Nothing Gets Through Ch. 02

"I just worry," Lani said gently, and reached over to pat her friend's leg.

"I know," said Dee, with a grateful smile. "I won't help her, Lani. I really won't. I refuse to give any of my hard-earned money to her when I know it'll just go to her next drink or next fix."

"There, see," said Lani lightly. "You're doing great."

"But can you imagine if I did date Karl?" Dee said, abruptly sitting up and nearly spilling her wine. "Celia would know right away. She always does. If she knew I was seeing someone with money..." Dee shook her head. "She'd never leave me alone."

"I'd help you," Lani said seriously. "You know that. And I don't think she'd scare Karl off. You need to give him a little more credit, Dee. Yourself, too."

Dee shook her head more vehemently. "No, I wouldn't expose him to that if I could help it. He doesn't deserve that."

"Neither do you," Lani said.

x-x-x-x

"What are you waiting for?" Karl asked.

"What?" Dom looked up. He'd been resting, listening to some music on his iPod. Nothing relaxed a person like Avenged Sevenfold.

"Why haven't you called Lani?" Karl persisted. He reached down and pulled the earbuds out, earning a glare from Dom.

"She's probably busy," Dom said, grabbing his earbuds back. "Not everybody works our hours, you know."

"I thought you liked her," Karl said.

"I do," Dom snapped. He sat up. Sometimes best friends can be a real pain in the ass, he thought. "And she could call me, you know."

"Sure," said Karl, "she'd be so anxious to interrupt a practice, or a video session. She must know all the travel itinerary, right, so she doesn't call while we're flying?" He shook his head. "Come on, Dom, I saw you the next day." He had never seen Dom in quite that mood. He suspected it involved happiness, but Dom was so closed off sometimes, it was hard to tell.

"So what?" Dom grumped.

"So call her," Karl said.

"And I suppose you've been calling Dee all the time?" Dom said.

"Yes, I have," his friend said. "I'm about to call again now." With that, Karl left the room.

Dom snarled and threw a pillow at the door once it was shut. Karl was right; he should call. He wasn't sure why he hadn't, and even he knew that blaming Lani was just ducking the issue. The truth was that Lani had gotten to him in a way few people ever had, and that had all his red flags waving. She was adorable, smart, had a great laugh, and he was missing her fiercely.

So why didn't he call?

Because, he had to admit, in the light of day and when she wasn't right next to him, he had time to think. Thinking led to worrying. He worried about himself because if he didn't know better, he would think he loved her, or at least could. She had made him feel so relaxed, and even... oh hell, she'd made him feel happy, and that hadn't happened in a long time.

He had immediately felt concerned for her, protective of her. When he'd seen her reaction in her apartment, he hadn't even hesitated about inviting her to his place. The idea of her going to a hotel hadn't even entered his mind until she said it, and then he knew he simply couldn't do it. He had needed her with him and that was a scary concept.

Other people he had needed or cared about had left. His parents were the prime example. He was extremely grateful to his grandparents, who had managed to extricate him from the foster care system and had supported his efforts to play hockey. Other than that, he'd had very few people in his life who'd cared and stayed. He'd been engaged once, but then even that girl had gone, claiming he didn't trust her because he wouldn't talk to her about the important things.

"You won't share yourself with me," Vicky had told him. "If you can't do that, then there's nothing between us."

Dom hadn't protested when she left, hadn't argued or fought over her words. It had hurt his heart to see her go, and his pride that he had let himself be so hurt. He had vowed never to do it again. Lani had him dangerously close to breaking that vow. So close that he considered not calling her at all, and just letting things wither.

Oh, damn it, he thought irritably and sat up. He dug through his pockets looking for his cell phone.

He couldn't let her go like that.

x-x-x-x

Lani sat at her desk, eyes half-glazed as she scrolled through the table on the monitor. The numbers were stupor-inducing and she thought how handy an intravenous caffeine drip would be. As the numbers moved up and off the screen, her thoughts wandered to Dom.

Why hasn't he called? she wondered, then chided herself, Why haven't you called him? For all kinds of dumb reasons, she decided. She was nervous; she was afraid he wouldn't want to talk to her now that they had some distance from each other; she didn't know his schedule and didn't want to interrupt.

She scoffed at herself. That was all bullshit. She was just scared and it was time to admit it. Surely she could gauge a time and call. If Dom couldn't answer, he wouldn't, and she would leave a message. It was a phone call, for heaven's sake, not an international arms treaty.

