Counting Down The Days (Counting on Hockey #3)

Chapter 16: Good to Be Back

"What?" I laugh at the three guys who stare at Aiden and I. "Have you never seen a girl and her gay best friend hug after not seeing each other for almost three years?"

Peter seems to take sigh of relief. Aiden and I walk over to them, and I introduce him to the others. "Aiden, this is Brendon and James, our two from Boston, and this is my....boyfriend, Peter, who plays hockey at U of Maine. Brendon, James, and Peter, this is Aiden. I met him senior year of high school when I lived in Chicago".

"Nice to meet you", Brendon and James both shake Aiden's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you", Aiden says to Peter as they shake hands.

We all talk for a few minutes, and then decide to start on our way to the stadium. Mr. Quinn has the keys to our apartment in his office, and he wanted to meet us before anything else happened. We take two taxis to Xcel Energy stadium. The two boys get their first, and they stand in the lobby when Peter, Aiden, and I arrive. The guy at the front desk directs us up two flights of stairs, down a very long hallway, and into a common room with ten offices off the path.

The four guys follow behind me as I knock on the door the front desk directed us to. The door is open slightly, and a man scrolls through his computer. "Hello?"

The man looks up from his computer and motions us in. We leave our suitcases outside the door, walk in, and line up against the wall so we can all see him.

"Hello interns, I'm Vincent Quinn. You can call me Vince. Could I ask your names, I've already forgotten", he smiles from his spot in his dark brown leather chair.

We all introduce ourselves and what college we came from. Vince starts to talk about how us working here is going to work, and he gave us our job descriptions. I'll be working in the journalism department, Peter and James will be working with the trainers, Aiden will be working in human resources, and Brendon will be working with the equipment manager. After a while, and we each find out more about the jobs we will be doing, he hands us each three keys to our apartments, each, and sends us on our way.

We decide to walk to the apartment building in the one warm day here in Minnesota. The building is only about five blocks, and we take the elevator to the sixth floor. My apartment is 605, Aiden is 606, Peter is 607, Brendon is 608, and James is 609. I open my door first, and then we all seem to go down the line in opening our doors.

The apartment isn't small, but it's not huge. It's perfect size. You walk into the living room, with a picture window on the back wall. If you go left, there's the kitchen and a small area for the kitchen table. To the right is a hallway with a bathroom and two bedrooms. This looks the same as Noah's apartment, but on a much smaller scale. I like it.

I find the first bedroom and put my suitcase on the bed. I look around the room. I have the bed, a nightstand with a small lamp, a two-doored closet, and a very large dresser. I unpack my first suitcase when I hear a knock on my door. I go out into the living room and open my door. Outside, stands Cole, with one box in his hands, and three others at his feet.

"Delivery for Meredith Adams", he mocks a delivery man.

"Hey", I smile at him. I open the door wider for him. "Come on in".

"Thanks", he walks through the door and sets the first of the boxes on the floor. I help him with the other three and I close the door. "how was the flight?"

"Bumpy as expected, but I'm glad to be back here. I didn't know Aiden was going to be here, so that makes it even better". I take a deep breath, then look out my picture window. Cole and I both stand there, looking out the window.

Across the street, there is a building that looks exactly like this one. But it snows, so the building kind of looks white. The street below is covered in muddy snow, yet somehow it just seems beautiful and peaceful. "Do you like living here?" I ask him quietly.

I can tell he starts to think. "Yeah, I do. It is a little lonely living alone, even though a few other teammates live in the building, but still. I'm not a huge fan of not having my car to drive around, and I have to either walk or take a taxi practically everywhere. You'll get used to it. It's kind of like traveling through Chicago".

"Well, that sounds okay. I'd be glad to not drive in this city", I laugh a little, then turn to Cole. "you know nothing can happen between us, right. At least, not now. Peter is here, and I wouldn't do anything like that if he wasn't here. I know he doesn't like me talking to you because you are my ex, and the hell you had put me through a few months ago. I don't particularly like that I talk to you like this either, because of what happened, but we are friends. So, we both know that we can't really talk in front of anybody. I hate thinking that I have to talk to a friend in private because of everybody else, but we have to".

"Mere, I understand that. I get that a new boyfriend, or even a new girlfriend, if I had one, wouldn't like us talking to each other. I understand that we can only do this in private, and I know we both hate doing that. But, I understand, and whatever happens, happens. But, this is also our job now, whether we actually have to communicate or not at Xcel", Cole is stopped by the knock on my door.

I walk slowly over to it, then open the door. "Hey", Peter smiles from outside.

He looks over me, and I can tell Cole is standing right behind me. I wince a little. Peter's smile disappears.