The Moonstone Starlet

Chapter 57

Non stop giggling had been filling the small room for five minutes. Elia and Phil Kessel lay on their backs, side to side, squeezed together on a stiff twin bed against a wall, looking at Kessel's phone. Elia was wearing red sweat pants tucked into wool socks and a team USA hoodie, a stark contrast to Kessel's shorts and t-shirt. He couldn't figure out how Elia was cold when she was generating enough heat that he had been stripping layers since they had lay down. There was a knock on the wall next to them, and Elia shimmied to a sitting position. She reached over and lifted a taped up piece of paper which covered a hole in the wall. She looked through the hole, across into the room next to them. Kane and Amanda were looking back at them.

“Can you keep it down, we're trying to take a nap over here,” Pat asked them. The hotels in Sochi had been poorly constructed, with some rooms being barely constructed at all. The thin walls made it easy to hear everything that your neighbors were up to.
“We're taking a nap too.” Elia said. Kessel started laughing again.
“You are not, I don't know what you're doing but it's definitely not sleeping.”
“You're not even supposed to have your girlfriend in there,” Elia said, grinning at Kessel, who started laughing again.
“Elia you aren't supposed to be here!” Kane said frustratingly. Elia lowered the paper, asking Kessel what he wanted to do. They debated about going to ride a bike before deciding to head down the hall to James van Riemsdyk's room. They walked down the dimly lit manila colored hallway, following along the white and brown carpet. Several rooms were open, and they shouted hello to other players as they walked past. Jonathan Quick was standing outside his room leaning against the door, talking to what appeared to be one of the girls from the gymnastic team. Kessel tapped him on the shoulder as he walked past, a bro hello. Just past Quick's room they knocked on a door. James opened it, wearing sweat pants and a tshirt. Next door Kesler opened his door too, holding a cell phone to his head. The way sound traveled in this building it was hard to tell where a knock was coming from. They waved him off and entered van Riemsdyk's room.

“What's up JVR?” Phil asked, sitting down on one of the beds in the room. He had a double room with two twin beds, but hadn't been assigned a roommate.
“Not much, how's it going PJK, EGD?” He responded.
“Kaner thought we were being too loud. What're you up to?” Elia said. James shrugged as he sat back down on his bed. He wasn't doing much, just watching a movie on netflix.
“I've been teaching Elia about Tinder,” Phil said.
“We've been having hilarious conversations with girls on Kess's phone. But now I need to make a profile so I can get some of that funky olympic ass booty.”
“Ha, really?” James said, grinning. “Guys are just going to think you're a catfish,” he continued, starting to laugh.
“A what?” Elia asked, confused. Phil was equally confused, and looked at James eagerly for an explanation.
“Seriously El? Do you live in a bubble? A catfish, like a fake person online. You think you're talking to one person but they're actually someone totally different.”
“How is that different than anyone ever?” Elia retorted.
“Don't be cynical.” Phil warned. He had been given strict instructions by Kane to help train Elia towards positivity.

“Here, we can just watch an episode of the show,” James sighed as he logged on to the MTV website.
It was an addicting television show, and by the end of two episodes Elia and Phil had decided they should make a catfish profile. They spent the next half hour in Ryan Kessler's room, taking pictures. Kessler didn't ask why Phil wanted to get a picture with him. When Phil asked him to take his shirt off, Ryan just winked at Elia.
“You could’ve just asked El,” he said.
“You think I just wanted a pic of you topless?” Elia asked, putting it together. “OH, yes. I did.”

They made a new profile with the picture and half cropped Phil out of it. They put the name as Keselr, and put “NHL player for team USA” in the description. The trap was set. They just had to wait for unsuspecting women to swipe right on Ryan Kesler, and see what happens when Phil Kessel shows up to meet them instead. Elia on the other hand, was swiping right on everyone that came across her screen.
“El, you are doing it wrong,” JvR tried to show her.
“I just want to get to the chatting part!” Elia insisted.

