Chapter 14

as always, thank you for the comments and keep them coming, they're hillarous and they make me want to keep doing this

“That pregnant chick in genecology row is asking for you.” Mya looked up at the reflection of one of the bouncers in the mirror and felt her entire face get hot. Not that there was anything wrong with what certain people did in the privacy of their own homes, it was just that she didn’t swing that way.

“Tell her thanks, that I’m flattered but I’m not doing a private dance for a...a woman,” Mya replied, ducking her head and tugging off her long black wig. She’d felt very Dita Von Teese in the outfit they’d put together tonight, but now she was ready to go home, soak in a very full tub for a long time and eat ice cream. All in all, she’d had a shitty couple of days and dancing for some dyke was not going to make it better.

“She’s got five one hundred dollar bills in her hand,” the bouncer added and Mya winced. That was a lot of money, especially when one of those would normally pay for a private show in the back. More than that and the guy with the money was probably asking for a whole lot more than she was ever interested in providing. She knew some of the girls caved to that kind of dough once in a blue moon, when they needed something, to pay a certain bill or something like that. Mya never had and she wasn’t about to start for a woman. “For that kind of money, if you’re going to turn her down, you can do it yourself,” the bouncer added, looking sincerely disappointed. Some of the girls, when they did take on “special dances” for extra money would normally tip the bouncers to keep it quiet and to stick nearby, just in case things went wrong. Reaching into her bucket, Mya pulled out a few fives and, letting out a long tired, sigh, reached for her wig, intending to put it back on before she went out.

She had it in her hand, and then she put it back. She doubted the woman was going to turn into a stalker. So she’d see her with her hair pinned up and under a stocking. Mya chuckled to herself as she pulled on the ties of her dressing gown to make sure they were tight. Let her see just how glamorous the life of a stripper really was...not.

Mya handed the fives to the bouncer but didn’t ask him to stick around. She’d seen the tall dark haired woman sipping an orange juice in the front row when she’d been dancing. She was pretty far gone as far as the pregnancy went and Mya felt pretty certain if it came down to it, she could probably take her even if the woman was taller than her and had a longer reach.

Pushing the door open, she found the woman pacing around the room, her hands kneading at the small of her back. She was a good looking woman, Mya thought as she quietly pulled the door nearly shut behind her, leaving it open just a crack. She could probably take her, but pregnant or not, if she pulled a knife or a gun, Mya wanted to be able to call for help.

“Look, whatever you do in your own life...I mean whatever your situation...I just...I don’t do threesomes either way,” Mya began, realizing that this woman might be trolling for someone to add a little spice to her married life now that she was as big as a water buffalo. The tall Asian turned and peered at her through expensive looking Dolce & Gabbana dark rimmed glasses, pursing her lips before rolling her eyes.

“You do look like her,” the woman began, taking a step or two towards Mya, eyes narrowed as she gave her a long once over that left Mya feeling like some kind of science experiment. She hadn’t let go of the door handle, and for that, Mya was glad. She started to inch backwards, until she started to process what the woman was saying.

“Like whom?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Randi. He did tell you about Randi didn’t he?” the woman asked, reaching up to snatch the stocking cap off Mya’s hair, which made her jump backwards, slamming the door shut in the process, further startling her.

“Who is Randi and who is this he and for that matter, who the fuck are you and why are you looking at me like that?” The strange, pregnant woman only smiled and looked around, spying the overstuffed love seat near the front of the stage, to which she waddled and, with a long, satisfied sounding sigh, dropped into it.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” she groaned, running her hands over her swollen abdomen, “but I’m a couple months away from dropping a pair of defensemen and if I don’t sit, my ankles swell and I still like my Prada boots,” she added, kicking one pointed toe forward. Mya admired the shiny leather and stiletto heels for a moment before she remembered that there was a strange woman poured into them who was looking at her like she was some kind of prize steer in a 4-H show.

“Are you going to tell me what the hell this is about?” Mya asked, finishing the job the woman had started, letting her hair down, pulling each bobby pin out with care until her hair was falling around her shoulders in its usual waves. She watched the woman adjust her position, shook her head when she patted the spot beside her on the sofa and then waited until she seemed ready to speak again.

“My name is Patricia, Tish, and Randi was my best friend and she was dating Sidney Crosby when she died. Well...I say dating...but really they spent a lot of time holding hands in the hospital and a little time at their apartment...now I say their apartment, it was hers’ and now it’s his...,” Mya held up her hand to stop Tish from speaking, her head beginning to throb as she tried to assimilate the information she’d just been given.

“You know Sidney?” Mya asked, her eyes squeezed shut as she rubbed at her throbbing temples.

