Bottle Caps, Pop Tabs, & Other Unmentionables

The white envelop was sitting on the kitchen island when May and Magnolia entered the kitchen, and just like they had hoped, there tucked away were a pair of tickets to a game two weeks down the road and a slip of paper that had one word written on it.

“Well that’s crap,” May grumbled “this is right at the end of exam season. I won’t be able to go. You think if we ask he’d switch to another date?”

Magnolia laughed and gave her a look telling her she would not be asking to switch the tickets…because she wouldn’t want to seem ungrateful.

“Easy for you to say,” May retorted and went her separate way to start the job they came here for.

//\\

When Magnolia wasn’t at school or work she was either reading a book (that was for school) or at The Goat drinking (mostly Diet Coke with a few shots here and there) away the thoughts of school and dancing the night away. But it was only a matter of time before she needed to start taking exam season seriously. As the dates got closer she found herself cooped up in the library with Charlotte with her nose in a book and takeout containers filling the spaces on the table that their books didn’t. Magnolia had become so focused on school for the past weeks that when she received a text message from Ale asking about their date, she drew a blank. The dates had become a blur and Magnolia was desperately lacking sleep. She heard the disappointment in his voice when she had asked to reschedule, making her feel worse, but she knew just the way to make it up to him.

“When’s your next trip to Dallas?” she asked quietly over the phone to Alex.
“Not for a couple weeks,” he replied.
“So does that mean you’d be free on the twelfth?” Magnolia asked, needing clarification.
“My flight gets in that night,” he answered.
“At what time?” she pestered.
“Uhh I think around five,” he said.
“Okay that works out perfectly,” Magnolia cheered “I’m taking you out okay?”
“Shouldn’t I be the one taking you out?” he laughed.
“Well I cancelled our last date so this one is on me,” she said before getting down to the details.

After making all the plans with Alex, Magnolia ended the call and looked up at the mansion in front of her. She had two more minutes until she needed to be inside scrubbing away.

By the looks of the house nothing had been touched since the last time we had been there.

“They’re on a road trip,” May mumbled as the two walked in and completed their survey.
“Oh and you just happen to know this?” Magnolia smirked “I guess someone is keeping track.”
“Well by the looks of how things have been going, I predict there to be more tickets in our future,” she grinned.
“Well hopefully that doesn’t mean me stepping on other unmentionables,” Magnolia cringed.

//\\

It always seems as if there is no light at the end of the tunnel when exam season rolls around, and it’s even worse as the days pass leaving you to wonder if you passed or failed. Magnolia was practically finished her exams all that was left was a take-home essay she needed to complete and she would be free for winter break.

A week after May and Magnolia had gotten the second pair of tickets, Magnolia found another envelop, but this time it was only addressed to her. It held a slip of paper with a bunch of numbers and letters mixed together and below it read wifi password. Although she felt like Tyler could never truly make up for what he put her through with the vomit and condoms, she very much appreciated the gesture, which also told her that he was okay with her staying that extra half hour to get some school work done. Or at least that was her assumption, but Magnolia found a week later that she was indeed correct.

“You don’t have to run off,” Tyler reiterated as Magnolia began packing her things away. “I mean if you have to be somewhere else that’s fine, but you don’t have to rush outta here.”

Magnolia looked up at him as she stood with her notebook in hand ready to put it in her backpack, but surprising even herself, she placed it back on the countertop. Slowly taking her seat once again, just waiting for him to tell her to leave, but that didn’t happen. Instead he asked what she was working on.

“English essay,” she replied while typing a sentence into the word doc that had been blank for the majority of the half hour.
“What are you going to school for?” Tyler questioned, looking over her shoulder like an overprotective parent would do to their child, needing to know what was on the screen.
“English, I want to be an editor,” Magnolia explained.
“Cool,” he nodded and headed to the fridge “want anything to drink?”
“I’m all set,” she replied holding up the can of Diet Coke and focusing back on the screen.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there for going back and forth between her book and the keyboard before Tyler appeared once again. Magnolia knew she had probably overstayed her welcome and that she should have left when he arrived home, but it was nice to work in a different place where no one could bother her.

“I’m not sure if you have plans tonight, or how long you’re planning on staying, but I’m ordering a pizza did you want some?” Tyler asked.
“Umm, no you don’t have to worry about it, I should be getting home anyway,” she declined the offer.
“It’s no problem, honestly,” he said “what do you like on your pizza?”
“Extra cheese, pepperoni, and pineapple please,” Magnolia listed, giving in to his invitation.