There was a knock on the door. Kane and Amanda popped their heads in. They were going to grab some food then were heading to watch the USA women's game, and wanted to know if anyone wanted to join them. Phil and Elia left for Phil’s room to grab their coats and James stayed in his room to change. Everyone met back at the exit of the hotel a while later and walked out into the creeping night. In the daylight Sochi was bleak, long flat stretches of brown, patchy grass running up from the Black Sea to the rocky, rising mountain face. Incomplete construction sites loomed with dark windows atop crumbling sidewalks. Thin, sulky, stray dogs jogged through the rubble. At night it felt like a literal ghost town. Athletes and tourists walked through the streets followed by shadows and a wind that crept through coat seams and settled into skin. Elia had done her best to avoid her own ghost, but felt him lurking around every corner.

She was walking arm in arm with Amanda when they realized a group of men from the Canadian team were just up the sidewalk and walking in their direction. Sidney, Martin St. Louis, Duncan and Sharpie, Ryan Getzlaf, Carey Price, and Jonathan Toews.

“Maybe we can pretend we didn’t see them,” Amanda jokingly whispered into Elia’s ear. Sidney had already waved at them. The two groups stopped on the sidewalk, making small talk. Elia was never one for small talk.
“Oh look, its the team from that country in North America that nobody cares about,” she quipped, straight faced.
“OOoohhhh,” Sidney and Price started cooing.
“Them’s fighting words,” Duncan muttered, shaking his head. Another voice, crystal clear and mocking came from the back of the group.
“Nice Canadian made jacket Elia.”
Elia glanced down at the red and white emblem on her Canada Goose coat sleeve that had given her away, then back up at the source of the voice.

Jon hadn’t thought about what he was doing before he heard the words coming out of his mouth, and by that time it was too late. They hung like icicles in between the two groups, frozen in time until Sharp laughed. Everyone started talking again, but she stood there, staring at him, her facial expression one of perplexed shock. As if she couldn’t believe he had even spoken to her. Amanda was shaking her arm, and Elia blinked, turning to listen to something Amanda was telling her in confidence. The two girls waved goodbye and crossed the street. The two teams chatted another minute before breaking. Jon watched as Elia stopped to take a picture with someone on the other side of the road. He turned back to look at Kane as he walked past, hoping for some kind of encouragement. Good idea man. But Patrick just shrugged.

He took a deep breathe of the foreign air. It tasted cold, licked by salt from the Black Sea. It filled his lungs with miles of new earth and possibilities. It tasted wild. It reminded him of her. Despite all the hockey teams staying in the same hotel, it was the first time all week that Jon and Elia had run into each other. She wasn’t actually staying at the hotel, but he had heard through the rumor mill of her comings and goings. He had heard from Kaner that she was actually staying in a suite with Amanda in the same hotel as the Kane family. Despite all the information he had gathered he still hadn’t come up with an idea of how to get Elia back, or even how to have a conversation with her.

Back at the hotel Jon sat with Sidney for a while talking about strategy for their upcoming game. After a couple hours of watching scouting videos they walked down the hall to see what some of the other guys were doing. They found a group in Carey Price’s room playing a board game called Settlers of Catan. There was something engrossing about it and both Sid and Jon got sucked into playing when they started a new game. It was getting late, close to midnight when Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter stopped by the room with a tale to tell.

They had gone to watch speed skating and stopped for a late snack on the way back to the hotel. As they were passing through the lobby they heard loud voices and followed the smell of cigars back into a corner. Half the Russian team was sitting around a table playing poker with some hot, hot women.

