“Good to know, thanks. Hey, when you say you think Fiona’s gonna get out of here soon, was she here before you or did she arrive after?”
“She arrived after me, about two months ago. I’ve been here for three months, but I always knew that Fiona would get out before me.”
“Why is that? You seem like a strong woman, much stronger than any that I’ve ever known.”
I shook my head sadly. “I wish that were true. No, the reality is I’m going to be in here for a long time. That’s probably why it’s also good idea to just be friends, there is no hope of me ever getting out of here.”
“But why not? Yeah you’re an alcoholic, but so are thousands of other people. They managed to live life on the outside, avoiding drinking.”
“I don’t deserve to get better,” I replied, and I think the finality my voice told Daniel that this wasn’t a topic he wanted to continue.
“That’s fine, Kylie. You don’t need to tell me anything you don’t want to. But hey, if you ever want to talk about anything, I’m here. After all, we’re friends now, remember?”
“Thanks, Daniel. I appreciate the offer, I’m not really used to talking about this sort of thing.”
“Hey, I get it. I don’t talk about a lot of stuff either, so don’t worry about that. Let’s talk about something else, something happy.”
“Sure, I’d like that. Do you want to go play Scrabble in the games room with me?”
“Of course the potential Doctor would choose Scrabble as the game to play against the athlete,” Daniel teased. “I’m going to show you that not all of us fit the dumb punchy stereotype of hockey players,” he continued, getting up from his chair with a grin.
Ten minutes later we were sitting across from each other on comfortable couches, the Scrabble board in between us. I was staring at my tiles, trying to decide whether I should open with ‘apple’ or ‘patella’. I decided to go with the latter, in honor of my guest. Daniel grinned when he saw the word.
“Trying to throw me off my game with a reference to the knee, are you doctor?” he teased, and I stuck my tongue out at him.
“I didn’t think you would know what a patella was,” I retorted, as he played ‘trails’.
The game quickly picked up in pace, with Daniel matching my every word with something at least as valuable. I had to admit, I was impressed. I could tell he wasn’t dumb or anything like that, he definitely didn’t fit the stereotype of the average athlete that doesn’t know how to spell his own name, but I hadn’t expected him to be quite this good at Scrabble.
As for my body’s reaction to Daniel, nothing had changed since we decided to just be friends. Every time he smiled at me, every time those big deep eyes glistened in my direction, I felt my legs going weak, my heart pounding faster and like my insides were melting away in a pool of desire. Nothing in the room except for Daniel mattered. I couldn’t have cared less who was sitting at any of the other seats, whether there was music playing over the speakers, absolutely couldn’t have cared less. The only thing that mattered to me when I was with Daniel was Daniel. Something inside of me wanted to make him happy. I wanted to make him like me, I wanted to make him want to spend more time with me.
At one point as I reached to adjust a tile while he played one our hands brushed, and we both stopped. I felt that spark of electricity between us, I felt the absolute passion that coursed in between our bodies, and I knew Daniel felt it too. We looked at each other, then pulled away, almost as though the two of us were embarrassed about it. We continued playing like nothing had happened, but I could feel it. That spark never went away.
“God, it’s getting late,” I eventually noted after yawning three times in a row. I glanced at the clock, and for the first time in a long, long time I wished the hands on the round plate would show it was earlier than I thought it was. I was so used to wanting the time to pass, wanting it to stand still was a whole new feeling.
“Does that mean you’re giving up?” Daniel asked as he played ‘terrestrial’, using all seven of his tiles.
“Damn it!” I exclaimed as I saw that on top of making an eleven letter word he had landed on a double word score tile. “No, I’m not giving up! Plus I’m pretty sure I’m winning, anyway” I said, glancing at the scores on the sheet.
“Probably, but admit it, I’m better at this than you thought I would be.”
I laughed. “Yeah, you are. It’s not fair that someone can both look like you and be good at scrabble.”
“You’re one to talk. Brains and beauty, the perfect combo.”
I blushed, then my eyes rose to the security camera in the corner. I was only too aware of its presence, and I could feel Daniel’s body sinking back into the chair.
“Stupid rules, right?”
“Yeah.”