Reflex

I nervously straightened my tie as I knocked on Sarah’s hotel room door. Fuck, why am I like this?

The door swung open to reveal Sarah in a knee length strapless purple dress with black lace overlay and black stilettos. Her hair flowed down past her shoulders. She smiled at me. “You clean up nice.”

I tried to swallow with my dry throat. “You too.”

“Hold on a sec, okay? I need to grab my purse.”

I waited and after a moment Sarah came back out, shoving her key card into her tiny black purse, before grabbing my arm. The smells of her perfume and shampoo washed over me.

“Do you know where we’re going?” she asked as we walked towards the elevators.

“No idea. Some five star Russian restaurant I think.”

When we got to the lobby Andrei was waiting with his tall red haired girlfriend. Sarah greeted Anoushka like an old friend, and slapped Andrei on the arm when he mentioned how her heals made her almost normal sized.

“Are we going now?” Anoushka asked in English that was maybe even more perfect than Andrei’s.

“Sure.” Sarah smiled.

Anoushka linked arms with her and pulled her out the front doors, the two of them already cackling like they had known each other forever. Andrei smirked at me as we followed.

“You should be thanking me.”

“Why.”

“Because I set this up for you.”

I glared at him. “If I wanted to ask Sarah out, I would.”

Andrei smirked at me. “Good. We can’t have a pussy for our goalie.”

I glared at him.

“I’m just giving you a little push.” He shrugged.

I gritted my teeth in annoyance. “Thanks, Markov. I’ll try to keep that in mind when I’m beating you to a pulp later.”

He just smiled wider and got into the cab that Anoushka and Sarah had gotten.

~*~

I should have known. Dinner with Russians at a Russian restaurant would include vodka. And not just some vodka. Lots of vodka.

After dinner and drinks Anoushka and Andrei said their goodbyes and left for her apartment. Sarah and I started to look for a cab. Out of no where, Sarah started to laugh.

I looked at her curiously. “What?”

She just shook her head. “It’s just, strange.”

“What is?”

“I never thought I’d work for my favorite team.”

I laughed too. “Yeah, that must be a little strange.”

I was surprised at how well she was holding the liquor. She managed to keep up with the rest of us all night, and I was defiantly feeling it but Sarah was so small.

“CAB!” Sarah shouted, pointing. This threw her off balance and she started to trip. Without thinking, my arm shot out and I caught her.

“Good reflexes.” She smiled, looking up at me.

“I’m a goalie for a reason.” I said, bringing her back up on her feet.

She wrapped her arms around me to steady herself. I put an arm around her, resting my hand on her hip, and stretched my hand out to hail the cab. Sarah nestled her head in my chest, and I got that thing where my throat went dry and I wanted to swallow again. She started to quietly hum something.

The cab stopped and we got in, and I pulled Sarah in with me. I told the driver our hotel name, and he slid the window between us shut. Sarah’s humming turned into quiet words.

“[i]Sarah smiles like Sarah doesn’t care, she lives in a world, so unaware. Does she know that my destiny lies with her?[/i]”

Her words trailed off and I looked at the cab ceiling. Why am I like this, why am I like this.

Does she even know I’m here?

Fuck, the alcohol’s really starting to hit me now. Lucky that Sarah isn’t tripping now. I wouldn’t be able to catch her.

When the cab delivered us to our hotel I helped Sarah out, and then tripped. She giggled and grabbed my arm. “All right?”

“All the sudden all of the vodka is hitting me at once.” I muttered.

She giggled again and pulled me into the hotel and then to the elevator. She hit the button for her floor and grinned up at me. I stood and looked down at her.

“Sarah, you’re crazy.” I told her.

“How?”

“I’m not sure. You just are.”

She smiled and looked at our reflection in the mirror along the back of the elevator. Not really knowing what I was doing, I leant down and kissed her on the cheek. She slowly turned her face to mine.

“Carey, we’re both drunk.”

“I know.” I said, looking at her tantalizing pink lips that were once glossy and now just appealing. Her breath was warm on my face. I slowly brought my hand up to her face and ran my thumb along her jaw line. “But, do you have any good arguments?”

She shook her head slowly. “No.”

“Good, because I don’t either.” I breathed, before kissing her and pulling her close just as the elevator doors opened to her empty hall.