“Did you play?” Duncan Keith asked.
“Nooooo way, they were asking a $20,000 buy in!” Doughty exclaimed, laughing.
“Weren’t about to get in 20 large deep on a shady Russian poker game, damn,” Carter said.
“Your buddy Voynov wouldn’t cut you a break?” Keith asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Wouldn’t exactly describe him as a buddy…” Drew said, trailing off uncomfortably.
“We just sat down and talked to Elia for a while,” Jeff said changing the subject.
“Elia Downs?” Jonathan asked, suddenly more interested.
“What other Elia would we be talking about?” Drew replied, passing around his phone. Jon looked over Sid’s shoulder at the screen. Drew and Elia were pressed face to face, Drew making a duck face and Elia winking, holding a champagne glass and cigar in her hand. She was wearing a tight, strapless black cocktail dress, her cleavage pushing out the top and adorned with a large diamond necklace. It was a very un-Elia like outfit. She looked like a Bond girl, and Jon imagined that was her exact intention.

“Is she banging Ovechkin?” Carter asked, to nobody in particular.
“No,” Jonathan said instantly.
“Really? She calls him Sasha,”
“I know her. Really well. She just has a lot of guy friends, but they really are just friends. She wouldn’t be hooking up with Ovechkin.” Jon said firmly, passing the phone to his left.
“He’s right, she’s best friends with my wife, and I would have heard about that.” Sharpie added, making eye contact with Jon.
“Oh yeah, Sharp, Elia said to tell you she sends her regards.” Drew said.
“What?”
“Yeah, she said ‘Tell Sharpie I send my regards,’ and then she grinned.”
“What does that mean?” Sharp asked, his face apprehensive.
“How should I know? I thought you would know,” Drew said, shrugging.

Jon wasn’t listening to their banter at first, his head in the past. If he hadn’t been so insecure, if he had accepted then what he accepted now. He had wasted so much time.

“It’s a Game of Thrones reference,” Jon said suddenly. “Roose Bolton says ‘The Lannisters send their regards,’ just before he assassinates Robb Stark. If I had to make a guess, she’s got some kind of plot up her sleeve.”

A plot, that was just the kind of thing Jon needed to think up. Some kind of movie like scenario to get Elia’s attention.

Duncan Keith was suggesting all kinds of pranks that could be waiting for Patrick, who was trying hard to not look concerned.

“Oh yeah, and tomorrow night they are heading to a local bar down by the coast for a live band karaoke night.” Drew said.
“That would be fun after our game,” Sidney said.

Jon sat silently as the guys conversation carried on. Some talked about trying to hook up with some local girls, others wanted to invite some of the female athletes they had met. He got up a short while later to head back to his room. With all the socializing it could be hard to remember they were playing hockey games for their country. Back in his room though he had trouble falling asleep. Some how, in this strange place thousands of miles from home, he felt like he had his last chance.

The Canadian team met for an early morning skate before breakfast. Playing on the Olympic team was awesome. Everyone on the roster was one of the best players in the NHL, but at the same time it could be hard to get in a groove. They all came from different teams and different styles of play. Despite the disjointed feeling, being on the ice was refreshing. Jon felt his mind clear as his skates cut across the ice and he felt the weight of the stick in his hands. This was where he belonged, where he felt comfortable. Where he was capable of doing the right thing. Where he was confident. He just needed to carry that with him off the ice.

Sidney was struggling to keep the team focused. Patrick Sharp and his two roommates had received a surprise from Elia in the middle of the night. Six cross-dressing Russian male prostitutes had shown up with strict instructions to dominate and strip. They didn’t speak English at all, and the chaos had woken up half the hallway. The pictures were hilarious.

“Hey, keep the bullshit in the locker room!” Jonathan skated over to put Sharp back in line. Crosby was a great captain but he wasn’t used to having a Patrick Sharp to deal with.

After practice Jon met up with his mom, Andree, who had wanted to get breakfast with him. One of the other Mom’s had told her about a place out by the coast called Brigantina Cafe.




