The Tales of a Future Hockey Wife

Chapter 33: New Haircut

~Eleanor~

During my first year in Windsor, when I was in the middle of a very interesting poetry class, Olive called me totally panicked. She had just come back from her first internship day at a retirement home. Senior year, Olive chose to pursue the same career as her mother. Olive wanted to become a nurse just like most women in her family. But after only one day at the hospital, her mind was somewhere else. She wasn't sure anymore. In fact, she was more than not sure, she was totally freaking out. The mere thought of having to go back the week after gave her nightmares. I did what any best friend would have done. I told her she was overreacting, that it was normal to be nervous since it was a new experience. Olive went back the week after. She had barely slept the previous night, the stress eating her alive. During her lunch break, she called me again, asking if it was okay for her to leave. It took me fifteen minutes to get her to calm down. I told her to think it over the winter break that was only four weeks away. After said break, she announced that she was quitting the nursing program. She did more than just quit the program, she dropped out of the university. See, she went to get a haircut during the break, and talking with her hairdresser made her realize that this is what she wanted to do. Four weeks later, she was enrolled in the finest hairdressing school in all of British-Columbia. Ten months later, she sent me a picture of her holding her diploma. I had never seen Olive this happy about school in my entire life. Ever since that day, Olive works at an always busy salon located on Main Street in Victoria. I went to the salon three time for a haircut: right after she graduated, the summer after that, and last summer. Today will be my fourth time at the salon. I don't really need a haircut, I just need my friend. The taxi ride is expensive, but less than I expected. We pull up in front of the mint green establishment at half past one. I cross my fingers, hoping Olive will have an opening. When I walk in, she is sitting at the front desk, typing something on her phone. She almost drops the phone when she sees me. Her eyes widen, and her mouth opens in shock. I give her a small smile accompanied by a wave. She hangs up without saying anything, and rushes towards me, enveloping me in her small arms.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Don't you have school?" God, I missed her. It's been only three months, but it feels like forever. When she moves to let go, I tighten my hold to make the moment last. I also want to delay the time when I have to tell her the real reason why I am here. I exhale in her neck, feeling the tears coming back again. I finally gather enough courage to face her again, so I pull away from her small frame.

"Surprise! Are you free right now?" She nods, pulling me towards her chair.

"Are you okay? Is everything okay with Ben?" I shake my head, my tears coming back in full force. I explain the situation from the start. I tell her everything from our compromise problems, to our eventful evening at the Spitfires owner's house, to our huge fight, not forgetting Matthew or Ben's injury. I take a break before announcing the ticking news bomb. She works through the whole story. My hair is still very wet from the shampoo she gave me. She is about to give the first cut when I ask her to stop. I don't want her to mess it up because of what I am about to tell her.

"I'm pregnant, Oli. From Ben," I add after seeing her face drop. I am glad that she didn't react the way Serena reacted when Blair told her she was pregnant. I couldn't have bared with the happy comments and the "this is such good news!" Her scissors drop to the floor, but she doesn't pick them up.

"What? Does he know?" I continue my story until she interrupts me after I told her I went to see William.

"Why William, Ella? You needed him to explain to you how you make babies in his doctor words?" For the first time since yesterday's dinner, I laugh. I really laugh, not a fake one to please someone.

"No, I needed the ultrasound to know how far along I am." She nods, concentrating herself on the task at hand. She picked up her scissors from the floor and is now washing them in the nearby sink.

"What are you going to do?" My haircut is now finished, Olive drops the scissors to replace them with the blow-dryer. I raise my shoulders indicating that I still haven't decided.

"I don't know. I am not ready to have a baby, and neither is Ben. Plus, we aren't in a good place right now. I resent him for so much right now Olive. You have no idea." I have to scream to cover the noise of the blow-dryer.

"You knew what you were getting into when you moved to Ontario with him El. You can't blame him now." This is exactly why I needed to see Olive. She is the only one I can fully trust to tell me the truth.

"You don't know everything that happened. You know Matthew I talked about earlier?" She nods. "We went on what could have been interpreted as a date." She shakes her head.

"You cheated?" I shake my head. "But you wanted to?" I shake my head again. "You would have let it happen if he would have made the first move?" I nod and so does she.

"I am just so done with hockey Olive. Him being gone, the five am practices, the games making him come back home late or keeping him from coming to stuff that matters to me. I just feel like I am the one who made all the sacrifices, and I don't want to do more right now." She finally sets the blow-dryer down, picking up the burning flat iron.

"Remember what you told me after you learned you would have to move to Windsor to be with him?" I nod as we say it together: "There's nothing I wouldn't do for that man."

"Is it still the case? I don't need you to answer me. No matter what your answer is, you have to get your ass back on a plane heading to Windsor. If it's no, then you tell him you can't be with him anymore. If me saying that broke your heart like I think it did, then it means your answer is yes. If it's the case, you tell him that you love him more than anything but that you aren't the only one who has to put in the efforts." Tears spring down my cheeks faster as she speaks. No matter what, she is right, I have to go talk to him. I feel like the biggest coward right now. I pull out my laptop to buy a plane ticket.

"There's a flight tomorrow. Can I crash at your place tonight?" She nods. I almost ask her for her phone to call him, but I decide to pursue my thinking process a little longer.