The really scary thing, she mused as the numbers floated by, wwas that she could probably fall in love with him. Lani knew she tended to overanalyze things and was trying very hard not to do that with Dom; in fact, she found herself doing the opposite. It was just so good to be with him. He seemed to like talking to her, although she had noticed that he kept most personal details to himself. That was all right, though. Lani sometimes found herself saying things and having second thoughts, and again, had tried to make sure she stayed on an even keel with Dom.

It surprised her, though, as she thought about it, to realize that she hadn't found out where he was from, or even if he had any siblings. That isn't exactly state-secret level information, she thought. She shrugged, blinked, and tried to focus. They'd known each other all of forty-eight hours. He didn't have to give his history within a certain time frame. She could be patient, because she wanted to know about him and would let him do it in his own time.

Her cell phone rang and she absently picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey there, Hawaiian girl." She sat up and smiled at her cubicle wall.

"Hi, Dom. How are you?" She pushed back from her desk and stretched her arms over her head. "I was hoping you'd call."

"Sorry I didn't call before," he said, looking guiltily at the floor. "It's hard to find privacy on road trips."

"That's all right," she said, feeling ridiculously relieved that he had called at last. "I know how busy you must be with the traveling. Congratulations on the game the other night, by the way. I watched at Dee's place."

"Really? No Cherie?" he teased.

"Oh, please," she said, rolling her eyes. "Cherie doesn't know a ball from a bat. Dee, on the other hand, is getting to be quite the knowledgeable student."

"How is the lovely Dee?" he asked. "I think Karl's soft on her." Lani laughed, and Dom realized he'd missed her doing that.

"She's good," said Lani. "The usual neuroses, but no worse than me."

"You have neuroses?" Dom asked, feigning surprise.

"Oh, tons," she said. "You already know about the rats. I'll tell you the rest next time I see you." Then she blushed bright red at the casual assumption she'd made.

"So, you want to see me again?" he asked, more pleased than he wanted to admit.

"Yes, yes, I do," she said more firmly. In for a penny... she thought.

"Well, that's handy," he said, "since I'd like to see you, too."

"Oh, good," she said, sighing in relief. "I was... well, I was worried you might have rethought things."

"I've thought about things," he admitted, "and I keep coming back to the fact that I like things with you."

Lani tapped her feet happily on the rug. "I like that, too."

"Oh, hey, did I catch you at a bad time?" Dom suddenly realized he hadn't been paying attention to the time of day or the time zone difference.

"No, no," she assured him. "I needed a break. These numbers were swimming in front of my eyes." She glanced up at the clock. "Actually, this is great timing. Talk to me for five more minutes and I can say I'm done for the day."

Dom laughed. "Happy to help." They did talk a bit longer and Lani promised to watch the game that night.

"I think I can even watch at home," she said. "Cherie's on a business trip."

"That is too good of a set up," Dom said, "and so I won't say a thing about what kind of business she's in."

Lani snickered. "Neither will I. I can't tell you how nice it is to be there without worrying about people in leopard-print briefs hiding in the kitchen." Dom laughed out loud at the image, and Lani felt warm inside. He was so intense on the ice that it was a treat to hear him laugh like that, to let go just a little.

"What if I wore leopard-print briefs and hid in your kitchen?" he teased.

Lani blushed bright red at the picture in her head. "Oh," she said after clearing her throat, "that would be okay." Dom laughed again.

"I have to go, Lani," he said reluctantly.

"That's fine," she said softly. "Thanks for calling. It was really good to talk to you."

"You'll watch the game, right?" he asked again.

"Wouldn't miss it," Lani told him.

x-x-x-x

"I feel like a groupie," said Dee. She and Lani were at the airport, waiting for the team plane to arrive.

"Don't be silly," said Lani as she sipped at a hot chocolate. "Groupies would wear far less clothing than we have on." Dee snorted, then got nervous again.

"I know this was my idea, but maybe we should go," she said. She looked around the empty waiting area. There were a few other people, but it was pretty deserted. "I don't want to seem... oh, I don't know." Dee bit her lip. "I'm feeling really stupid about now."

Lani had to admit she was feeling apprehensive as well. Dom had said he wanted to see her, but she wasn't sure this was what he had in mind. Dee had suggested it -- spur of the moment, as always -- and Lani had agreed with hardly a thought. I must have it bad, Lani thought with a sigh. I'd never do this otherwise.