Elia was laying on a dark grey chaise lounge in the sitting lounge of her hotel suite. This wasn’t how she had imagined Russia at all. The Rodina Hotel was sleek and modern, the same as a hotel in any other country. She wasn’t sure what she had anticipated exactly. Old gilded baroque design from an era long past. Not satin grey curtains and grey wallpaper with rich brown carpets and cd surround sound built into the walls. Maybe she had imagined it would be more like the athlete hotels, dim and cheaply built.

Jackie came out of one of the adjoining bedrooms and sat down on a couch across from her. The little sophomore in high school had become a sophomore in college almost overnight. Elia couldn’t believe how much the Kane girls had grown. Now they were staying out too late in Russia and waking up with hangovers.

“Mom’s pissed,” Jackie said. “But you don’t have to be 21 to drink here, it’s not a big deal,” she continued.
“She’s pissed because she’s worried about what will happen to you in a foreign country out late in a compromised condition.” Elia chided, suddenly feeling very old. “Haven’t you seen the movie Taken?”
Jackie laughed and closed her eyes, sliding down lower into the couch.
“It’s not like we were alone, Patty was there, and Phil and James. We weren’t talking to strangers.”

It felt odd to go from the one causing the worry to the one doing the worrying. When had that happened, Elia wondered. Donna walked out of one of the other rooms looking exasperated.

“Well, the girls don’t want to get up. They want to lay in bed and order room service.” She said, frustrated.
“Do you still want to go get brunch? I’m still down to go out and get a nice walk in.” Elia said.

Donna agreed, also wanting to get out of the hotel for a while.

“Alright, let’s go,” Elia said, standing up.
“You’re wearing that?” Donna replied, pointing at her. Elia looked down at her sweats and snow boots. Maybe she had been slacking a bit in the outfit department lately, but so what? The twitterverse had exploded with pics of her the first day, but now that she’d been wearing the same thing for a week they had run out of material. Regular people did this all the time. Besides, she had dressed up last night. Her hair was still all wavy from the curled up-do.
“What would your mother think if I let you out dressed like that?”
“She wouldn’t think anything,” Elia said. Her mother had never been able to control her, but Donna’s stern motherly glare burned into her. “Ok fine, I’ll put something else on.”

She managed to pull together a peach dress with black tights and a knit sweater over. The clouds had parted that morning, and the bright sun was lighting up the town. They walked down the sidewalk, stopping to look in shop windows here and there and making mental notes to stop in on the way back. Sometimes they would pass streets leading down to the rocky coast and catch a glimpse of the black sea sparkling in the morning sun light. Eventually they turned down towards the water themselves, the sea breeze blowing into their faces. The two had come to explore a lot of places, brought together by the one and only Patrick Kane. They were veteran traveler buddies now.

The cafe sat just on the coast, with deck seating overhanging the waves. The place was packed, with a mix of Sochi residents, business travellers and tourists there for the Olympics. The women pushed their way up to the hostess stand where Donna said she had a reservation. Their table would be ready in about five minutes. They decided to wait outside, and squeezed their way back towards the door. Just as Elia was about to push the door open, a hand pushed it open from above her. She looked up over her shoulder, catching the gaze of two deep brown eyes looking down at her.

“Thank you,” she mumbled as she and Donna walked outside.
“Andree, what a coincidence bumping into you here!” Donna was saying to the person walking behind her as they walked out the door.

Once outside the restaurant the foursome stood facing each other on the sidewalk. Elia glanced nervously at Toews before settling her eyes on the horizon. Andree and Donna were chatting happily.
“We were going to have a breakfast here, but it is just too busy. I think we will head to the restaurant at the Radisson Blu.”
“Oh, why don’t you join us?” Donna was saying. “We had a reservation for five but the girls couldn’t pull themselves out of bed.”
Elia’s head snapped up in her direction.
“Oh, we wouldn’t want to intrude,” Andree said.
“Nonsense, our boys are like brothers!”

