Cry to Me

A week had past and Dulci's life had gone back to normal. She hadn't heard anything from Carly since their drunken heart to heart fiasco. She had left multiple voice messages and texts but hadn't received any sort of reply. If Carly had lost her phone, she should’ve had a replacement at this point. Dulci couldn’t help but worry that Carly was upset with her about their argument. While they came to an agreement, Dulci knew from experience that Carly would be nice to someone's face while also holding grudges. She knew that Carly was going to London soon but couldn't imagine her friend leaving without a goodbye, angry or not, even if it were only for a couple of weeks. Just incase her inkling was correct, Dulci decided she'd go to Starbucks, pick up Carly's favorite beverage, and then head over to her old apartment to see if she was home. While in line, her phone started ringing.

"Finally!"

"I know, I know! I'm sorry I've been a horrible friend! But I'm calling now," Carly reasoned.

"Christ, I thought you'd died or something," Dulci said quietly aware of the people around her.

"Nope, just busy out of my fucking mind preparing for the England Sephora openings."

"Are you too busy for a guest?"

"I'm never too busy for you, Dulci!" Carly said cheerfully.

"Good, because I'm in the process of getting us drinks at Starbucks. Where are you? At work? At home?" Dulci purposely remained ignorant. She didn't want to hint at knowing Carly was no longer part of a couple.

"I'm at my old apartment."

"Oh?" Dulci grimaced as she pretended not to know. They never hid anything from one another, and even though it was Carly's idea to break things off to begin with, Dulci knew that Carly would probably jealously fly off the deep end if she found out Sidney already told her. Dulci learned early on that she needed to pick her battles wisely with Carly.

"Some much has happened in the last week. Get here soon so I can fully divulge!"

And with that, the two hung up.

----

"So obviously I dumped Sid," Carly started her news after opening her apartment door.

"I figured when you told me to meet you here. Are you ok?” The two headed further into Carly's apartment and deposited themselves on her couch.

"I mean, he was surprised and upset, but it was a long time coming."

Dulci felt slightly baffled because less than a month ago, she seemed so undeniably happy with him. Dulci thought for sure that they'd get engaged in the near distant future. Then she felt bad. What if she caused the break up? What if her conversation with Carly from a few nights before persuaded Carly to end it?

"You seemed content not too long ago. You spent the summer in Canada with him."

"Correction. I spent a couple of weeks with him in Canada. I mostly spent time with his sister and parents. He was always off doing something hockey related or back here to train."

"I can't help but think I somehow contributed to your decision and I don't want you to resent me later for it," Dulci said with concern.

"Dulci, do you think that was the first time I went to a bar or club and made out with some guy to feel wanted?" Carly took Dulci's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"My decision had nothing to do with anything you've said. Although, it did make me see what I've avoided for so long."

"Is he really that bad?"

"For anyone else, probably not. You know me. I’m not going to compete for attention for long with someone or something else when it comes to a relationship.I know what I signed up for when I started seeing him, but I’m done competing with hockey, because I and every other girl he dates will compete with his profession for his affection." Carly gave her a curious look.

"Why? Are you thinking about getting to know know Sid?" Carly asked with grin and shoved Dulci with her elbow.

Dulci choked on her drink a little when she heard the question. She felt her face get red and she hoped Carly couldn't read her mind and see images of her Sidney sex dream stamped into her frontal lobe.

"Carly, I wouldn’t date your ex-boyfriend. And besides, I’m involved with Henry," Dulci muttered while avoiding eye contact. She never did tell Carly that her relationship with Henry was purely physical, but Carly assumed and Dulci never corrected her.

"Oh, that's right. It's a shame, though. You'd probably be perfect for Sid. He could use a girl who's fiercely independent like you. I mean, hell… he’d probably have to compete with your job for your affection the way you work all the time." Dulci looked up to see Carly staring into the distance with a mild look of sadness. Maybe she was sad about her break up even if she wouldn't ever admit to it. In the years Dulci knew Carly, she never once cried over any of her boyfriends. Dulci cried for days after her only relationship ended.

"You're independent. You’re probably going to have to uproot and move to London for your job."

"Not like you. You see Henry, what, like once or twice a week and you never complain. Sid would go on trips and I’s barely hear from him.There would be days that we’d be in the same house and I didn’t see him because he was too busy with hockey or something."

That's because Henry and I are friends with benefits, Dulci thought, but responded with, “That’s what works for us.”

"Speaking of you’re impending move, did you get your problem fixed yet?"

"Tomorrow at 10:00am. Anna is taking me."

