𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐣. 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬

𝟕 | 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤

It's been a couple of days since the game in St.Louis and my injury. I'll be out for a while until I get better enough, but thankfully my injury wasn't as bad as it probably looked when I initially hit the boards. The last few days Charlotte has come over to keep me company and just yesterday Luke was back for a game against the Washington Capitals, but the team headed back out onto the road this morning. It's been a week since I was last on the ice and I miss it more than words can say. I've been recovering well and there's hope that I'll be cleared to play again soon.

Charlotte and I have been talking even more now since I have so much free time on my hands. She's come over almost every single day since she'd agreed to keep me company. But I feel bad that she keeps taking time out of her day to drive over thirty minutes to my house while I just sit here on my ass all day.

This morning when I talked to Charlotte, she told me that she would be filming a new video and that she would be coming over sometime in the late afternoon. I decided to surprise her by driving to her for a change. As I got closer to her house I stopped by Starbucks to not arrive empty-handed. When we were getting to know each other I remember Lotte saying how her favorite and go-to drink at Starbucks was the strawberry acai refresher. Since I have no idea how much time she's gonna spend filming, I made sure to get the refresher in a Trenta, the biggest size Starbucks offers.

Once I left with her refresher and my hot chocolate, I couldn't help thinking of what I could get Lotte to thank her for keeping me company while Luke was gone. I know she loves reading, so maybe I could get her something related to books. I want to give her the perfect present to show my appreciation for her and for what she's doing, keeping me company.

Heading up to her apartment, I start feeling slightly nervous to surprise Charlotte. What if she is already sick of seeing me? What would I do? Maybe I should leave now before I even get to her door? No. I'm just gonna go and surprise her.

Knocking on the door as best as I can with full hands, an unfamiliar face, "Hey, you must be Jack, I'm Emilie! Nice to meet you." She smiles noticing that both my hands are occupied by drinks, shooting a wave in my direction. "Hey, nice to meet you too." I shoot her a smile back.

"Well you must be here for Charlotte, so come right in. She's in her room, first door to your right. I think she's getting ready to film so you'll probably just be able to walk right in." She moves away from the door giving me space to walk in. She shuts the door, walking over to the coat rack and putting on her jacket.

"I have to head out for a meeting with my manager so I'll probably be back late. She'll be very surprised to see you here since she was talking about heading over to your place later." Emilie holds her keys, picks her hair up, and moves it out of her jacket.

"Yeah, I just decided that she's always coming over to my place and taking time out of her day to head my way so I just decided to return the favor with her favorite drink." I put down my hot chocolate and hold up Charlotte's drink and Emilie smiles at my little gift for Lotte. "Oh, that is so cute! She's gonna be beyond excited because she was just talking about wanting to head over to Starbucks, but she's usually too lazy to leave the house before film-" Before Emilie could finish her sentence, her phone started ringing.

"I have to get going, but you guys have fun!" She waves at me and puts her phone against her ear as she opens the door to head out. Picking both drinks up, I start heading to Charlotte's room and I hear her voice as she's opening her new video. "Hey welcome back to another five-star read's video." I peek into her room and her back is facing the door. I tip-toe into the room as she keeps talking to the camera explaining what she considers to be a five-star read. I make a split-second decision and whisper in her ear while she's in her filming world.