So it was decided. Elia looked up at Jon, her face scrunched in a well fuck, kind of look. He looked back at her, a pleased smile on his face. Elia turned away, startled. That certainly wasn’t what she expected, not with the history that stood between them. It was probably just an act for the mothers. The hostess came to take them to a square table next to some windows overlooking the outdoor patio and black waves. Donna sat to the right of Elia. Jon took the seat across from her. Elia fixed her gaze out the window, carefully turning over a coffee mug in front of her and nodding to the server about wanting a water. She glanced down as a menu was placed in her hands. A silence settled over the table as they all looked over the food choices. It hovered for several minutes after they ordered, like a fog. It was Jon who broke it first.

“It’s been a while…” he said, trailing off as he waited for acknowledgement that he’d spoken. Elia looked up and nodded.
“How’s your family been?” he continued. Elia took a sip of water, still holding the glass in front of her face as she replied.
“They’re great,” she said, pausing. “Mom’s divorce was finalized,” the words came out on their own. “She went out on a date last week, actually.”
“I can’t imagine Sue dating,” Jon said, smiling.
“I know, she kept texting me pics of her outfits and...yeah it’s funny.” Elia took another drink of water before lowering the glass to the table.
“I heard Brian got engaged?” Jon asked.
“Yeah, to another teacher at his school. She’s really nice. They just bought a house out in Plainfield.”
Jon and Elia stared at each other momentarily, both on the edge of speaking.
“Ummm...How’s David? I heard he’s not playing professionally anymore?” Elia asked finally.

They talked a while longer about their families, with Andree and Donna joining in from time to time. It started to feel almost normal to be conversing with Jon again. Elia wanted it to feel normal, of course she did. She had wanted it to be her every day reality once, but that was a long time ago. She wasn’t sure if they could be friends again.

Their food was almost finished when Andree and Donna got up to go to the bathroom together. Elia was content to sit in silence until they returned, staring at the blue and gold fleur de lis pattern repeating around the outside of her plate. Across the table Jon shifted in his chair, and Elia felt his ankle brush up against hers under the table. Instead of moving again he left it there.

“How have you been, El?” Jon said softly. Earnestly. Every word full of the weight of a thousand left unsaid.
Elia pulled her foot back, tucking her legs under her chair.
“I heard you’re working in Atlanta now?” Jon asked, not giving up.
“I am. Uhhh...I…” Elia set her silverware down and sat back in chair. She looked at Jon. Looked at that face she loved so much. The big brown doe eyes beneath the stern set forehead. The way his lips tucked inward slightly, as if in a constant scowl. Even when he was half smiling, as he was now, with one corner curving up slightly. The face everyone saw as so serious, but she always saw the warmth that came through beneath the shell. What did he want now? How was she supposed to answer? Honestly?

“I’m doing great. I’ve never been happier. I’m excited about the work I’m doing now, and I love my costars. I don’t have anything to fight anymore. I’m just being.”

Jon stared back at her looking contemplative, as always. The Captain Serious, the introvert, the socially awkward hockey stud, always thinking things through before he spoke. Usually thinking too long and acting too little. Elia didn’t have anything else to say. She was happy. Everyone had expected her to be sad when she and Francis had broken up, but she felt fine. He wanted to stay in Paris, she accepted a role on the Walking Dead, and that was it. There lives had been running parallel, and now they were split. The television show was a perfect fit for her. More low-key than a movie, more of a family. The cast and crew had been together for three years already but had welcomed her in immediately. Atlanta was close enough to Chicago that she could take quick trips there on weekends and see her family or her friends. Abby had been down to Atlanta with the babies. Madeline was getting big fast, and there was Sadie too now. Everything was going so well, it was easy to assume she didn’t even have time to think of Jon. Truthfully, she thought about him a lot. Almost every day. But she wouldn’t let one missing piece ruin the rest of the puzzle.

Before Jon could respond, his mother and Mrs. Kane had returned to the table, grins on their faces. The two kept looking back and forth between Jon and Elia. It occurred to Elia that this rendezvous might not have been as random as it appeared.

