Chapter 25- Sort Of

So I had a little inspiration and I channeled it into figuring out where I want the rest of the plot for this story to go. Look forward to more posts coming up soon!

Also, if anyone has any good blogger story recommendations, please pass them along! I've been looking for a new story or two to follow :)


After Geno left me to answer the phone, I showered quickly trying to gauge whether I had time to blow dry my hair or just go back to the office with it twisted up in a wet bun. I decided to twist it up and grinned to myself thinking about why I was going to be so late from my lunch break and knowing that any embarrassment was well worth it for sex that good.

Suddenly I was embarrassed for another reason. Geno's parents were still in town and would be until Sunday when they were flying back to Russia. I didn't pray often but I was definitely praying that they weren't home and hadn't had the chance to hear Geno and I making up earlier.
"Hey Geno?" I called stepping out and drying off my body with his towel. It smelled like his shower gel and I breathed in its scent before hanging it back up on the drying rack. He didn't answer me and I guessed that he was still on the phone. I finished drying off and changed back into my now wrinkly clothes.

"Hey" he said appearing behind me in the foggy mirror. "Someone from Reebok on phone." He grinned sheepishly at my 'told you so' look and brushed damp hair off my neck to kiss the spot between my collar and hairline.

"Your parents are gone, right?" I asked leaning to give him more access to my freshly washed neck. "I mean, they haven't been here this whole time right?"

He smiled against my skin and pulled away to look down at me directly. "No. They go shop, spend time at mall."

I breathed out a sigh of relief and continued to get ready even as Geno still held onto me from behind.

"Stay. Be lazy" he tightened his grip as if that would actually prevent me from going anywhere. It was so, so tempting but I absolutely had to get back to work.

"I can't, you know that" I smiled and turned so I could stroke his stubbly cheek soothingly. "Come over for dinner tonight. I'll make something good."

"You don't cook" he reminded me skeptically. Actually I did cook, I just usually chose not to. I didn't love doing domesticated activities but that didn't mean that I couldn't do them.

"I cook sometimes, just not anything fancy. I can make a yummy Mac n' Cheese."

At his blank look, I realized that this didn't exist in Russia and the name itself was enough to throw him way off course. He stumbled over the pronunciation of it a second time until I gently placed my hand over his mouth to stop the torture.

"Nevermind. It's like a pasta." I finished rolling my hair into a tight bun on my head and turned to kiss his lips. "You'll like it."

He grinned broadly enveloping me against his comfy chest. "Then you let me stay?" He asked stroking the damp skin of the back of my neck.

"Course" I replied giving him one last lingering kiss before I tore myself away to pad out of the bathroom and slip into my heels again.

He watched me from the doorway, leaning his broad figure against the wood panneling.

"So I'll see you tonight? Around 7pm?" He nodded and gave me a lusty look that told me I had a lot more than dinner in store for the night.

Ten minutes later on less than sturdy legs I hopped back into my car and drove back into the city. Lunch break indeed.

For the rest of the day, I couldn't tell you exactly what work I did get done but somehow I managed to keep my mind on course until 5:30 when I shut my computer down and hightailed it out before anyone else could ask me to sign something or take on any more projects for the coming week. If they had them, then I didn't want them. I had enough on my hands with an upcoming 30 minute segment the NHL network was running about Sid the Kid. They wanted an in-depth interview with him and a few of his close teammates about the ups and downs of being a young, professional athlete. It wasn't exactly a new concept but it was slated to run right before the start of the playoffs in a few months and it would undoubtedly draw viewers in.

My mind was still projecting concepts and PR ideas as I entered the bright lighting of Giant Eagle. I was, unfortunately, one of those people who always picked out a squeaky-wheeled grocery cart while shopping and I was forced to endure the cart's relentless noises as I hauled ass up and down the aisles grabbing what I needed and a few other things my apartment lacked, such as candles. They were generic stick candles and also vanilla scented but there really weren't many other options to choose from. I also picked up the ingredients for smores which I figured we could microwave and eat while we watched a movie.

Even though I had 17 items, I directed my cart to the 12 items or less checkout and waited for the person in front of me to finish up. I couldn't stand using the self-scanners because of the robotic, female voice that gave you directions even when you already knew what to do. Wasn't it already obvious that when you finished scanning all of your items, you should press the "finish and pay" button?

As I checked out, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. Without glancing at the screen, I hit ignore, not wanting to deal with anyone from work. I ignored the checker's annoyed look once he counted 17 items instead of 12. Wearing my no-nonsense face, I dared him to say anything to me. His eyes quickly looked down and he stayed silent. I didn't know why he cared considering there wasn't a line behind me or anything.

My phone buzzed again and this time I let it ring through so the person would take the hint and leave me a message already. As much as I knew it was impossible, the weekends were my time to disconnect and be a person away from the hockey world and my job. Sure, hockey still consumed me in other ways but unless it was a work emergency, I didn't want to be connected to my Blackberry. Besides, I had someone to make a delicious dinner for and I really didn't want to think about anything but him for the next few hours.

After facing the disapproving look of the checker one more time, I stuffed the grocery receipt into one of my bags and wheeled my squeaky cart back out into the parking lot. I only had an hour to make the Mac n' Cheese, change into something more feminine and make my apartment look presentable. With all of the chaos throughout the week, I had barely spent time at home and when I did, I definitely hadn't been cleaning. 

I had just closed my trunk and was wheeling the cart back inside when my phone began to buzz again in my pocket. Sighing, I gave in and fished my Blackberry out of my pocket and glanced at the screen. Geno had called me twice and now Sergei Gonchar was calling me for some reason. Even though I had all of the players' contact information plugged into my phone, I usually called them. Not the other way around.

"Hello?" I had a nervous flutter in my stomach that told me that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Ava? It's Sergei, where are you?"

"What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"We're at Allegheny Hospital-"

"Wait, who's we?" I asked cutting him off and feeling increasingly more panicked by the second. 

"It's Geno's Dad. He had heartattack."

Oh my god. I thought of the calls I had been ignoring not realizing that it had been Geno calling me with an emergency. I had been taking my sweet time wheeling around a squeaky cart in Giant Eagle while his Dad had almost or was still potentially dying.

"I'll be there in 20 minutes" I told Sergei and left my cart in a random aisle then jogged back to my car.

Sergei filled me in on where to go and who to ask for when I got to the hospital because I wasn't technically family. I drove on auto-pilot like a mad woman while my mind raced through various possibilities and stages of panic. I felt incredibly guilty for not answering what had been Geno's calls earlier and my heart constricted painfully at the thought of what he and his Mother must be going through.

I rushed through the main doors at the hospital and bypassed the front desk like Sergei had instructed me to and went to the 5th floor, the Cardio floor. It felt like the elevator's climb to the 5th floor took forever and of course it was busy so the elevator stopped at each floor to let passengers on and off. Finally I stepped off of the elevator and rushed right into the arms of Geno who it seemed had been waiting by the doors for me to arrive.

"I'm so sorry I didn't pick up, what's going on? How is he?" His face was nearly ashen and shadowed by the hat he had pulled low over his eyes.

"He's in surgery, we don't know until later."

I pulled him away from the elevators where we could have a little breathing room from the rush of people getting on and off of the elevators. He sighed heavily and let me pull him into my arms for a long hug. Like vines, his long arms enveloped me and I stroked his neck, smoothing out tension with my fingertips.

After a moment, I gently pulled away and slid my hand into his. "Come on, we should go be there for your Mom."

He nodded and led me to where everyone was waiting and I dreaded the next few hours, afraid for Geno and wondering what was going to happen if everything didn't turn out okay.