He nodded and pulled out his phone and made the call to place our order. Magnolia was a ways into her essay, after researching and pulling quotes to support the thesis, she was up five pages and that was only based off of the first point. Her head was beginning to turn to mush as the time went on before she finally gave in, saved her work, and closed all her books and laptop.

Magnolia looked around after she had packed up her bag and saw Tyler lounging on the couch, scrolling through his phone.

“Finished for the night?” he asked when he saw her walk over to the couch and took a seat at the end by his feet.
“I honestly can’t write another word or I think my head will explode,” she sighed and rested her head back against the couch.
“Glad I’m not you,” he laughed “how about a movie?”
“I think I can handle that,” she nodded.

Tyler led the way to his media room where a projector screen took up half the wall and the couch taking up most of the room. The two plopped themselves down, not bothering to get comfortable just yet, as they were still waiting for the pizza to arrive, but deciding to pick out a movie beforehand.

“Just no scary movies,” Magnolia stated, “I still have to walk to my car and I’d prefer not having to sleep with a knife under my pillow for the next week.”
“Okay, no scary movies,” he laughed and scrolled through the options on Netflix. “What about Talladega Nights?”
“Dude Will Ferrell is stupid. No, next,” she waved off.
“You’re breaking my heart over here,” he feinted hurt “so what kind of movies do you like then?”
“Action, comedy, rom com,” she answered, “I’m very versatile.”

Tyler laughed when Magnolia said that and in response received “for some reason I highly doubt that.” After a bit more scrolling through our options he landed on Star Wars.

“Never seen it,” Magnolia shrugged and received a look ”what? I think I’ve seen like an old one when I was like six, but that was because of my cousins and I don’t remember anything about it.”

Apparently there was no question and she couldn’t veto Tyler’s decision, because he had selected the movie and they were now watching Star Wars.

It took another five minutes until the pizza arrived and Tyler and Magnolia both headed for the door. The delivery guy handed Magnolia off two large boxes as Tyler dug through his wallet, and coming up with the right amount. Instead of waiting she walked back into the kitchen and went looking through his cabinets for plates, pulling out two and started the search for paper towels or napkins – if he owned such a thing.

“Do you own napkins?” she asked as she bent over looking through another drawer.
“First drawer on the right on the island,” he replied and Magnolia immediately found what she had been looking for.

She went around to stand beside Tyler and looked down at the pizzas and her mouth gaped open and salivated at the smell. They were huge and probably could have lasted her days after eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“You do realize that I will most likely only have two slices of this right?” she looked down once again at the pizza that had definitely made good on the extra cheese.
“Well you better get to eating it because I can’t, allergic to pineapple” he explained and closed the lid on his pizza box before closing my own and stacking it on top. “Drink?”
“Do you have milk?” I asked and received a funny look from him.
“Milk?” he questioned.
“Yes, have you ever heard of it? I like 2%, you got that?” she asked, before giving up and snooping through his fridge.

Magnolia found the carton and unscrewed the lid and leaned in getting a sniff of the milk.
“I don’t know how long you’ve had this for,” she explained when she caught Tyler giving her another look “for all I know it could be bad. I’m not a fan of having chunks in my milk.”
“I just bought it yesterday,” he informed her, so she went to grab a glass from his top cupboard and poured the milk. “Did you want some?” she asked.
“Just grab me a bottle of water please,” he said.

Magnolia did as he asked and once they had everything they thought they’d needed at the moment, Tyler led the way back to the media room to watch Star Wars. Once the two were both comfortable with their slices of pizza and drinks, Tyler hit play and the movie had started. They watched in silence for the first half hour and then Magnolia became bored, Tyler on the other hand looked very immersed as he smacked on what had to be his sixth slice of pizza.

“So what’s your all-time favourite movie?” Magnolia asked as an action scene was taking place on screen.
“You do realize we’re in the middle of watching one right now?” he said between bites of pizza.
“I know, but I’m bored,” she shrugged.
“Do you not like watching movies?” Tyler questioned.
“The good ones yeah,” she smiled “So what’s your all-time favourite movie?”
“Don’t have one,” he mumbled, “what’s yours?”
“Uh I’m going to have to go with The Sound of Music, it’s a classic,” Magnolia stated “Favourite TV show?”

