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“You will remember then how badly heartbroken I was after the whole prom thing, which by the way I now know it wasn’t his fault.”
“Oh?”
“Sorry, I can’t say as it’s his business, but it was for a good reason.”
“Then what’s stopping you from taking a step with him? Is it Luke?”
Was it Luke? What was the reason I didn’t want to move forward? Why was I stuck in this rut I had put myself in? I knew the drink helped give me some liquid courage, but those feelings must have been there, buried deep within me. Luke would often jokingly say I was still madly in love with Sam when he caught me watching his games or reading the news.
I wasn’t, at least I wasn’t back then. Luke was all I saw; from the moment we met till this very moment. And yet, Sam had sparked something inside me. Maybe that’s why I had gotten so mad over the pretend dating thing. Maybe I didn’t want to pretend and now I wasn’t sure where to go.
“Look babes, I need to get to the café before Lacy shoots me for leaving her there to tend to customers. But give me a call later okay? Get some rest, have a shower, and just chill. Maybe text Sam later and see what’s what.”
Of course, Crystal was the levelheaded one and the one who always brought me back down to earth. After some sleep and a wash, I was sure to feel better.
After settling into bed for a couple of hours, I couldn’t get those images of Sam and I together out of my mind. I had popped my phone on silent and double locked my front and back door. My mother would try to come over unannounced. I wanted to avoid everyone for as long as possible.
Scrolling through my phone, I wondered how Sam was getting on. Despite how much I wanted to ignore it, I turned on my bedroom television and went to channel six. There he was, looking as handsome as ever, if not a bit more than usual.
“So, Mr. Jones, tell us, who the mystery woman is? We’ve got some guesses, but can you confirm to us if it is the famous figure skater, Kimberly Morgan?”
Sam chuckled a little and I took that as a sign he was thinking of how to respond. He’d done the same thing while we were at the café, and I asked him some awkward question.
“I think it would do a disservice to that lady if I were to expose her, don’t you think?”
“But you’re currently one of the most eligible bachelors and we need to know if you’re off the market.”
“Ha ha! Well, Olivia, I can assure you I am not still on the market. This relationship is still new, and I’d rather not spoil it by talking about it all over the media.”
The interviewer smiled at him and could see by his face and tone, he was not going to give anything away. I was grateful, he wasn't publicly announcing me and he was trying to shut the speculation down. He had stuck to his guns and wasn’t going to tell everyone what was going on. Even if they had guessed right that it was me in those photographs.
I contemplated calling him as this was a repeat of his interview. Would it be possible for us to move past all this? I still wanted him to come to Joe’s wedding and was looking forward to maybe dancing with him again. But, it wouldn’t have been a problem if he said no and moved away again. It would make sense, he has his career after all.
“What’s next with hockey for you? You’ve been off for a few weeks now haven’t you?”
I didn’t intend to listen to the interview after the conversation changed, but I had always been interested in hockey. I’d sometimes sneak into his games when they were local. I always had a feeling Luke knew but never said anything. I was just happy most of the time to see Sam had succeeded in what he always wanted to do.
“We shall see what happens. The NHL has many plans for me. I am currently in the process of organizing a little charity hockey match in my hometown. It's to raise some money for their local kids hockey teams and ice skaters.”
“That sounds amazing! Will you be inviting us at channel six to cover it?”
“Of course, Olivia, you are, after all, my favorite newscaster.”
It was news to me that he was looking to organize a charity event, but then again I hadn’t heard from him most of the day. I was partly to blame for not sending him a text or anything, but he hadn’t sent one either.
* * *
It had been over three weeks since Sam and I had really spoken or seen each other. We had a few texts back and forth, but didn't talk about anything serious. I wasn’t even sure if he was coming back to town for a while. Our conversations weren’t even conversations, time zones made it difficult to keep track of replies and we only ever got as far as how are you.
Sitting down at my office desk at the rink, I rubbed my temples feeling a headache coming on. Rachel, the rink manager, had asked me multiple questions about this charity event and if I had any idea about it, when it was going to happen and anything else she could think to ask me.
I had no idea.
Sam hadn’t really replied to any of my questions, including the ones about if we were still ‘dating’ as far as the media knew. I was thankful Joseph and Beth’s wedding was in a week’s time as it gave me something else to think about.
My dress Sam had demanded I have from that dress shop arrived a few days ago and was hanging up in my closet. I was still unsure if I should wear it. Joe said he liked it, and Beth didn’t seem to mind either, if anything she seemed happy. I had sorted myself out and wasn’t being a mess or overbearing, unlike her bridesmaids.
“Kim.”