Carly's phone started ringing and when she looked at the caller ID, she sighed.

"These conference calls will be the death of me." She picked up and started walking into her kitchen. She closed her eyes and started shaking her head in frustration before covering the receiver with her hand.

"Hopefully this won't take long," Carly whispered.

Dulci quickly got the things together and walked into the kitchen to say goodbye to Carly with a tight hug.

"You're busy. Call before you leave for London and we’ll get together," Dulci said with a quiet voice so she wouldn’t disturb the call. Carly waved with a sympathetic look before retreating back into her living room.

As Dulci walked across the parking lot towards her car, she heard her phone vibrating in her bag. It was Savannah.

“How was the cruise?”

“It was amazing. I’m burnt to a crisp, though…”She continued to go into detail about St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, and Curacao, the weather, the ship, the sex with Ben, more sex with Ben, and the gifts she got.

“How was the formal hockey education?” Dulci blushed when she heard the insinuation and smile in Savannah’s voice.

“Well, you’ll be sad to know that it never happened. I didn’t leave the hospital that night until close to nine and I thought it would be too late to go to his house.”

“Umm hello? West coast games don’t start until ten or later.”

“Umm hello? I don’t watch hockey or know it’s broadcasting schedule or what channel the games come on.Therefore, I don’t know when games are on,” Dulci quipped sarcastically mirroring Savannah’s voice.

“Besides, don’t you think showing up at a guy’s house after a certain time is kind of forward?”

“Dulci, he saw you completely naked. Trust me when I say he would think it was forward, but he would welcome it.If he didn’t think you were attractive, he wouldn’t waste his time,” Savannah said matter-of-factly.

“He told me he didn’t see anything,” Dulci argued.

“Bullshit. He saw it all, and he liked it.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dulci refuted.

“Let me see here. I’m going to fix this for you.” Dulci could hear some typing in the background.“Schedule…” Savannah mumbled to herself.

“What are you doing?”

“A-ha! He doesn’t have a game tonight.”

“Ok. What does that mean?”Dulci was thoroughly confused.

“That means you take you unassuming little ass and get into your car, drive to his house to get your hockey education, and maybe something extra,” Savannah said firmly.

“Savannah, I cannot show up at his house unannounced.”

“What’s the worse that can possibly happen? He’ll tell you that he’s busy and you can’t come in.Not so bad in the grand scheme of things.”

Dulci weighed her options. She could go home and think about what Savannah said, or she could just go to his house to see what would happen.She wasn’t one who was spontaneous, but he did say they would reschedule their night.He seemed like he really wanted to spend time with her.What did she have to lose?

“Ok, I’m going to his house.”

“That-a-girl! You go get him!” Savannah cheered.

“I’m going to get a formal hockey education, not fuck him. You better be around later when I’m rejected.”

“You wont be. Head up, Hammett!”

“Bye Savannah.”

----

“Oh my God, what the fuck am I doing?” Dulci exhaled as she pulled into his driveway. Her palms, back, and forehead were starting to perspire and her heart was racing.

“Its now or never.” She stepped out of her car and when she closed to door and looked at the colossal house, she willed herself to get it together.Walking up the steps toward the front door, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, rubbing her palms on her jeans.She rang the doorbell, but no one answered the door.She looked back toward the driveway and noticed that his Range Rover was parked beside another equally expensive car.She opened her bag to pull out her phone to call Sidney when she heard the door open.Looking up, she saw exactly what she didn’t want to see, a tall, thin blonde.

“Hi, can I help you?” The blonde asked as she opened the storm door.

“I was wondering if Sidney was around?” Dulci gulped.

“He’s napping.”

“Oh. Will you let him know that Dulci stopped by?”

“Sure,” the blonde said with a warm smile.

“Thank you.” Dulci waved and turned to walk toward her car. When she heard the door shut, she sped up to get back to her house where she wasn’t putting herself or her feelings on the line.

Once she peeled out of his neighborhood, she dialed Savannah.

“You changed your mind, didn’t you?”

“No. I went and the worst possible scenario happened.There was a girl there.A blonde.So I hauled ass and now I’m on my way home to eat my feelings,” Dulci huffed toward the sky, blowing hair out of her face.

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes with chipotle and beer.”

Dulci smiled, not just because of how stupid she felt and knew she needed to find humor in the situation, but also because Savannah understood what good comfort food was. True to her word, she arrived a half an hour later with food and beer.

“Look at it this way. Whether it’s his new girlfriend or a piece of ass, she’ll tell him, more so to question why a hot brunette showed up to see him.Then he’ll know you came around,” Savannah said through her bites of her burrito bowl.