“Oh my god, am I being Parent Trapped?” Elia exclaimed, looking around the table.
“What are you talking about Elia?” Donna said.
“You know, a parent trap, like in the classic 1998 Lindsay Lohan movie about twins trying to reconnect their estranged parents?” Neither of the mothers would admit anything. Elia found herself staring down Jonathan from across the table. Had he set this up? What kind of game was he playing?



Later that night, Elia took a cab with Phil to downtown Sochi. They were both supposed to be meeting up with dates from their Tinder apps before joining some of the Russian players for drinks and karaoke. The bar was off the main tourist area quite a ways, usually only frequented by Sochi locals. The drinks were cheap and mostly domestic. There were no American beers, and the ones they had on draft were impossible to pronounce and terrible to drink. The only thing they found that could be stomached was a german pilsner import.

The quarter finals had been played that day, and Russia had lost to Finland. Some of the team was already there, sulking in a booth at the back of the bar. It looked like they had come straight to the bar after their game, maybe even skipping showers. Their hair was matted and greasy against their faces. Elia waved from a distance before sitting down at a table in the front of the bar with Phil.

All around them conversations were growing, but in a language they couldn’t understand. Televisions around the room were set to programs that didn’t make sense to them. It was the first time it really felt like they were in Russia. Olympic Village was a huge mixing of countries, but here there was one language being spoken. It was definitely not english.

They flipped open their phones to check for messages from their dates. Elia had been talking to a guy named Simon from London who was just in town with friends for the Olympics. He liked cooking, skiing and rugby. Phil had been messaging a blonde gymnast named Samantha who was possibly the most ripped gymnast ever to make the American team. This was not a delicate teenage like most of the team. She could probably squat more than Kessel could. He hadn’t admitted it, but Elia could tell he was really in to her. He smiled as he typed a message back to her. When he looked up he saw Elia grinning at him.

“What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Elia said coyly, still smiling. Phil started to blush.
“Why are you even on Tinder?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Why aren’t you with Jonathan Toews?”
“Why would I --”
“I hear things through the hole in the wall El.” Phil said as he looked back down at his phone. Elia furrowed her brow. Amanda and Pat needed to be more careful when talking in front of the wall hole.
“It’s really changed my opinion of Captain Serious having to listen to him crying over you all the time.” Phil continued nonchalantly.
“Wait, Toews has been in there talking about me?”
Phil looked up from his phone as Elia felt arms around her shoulders. She looked up and saw Alex leaning over her. Ovi slid into a chair next to them. He looked defeated. It couldn’t have felt good to be beaten in the Olympics in your home country. He insisted on Phil and Elia taking a shot with him before he left to join his teammates. Before Elia could ask Phil about what he meant before he had jumped up from the table. Samantha had just walked in the door. It was showtime. Elia watched from the table as Phil walked over and introduced himself. Samantha did not look enthused as she looked Phil up and down, but walked with him to the bar none the less. The pair sat down together at the bar for one drink. Phil was talking a lot while Samantha sat looking slightly uncomfortable.

The door to the bar swung open and a big group walked in. Kaner, Oshie, van Riemsdyk, Sharp, Keith, Luongo, Doughty, Carter, Crosby, Getzlaf, Toews, Quick, Orpik and Backes. Kelly Rae, Lauren, Amanda G, Gina and some other women Elia didn’t know yet. She should have realized if she told Drew and Jeff about the bar that they would tell everyone. She had gotten herself into this hockey life, and had accepted there was no getting out of it. The guys had seen her now, and were all walking towards her. A wave of hellos and hugs washed over her. Luongo’s wife Gina was telling her some story about the kids in less than 30 seconds of getting there, and Sharpie was trying to cut in to complain about his prank. Crosby and Orpik were pulling other tables over to make room for everyone. All the shuffling around simmered down after a while and the group sat around a long table drinking and talking. On her right side sat Amanda and then Kane, and on her left side Duncan and Kelly Rae. Gina and Luongo were directly across from her, with TJ and Lauren and then Toews next to them.