She hoped Dom would be glad to see her. The team had done well on the road trip, going 3-1, but the one had come last night, when they'd lost with a few minutes left in the third period. The analysts had pointed out how no one should take too much disappointment away. The team had played well, but they were tired; traveling took something out of even the most seasoned athlete. She knew, however, that Dom wouldn't take any of those excuses. He was supposed to keep the pucks out and last night, he hadn't managed to do it.

"We haven't seen them after a loss," Dee suddenly said. She got up and hugged herself, rubbing her arms restlessly. Lani said nothing, caught up in similar thoughts related to Dom. "What if he's angry? What if he doesn't want to see me? Oh, damn, this was a bad idea."

"Dee!" Lani said, a bit more sharply than she intended. She took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm tired. Anyway, the game was nearly twenty-four hours ago." Weather had delayed the original departure time; Karl had kept Dee apprised of everything. That had made Lani wonder if Karl, at least, wanted Dee to meet the plane even if he hadn't said so. "I'm sure they've put it away and are getting ready for the next one. They can't dwell on the losses."

She stopped there, although she'd meant to say more. Her brother had dwelt on the losses; more, he had blamed her for them. So much so that now they rarely spoke, and even that was at family gatherings where the mask of civility was put on for show. Lani shook her head as though she could physically remove those thoughts. Now wasn't the time mourn the loss of the relationship with her brother.

"You're probably right," said Dee, who hadn't noticed Lani's sudden heavy thoughts. "See, this is my problem. I have these ideas and they sound great when I first think of them, and then I actually do it and feel ridiculous."

"You mean like the time you made me go rock climbing?" Lani said, trying to lighten the mood. It worked. Dee turned to her and smiled brightly.

"But that was fun!" she said.

"There were rats," Lani reminded her. Even now she shuddered.

"They weren't rats," Dee countered. "They were little field mice or something." Lani didn't care; they had had four feet and moved way too fast. "They wouldn't hurt you." She looked up and Lani saw her face brighten. "They're here!" Dee nearly squeaked. Lani laughed.

The women stayed in their seats, waiting as the team filed through the doorway. There were waves and handshakes between players, and a few were greeted by wives or girlfriends. Dee sat straight, leaning forward, straining to catch a glimpse of Karl. Lani found herself almost sinking back in her seat as though trying not to be noticed. She knew she'd failed when she saw Karl wave at Dee and start walking over. Sighing, she sat up.

"Well, this is a nice surprise," Karl said with a warm smile. "Hello, Dee. Hi, Lani." Lani heard, even if her friend didn't, the softer tone in which he said Dee's name.

"Hi, Karl," Lani said with a smile. "It's good to see you back."

"Hi," said Dee, then went mute.

"Hey, who's this?" Lani looked up and saw two men, neither of them Dom, behind Karl. She felt like she should know their names, but without helmets or numbers they were hard to identify. Unlike Dee, Lani had not spent hours memorizing the media guide.

"Oh, hi guys." Karl dropped his duffel bag. "Greg, this is Lani and Dee."

A tall man with shaggy blond hair and brown eyes gave a grin and held out a hand. "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Greg Olshefsky."

"You're the captain!" Dee snapped out of her trance. "Oh, wow. Hi. I'm Dee." Greg laughed.

"Don't forget me!" The other man beside Karl had short dark hair and a bruise on his cheek.

Karl rolled his yes. "As though I could. Lani, Dee, this is Bobby Osterman."

"Hi," said Lani, taking the proffered hand. "You'll have to forgive Dee," she said dryly. "She forgot to take her meds."

"Lani!" Dee blushed and smacked her friend on the shoulder while the guys laughed. "I did not forget." That set them all off. Lani's laughter faded as she saw Dom approach. She wasn't quite sure how to read the expression on his face, but "happy" was not a word she would have used to describe it.

"Hi, Dom!" Dee said before she could.

"Hi, Dee," he said almost absently, his eyes focused on Lani.

"Hey," was all she could say. Words fled her mind in record numbers as he stared at her intensely.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. His tone was short and clipped. Karl looked at him in surprise. Greg and Bobby traded a glance, then looked from the Lani and back to Dom, not quite sure what to do.

"We thought...," she began, then cleared her throat and tried again. "We thought we'd meet your plane."

"It was my idea," said Dee. She could read the anger in Dom's face and tried to defuse it. "It seemed like a good one at the time," she continued, her words coming faster, "but then I'm always doing things like that and..."

