s pregnant, and that I’m the father.... Charlie, I swear to you I never slept with her! I never even thought about sleeping with her. Since I told you I loved you that first time I haven’t thought about any other woman besides you.”

“I know that, Sean. I do.”
“Anyway, Paul didn’t believe her since he knew I had the restraining order against her. But.....”
“But what, Sean?”

“Charlie, she broke into our apartment... While I was there... While I was sleeping... She took pictures of herself in bed next to me.”

I suck in a breath and hear him choke back a sob.

“Janine demanded she take a pregnancy test right then and there, and she did. She wasn’t pregnant. But she was convinced she was, and that we were all lying to her. We had her arrested on the spot, but she didn’t get any jail time. She just got put under house arrest and she has to wear an ankle monitoring device....”

“Okay. Again, Sean. You did the right thing.”

“Her friend showed up today after practice. The same one from the Devils game. I didn’t want to talk to her at first, but she said she had to warn me about something. I figured it had to do with Kelsi so I listened.”

He sniffles and my heart breaks.

“Kelsi took those photos of the two of us in our bed and went to a reporter.”

My heart drops.

“She told them she slept with me for months. That as soon as you left I turned to her and only when I knew you were coming home did I break it off. She told them that I wouldn’t allow her to take birth control and wouldn’t wear a condom, but that I would make her take the morning after pill every couple of days. She basically said all of these things about me that no one would believe, except she’s got pictures of me sleeping in a bed next to her.”

I realize I have tears streaming down my face.

“Our public relations people and legal team are working on fixing this now, but the article has already run. It came out about half an hour after I got the warning.”

“Oh, Sean....”

“Charlie, I can deal with my reputation being ruined. I can deal with a lot of people completely hating me right now. Because I know that eventually we will get the situation under control. People will learn the truth and they won’t hate me as much. But what I can’t deal with is the thought of you getting hurt through all of this. Baby, I need you to know that none of those things are true. If you don’t believe me, you can ask any one of the people who spent every day with me. Janine practically lived with me except for when she went home to sleep. And Johanna. She was always here too. They know how your absence affected me, and they know how lost I was without you. Everyone knew that you were the only thing on my mind, all day every day. Please. Don’t believe what that stupid article says. Believe your fiancee. Your future husband. Please. Believe me.”

I couldn’t control the flood of tears that found their way out of my eyes. How could this be happening?

“Please tell me you believe me.” He begs.
“Sean, of course I believe you. I know you would never sleep with another woman.” I whisper. He lets out a huge sigh of relief.

“Charlie, I promise you I will make this right. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“And I’ll stand by you, Sean. I always will.”
“You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that.” He admits. “I’m so sorry this has happened. You don’t deserve this.”
“This is what happens when you’re engaged to one of Philadelphia’s biggest studs.” I joke, eliciting a small chuckle.
“Have I told you lately that I love you?” He asks.
“Yes, but you can always tell me again.” I can feel his smile through the phone.
“I love you, Charlie Coleman.”

“I love you too, Sean Couturier.”

“I can’t wait until I can call you Mrs. Charlie Couturier.”
“In therapy today they had me writing with a pen. To work on regaining normal motions since I was in the cast for so long. I practiced signing my future name.”
“Are you serious?” He asks.
“Yup.”
“I wish I could kiss you right now.” 
We both laugh.

“Hey Sean?”
“Yes beautiful?”

“I have an idea....”
“For what?”

“Bring Kelsi to Washington. I want to talk to her. And bring whoever needs to be around when I teach this bitch a lesson about staying away from my man.”

He’s silent for a second.
“I’m so turned on right now.” He finally says and I laugh.
“Just do it, okay?” I ask.
“Absolutely.”
“Thank you.”
“I have to go now, Charlie.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Of course. We have a light practice in the morning and then we fly to Toronto. I’ll text you all day.”
“That sounds perfect. I’ll send you pictures of my day.” I promise.
“Oh yeah! I forgot. The guys were mad that I got the first picture of you standing and they didn’t.” He laughs.

“Did you show them?” I asked, slight panic washing over me.
“No. I figured you didn’t want anyone to see since you didn’t post it.” He replies.
“Good. Like I said, I’ll post some tomorrow. I’ll be wearing sweatpants so.. uh... you know.”
“Yes, I know.” He’s perfect.
“I love you, Sean.”

“I love you too, Charlotte Rose Coleman.” I laugh.
“Bye baby.”

“Bye beautiful.”

Notes

A little bit of sweetness.
With a dramatic kick.

Comments please???