Chapter 4

Delphinium...the flower of boldness

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“I’m glad you told him we’d take the tickets,” Nana remarked to me as we sat drinking our morning coffee.  “Sofia needs something like this; she deserves to be treated to something special now and then.  Plus, she needs a good male role model in her life.”

“I know Nana, it’s just that I can’t give this to her and it makes me feel like we are taking charity or something.”

“Never be too proud, Avery.  I think Joffrey truly does have innocent intentions.  And if not, what is the harm?  There is no reason why you shouldn’t be dating a guy like him…”

I shot Nana a warning look.  “I do not like him at all, not even as a friend.  He is definitely not my type.”

“How do you even know what your type is anymore?  You haven’t even been out on a date in how long…except for the occasional hook-up with You-Know-Who.”

“I haven’t seen him in over two years…”

“That’s because you changed your phone number.”

“Do you blame me?  I needed to move on, I felt pathetic hoping that some day he would tell me he wants to make it something more serious,” I said, feeling defeated.

“I think he deserves to be told about his daughter,” Nana said for what was probably the thousandth time.

“He will just think I’m lying.”

“Is he really that bad of a person?”

“No, he’s not.  He really is a sweet man; a man that I would never date again just because I know about his track record with women, but he is a good man,” I said honestly.

“Someday you will choose the right thing to do,” Nana said with a sad smile.  “As for this new problem, I think you need to look at it with a more open mind and give things a chance…”

“I don’t think there is anything to give a chance to,” I said, cutting her off before she got anymore ideas.  “Joffrey promised me yesterday that he has no ulterior motives except to put a smile on Sofia’s face.”

I watched as my Nana shook her head as she pushed back her chair to get up, “Well, I can only hope the boy puts a smile on your face too.”

I didn’t even say anything else because I was done arguing about the situation.

We showed up at 11:30 in the parking lot Joffrey told me to go to.  The security guard just waved us through when I said my name and next thing I knew we were parking my old beat-up pick-up truck next to a Lexus SUV that probably cost more than I would hope to make in a lifetime.  Oh boy.

I was just getting Sofia out of her booster seat when I heard Joffrey and Bobby’s voices introducing themselves to my Nana.  Sofia crawled across the seat and began yelling out “Loops!”  He quickly came over and scooped her up into his arms, giving her a big kiss on the cheek that she enthusiastically reciprocated.  I couldn’t help but giggle when Nana snapped a picture of the scene.

Bobby came over and pulled me into a friendly hug, welcoming me to the arena.  “Krissy will be so glad to see you!  She insisted on coming to the game when we told her of our plan.”

“See I told you that it wasn’t all my idea,” Joffrey chirped over at me.

I just looked over at him and rolled my eyes as I stuck my tongue out, getting an interesting reaction out of him.  It was a goofy laugh spiked with a lustful face.  Note to self, don’t do that again.

Nana and I followed the boys who walked on either side of Sofia, holding her hands, swinging her between them as they walked towards the arena.  As soon as we got into the door of the arena we were greeted by a couple of the players like Ryan Getzlaf and Jonas Hiller.  Joffrey was the only one in a suit, the rest of the guys were in shorts, t-shirts, socks and sandals.

The tour started out in the locker room where we met a few more of the players.  I had to laugh when Sofia began asking questions about the guys’ different accents.

“You speak funny,” she said to Hiller who was taking his turn at carrying her around.

“I think you speak funny,” he said back to her in his Swiss accent, laughing at her innocence.

“No, I learned my English from watching Sesame Street, so I speak the right way.”

This earned some loud laughter from our crew as Sofia looked around at them all; trying to figure out what she said was so hilarious.  By the time we got down to the ice, Joffrey once again had Sofia’s hand.  There were a couple guys out skating around at this time doing some warm-ups and he called over to Bobby before turning back to Sofia.  “So grasshopper, how would you like to go out on the ice?”

Her eyes got larger than I had seen them get all day as she whispered excitedly, “But, I don’t have skate, Loops.”

“You don’t need them; Bobby informed her, quickly reaching over the bench and picking up Sofia to place her on the ice next to him.  Nana took probably a million pictures of the two of them as she shuffled her feet along the ice, having the time of her life.  Bobby then let her shoot a couple pucks at the net, impressing the guys with her slap shot.  By the time the game started we were in our seats up in a club box with a couple other team family members and Krissy.

“She looks like she is having the best day of her life,” Krissy exclaimed as she looked over at Sofia who was sitting on Joffrey’s lap, intently watching the game with my Nana sitting beside them.

“It probably is the best day of her life,” I said with a bittersweet smile.  “I could have never done anything this great for her.  I will never be able to thank the guys enough for their generosity.  I know my Nana is enjoying it just as much.”

“How about you?  Have the boys won you over to hockey?”