“Ugh. I’m such a fool,” Dulci groaned as she leaned back on the couch.“This is exactly why I keep my arrangement with Henry.He’s easy and there’s no mistaking our relationship.”

“Have you actually been emotionally interested in anyone since Jason?”

“Nope. Alright.I’ve got to go to the bathroom.Make yourself at home,” Dulci tossed the remote at Savannah.When she shut the door behind her, she looked at herself in the mirror.“You know better,” she whispered to herself before she splashed some cold water on her face.As she was unraveling toilet paper to finished her business, Savannah burst into the bathroom.

“JESUS CHRIST!” Dulci shrieked.

“He’s calling you! Answer!” Savannah handed Dulci her phone.When she looked at the screen, she noticed that the call had already started.

“Hello?” She glared at Savannah who smiled triumphantly and shut the door.

“Hey. Taylor told me you stopped by today.”

“Yeah. Umm… I just stopped by to see Sam… See how she was doing,” Dulci said lamely.I came to see you but someone beat me to the punch.

“She’s good. I wanted to talk to you about her.I think I can swing her surgery for next Monday or Tuesday because we have a couple of days off.Then my parents can come take over.”

“I can watch her for you, if you’d like. That way I can start her rehab and see her progress.I mean… unless you want your parents here for more reasons than Sam.”She shook her head at how eager she sounded to watch Sam, especially when he didn’t immediately respond.

“Actually, that would work out well. Are you sure its not going to inconvenience you at all?”

“She’s no inconvenience. She’s a great dog.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Dulci shifted uncomfortably when she couldn’t think of anything to say to break the silence.

“So, how have you been?” Dulci perked up at the change in conversation.

“Great. Yourself?”

“Not bad. I was making lunch with Taylor earlier when she pointed out the moldy Italian food in my refrigerator.”

“Seriously? You left it in there that long?That was like a week and a half ago,” Dulci laughed.

“Well, I honestly thought that the girl I was supposed to entertain would’ve come over before it got moldy.” This made Dulci giddy because she knew he was referring to their failed attempt at hanging out.

“Did you invite her to come back?” She held her breath waiting for his response.

“Not yet, but I’m going to. Listen, I’ve got to go.I’ll talk to you soon,” and hung up the phone.Dulci sat there staring at her screen.He bought that food to share with her, and now he’s calling another girl.Maybe he gave up and decided to just stick to the girl he had at his house.Maybe she read the entire situation wrong.It wouldn’t be a first.She placed her phone on the vanity and put her head in her hands with a loud exhale.Within seconds, her phone was ringing. It was him.

“Hello?” She was thoroughly puzzled.

“Would you like to come to my place tonight?” Dulci smiled fiercely, but she was going to keep up his charade.

“I can’t.”

“Oh…” He sounded disappointed.

“I’d love to but I’m actually having a friend over at my place to give me a formal hockey education. I accidently blew him off last time.”

“What time is this friend coming over?” The smile was back in his voice.

“Umm.. I guess it depends on the game. He hasn’t told me yet.”She instantly wished she thought more before flirting with him.Of course she didn’t know when the games would be on.Six?Seven?Eight?She was hopeful that she didn’t sound as clueless as she felt.

“He’ll probably be there around six with food.”

“I think I told him to bring sushi, and a lot of it.” She was hoping he got the hint.

“Sounds like fun.”

“It better be. If not at lease I’ll get good food out of it,” she joked and got a laugh out of him.

“See ya later.”

“Bye.” She ran out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.Savannah looked to her expectantly.

“It’s 3:30, and I need you to help me tidy this place up, because he’s coming over at six.”

“I’m only helping you because I love you and want to hear the juicy details of the mind blowing sex you’ll have.”

“I’m not going to have sex with him. We’re watching hockey.”

“Yeah, ok. We’ll reconvene in the morning at work and you can tell me all about how great he is with his mouth.This place isn’t even dirty.You Virgos are OCD about cleaning…”

Dulci didn’t respond, but rolled her eyes as she went to her utility closet for the vacuum.

----

Dulci did a quick once over when she heard a quiet knock on the door. She was wearing new dark washed jeans, a muted maroon chunky cable knit cardigan with a grey fitted tee shirt beneath. Of course, Savannah told her to wear a casual dress because it "granted easier access for him to stick it in," but Dulci figured she'd wear something that would be appropriate as if she were going to an actual game. A dress would be overkill. She also didn't want to seem like she was trying too hard, just natural. They weren't going to have sex. She barely knew him other than what Carly had told her. She couldn't sleep with her best friend's recent ex boyfriend. He was coming over to intricately explain the love of his life and eat sushi with a friend. What's the point of getting dolled up? Just in case, however, she did heed Savannah's advice to wear sexy underwear.

