Post Olympic

Christmas Blues

Heyoooooo, so the next couple of chapters here are what I'm going to call microchapters. they're under 1,000 words and shouldn't be a full chapter. The next few posting schedule weeks are going to be just me doing small scenes of time passing. 

alright. cool. Next chapter is hella dramatic and scary and takes a lot of oof, so get ready for monday. 

this chapter is comprised of three microchapters, all divided up, sorry it's so choppy. 

MUSIC: Silhouette - Aquilo

-rabid

******************

SAM

-NICO-

Christmas is long. I don't know what to do with myself. I just sit by the window of the rink with some tea. I watch the snow fall sideways in the wind.

It's cold. I spend time walking in town. I stop by Lucy's and stand outside. I hear them singing inside and I don't go in. They shouldn't be bothered by me today.

I wander through town, back and forth, then back to the rink.

I ignore my phone all day because I know that if I look at it, I'll see how many times he's called.

Because he's called me three times today. And I've watched all three ring.

Christmas drags by, so does the 26th. Sauerkraut calls twice a day. I start to ignore them better. They're easier to ignore the more he calls.

And then he stops. It comes as a surprise on Wednesday night when he doesn't call at 7 on the dot.

I spend ten minutes staring at the phone.

Is he dead?

His flight is tomorrow.

I flop onto my couch and pass out in jeans.

I wake up at noon the next day. It's Thursday. The guys are back tomorrow, practice resumes Saturday.

So I go to the only place I can think of. Into town. To the little coffee shop.

"Just you today, eh?" It's Sam.

"I'm surprised you're open," I sigh.

"Yeah, I don't really celebrate that much so, we're open."

"You own the business?" I ask. He nods.

"Yeah, it's my Dad's but he retired a year ago. I took over." He smiles at me. It's a gentle look. "Just the normal?"

"Yeah," I lean against the counter.

"Alright, I'll be back." He disappears to get something and I look around. "The guys are on break, aren't they,"

"Yeah, they're gone Sunday to Saturday."

"Mhmm, life as a hockey player must be easy, all you gotta do is something you love." He comes back forward with a steaming cup of hot coco.

"I guess it's like that. I wouldn't know." I sigh. "What do you do for fun?" There's nobody else in here, might as well strike up a conversation.

"Art, I guess. I've done the painting in here." I look around at the murals.

"Those are amazing,"

"I wanted to be an art major, but I know you can't do anything with it, so I settled with this."

"I wanted to play professional. With the guys. But I settled on a coach." I sigh.

"Life doesn't work out exactly right all the time, but it gets close."