#2

“It’s been a lonely night. For me.
From breakin hearts, to climbin trees.
I was scared, with you.
I broke your heart, and then you tied my shoe.

You were the nicest boy,
You had the kindest soul,
And I took you for granted
Then I let you go…
Mothers, don’t let your daughters, grow up to be like me.
Stringin her heart out, and bumpin into everything.
Finding love at the corner lights,
Under rocks and ever-greens;
Cause I know love wants nothing to do with me…”

The bar was dark and dank, but I liked it this way. I was perched on a small, make-shift stage, surrounded by my band; playing our hearts out to an intimate crowd of faceless strangers.
I was here, in my element; unafraid and fully-alive… but I couldn’t keep my mind on the songs.

After the set was over and the autographs and CD selling was done; we made our way back to the bus. Maxime… what was his last name again? I rolled over in my small bunk, replaying my day at the airport over in my head, for the 100th time. Tebor? No… Telford… that was it. Maxime Telford. Who played for Penguins… This was horrible, I didn’t even know what sport he played. I pulled out my iphone and punched in Maxime Telford, which google changed to Maxime Fabert.
I found a sports entry, on the fifth line down. Of course the damn page wouldn’t load so I gave up, making a mental note to remember the name and ask one of the guys about it later.

I hadn’t bothered to tell anyone in my band about our encounter at the airport terminal. I knew what they would do; get focused Juliette, you need to be thinking about music and nothing else… The worst part was, I wouldn’t even be able to refute them because they were right.
Here I was, on the tour of a lifetime; finally able to live my dream, and I was lying awake in bed thinking about a boy I had known for a few hours.

He was just so… so… charming! There was no other way to describe it. His laugh, his smile… everything about him was infectious, in a wonderful way. I let out a large yawn and decided that tonight had been long enough
I rolled over into the darkness and hummed his song; where are you Maxime, I thought, as I feel asleep to dreams of beautiful, deep blue eyes.

Max’s POV

“Yo Talbo! What’s been up with you lately?” Staalsy approached from behind, tapping me on the shoulder with a cold beer before taking the seat next to me. I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip. “Come on man, you can talk to me about it… the guys are worried… you just haven’t been yourself.”

I contemplated his words for a minute, taking another few sips before I spoke. “Do you ever wonder… what kind of girl you’d be with if you weren’t a pro-hockey player?”

“Umm… yah I guess.” He answered after a pause, obviously uncomfortable with the turn this conversation had taken. “But, where is this coming from?”

“I just, met a girl who didn’t know who I was...” I shrugged, unable to finish the thought.

“Oh, and she wasn’t falling for the Talbo charm?” He quipped, unable to hide the smug smile forming on his lips.

“No… she seemed… interested I guess…” I sighed and pushed myself off the beach chair I had been lounging on. “I don’t know Staalsy, don’t worry about me k?” I walked away without waiting for a response, too confused with everything to try and explain it to someone else.

I was intent on heading up to my room; the day was coming to an end and my team-mate were coupling off with their respective partners, leaving me and a few other bachelors alone.
I caught sight of Flower and Vero curled up in a pool chair together, and shrugged my shoulders before heading over. At least Vero had seen her and might be able to help me out.
“Hey Vero, you got a minute?” I asked, receiving a small smile from her and a look of disdain for Flower.

“Sure Maxime, what’s up?”

“Ah…” I looked at Flower, trying to think of a nice way to get him to leave. He appeased me.

“Um… this looks like it could be awkward so… I’ll be back later.” He sighed as he lifted Vero off his lap and placed her gently back down onto the chair. We both watched as he made his way around the pool, towards Sidney and some of the other boys.

“So Maxime, what’s wrong?” Vero asked, pulling my attention back to her.

“Well… I’m not sure how to make this sound crazy but; I can’t stop thinking about the girl from the airport.”

She laughed quietly and shook her head. “The first girl that doesn’t throw herself at your feet and she’s got you going crazy…?”

“No. Nothing like that. I mean, I don’t expect everyone to like me… it’s just, I think she did like me… without knowing who I am.”

“Max, they’ll be lots of girls that like you and don’t care about your job. You’ve just been looking in some horrible places if that’s what you want.” I nodded slowly at her words, she was right. Who knows, if I had of spent more times trying to meet nice girls instead of finding them in dark clubs; I might have found the right girl by now.

We sat in silence as I contemplated my future, being surrounded by happy couples made it hard to not feel alone. “Hey Vero…” I called as I got up to leave.

“Yah Max?”

“Where was the other plan going? Gate 9... the one that that girl was on…”

“West Canada I think, BC or something.” I nodded my head again and headed up to my room.


I lied on my bed in the dark, flipping through the internet on my iphone; there has to be something here about her tour… why can’t I remember her name?
I continued to flip through the pages google offered up, wondering if I’d ever see her again.
Ugh, come on buddy, grow a pair. I doubt she even gave you a second thought… after all… the only girls that want you are the ones who want your name and your money. She had no idea about either, so why would she want you?