I couldn’t help but smile, “I just might have to watch a few games with Nana and Sofia, especially after seeing how cute some of the guys are.”  We both laughed loud enough to attract Joffrey’s attention.  He turned around and just raised an eyebrow at the both of us before shaking his head and turning his attention back to the game and the million questions Sofia was asking him.

“He has really taken to Sofia,” Krissy said in a more serious tone.  “I know how much he misses his niece…”

“Yeah, he mentioned that to me at lunch yesterday…”

“Don’t be too hard on him, I promise that he truly is a gentleman when he wants to be.  Like I said the other day, he seems to have trouble picking the right women but I think his luck might be changing,” she said with a wink, causing me to blush for some unknown reason.

“Oh no, I am not involved with him…” I immediately disputed as I shook my head back and forth.

“But with the way he looks at you, I’m sure you easily could be,” Krissy said with a smile.  “Are you seeing anyone?”

I looked down at my drink and murmured, “No, haven’t had much luck in that department, especially since I have a kid.”

“Is her father involved in her life at all?”

“No, he doesn’t even know about her,” I answered, still wondering why I felt so comfortable blabbing out my private life to a woman I just met the other day.

A meaningful look crossed over Krissy’s face as she took my hand and said, “I’m sure that’s been really tough on you.”

I took a deep breath and shrugged my shoulders, “Yes and no, my Nana has helped me out so much, if it wasn’t for her I probably wouldn’t have the shop and I probably wouldn’t have Sofia,” I spoke honestly.

“She’s definitely a gem,” Krissy smiled as Sofia’s laughter rang out in front of us.  “Oh, not to change the subject, but I was wondering about tomorrow.  Would you and Sofia join us for dinner tomorrow and then we can over what you have gotten together so far?  I’m sure the boys will keep Sofia occupied,” she said with a broad smile, making it impossible to say no to her.

“Sure, that sounds like a great idea.  What can I bring?”

“Oh good, I’m glad you’re here!” Krissy exclaimed when she walked downstairs to find Bobby and me jamming on our guitars.  “You are staying for dinner,” she said with a voice that told me I had no choice.

“Um, okay…?  Why?”

“Since when have you ever questioned me about staying for anything that has to do with food?” she asked with a suspicious smile, a smile that told me she had something up her sleeve.

“You definitely have something in the works,” Bobby pointed out, also picking up on his fiancé’s sudden sneakiness.

“Well, I asked Avery over for dinner so that we could go over what she has so far with the wedding flowers and decorations.  And I told her to bring Sofia along, hoping you guys could watch her while we work,” she said with another devious smile.

“Why do I get the feeling you are trying to play matchmaker?” Bobby asked straight-up, not beating around the bush.

“Well why not?” Krissy pouted as she put her hand on her hip and stomped her foot.  “You obviously have a thing for her, Joff,” she said accusingly to me.

“Whoa, I told you both that I have sworn off women…”

“And I am telling you that she could possibly be the woman you need in your life.  Plus, Sofia needs you too.”

“I am not getting involved with Avery just because Sofia needs me.  I already decided the other day that I can take Sofia under my wing without getting involved with Avery,” I retorted.  “Besides, I’m still not sure if her dad is in the picture…”

“He’s not,” Krissy quickly cut in.  “Sofia doesn’t even know who her father is.”

“See, that could end up becoming a big mess in the future.  I really don’t know enough about Avery,” I said, voicing the worries that had been floating around in my head this whole weekend.

“I can’t see it any being any bigger of a mess than what you have had with the blonde skanks you seem to have no problem hooking up with,” Krissy snapped, obviously becoming frustrated with me.

“Krissy,” Bobby hissed under his breath.  “Let the man make his own decisions.”

“No, she’s right,” I said.  “I just don’t want to fuck this up.  It’s a little bit of a delicate situation if you haven’t noticed.”

This statement seemed to cool Krissy’s temper as she smiled and nodded her head.

Dinner was nothing short of the excitement that always seemed to ensue when Avery and Sofia were present.  Sofia was a bundle of laughters who felt the need to basically reenact her whole day at the game, like we had not been present.  It was actually humorous to see it from a 5 year olds’ perspective.  Just like yesterday, Avery was fairly pleasant to me.  Only a couple times did I get an evil glare when I brought up about possibly getting Sofia into a youth hockey league.

After we ate, Bobby and I took Sofia out to play a little driveway hockey as Avery and Krissy got to work on their wedding stuff.  After an hour of playing, Bobby took Sofia inside to get a drink and I sat down on the steps to take a break.  I never heard the door open and close, but soon I felt a presence standing over me.  I turned around to find Avery standing behind me with her arms crossed and looking her slightly annoyed normal self.  She did look exceptionally sexy for some reason in a pair of cut-off capri’s that hugged her ass just right and a worn navy blue Anaheim Angels shirt that clung to her curves.  A few whisps of hair had escaped from her pony-tail, adding to her sensuality, causing me to be thrown off balance more than once tonight.