Both Canada and USA had won that day, and were going on to face each other in the semi-finals. Back home in North America there was a bit of a rivalry between the Americans and the Canadians, but at the end of the day many played on the same team. During the Olympics, it was a different story. The guys were taking all kinds of shots at each other. Elia watched in awe and curiosity as Jonathan walked up with a beer to talk shit to Kane, Sidney following close behind. The complexity of the Kane and Toews bromance never ceased to amaze her. A bond as strong as steel intertwined with a subtle rivalry. It wasn’t long before Elia found herself in the middle of the Canada vs America argument. Canada may have had Crosby and Toews, but the US had invented freedom, and nothing could top that she made sure to point out.

“El, come on, you’re more Canadian than you are American,” a slightly tipsy Jonathan Toews asserted.
“Excuse me?” Elia replied defiantly.
“I think you would be right at home in the backwoods of Manitoba,” Jon said back, pointing his beer glass at her. The implications of the statement were many. Home, in Manitoba. She remembered the nights back in Chicago when they would lay out on their balcony and look up at the planes crossing the sky. It was rare to see stars in Chicago, but Jon would tell her about the stars in Winnipeg, the clear nights when they would be able to lay out and watch the Northern Lights. It would be their home in the summer. But that dream had ended. He had walked away from it. Or had he? Elia looked at Pat, giving him a quizzical look. Did he know why Jon would say something like that?

“You were almost a Scotia girl,” Crosby said, laughing. Nice way to make it more awkward, Elia thought.
“Oh please, I am incredibly American,” Elia said, struggling to come up with a retort.
“You have a tattoo on your ribcage in French.” Kane yelled from down the table.
“Okay, we can stop talking about me now,” She said, giving Kane a nasty look.

Phil finally rejoined the table, but Samantha wasn’t with him. It turned out she had thought she’d be meeting Ryan Kessler. The catfishing had worked, but Phil hadn’t planned on liking the girl. She hadn’t planned on meeting a chubby, balding man. Elia tried to cheer him up. He was a better hockey player and had a better personality. And, she thought he was super cute!

Food was ordered, along with more drinks. Jon kept trying to talk to Elia, shouting awkward conversation starters across the table and jumping in whenever she was talking to someone else. Elia couldn’t quite figure out how she was supposed to react. By the time karaoke started everyone was on the way to full on drunk.

“Do you want to sing a song with me?” Jon asked Elia while Sharp and Duncan were singing together. She looked at him confused.
“No, I don’t.” She replied.
“Remember when we sang together before?” Jon said, slurring slightly. “I keep a close watch on this heart of mine. Because you’re mine, I walk the line.”
“Yeah, I used to like when we did things together.” She walked around the table to where Kelly Rae and Amanda were standing. Inside her stomach was turning.
“Manda, do you have to go to the bathroom?” She asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Uh, yes. Yes, I do.”

They shut themselves in a bathroom stall.
“Jon is being weird, I don’t understand what is happening. I know you know something.” Elia said, pointing her beer at Amanda.
“I don’t know anything.” She replied, her face made of stone. Elia gasped, shocked at her steadfastness.
“I know that you know, Kess has been hearing you through the wall hole!”
Now Amanda gasped.
“He told?!”
For a moment the two women just stared at one another.
“Would I be stupid if I said I wanted him back?” Elia asked. It was a possibility she had given up on last spring. When she saw him on tv, lifting the Stanley Cup above his head, and leaning down to kiss another woman. She had hoped and wished for a year, but at that moment she had given up and put him out of her mind. What if it was possible? What if he did still love her? Could they still work it out after all this heartache? Were they still the same people after all these days, and weeks and months and years? Were they ever meant to be together, or had it been another stupid dream?