"It was a great idea," Karl broke in. His eyes shot cold daggers at Dom. "A wonderful surprise. In fact, I know it's late, but I'm starving. How about we find a place and grab some food?" He placed a hand on Dee's back, started to gently guide her forward.

"Sounds perfect," said Greg, and poked Bobby, who blinked in surprise.

"Oh, absolutely," Bobby said, once things had clicked into place in his mind. "I know somewhere pretty close. Should be quiet this time of night, but the food's always good."

"Thanks, I'm not hungry," Dom said. His eyes were still locked on Lani. Her mouth felt dry and she couldn't figure out why he was staring her like this. Was he angry? Did he not like surprises? She hadn't done anything except show up, she thought anxiously. Her voice was blocked for a moment, then words tumbled free.

"It's okay," she said, "I need to get home. I have some work to do. It was nice to meet you," she turned to Greg and Bobby, grateful to leave those probing gray eyes. "We watched all the games, you're all great. Bye, Karl. I'll talk to you later, Dee." Before she could babble more, Lani grabbed her bag and started towards the exit at a pace just short of a run.

"Lani, wait!" Dee said but her friend kept on moving. Dee turned to Karl and raised her hands in a mixture of confusion and helplessness. "I have to go. We both came in my car."

Greg turned to Dom, who was still watching Lani, and gave him a small shove. Dom glared at him. "What the hell was that for?" Dee started in surprise, and Karl slid his arm around her shoulders.

"It think the question is," said Greg, "what the hell was that about?" He gestured at Lani, who was making a beeline to the doors. "She came to meet you and that's the best you can do? What the hell is wrong with you, Baddano?" He shook his head in disgust and turned back to the others. "Come on, let's get that food."

"Hold on," Karl said, and went over to Dom. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I didn't ask her to come," Dom snapped defensively. He avoided the question because he knew he'd acted like an idiot.

"I know," said Karl. "I believe that's why it's called a surprise. You don't need to be mad at her."

"I'm not," Dom said curtly. Karl raised an eyebrow.

"Could have fooled me," he said. Dee stepped up and started to talk before Karl realized she was there.

"Look, Dom," she began, "I'm really sorry. Don't be mad at Lani. It was my idea, like I said. She even said maybe we shouldn't, but I just get locked on to something and --"

"Shush," Karl said gently. Then he turned to Dom and his eyes were hard. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but fix it. That woman --" he pointed at Lani, who was getting smaller in the distance "-- is good for you. Maybe, if you ask nicely, she'll forgive you. I don't know if I would." He put his arm around Dee's shoulders again. "Come on, beautiful." Dee blushed furiously. "Let's go. If Bobby doesn't get food quickly, he turns into a zombie."

"And that would be different from every other day how?" Greg quipped.

"Hey!" Bobby protested as they walked away. Dom heard Dee's bubbly laugh as the others started down the aisle to the exit. Lani was far ahead of them, nearly to the doors leading outside.

"Damn," he said to himself. "Shit, shit, shit." He shouldered his bag and started running, breezing past Karl and the others. He got outside just as Lani's cab drove away.

x-x-x-x

"Hey, Lani," Cherie chirped. "How was the airport?"

"Hi, Cherie," she said blankly. "Fine." She locked the door and started down to her room. She did not want to deal with Cherie or the man sitting on the couch with no shirt on. Did any of Cherie's boyfriends even own a shirt? Lani wondered. She didn't think she'd ever seen any of them wearing one.

Safely in her room, she locked the door, dropped her purse on the desk and shucked off her coat. She sat on the bed for a minute, then couldn't sit still and got up and paced.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, she chastised herself. I never should have gone. It was too much, too soon. I looked like a clingy girlfriend, and I don't even know if I'm his girlfriend at all. But what the hell was that about? He couldn't just say, "Hi, thanks for coming, but I'm beat?"

Lani growled and wished she had a punching bag. She was mad at someone, but she couldn't figure out who. Herself for expecting too much? Dom for acting like she'd done something awful, instead of just showing up to meet a flight?

Sighing, she threw herself on the bed and admitted that she was just hurt. She liked Dom a lot. No one had ever affected her like he had, and she liked it and already missed it, even in the short time he'd been gone. Tonight, she had thought it might be nice to surprise him, and he had taken it completely the wrong way -- whatever way that was. Calmer now, she could even admit she was envious of the way Karl had responded to Dee's presence, and that she had hoped for something similar from Dom.