“What’s the problem this time?” I asked before turning back to facing the street.  I couldn’t help but smirk as she sat down on the step next to me in a huff.

“Can you please stop putting ideas in my daughter’s head?” she pleaded.  “I cannot afford to put her into hockey.”

“They actually have a lot of programs for families like yours, giving kids a shot to play hockey basically for free.  The NHL has some huge initiatives based here in the greater LA area that would be close enough for Sofia to be involved in,” I informed, not daring to turn towards her.

“But what if I don’t want her to be involved in something like that?  Did you ever think about that?” she asked like a worried mother.

“Why wouldn’t you want her to be involved in something that builds character and puts her around good role models?” I asked sincerely, this time turning to look at her.

She slapped her hands on her thighs in frustration.  “You are totally missing the point, Joffrey.  I get that you mean well, but I am her mother and I am the one who makes the decisions, not you.  Next time talk to me before you go and put ideas in her head.  I will never hear the end of it until I get her enrolled.  I don’t think you understand how hard it is to be a parent, especially a single one with not much means,” she said almost like she was talking to herself.

“I can help,” I said, taking her hands without even thinking.

Something flashed through her eyes as she looked down at my hands touching hers and then back up at me.  It was almost if I melted something, but if I didn’t melt something in her, touching her skin was definitely melting something inside me.  The whole moment seemed to move in slow motion, but it ended abruptly when she pulled her hands back and crossed her arms back in front of her.  “I don’t need your help, nor do I want it,” she said firmly.

“Why must you have to be so fucking stubborn, Avery,” I asked with a little more anger than I intended.

“Why do you feel the need to be apart of my life when I’m pretty sure I told you to stay out of it more than once already,” she puffed up.

I had to look away and I shook my head, considering I had asked myself the same question a hundred times over.  “I don’t know.”

“I don’t want to be your charity case,” she mumbled once again.

“I don’t want you to be either and I don’t think I’ve made you one,” I said somberly while looking back over at her, feeling defeated from hitting my head against the wall.  “Do you like live music?” I asked suddenly, even surprising myself.  The look on her face was priceless.  Her features softened and her eyes widened; it was like she forgot she was angry at me.

“What?” she asked, once she got a grip and remembered she was supposed to be sassy with me.

“I asked if you like live music.”  This time I put a little more confidence behind the question.

“I do, but I don’t know what that has to do with anything,” she snapped.

“I thought you did.  You seem like the melodramatic type so I was wondering if you’d like to go see a band with me tomorrow night,” I asked along with trying to give her what I thought was a complement.  She on the other hand did not see it as such.

“So nice of you to stereotype me as a melodramatic type person,” she scoffed.  “And you are the most off the wall person I have ever met,” she continued as she attempted to stand-up quickly, but instead sat back down because she lost her balance.  “Tell me, how do you switch from one subject to the next just like that?!”

“I have ADD,” I answered honestly. “Well, you still haven’t answered my question,” I pressed, raising an eyebrow at her and attempting to hold her attention. 

She was obviously flustered and thrown off course.  Her skin was flushed bright red and it seemed that she wasn’t used to being asked out on a date, at least not lately.  Of course she threw up the walls and responded with an insult, which was nothing I hadn’t heard before from her.  “I’ve taken you for the dense, stupid type, but now I’m trying to figure out what word to use that implies the amount of stupidity you really seem to have.  Of course I will not go with you.”

“Not even to see Arcade Fire?” I asked.

This made her stop and look at me like I had two heads.  “Who?”

“Arcade Fire… they are a band out of Canada…”

“I know who they are,” she snapped, cutting me off.

“Oh, great, then you must know how awesome they are to see live?”

She looked down at her shoes and then back up at me with a twisted expression.  “They are one of my favorite bands,” she said through her teeth.

“Huh, mine too.  So do you want to go with me tomorrow night?” I asked as I leaned on my hand with my elbow resting on my knee, trying not to act too smug before getting my answer.

She huffed and said, “What time and where at?”

“I’ll pick you up at 7pm.  We can get a bite to eat before hand.”

“No, no dinner, this is not a date.”

“No dinner, no concert,” I said simply.

“You are ridiculous.”

“And you call me the stereotypical one,” I simply stated.

“Ugh.  You really are fucked up or something,” she whined dramatically, almost like she was trying to hide a smile.  “Besides, I don’t date.  Boys aren’t worth my time anymore.”

“Oh, so you’re a lesbian?  Well then that makes everything that much easier,” I said, now trying my hardest not to laugh.  I really crack myself up sometimes.  **SLAP**

“Fuck off,” she spat once again.

“I was just joking…”

“I don’t care.  You know what, shove your tickets up your ass,” she growled as she finally got up from the steps and stomped back off into the house.  I just watched her ass as she walked away from me with a smile playing across my face.

What is it with chicks and wanting me to shove things up my ass?!