“Does it matter if it’s stupid? I thought it was stupid for me to get back together with Pat. But I didn’t care.”

Amanda still wasn’t willing to reveal anything concrete. Had she been privy to conversations between Pat and Jonny regarding Elia? Maybe. Maybe not. How would that knowledge change your decision? she pointed out. Elia felt it would weigh significantly on her decision, how could it not? Why was Amanda speaking in riddles?

Eventually they left the bathroom, Elia more confused than ever. Back at the table Jonny handed her a glass.
“I got you a drink,” he said. He was looking down at her with one of his dumb pompous smiles.
“Why are you doing this?” Elia asked point blank.
“Doing what? All I did was get you a drink.” he replied, still grinning. If this was Jon’s idea of flirting Elia could see why he hadn’t been very forward the first time. He was truly not good at it. Such a fucking dork, Elia thought. She had always liked seeing Jon drop his cool exterior though, and just be himself. That was what they did together. Before, she reminded herself, not anymore.

Phil slammed sloppily into her, putting his arm around her shoulders. Jon had to push them both back up so they wouldn’t fall over.
“I put our names in for a song. Be ready.” he said.
“I’m ready!” Elia said enthusiastically.
“Your guy never showed?” Phil asked. Elia shook her head. She had tried dating on Tinder one time and had been stood up.
“They think you’re a catfish!” James yelled from across the table.
“It says in my profile that I’m not JVR!” Elia yelled back.

The song that Phil had picked out was completely ridiculous for karaoke, especially live band karaoke. Let it Go, from the Frozen soundtrack. Elia had heard the song one time, at the Golden Globes, and sang just a half beat behind Phil the whole time. It was absolutely terrible. The next singer called to the stage was none other than Jonathan Toews. He walked up and stood awkwardly on the stage.

“This one’s for...yeah. I’m not good at finding the way to say things. This is Vance Joy.” He couldn’t quite finish the words, mumbling into the microphone and looking at his feet. The music started, soft and slow.
“She is something to behold
Elegant and bold
She is electricity
running through my soul.
And I could easily lose my mind,
the way you kiss me will work each time.
Calling me to come back to bed
singing Georgia on my mind.

Lips, generous and warm
You build me up like stairs
Eyes, innocent and wild”

Elia could have considered it all a coincidence if Jonny hadn’t been staring directly at her the whole time. It was like everyone in the room had disappeared and all that was left was the two of them. The band strummed gently on the guitar as Jon sang softly into the microphone.

“And I, I never understood what was at stake.
I never thought your love was worth it’s weight,
Well now you’ve come and gone
I finally worked it out, I worked it out”

The emotion that had been welling up inside her finally boiled over. She pushed her way through the crowded bar, back to an exit in the rear of the building and let herself out. The crisp air stymied the sob building up in her chest, releasing only a short, quick inhale exhale. She leaned back against the brick wall of the building, closed her eyes and tried to get control of herself. She heard the back door open and swing shut again, rattling against the steel frame. It was Jonny, even before she opened her eyes she could tell. She held her eyes closed even tighter. It wasn’t until she felt his hands on her arms that she opened them, her face hard, hiding the tumultuous feeling inside.
“Let go of me,” she stammered.
“I’m never letting go again,” Jonny said. He pulled her into him. The warmth of his chest welcomed her against the cold winter air. That familiar smell brought her back to mornings in bed, making love as the sun came up. He put one hand through her hair as his other hand slid down to the small of her back, and pulled her in for a kiss. She couldn’t resist and let her body fold into his, pushing her mouth deeper into his. The small gesture was the only signal he needed, and he wrapped his arms around her further, kissing her hard against the wall.

He stopped for air and breathed “Let’s get out of here,” into her ear before pressing his mouth against her neck. There were so many questions, but in that moment, Elia didn’t want to ask any of them. All she could say was “Yes.”

Notes

Once spring semester is over I will have more time to write, sorry everyone!