It soon became clear to Tyler that he wasn’t really going to be able to pay attention to the movie that was playing in front of him as all Magnolia did was talk and ask questions.

“So you’re a Leafs fan?” he asked, remembering the jersey she wore weeks ago.
“Of course, you can’t not live in Toronto and not be a Leafs fan,” she scoffed “that would just be a disgrace.”
“You’re from Toronto?” his voice surprised.

Technically Magnolia lived just outside Toronto, her parents were commuters, choosing to drive into the city every morning and raise their family in the suburbs.

“I thought from your name you were from down south somewhere,” he laughed “I mean you don’t sound it, but…”
“Nope, my mom is just a big fan of the movie Steel Magnolias,” she grinned and pointed to the screen “the movie’s over.”

She looked to see the end credits scrolling on the screen and decided that she had stayed long enough.

“I should get going,” Magnolia said and stood from her spot and stretched.

As she reached for the pizza boxes, Tyler made a grab for the plates and cups and followed as he headed back downstairs to the kitchen.

“Recycling?” Magnolia asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” he waved off “I’ve got it.”
“You sure?” she asked once more.
“Yes,” he replied and began nudging her towards the door and placed her pizza box in her hands. Magnolia took the hint and slung her backpack on her shoulder and slipped her feet into her shoes, before thanking him once again for the pizza.

“See you at the game Friday?” he called as she opened the door to her car.
“Yep,” Magnolia smiled and waved goodbye.

//\\

“ I think we should go out tonight,” Charlotte stated from beside Magnolia as they took their seats for their lecture.
“Can’t I’ve got a date tonight,” Magnolia whispered as their professor began his powerpoint.
“I really want you to meet Rick, he’s so great,” Charlotte sighed dreamily.
“Another time,” she waved off, hoping that that time wouldn’t be anytime soon.

Magnolia hadn’t been on a date in a long time and so as the time for her to meet up with Alex came closer and closer, her nerves had gone haywire.

“Magnolia!” she heard from behind her.

She waved as Alex continued to make his way over to her and leaned in for a hug. He then placed his hand on her lower back and led the two down the street to Kenichi.

“Ever been here before?” Alex asked as they entered the restaurant.
“Uh nope, I am a student in debt, I only go out once in a blue moon,” Magnolia smiled “so this place better be good.”

Technically that was a lie, but Magnolia truly felt like The Goat didn’t count, which alongside Charlotte, frequented most weekends. The food nor drinks weren’t super pricey, but they also lacked the quality of taste.

They were seated immediately and without hesitation the conversation flowed. Alex spoke of his work and the constant flight back and forth between Toronto and Dallas, where he grew up, and his five-year plan. In return, Magnolia spoke of school, how she missed Toronto, but how she was happy that she’d miss the winter storms that she was so accustomed to, and told him where she thought she’d want to be in five years time.

“So how’d you get these tickets anyway?” Alex asked as they took our seats “how much do I owe you?”
“Nothing,” Magnolia smiled “they were free.”
“How’d you score that?” he questioned.
“I kinda clean one of the players homes and sometimes what we walk into isn’t that great,” she explained “so I think I’m going to be going to most home games.”
“The perks!” he laughed.
“Yeah,” she muttered, “you don’t even want to know.”

The game had come and gone, Alex had really got into it, cheering on the Stars and booing the New Jersey Devils when they scored tying the game up. In the end the Stars became victorious in overtime, leaving the crowd cheering and smiles on the faces of the players.

“Now we don’t have to, but if you wanted to we can go to the locker room,” Magnolia told Alex and was hoping that he’d decline the offer. She should have known after how enthused he was during the game that he would want to meet some of the players.

And so on they went, flashing their passes and once again swerving through the hustle and bustle the media created, when halfway through the crowd Magnolia heard her name being called. She couldn’t see a thing, everyone in the room were all above the six foot mark, with her head just coming level to their chests. After looking around trying to find where the voice was coming from she saw a pair of arms waving in the air; Tyler. Magnolia reached behind her making sure Alex was still there and grabbed onto his hand as they squeezed through the crowd until they found a little clearing in which Tyler and Jamie stood together.

