The Moonstone Starlet

Chapter 25
Still in a haze from the Xanax, Elia stopped in a bathroom to check her face. The mascara on her right eye had clumped and rubbed off, and eyeliner was smeared on the top of her cheekbone. Her face was still impressed with lines from what she had fallen asleep on. Elia hated the way it felt to pass out on Xanax, it reminded her of being in a coma, but she hated being stuck on a plane for twelve hours even more. She carefully blotted her face with a cotton ball, trying to remove the black without making her face more red in the process, then attempted to redraw the eyeliner.
Her outfit was a lace cami underneath a simple native print racer back tank with dark blue skinny denim, black Louboutins and a grey infiniti scarf. As she left the bathroom she pulled her Ray Bans down over her eyes. She was stopped by a few people on the way that wanted pictures with her, feeling out of it, “Sorry guys, I just got off a long flight, I'm really tired. Catch you next time?” she said as she handed them a card with her email on it. They stared at her confused as she walked past them. Her phone rang, it was Brad telling her he was parked outside. She passed through a door leading to the unsecured main concourse and was greeted by a handful of paparazzi. They followed her as she walked, asking her questions about returning to Boston, what she was doing in London, calling her names to get a reaction. Ignoring them she walked towards the exit doors. It was late afternoon and the bright sun was a surprise after sleeping for so long.
She found him outside, leaning up against a black Lambo like Jake Ryan, wearing black jeans and a grey henley shirt, unbuttoned. He was signing a couple hats for some kids, but looked up when she approached, his mouth curled upwards into that perfect smile. She smiled back, pulling back her sunglasses as he walked up to her. He picked her up, kissing her, grabbing onto her ass as she wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him back. It was a rare public display of affection for Elia, who normally tried to keep her relationships on the down low, but there was something about him she could never resist. There was something different about him. He had never been timid, and had always possessed a dauntless quality of someone who would never give up and never back down. But now he exuded a full on swagger. He was a rookie who had just won a Stanley Cup and scored nineteen points in the playoffs to earn it.
It was a short drive back to his apartment. Elia didn't ask any probing questions about the past two weeks, it was obvious from the hoarseness of Brad's voice and the tired look of his face that he had been partying as hard as the internet indicated. He told her about getting tattooed in the locker room, losing his shirt and being too drunk to be interviewed for the Bruins Stanley Cup dvd. There was a video on his phone of him and Bergeron rapping at th parade. No mention of dancing with women on a bar.
As they walked into the apartment Elia took off her scarf, set her one suitcase down next to the couch and turned around to wrap her hands around the back of Brad's neck. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms away.
“Hey, settle down, settle down,” he said smiling. He let go of her and walked into his bedroom, telling her to wait a minute. When he came back he handed her a small, rectangular, robin egg blue box with the words Tiffany & Co. written on top. She stared down at the box in her hands. “Well, open it,” Brad said enthusiastically. She lifted the top off the box. Inside was a necklace with five round diamonds on it. “Wow, thank you,” she said, still surprised about getting a gift. Before she could say anything else Brad was helping her put it on. “Oh, here, I'll take this one off first,” he unclasped her moonstone necklace, and Elia put her hand up to her chest to catch it as it fell. She looked at the necklace in her hand. The thin layer of gold plating had worn off in several areas on the chain, giving it an old, rustic appearance. She placed it carefully in the Tiffany's box and closed the lid. The diamonds felt cold against her skin. Brad leaned over to kiss her on the mouth, and Elia put her free hand around his waist, pulling him in to her. He pushed her back, “You're not going to get me to put out before a first date,” he said grinning again.
“What are you talking about?” Elia asked, confused.
“I want to take you out, the right way. The way I should have when we first got together.”
Elia smiled, feeling her face turning red, “What...?” She had no words, so Brad pushed her towards her suitcase and told her to get changed.
They headed out together after Elia changed into a simple mid sleeve Marc Jacobs floral print mini-dress. He took her to dinner at Top of the Hub, a restaurant on the fifty-second floor of one of Boston's tallest buildings. From their table they could see out across the Charles River and the north side of the city. They watched the sunset together over warm chocolate cake and wine. Surprisingly, that wasn't the end of the date. They drove to the Harvard Center of Astrophysics for Observatory Night. Once a month the observatory opened for the public with a special guest lecturer. The featured lecturer that night was Dr. Don Kurtz talking about the sounds of stars. The music he played was incredibly eery. “I'm never going to space, it's too scary,” Elia whispered. “I kind of like it, I think I'm going to go,” Brad whispered back. “You can't go without me!” Elia said back. At the end of the lecture all of the visitors were invited to look through the observatory telescope. They walked up to the roof and into a small white domed building. The telescope was set on Saturn.
