“She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes… And she only reveals what she wants you to see. She hides like a child but she’s always a woman to me…”


Marie hated herself for standing on the doorstep waiting to be buzzed in. Out of all the things she wanted to do with her day in New York, this didn’t even rank in the top one hundred. Tonight Marco would fly in after his game against Tampa Bay, and this would potentially be the only time she had to visit her dad. So instead of fighting it, Marie willed herself to his loft in Tribeca.

What was even more nerve wracking was the feminine voice that sounded through the intercom and buzzed her in. So she’d be meeting her father’s playmate today. It wasn’t exactly how she’d been planning to spend the day, but she supposed it was better than having to spend that time alone with her dad.

She glided up the stairs to the only door on the level and knew within the next few moments she’d find her dad with a girl who was only a few years older than her. Before Marie could even knock on the door, it flew open and she found herself staring at a petite woman who was still donning pajamas despite the afternoon hour.

“Billy! She’s here!”

Marie stepped in and glanced around, looking for her dad. It was odd to think that a man over fifty was sharing this apartment with a girl who was closer to his daughters’ age, than his.

“Well Marie. I was surprised to get your call saying you were flying in. To what do I owe this visit?” Bill asked, pulling off his reading glasses and set them on top of his head. Within an instant, the young girl was tucking herself beneath his arm with a cup of coffee in her hand.

“Just coming out to visit everyone, I suppose. I’m only here for two days and Boston for one before I fly back.”

“And where are you getting the money for all this?”

Marie bit her bottom lip, thinking of how she could explain this. She couldn’t say her mom had paid for it, because even though her parents hated each other, Bill would surely call to check up on that story. And then Carol would break the news about Marco. So in the effort of making sure he learned about the relationship on terms Marie could handle, she figured he better hear it from her.

“My boyfriend bought them for me,” she flicked her eyes to the playmate as she began to giggle childishly. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met? I’m Marie… Bill’s youngest daughter.”

Bill glared at her, “this is Roxanne, my girlfriend.”

Marie rolled her eyes and set her bag down on the dining room table, “Roxanne?”

“My parents were big rock and roll fans. They named me after the song by The Police.”

“You mean…” Marie trailed off, stifling back the chuckles that began to rise in her throat. “You mean the song about the prostitute?”

Roxanne nodded and looked up at Bill as he patted her shoulder, trying to get her to stop talking. Marie wasn’t an idiot; she knew the reason her dad was with this girl. After being married twenty-five years to a very average woman, he was now looking to find himself a trophy wife. The mix of his graying age and extreme wealth was enough to land pretty much anyone.

“I wish we could be around longer, but we were just about to get ready to go into Chinatown. We could always do dinner tonight?” He asked so nonchalantly. It almost sounded like he was hoping she’d say no, and she wouldn’t disappoint.

“Actually I have plans tonight. I was in the neighborhood so I figured I’d stop by.”

“Alright… well I don’t have to be at the hospital tomorrow until two, so maybe we can do a brunch sort of thing at the country club I belong to. It’s right on Roosevelt Island,”

Marie picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder, “I’m staying at a hotel by the Garden… I wasn’t planning on straying too far.”

“Why by the Garden? It’s so crowded over there.”
“It’s crowded everywhere, dad.” She turned and walked back to the door. This had gone exactly how she thought it would. “I guess I’ll see you around,” she pulled open the front door.

“Nice meeting you!” Roxanne shouted out giddily.

Marie glanced back at her and smirked as she passed through the doorway, “Roxanne… you don’t have to sell your body to the night.”

“Marie!” Bill yelled right as she slammed the door shut and stood on the other side, smiling at her small victory of getting the last word.

It wouldn’t last very long though. By the time she got back to the hotel, her dad’s head would probably explode and he’d call her up, requesting that she’d apologize. But it wasn’t her fault Roxanne’s parents had probably been doped up when she was born. What else could be the reason for them naming their child after a song about a prostitute?

When Marie got back outside, she looked up at the sky to see that night had blanketed the earth. And after glancing down at her cell phone, she saw it was just past seven. Now she had another choice to make; whether or not to catch a cab back to Hotel Pennsylvania. Chances were she’d spend a small fortune in the two miles from Tribeca to Penn Plaza. Plus, the closer she got to Madison Square Garden, the streets would be so overwhelmed with traffic, it’d be more worth it to walk. So she pushed her hands into her coat pockets and started the trek back.

It wasn’t particularly cold yet, and she almost enjoyed the simple act of walking through the streets. She felt like it was something she should do more, but then also knew she couldn’t bring herself to do this in the frigid streets of Minneapolis. Despite it being the city where her dad lived, Marie missed spending time in New York. The way of life here was so different from everywhere else she’d ever been.

Connecticut had always been the place where senior citizens flocked to live out the relaxing and slow paced years of their retirement, Minnesota was quickly becoming the stereotype of a Midwest town that was trying a bit too hard to be like normal city life. And New York was a mix of the two. While one part of the state could be just as slow paced as Connecticut, another part thrived on the constant hustle and bustle. And on nights like this, where the hustle and bustle was dwindling down to an even flow of foot traffic, it wasn’t nearly as stressful to walk about.

The only thing that would’ve made the walk better was if Marco was beside her. She imagined they’d be holding hands and speaking in hushed voices like their words were secrets from the rest of the world. Although she knew she’d have him by tonight, and they’d have all day tomorrow to spend time together, she wanted him now. In the past when she wanted a boy, he was always available; just waiting for her like she was waiting for him. But now her boyfriend, the only boy who should’ve been so readily available, wasn’t.

She tried to not let it weigh so heavily in her mind. Marco was doing everything he possibly could to be as available as possible. His schedule made it difficult, and Marie knew he couldn’t just change his schedule. It was sometime around this thought that she realized this walk was taking longer than she thought it would. Two miles had never felt so long.