“And I know about you, or at least some of it, mostly what I get from my hubby...well I say hubby but we haven’t actually gotten married yet. I mean we did the civil ceremony thing but....” Mya growled, a rumble that began deep in her throat and emerged as a loud, frustrated sound as she opened her eyes again and stared down the woman preening on the seat across the room from her.

“So let me guess,” Mya snarled, pacing across the floor until she was standing in front of the woman who was watching her with a certain amount of amusement. “Did he send you here to keep me quiet or buy me off or something?”

“He? You mean Sidney?” Tish laughed, throwing her head back and snorting, waving her hands in the air as if to ward off any further amusing ideas. “No...he doesn’t even know I’m here. In fact, he’d probably shit if he did know. He is actually in the hospital right now, having taken a pretty good beating for you, so no, he didn’t send me.”

“Beating?” Mya sat down on the edge of the stage, wincing at the visions that ran through her head of just what kind of damage she could imagine Kris could have done.

“Well, at least you’re not completely happy about it, that’s a good sign,” Tish laughed, wiping at her eyes. “So...you don’t hate him too much?”

“Hate him?” Mya thought about it for a moment. She had plenty of feelings about and towards him, but when she went through the inventory of emotions and feelings, hate wasn’t one of them. “No, I guess I don’t hate him.”

“Well good. Because he can be a dunce sometimes and from the little Jordy knows about what’s going on between you two, it sounds like he’s been pretty much of a complete dunce with you.” Mya couldn’t help but smile at the vision that crept into her imagination of Sidney sitting in the corner with a conical dunce hat on.

“So...I’m sorry, how do you...who are you?” Mya asked, finally ready to listen to what this strange woman had to say.

“I told you, I was Randi’s best friend. You know, Randi? Sid’s girlfriend, the one that died?” Mya nodded, finally putting the pieces together. “He did tell you about her...right?”

“Sort of...not really. He mentioned it...that’s about it,” Mya explained which caused Tish to roll her eyes dramatically and shake her head.

“What did I say? Dunce,” Tish grumbled, leaning forward and putting her bejewelled and beautifully manicured hands around Mya’s own, giving them a squeeze. “Randi said he wasn’t very good at talking about...emotional stuff, but then she wasn’t much better so...,” Tish was giving her that thoughtful tilted head look again and this time it made Mya want to squirm.

“What? Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

“Because you do...you do look like her. I mean...not like you’re her twin but...yeah I can see it.” Tish looked thoughtful, even melancholy for a moment before her mischievous smile reappeared. “So...pole dancing. Is it as good a work out as they say?” Mya smiled and nodded, liking this woman despite how strange this entire conversation was turning out to be.

“So...I’m sorry, you just wanted to check me out because you were his last girlfriend’s friend? I mean, I’m sorry if that sounds rude but....”

“You’re right. I admit, when Jordy told me Kris and Sid were doing the same girl, I was curious but I actually have another, better motive for coming out to see you dance...well to see you, besides butting my nose in,” Tish added with a grin. “Like I said, I was Randi’s best friend. I was there when she died. I was waiting with her when she died just before Sidney got to her with the Cup.” Mya cringed. “I know, the best day to the worst day of his life. So yeah, if he’s a little messed up, that might be why, you know?” Tish waited until Mya grudgingly agreed. She was pretty sure there was more to it than just the timing of the woman’s death, but she could agree to that much. “Do you know what was just about the last thing she said to me?” Tish asked, her voice falling away as she became glassy eyed, memories playing behind her eyes. Mya shook her head, not willing to guess at what profound kernel of wisdom this dead goddess that everyone seemed so fascinated with might have uttered. “She...well we, were watching the highlights, you know, over and over again. Watching Sid hoisting the cup, over and over again and she turned to me and said, right out of the blue, that she wished he could always be that happy.” It was a nice sentiment, obviously, Mya thought as she watched Tish wipe a tear from her eye. “Now, just so we’re clear, I’m not into all that life after death, Ouija board, psychic stuff, but I’m going to tell you something and I’m dead serious when I say this,” Tish took a deep breath and Mya prepared herself not to laugh at the séance shit she was sure she about to hear. She took a breath of her own and tried her best not to smile. “We were at Randi’s...sorry, Sid’s the other night and he was telling Jordy about meeting you at that bookstore and I got this...chill up my spine. It was so weird and then, when Sid said something about feeling like he couldn’t stop thinking about you...and I know how this sounds okay? But I swear to god, I could have sworn I heard Mya clapping like she’d just done something great, you know? Like you do when you’ve accomplished something? I just...maybe she and he weren’t meant for one another. Maybe you and he are. I don’t know. I’m just saying...I know he’s a dunce and all but...he is a good guy and even if he’s messed up, give him a chance. That’s what I came here to say.”

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He’d been dreaming about the Cup and he’d been dreaming about Randi, except it wasn’t really Randi. It was Mya he was holding the cup for while she ran her fingers over his name. She’d been smiling at him and there was sunshine and they were at the lake at home.