“Wow, you guys start winning and that’s when people start showing up huh?” Magnolia teased the two.
“That’s why they pay us the big bucks Molly,” Jamie joked and at the same time Tyler asked where May was.
“Molly?” she questioned, “I’m not sure who that is and May couldn’t make it, had an exam.”
“Molly Maids?” he retorted and realization sunk in.
“Good one,” she replied sarcastically and rolled my eyes.

It was the slight pull of her hand that brought Magnolia back to gather herself and introduce Alex to the two men in front of her.

“Oh I didn’t think you had a boyfriend,” Jamie said hesitantly, looking between Tyler and Magnolia.
“He’s um, we’re not,” she tried to say.
“It’s our first date,” Alex spoke up “huge fan by the way!”
“He’s lying, he likes the Leafs,” Magnolia forced a smile, trying to relieve the tension between the group, or maybe that was just her.

It was only seconds later that the two were invited out for a round of victory drinks.

“Unfortunately I’ve got an early meeting tomorrow morning,” Alex replied, turning down the offer and surprisingly encouraged Magnolia to go. “It’s fine, we’re still on for brunch tomorrow right?”
“Yeah, sure,” she responded.
“Okay well,” he said before leaning in a placing a kiss on her left cheek and wrapping his arms around her waist. “See you tomorrow.”

After watching Alex leave the locker room, Magnolia turned and was faced with Jamie making kissing noises and scrunching his lips together. Tyler on the other hand stood in front of her with a blank expression on his face, looking about ready to hit the bar.

//\\

“Do you believe in love at first sight?” Jamie yelled across the table.

The bar the team was currently occupying was busy, with music blasting through speakers and voices yelling to one another, trying to be heard over the music and other people. Tables had been pushed together so everyone could take a seat and celebrate their win. Magnolia sat near the end with Tyler and Jamie; they were the only two she knew on the team. Tyler’s arm was slung across the back of the chair and a look of disinterest currently covered his face as Jamie yelled to them about nonsense.

“I’m not sure,” Magnolia shrugged “I think it’d be different if it’s happened to me, but it hasn’t, so currently my answer is no.”
“Harsh,” Jamie spoke settling back into his chair.
“Do you think -” he started again, but stopped when she took the drink from his hand.
“You are officially cut off,” she stated and swigged back the rest of his scotch.

Magnolia winced at the taste and chased it down with the glass of Diet Coke in front of me.

“I think I’m going to head out,” she said to no one in particular as she shoved her jacket back on and slipped the strap of her purse over her shoulder.
“Right behind you,” Tyler said before finishing off his drink and climbing off the barstool.

Magnolia followed Tyler as he carved the pathway to the front door. He was tall so it was easy to follow behind as people moved out of the way for him and once they reached the fresh air she stood at the curb and looked for a taxi.

“What’re you doing?” Tyler asked from behind.
“Waiting for a cab to show up, I left my car at the AAC,” she clarified.
“C’mon I’ll take ya there,” he nodded over to where he parked his own.

Not bothering to put up a fight, Magnolia climbed into the jeep and we took off.

“Is there a McDonald’s around here?” she asked Tyler, turning the music down and keeping her eyes peeled for a golden arches sign.
“Hungry?” he joked.
“Starving,” she groaned.
“I think there’s one that way,” he pointed as they turned in the opposite direction.

Just as Tyler pulled up to the parking garage where Magnolia had left her car, she noticed the doors had been closed and the surrounding area was quiet, but realized it was one o’clock in the morning and well past two hours after the game, which meant the garage was closed.

“I need my car,” Magnolia whispered to herself, on the verge of tears.
“Don’t worry about it,” Tyler assured.
“It could get towed!” she cried out, not feeling as relaxed as Tyler at the current moment.
“I’ll make sure it’s not,” he reasoned “I’ll drop you off tonight and pick you up first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Fine,” Magnolia pouted, but knew that was the only thing she could do at the moment.

Magnolia was most definitely acting like a child, but she somehow didn’t care; she was hungry, her car was locked away, and she just wanted to go home and watch a movie before falling asleep. Although her mood wasn’t the best, it lightened slightly whenever Tyler pulled into a plaza that held a McDonalds.

“What do you want?” Tyler asked as he pulled through to the drive thru.

Without hesitation, Magnolia provided her usual order, not that she was a regular at Rotten Ronnie’s, not at all…and waited as he ordered food for himself. She tried desperately to hand over money, but of course Tyler wouldn’t let that happen. Instead she gave up the fight and stuffed the twenty dollar bill into the cup holder, hoping Tyler wouldn’t notice until she left.