“El, look, that's where we are going to live,”
“I'm never going to space,”
“Alright let's get out of here,” he replied, and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “I'm going to make you see some stars when we get home.”
It was a perfect first date, even if it was two years late. The next day the Bruins were scheduled to bring the Stanley Cup to Fenway for a pregame celebration with the Red Sox. They arrived at the park about two hours before the game, and the players were hustled into the Sox clubhouse for press pictures and media questions. Elia wandered through the empty Fenway. She had now been to as many Red Sox games as she had Cubs games that year. Once the gates opened to the public the beer vendors came out, and Elia grabbed a brew. The Bruins had tickets along the Red Sox dug out, but Elia worked her way over to the visitors dug out where the Brewers were starting to come out for batting practice. She was stopped at the wall by security. She sipped the beer as slow as she could, but found it was soon half empty.
“Hey Fielder!” She yelled as soon as someone she recognized came out of the dug out. The big Milwaukee slugger turned around.
“Oh hey, Downs, is that you?” He walked over. “The hell you doin' this far from Chicago?” He asked jovially. They were talking for a few minutes when Rickie Weeks walked over.
“Downs,” He said, bumping fists with her.
“Rick get some ribbies you're on my fantasy team.”
“I'll hit a home run if you put a Brewer's jersey on for the game. Rep Wrigley North.”
“I'm already wearing a Yankees' hat, I'll get murdered. Okay fine, you got one?”
She took off her hat when he actually came back with a Brewers' shirt. They talked a while longer before having to get back to work. Elia walked back to the two rows behind the Red Sox dug out. Sitting in the stands wearing a Brewers' shirt without Brewers' players to back her up was a little awkward, and only got more awkward when the fans around her seat realized who she was. It was well known amongst baseball fans that Elia was good friends with Derek Jeter and many of the Yankees, often attending their playoff games. There was a lot of arguing in the beginning, but one thing that always made friends was free beer, and Elia had no problem buying rounds.
At the beginning of the game the Bruins were driven out and around the field with the Stanley Cup, and then posed on the field with the Red Sox and the Cup. Zdeno had the honors of throwing the first pitch, and then the Bruins were driven back to where they came from. The players didn't get to the stands until midway through the top of the inning. Elia and the guys in the row behind had started playing a simple game of quarters. They cheered when the Bruins came by, and started telling Brad how his girlfriend was as big a pest as he was. Brad looked from the guys to Elia, smiling, “What are you doin', chirpin' Red Sox fans? You're so crazy,” he said fondly as he leaned down and kissed her.
Somehow Elia ended up sitting in the middle of the second row between Brad and Tyler Seguin. During the hockey season, Tyler had been cold and stand offish with Elia. She hoped now that she and Brad were officially an item it would be different, since the boys were best friends. It wasn't. Unlike Brad, Tyler wasn't amused with Elia making new friends. As soon as he sat down he whispered to her, “Couldn't go two hours without flirting with some guys, could you?” Elia was shocked and stared at him for a second before asking “What?” hoping she had just heard him wrong. Brad looked over at her, and Tyler responded, “I said these seats are awesome, it's a great view.” Sound in a stadium travels forward, and Lucic turned around in front of them to smirk at Seguin. Elia frowned. She didn't want to start drama at the baseball game, at least not that kind of drama, so she just pretended she truly hadn't heard him.
Instead of hitting a home run for her, Rickie Weeks went 0-4 in his at-bats. The Red Sox won 12-3. Elia really didn't care either way, and still had a lot of fun. Whatever was going on between Elia and the players, Brad seemed oblivious. Everyone went out to a bar afterward, meeting up with some of the Red Sox players. It may have been her imagination, but Elia could have sworn Seguin, Lucic and Bergeron were trying to separate her and Brad all night. He was a doting boyfriend though, and barely let go of her hand all night.
None of that mattered the next day. Elia and Brad slept in late into the morning, and lounged for another hour in bed talking. They were leaving for Nova Scotia in the evening, and Bradley was telling Elia all the things they would get to do over the summer. He sat up a little in the bed, with Elia under his arm laying against his chest, showing her pictures of home on his laptop. The smile on his face never faded, his optimistic nature was something Elia loved. He couldn't wait to see his family, to introduce Elia to his childhood friends. They could go to the beach, and cookouts, they could go whale watching, which Elia enthusiastically agreed to, hunting, which Elia wasn't so sure about. Elia didn't care what they were going to do, as long as they got to do it together.

Notes