Almost an hour later, Marie smiled at the doorman as he pulled open the glass door that led into the lobby of her hotel. Her legs were aching, and the only relief she felt was the fact that she would be able to stop moving in the elevator. It would do the work for her, and she’d be able to lean against the wall and vow to never walk again.

The room Marco had set her up in wasn’t a penthouse suite or anything. Not that she expected it to be. She was just happy they’d have some place to be alone together. With Marco sharing a room on the road, he wouldn’t be able to do anything obscene with a teammate in the room. This would give them the privacy they needed for awhile.

But there was still a long time to go before he’d fly in for the night. The first period was just underway, and after the game the flight was nearly two hours long. Unfortunately, Marie figured he wouldn’t get to the hotel until it neared one in the morning.

---

Boredom was taken to a whole new level by midnight. Marie had since changed into sweatpants and one of Marco’s sweatshirts, and tiptoed down to the lobby. It was pretty absent except for a few stragglers that came in from their night out. There wasn’t much to look at but she welcomed the change in scenery. Staring out the window of her hotel room had grown old. Watching the concierges chat was much more entertaining.

If not entertaining, it at least passed the time. Before she even checked her phone for the time again, the glass doors swung open and a group of men in suits gathered in the lobby. Marie would’ve thought they were just businessmen, except she recognized Charlie. She stood from her seat and searched the lobby for Marco. She scanned the room and looked back towards the door as it opened again. But Ryan Suter was the only one that entered that time. And after making awkward eye contact, he approached her with a grin spread across his face.

“I didn’t know you were joining us on this trip,” Ryan smiled and wrapped one arm around Marie’s shoulders, taking her into a tight hug.

She reciprocated the action, happy that he wasn’t being awkward with her despite only meeting her once. “I figured it’d be good for me to visit the people I left.” As he backed away, Marie noticed another man had joined them. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t Marco.

“Ryan…” the man mumbled, looking at the both of them like something unusual was going on.

“Oh… Coach, this is Marie… Scandy’s girl. Marie, this is our coach, Mike Yeo.”

Marie grinned and held out her hand politely, only feeling it was shaking when he shook it. “It’s nice to meet you,”

“So you’re the girl Scandy keeps going on about. Got him a little preoccupied, don’t you?”

It was intimidating being in front of their coach while he went on about how much Marco talked about her. And she just had to stand there politely, fearing that anything she said would be taken offensively. And the last thing she wanted to do was create waves between Marco and his coach. “I didn’t know I was. I…"

“Don’t worry about it, darlin’.” Their coach smiled and waved his hand, dismissing her fears. “It’s nice seeing him have something other than hockey to think about.” He patted Ryan’s shoulders as began to take off, “not too late Sutes. Let’s get a good rest in tonight.”

When they were alone again, Marie looked back towards the door, chewing on her lip as she nervously waited for Marco to walk in. “He’ll be in, don’t worry.” Ryan smiled and scratched the side of his head, backing up, “in fact there’s Prince Charming now.”

She flicked her head back towards the door and saw Marco walking in. He was caring a bouquet of roses and hadn’t yet spotted her, but the moment he did, his expression changed. Marie didn’t waste a moment in running up to him, leaping into his arms for the body contact she was yearning for.

After returning to her feet, Marco held out the roses for her. “You look so beautiful,” he smiled as she took the roses from his hand and buried her nose in them.

“Ew no I look gross.”

Marco chuckled and pressed his lips against the side of her head, “are you ready to go to bed?”

She looked up at him, noting how tired he looked. Slowly they headed for the elevators. “With you. Hey congratulations on your goal!” When they were alone in the elevator, she placed her hand over his chest, “I think you deserve a blowjob for that.”

“Maybe tomorrow?” He looked up as the elevator rang and the doors opened up, “I’m pretty tired.”

“You sure?”

He nodded as they reached Marie’s room, waiting for her to unlock it so they could slip in together. “I kind of just want to go to sleep,”

Already ready for bed, Marie slipped in beneath the sheets, turning on her side to watch as Marco slowly got undressed. His slow paced movements made the act of taking off his suit seem like a marathon. But finally, after draping his clothes over a chair back, he collapsed onto the bed in his briefs, on his stomach with his head turned to the side.

Marie moaned in sympathy for him, taking it upon herself to scoot up next to him, pressing her lips against his shoulder. He peeked through his closed eyelids and offered a tight-lipped smile as his breathing evened out.

“My dad’s dating a hooker,”

Marco opened one eye and turned onto his side, draping an arm over Marie’s hip. “You wanna talk about it,” he yawned and adjusted his head on the pillow.

“No, you’re tired.” She scooted closer until she could curl her head against his chest, listening to the pattern of his heartbeat. “But she’s practically my age, and her name’s Roxanne, and she’s as dense as a brick. And it’s weird, right? Like my dad’s basically dating his daughter.”

He smiled and forced his eyes open. Marie had turned on her back during her rant and was staring up at the ceiling. Her chest was heaving as she tried to keep herself from getting too worked up. Marco took a deep breath and rolled over, straddling his body over hers. Blocking her view of the ceiling, she was forced to look at him. He just smiled at her and leaned in, pecking her lips over and over again.

“I love you so much,”

“You’re just trying to distract me,” Marie whispered, cupping her hands over his cheeks.

“Is it working?”

She paused and waited for a moment. “I love you too,”

He grinned and leaned in again, this time giving her a lengthier kiss before lying back beside her, pulling their bodies together. “Don’t worry about your dad, okay? He’s a grown man who’s going to do as he pleases. Plus I’m sure he’d have some choice words about our relationship.”

Notes

"She's Always A Woman To Me" by Billy Joel.