But then Randi was there. She was smiling too and the sun was all around her, like she was glowing, and she was waving to him from the dock and he could hear her laughing when someone went by with a seadoo and splashed her.

Her laugh. He missed her laugh.

He started to walk towards her, but no matter how many steps he took, she never seemed to get any closer. He started to run, but then he heard his name being called and he turned around to see who was calling him and when he turned back, she was gone.

She’d vanished.

His heart sank and suddenly he felt so empty, so lost. And then the sun went away, and all the guests were gone and he was standing alone on the dock and the lake turned black and the sky turned gray and suddenly it was cold.

And then he heard his name being called again.

Sidney blinked as he gained consciousness, a white light nearly blinding him as he looked up. He closed his eyes again, shutting them tight against the light that made his head pound, and then opened one eye, squinting up into the light. Except the light was gone, and she was there.

Randi. He reached up to touch her cheek, her name on his lips.

“I’m not your dead girlfriend.”

“Mya.” Thoughts of Randi evaporated as Sidney struggled to sit up, even though it made him slightly sick to his stomach and more than a little dizzy.

“Don’t try and sit up. You’ve got a concussion dummy.” she said quietly, pressing his shoulder down to the bed and holding a cup of cool, clear water up to his lips. He took a sip and then slid back down on the bed with a groan, reaching up to touch his head.

“I didn’t think Tanger hit me that hard,” he muttered, mostly under his breath, but he heard her chuckle as she lay a cool wet towel across his forehead.

“Your head hit the ice, apparently. I guess you don’t do helmets in practice? Dummy?” she added, her hand brushing his cheek gently before he heard and felt her withdraw.

“I just went out there to talk to him,” Sidney tried to explain, struggling to remember just what had happened after he went out on the ice.

“And you what? Didn’t think he’d hit you? Francophone’s are very passionate people. I’m surprised you don’t look worse than you do,” she added, sounding slightly amused. Sidney gently probed along his cheekbone, drawing a quick breath in through his teeth when he hit a painful spot below his eye. Licking along his lip, he could taste blood, and his nose ached and he couldn’t smell the bleach and antiseptic filled air of the hospital so he suspected it was either broken or filled with gauze.

“Do I look that bad?” he asked, pulling the cool compress off of his forehead so he could see her. Mya stood at the end of the bed, her arms crossed, her chin held high, looking very serious. Her gaze roamed his face for a long moment, and then she sighed, and shook her head.

“Not bad enough apparently,” she muttered, dropping her gaze from his to stare intently at the bar at the end of the bed. “Look Sidney...about your ex girlfriend...about Randi.” Sidney smiled at the sound of her name, remembering the way she looked in his dream. When his eyes refocussed, Mya was looking up at him, impatient. “I’m not saying that it’s your fault but...when I said it was okay just to be...well it’s not, and you’re in love with ghost and that’s okay but...I don’t want to be your...medium okay? I’m not a ghost, I’m alive and I have feelings and I don’t want you to make love to her through me. So...until you get over her...if you get over her...I think you’d better just stay away from me.”

Sidney opened his mouth to object but closed it again when no words would come out. He didn’t think that’s what he’d been doing. He didn’t remember thinking about Randi when he’d been with Mya but he could see why, after what he’d said, maybe she would think that. At best he was on the rebound and maybe she did deserve better than that but still....

“It’s not like that,” he began but she only shook her head, giving him a hollow smile.

“I think it is and I can’t...I don’t want to see her in your eyes when you look at me, just like you did when you woke up. I mean, let’s be honest here. The reason you even like me in the first place is I remind you of her, right?” Again Sidney wanted to argue, but she was right. It was the first thing he’d seen. There were other things now, lots of other things, but he couldn’t disagree with what was a fact. “See?” she shrugged her shoulders, which made one side of the black sweater fall down over her bare shoulder and he wanted to bite into it. He wanted to dig his teeth into her white flesh and see her eyes flutter closed. He wanted to hear her moan. That was what was different. She was alive and he never had to hold back with her, didn’t feel like he was going to break her.

“It’s not...you’re getting it wrong. Well, not wrong, but....”

“Just...stay away from me okay? And tell your friends to stay away too,” she added, looking tough and defiant with her chin held high as she tried to blink back tears.

“Mya...just...let me explain,” he began but she was standing right there, leaning over to kiss his cheek, on one of the only spots that didn’t hurt, and then she was striding out of his room, even as he called after her, as he tried to struggle out of the bed.

“What are you doing? You’ve got a concussion. You’re on bed rest,” a nurse said, appearing from out of nowhere, pushing him back down into the bed with hands that were amazingly strong, holding him there so that he couldn’t go after her, so he couldn’t tell her that she had it all wrong, that she was the one he wanted, the one he loved.