She briskly walked to her front door and took a quick gaze through the peephole. She always felt herself get flustered when she would first lay eyes on him, so she gave herself a bit of time to do it where he couldn't witness it. He was wearing jeans and a black and white raglan long sleeved shirt that seemed to be tight in all the right places, casual, like Dulci aimed for. After quickly composing herself, she opened her front door.

"Hi. Come in," she welcomed while scooting back to let him through. While she closed the door behind him, she noticed him taking his shoes off and footed them against the wall. Manners, she thought with a smile. She stepped in front of him and lead them toward the kitchen and living room.

"You said you wanted sushi, but I wasn't sure what kind, so I got a bit of everything, including veggie rolls incase you're a vegetarian," he rambled as he pulled out multiple boxes of sushi.

"That was thoughtful of you. I'm not a vegetarian. I love meat," Dulci explained enthusiastically before she realized the accidental euphemism. She instantly tried to correct herself, but it was too late. He heard it exactly the way Dulci did.

"You said it, not me," he chuckled as he opened the boxes. "We just need plates."

"Actually, since we'll be watching TV, I figured we could put all of the sushi on the coffee table and eat it as we please," she suggested with a shrug.

"After you let me take all of it out of the bag," he shook his head teasingly.

"Don't worry. I'll help you carry it." She took three of the six boxes and carried them into the living room, reopened them, and sat down waiting for Sidney to do the same.

"Can I get you something to drink? Water? Beer? Wine?" She asked as she grabbed a beer for herself and opened it. Without answering, he walked over to her refrigerator to take a look at the options. He cracked a smile when he saw the beer she was drinking.

"Dirty Little Freak, huh?" He said as he read the bottle, slowly rolling it in his hands.

"It's delicious, if you like dark beer. It's a coconut chocolate stout. You're welcome to try one if you'd like."

"I'll try it." He took a sip and seemed to be letting the flavor savor in his mouth.

"It's different, but good. I've never seen this before," he said examining the bottle again.

"It's from a microbrewery when I grew up. I order it and have it sent here," Dulci said as she moved back into the living room with sidney in tow.

"Ok, so how intense is this education going to be?" Dulci asked as she popped a spicy tuna roll into her mouth.

"I figured we could just watch a game and you could ask whenever you didn't understand something."

"What game are we going to watch?"

"The Washington/Winnipeg game is on tonight. We could watch that."

"Well, I'm from Maryland, so I guess that means I'll root for Washington." She looked back toward her television as the pre-game started. She noticed he wasn't eating any rolls, and when she went to look at him, he was staring at her.

"What?" Dulci asked nervously.

"I cannot let you root for Washington," sidney replied with a dead pan look.

"Why not? I literally lived forty minutes outside of DC growing up."

"Because there's a heated division rivalry there. I can't let you root for them."

"Hmm. This is going to be fun. I'm evening wearing Washington's colors ," Dulci said through a mischievous smile, pointing at her clothes.

"I liked what you were wearing until you said that," he retorted with mock disgust.

(Then why don't you take them off of me?) she thought but quickly turned toward the TV again. No sex.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, peacefully eating their rolls while watching TV when sports center ran Alexander Ovechkin's top ten highlight reel.

"He must be pretty good if he's got a highlight reel," Dulci said cluelessly.

"He's good. A show off, but good. We get compared often."

Dulci just nodded in reply. The more of the highlight reel she watched, the bigger the gawking expression on her face grew. Highlight number three, the self-rebound from the boards and breakaway goal, made Dulci get goose bumps, and as she rubbed her arms, she turned to Sidney.

"Have you ever done that?" Dulci asked in amazement. Sidney responded by rolling his eyes.

"See. He is why I'm a Washington fan," she teased.

"For now, until I can convince you otherwise," he said glancing at her giving her a crooked smile.

Throughout the game, Dulci would pick up on certain things the commentators would say and ask for their meaning. She struggled with icing, and Sidney, in an attempt to fully explain it, grabbed her dry erase board from her refrigerator and drew out the rink fully equipped with lines and goal posts. Giving her a black marker, he grabbed her hand and placed it next to one goal post. She noticed his hands were rough, but warm, like he'd used them for manual labor for years, and when she thought about it, he had. He took a green marker and placed it next to her black marker.