The drive the rest of the way back to Magnolia’s was quiet except for the times she told him to turn.

“I’ll walk you up,” he insisted.

It wasn’t like Magnolia, but as she unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the cup of Diet Coke, she asked Tyler if he wanted to stay for a bit and watch a movie with her. The walk to her door was quiet as well and when she reached for her keys to unlock the door, Magnolia nodded for Tyler to take the first step in.

Placing her bags on the kitchen countertop, Magnolia begun to dig through the paper bag until its contents were laid out in front of her. She piled whatever she could into her hands and took it to her small living room and placed it all on the coffee table.

“I’m going to go change, did you want a pair of sweats or anything?” she asked before heading down the hall and into her bedroom.
“I really don’t think I’d fit into women’s sweatpants,” he called from the living room.

Magnolia rolled her eyes and dug through her drawers until she found what she was looking for, for both herself and Tyler. She changed out of the clothes she felt like she had been wearing for days and walked out to where Tyler was seated, tossing a pair of black sweatpants and a Toronto Maple Leafs t-shirt his way. Magnolia watched as his eyes travelled to the articles of clothing and back to her when he saw the logo on the t-shirt.

“So would this be a bad time to ask for a picture?” she joked and settled herself on the couch.

Instead of receiving a response, Tyler lifted himself off the couch and asked for the direction of the bathroom. As Magnolia waited on Tyler she powered on her TV and Netflix, and took the liberty of selecting a movie on their behalf.

Tyler approached the couch a minute later and grabbed for his meal as he nestled into the couch.

“What movie?” he mumbled around bites of his cheeseburger.
“13 Hours,” Magnolia replied, still staring at the screen “John Krasinski is my future husband.”
“He’s married,” Tyler deadpanned.
“Plenty of people get divorced these days,” she stated and smiled as she continued keeping her eyes on the screen and narrowly missing when she went to put food in her mouth.

They were well into the movie when Magnolia felt eyes on her and she bit the bullet and looked over to see what Tyler was staring at. She was frozen as he moved closer and pressed his lips against her own, but only took a moment for a response to generate as her lips then moved with his.
Tyler’s hands rested against her cheeks, wanting Magnolia closer, and so they slowly dragged down to her neck and side, resting on her waist. He pulled Magnolia closer and closer until she straddled his lap. Confusion crossed her mind as Tyler’s lips made light work of her neck, she wasn’t sure what had spurred the position they were currently in, but as Tyler found her sweet spot just below Magnolia’s ear, the confusion was replaced with want and need. As her hips moved, causing friction between the two Tyler was left with just enough breath to ask.

“Bedroom?”

//\\

Magnolia was woken by the sound of her phone. It was as if the noise became louder and louder the more she just wanted to bury herself deeper into her mattress. But the noise didn’t stop, it kept ringing until she answered.

“Hey Magnolia, it’s Alex,” the voice said on the other line.
“Alex?” she replied groggily and wondered why he’d be calling, but when she looked at the clock on her nightstand she realized that she was supposed to be meeting him for brunch in ten minutes.
“Yeah, I just called to say that my meeting is running a bit late and was hoping we could reschedule?”
“Um yeah, no worries that’s fine,” she silently prayed to god “maybe lunch tomorrow before you leave?”
“Thanks for understanding,” he said and apologized once again “lunch sounds great.”

Magnolia hung up and sighed in relief, but guilt crept in as she dropped her phone on the nightstand and fell back into her pillow. She had just got off the phone with a great guy, who had absolutely everything going for him, while she lay naked in her bed next to Tyler Seguin.

“Boyfriend?” Tyler mumbled, his voice groggy like Magnolia’s had been.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she reiterated, more for herself than for him.
“Good,” he said as his hand snaked across her back, bringing Magnolia closer to where his lips could meet her own.

Notes

Hey friends....

SO THAT HAPPENED........in this chapter you definitely saw more of Mag's and Tyler as they got to know each other, but Alex is also in the picture now and the struggle is real!!

Please let me know what you're thoughts, if you're liking the story, how you think things might play out with either Tyler or Alex, but more importantly if you like Diet Coke...there seems to be quite a bit of it mentioned in here!

Thank you so much for reading xx

Chapter Outfit

- Brooke