Together is Where We are Meant to Be

Chapter 4

My birthday with my sisters did not turn out as terrible as I had imagined it would be. We had dinner after the spa and then headed back to the apartment.

I let us in and immediately went to my room to change into my work clothes. I chose a gold top to go with my black Dockers. I added a white scarf, my black and yellow tennis shoes, and my Slasher's jacket before returning to the living space near the kitchen that my sisters had gotten comfortable in.

"Why are you wearing that?" Aires questioned. I gave her a dumbfounded look.

"I have to go to work. Micah's team plays tonight." I told her like she couldn't figure it out and she probably couldn't until I said something.

"Aires, I thought I asked you to check the schedule!" Paris groaned. Obviously, they had more plans for celebrating my birthday than they let on. That caused me to groan.

"Oops," Aires giggled, revealing that she had a little too much wine for her lightweight mind to handle at dinner. I limited myself to a single glass since I knew I had to go to work.

"Damn, I wish we could still finish off your birthday the right way," Paris added, apparently annoyed at our sister.

"I can get the two of you into the game if you'd like? I get two tickets a game, usually I don't use them," I offered to my sisters and Paris grinned. Internally, I groaned knowing I had just made my night longer than it had to be. Ten minutes later, I had them out the door donned in new outfits fit for a hockey game and we were headed to Harborage Arena. The drive was not long, but you get to see a lot of what Sewickley Borough has to offer. We pass the zoo, town hall, the post office, and the movie theatre on the drive from the apartment to the Arena.

"What building was that?" Paris asked as I drove into the employee parking lot.

"That's the security office building. It is economically friendly and it makes it easier to watch over things with the glass walls. Some of the guards say it is creepy, though," I told her with a little added information.

"I can only imagine," she responded quietly and I unbuckled once I had parked the Chevy Cruze Eco in my usual parking spot not far from the door. The guys were usually nice enough to leave me a space so it wasn't as dangerous to leave the building at night.

"Stay close, first I have to get you in and then give you the tickets. Do not try to go into any room that I don't go into. This is my job, do not do anything stupid," I warned my sisters but mainly Aires because she is still a little buzzed. It is tragic how much of a lightweight she is in terms of wine.

I led us to the door where the regular guard stood watch. It was the hallway that led to the locker rooms and offices of personnel such as me.

"Hey, Gator, how's the wife? Is she driving you crazy yet?"

"All the time, Miss Sydney. She's been asking about when you are coming for another visit though. Who are your friends? Wait, these are not the infamous sisters, are they?" I nodded sheepishly. "Good to see you using those tickets finally."

"You know I would give them to you most times if you just asked, G. Anyways, do you mind if they come through this way with me? We are headed straight to ticket sales. I will avoid the locker rooms until after I get them situated in their seats. Because then, I have a job to do." He nodded.

"Sure thing, have a great time, ladies. You have a lovely sister," he waved us through and I led my sisters to the right, up three flights of stairs and then into an elevator that would take us to the main level of the Arena. The elevator was the nicest in the building since it was for staff and the big wigs when they held meetings here. The nice thing was that it exited right near the ticket sales office.

"Trina, hey girl. I need those tickets of mine for tonight please!" I said to a close friend of mine. She and I met in photography at the University of Pittsburgh. She's kind of gothic and has black hair with random blonde highlights. If her personality matched her clothing, we probably wouldn't be friends, but they were complete opposites.

"Sure thing, Sydney, who'd you bring?"

"My sisters surprised me with a visit. I figured they might as well watch Micah play."

"He sure is talented, that boy. Here are the tickets. Four rows off ice per Micah's request. He must have known they were coming then, huh?"

"Must have, thanks again, I'll see you Monday!" I grabbed the tickets and gave them to Paris. We walked away from the booth and closer to the arena's entrance. "Take these to one of the guys in yellow. They will take you to your seats. I've got to go, have fun!" I told my sisters before racing back to the elevator and going down to my office.

On the way, I ran into one of the assistant coaches. "Sydney, they are about to take the ice for warm ups," he reminded me of my timing. I thanked him and ran the rest of the way to my office to unlock my camera. I headed through the locker room and joined the guys as they headed out. I took my usual spot on the bench for warm ups, capturing some really amazing warm up shots on film. I also got some candids as the guys skated past and made funny faces at me or their family nearby the bench. It was only minutes later that they headed off the ice, past me, and back into the locker room for the last minute pep talks. Each man smiled at me, but Micah had a goofy grin on his face. I smiled and followed the Captain's sweater into the locker room. I went straight to his stall near the door to the ice as the team huddled in the middle of the room for a prayer and a pep talk by the head coach, a legendary man who has only lost a combined total of 100 games in more than 15 years. Geno Valag was amazing as a player twenty plus years ago as he played for the Slasher's and led them to three Canter Cups then and another three as Coach.

"Alright team, we are playing our cross country rivals. You know what that means, right? It means more aggression and a lot more penalties. Just stay clear of Baxter, he's injured more men than what makes up an entire team in his career. All I ask is that you play hard and fair. Make them draw a penalty, but no stupid ones on our part. Just kick ass, men. They are in our house, show them who owns the house." He grinned. "Finish your rituals, we take the ice in five," he let his team independently finish their own things, some went to their stalls, others just joked around where they sat. Micah came back to his stall, just like he always does when I'm here.

He came and sat facing me on the bench in front of his stall. I started to lightly massage his neck like I always do, but this time he stopped me. "Can we talk about this morning?" I nodded but bit my lip like I always do when I'm nervous. "Hey, don't bite your lip. I want to ask you to be my girlfriend," he said as his hand held my chin gently.

"Really?" my eyes must have given me away because he just pulled my lips to his. We kissed until the others noticed and started to holler for us to get a room. I turned beat red as my face flushed with heat. Micah didn't care as he quickly put one more on my lips. Then he gathered up his team and led them to the ice.