"Ok. So team Dulci is defending her own half of the rink," he takes her hand and draws a circle around "her half if the ice. "Team Sid is trying to score. But if a player on team Dulci shoots, dumps, or deflects the puck past team Sid's goal line," he takes her hand again and draws an arrow over the opposing goal line, "then it's icing, unless a player from team Sid touched it. Make more sense?"

"A little. I think I need to see it more before I can really understand it.”

A couple of minutes later, Dulci excused herself, leaving Sidney alone in her living room.He continued to watch the game for a few minutes until he got thirsty and went to grab a bottle of water from her fridge.While he was there, he was interrupted by her cellphone ringing on the kitchen counter.

Last night / Our lover's quarrel / I was think about you / Heard more than I can say / And it was kind of dirty / All night / And the way that you looked at me / Help me here / It was kind of nasty / Help me here / It was kind of trashy / Cause I can't help my mind from going there / Heard your boyfriend was away this weekend / Wanna meet at my place / Heard we both got nothing to do / When I lay in bed I touch myself and think of you.

He’d never heard the song before, which wasn’t surprising considering the only pop music he listened to was in Carly’s company.He scooted closer to the phone to see that the caller ID said Henry.He vaguely remembered Carly talking about how she was offended that Dulci never introduced Carly to her boyfriend Henry.Sidney heard a door shut from down the hall and figured Dulci was coming, so, in an attempt to look less conspicuous, he quickly exited the kitchen and sat back on the couch.

“Did I miss anything?Did my team score?”

When Sidney looked toward her, he noticed she was wearing glasses and had pulled her hair back into a high ponytail.All he could think about was the lyrics to Henry’s ringtone, those glasses, and the fact that she looked like she could play the role of a naughty veterinarian, especially if she pulled out her toys.

“The score is still the same,” he said clearing his throat.“You missed a call, though.”

“Crap.I hope it wasn’t someone from the hospital.I’m technically on standby tonight.”Dulci walked into the kitchen and looked at her phone.Her stomach dropped when she saw that Henry called.He wanted to come over, and for the first time in months, Dulci didn’t want him to.Then she remembered what his ringtone was and she prayed to God that the phone was on vibrate when it starting ringing again.It was the first verse and bridge from Lady Gaga's "Sexxx Dreams".

“He’s not important,” she said as she hit ignore, switch the phone to vibrate, and walked back toward Sidney.

“I should probably go,” he said uncomfortably rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh… ok.”Dulci stood in front of him, shifting from foot to foot trying to find a way to get back to the mild flirting from earlier.

“I mean, it would be weird if your boyfriend showed up and…”

"He's not my boyfriend,” Dulci interrupted.She wanted to make it clear that Henry, while they were friends with benefits, was not by any means her boyfriend.

“But, if you think you should go, I would..”

“No.I’ll stay.”It was his turn to interrupt her.The two awkwardly sat back down.Before long, they fell back into the same ease as the beginning of the night.They game had ended with Washington winning.When Dulci was channel surfing, she landed on Silence of the Lambs.

“I’ve never seen this movie before,” Sidney said as he rotated on the couch to get more comfortable.

“Seriously?This is a classic!Such a good movie.”

“Is it in your top ten?”

“Are you kidding?It’s in my top five, possibly top three.Get comfortable because once you start watching, you won’t want to stop,” she said excitedly.Sidney laughed at her enthusiasm.

Twenty minutes into the movie, Sidney looked over to find Dulci asleep with her head on the armrest of the couch.While he was enjoying the movie, he knew he couldn’t continue watching it while she slept.He turned the TV off and tried to wake her.When she wouldn’t budge, he scooped her up and carried her into her bedroom.Since it was difficult for him to hold her and push the comforter back, he laid her on top and covered her with the throw blanket from her couch.He quietly exited her house, trying to avoid waking her, and after walking to his car, sent her a text before driving home.

Dulci woke up confused.She remembered falling asleep on the couch watching Silence of the Lambs with Sidney, but now she was drenched in sweat on her bed, still wearing the same clothes, with the throw blanket from the couch.He must’ve brought her to bed.She got up, changed into pajamas, and walked to the kitchen to find her phone before crawling tiredly back into bed.Upon awaking her phone, she saw a text from Sidney waiting for her.

I must’ve been a bore because you fell asleep on me. ;-)

She looked at the time and saw it was close to four in the morning.She knew he was sleeping but sent a reply anyway.

That hockey shit is kind of boring. That and I don’t get to nap in the middle of the day like you.;-)

Happy with her response, she set her alarm and quickly fell back to sleep.

Notes