FAWC 2: An Extra Ticket
(Author's note: This story is a submission to the second Friendly Anonymous Writing Challenge (FAWC). The true author of this story is kept anonymous, but will be revealed on August 16th, 2013, in the comments section following this story. Each story in this challenge is centered around a random determination of four "mystery ingredients." There are no prizes given in this challenge; this is simply a friendly competition.)
(The mystery ingredients for this story were sarcasm, food, intellect and sport.)
* * * *
"What am I doing here?" Jaden Connors grumbled to himself. It was freezing, his friend had apparently stood him up, and he had no ticket to get in. What a god-awful idea this had been.
He turned to try to find his way back and stumbled when someone bumped into him.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me." A woman decked out in red and white except for the blue of her jeans looked up at him. "I didn't see you there."
"Really? I would think I stick out like a sore thumb. I'm the only one that doesn't look like a candy cane."
She frowned. "I said I was sorry. No need to be rude."
Jaden sighed and dragged a gloved hand over his face. "Look, I'm sorry. This day has just—not at all gone the way it was supposed to."
Her frown faded and she smiled, all the way up to her green eyes. "I've had those days. Here, let's step out of the way."
Jaden let her take him off the main pathway, slightly away from the rowdy but good-spirited crowd making its way into Toyota Park for the Chicago Fire's game against FC Dallas. Most were dressed in red and white, like the woman in front of him, to support the home team.
"So what's the problem?" the woman asked. "I'm Kayla, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Kayla. I'm Jaden Connors. And the problem is that I was supposed to meet someone here and they're not here. I am miles from home, I don't have my car, and I don't have a ticket. So I suppose I will get a cab, if they come all the way the hell out here."
"You could get a ticket," she pointed out.
"I didn't come for the game," he said, impatience getting the better of him. "I came to meet a friend of mine and take advantage of our company's box. If I'd wanted to be out in the cold I could have done that for free and closer to home."
Instead of walking away, which Jaden thought any other woman would have done when faced with his attitude, Kayla laughed.
"You sure are having a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day, aren't you?"
"Pardon?"
She waved it off. "Never mind. Kids' book. Tell you what, Jaden, I can help you."
"You can?" He was skeptical. He didn't particularly need help; after all, he was perfectly capable of calling a cab.
"I can. I can tell you where to go," here she paused for effect, "to get a cab. Or . . . ."
Jaden fought a smile. "Or?"
"Or," she continued, "I can get you a ticket. If you go to the game, you won't have come all this way for nothing. What do you say?"
"I say, 'Point me to a cab.'"
"No, no." She shook her head and the brown curly hair under her red-and-white hat swayed back and forth. "You say, 'Hey, that sounds like fun. Let's go.'"
Jaden narrowed his eyes. "Why would I say that? I don't like soccer and I don't like the cold."
"What do you like, then?"
"Being warm."
* * * *
Kayla grinned. She couldn't help herself. Somewhere, underneath the grumbling exterior, she was sure there was a nice guy who would be fun if he loosened up.
"You don't have to stay cold, you know," she told him. "You can get coffee, hot chocolate, or the choice of most people, beer." She studied him for a moment. He had dark hair to match his eyes. "Wearing a hat would help, too."
"Why are you trying to convince me to go to the game?"
"You came all the way out here and you look like you could use some fun. Besides, I have an extra ticket and you might as well use it."
"Why didn't you say that in the first place?"
"It was more fun to convince you." She laughed. "So, do you want the ticket or not? You have anything better to do?" she asked before he could refuse.
Jaden pondered the question and laughed himself. "No, I don't. All right, you win." He shook his head and took the ticket she held out to him. "You're pretty tenacious. You must be hell on car salesmen."
"No, that's my mom. I'm just in training."
They went into the stadium and while Jaden was tentative at first, he asked a few questions about the team and the game, then in the second half moved on to strategy. Kayla was amazed at how quickly he grasped the concepts. She'd played and watched soccer for years and didn't think she understood it as well as Jaden did after one game.
When it was over, the score was three to one in favor of the Fire, and Kayla stood and cheered with the rest of the crowd. Jaden stood and clapped, and she thought he might even have enjoyed himself.
She nudged him. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"It was okay." When she gave him a look, he raised his hands in mock surrender. "All right, all right. You win." He grinned. "That was a hell of a lot of fun."
"Hungry?" she asked as they made their way out.
"Does it matter?" He gave her a wry look. "Won't you just try to convince me to eat something if I say no?"
"Probably. So, let's just skip all that and go to a little diner I know with the best pierogies in town."
"There's no such thing as a good pierogie, let alone a best one."
"Blasphemy!" She smacked his arm. "Come with me."
An hour later, Jaden conceded defeat once more. "I have to learn not to argue with you. Those were indeed excellent pierogies."
"I am pretty stubborn. My mom used to say I'd argue with the Pope."
"And no doubt, you'd win."
Kayla shrugged. "Well, it might be a draw. I hear the Pope is a smart guy."
Jaden shook his head and smiled. "I'm curious, what do you do when you aren't browbeating people into attending soccer games and eating these potato pockets?"
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Kayla teased. "But if you must know, I work for the family business."
"You're in the mob?"
She laughed; Jaden had a pretty good sense of humor now that he'd relaxed. "No, nothing so exciting. My family owns Nowak Heating and Air Conditioning. My grandfather started it, now my dad runs it but Gramps keeps his hand in."
"You crawl around in air ducts?"
"No, not my style and too dusty." She shook her head. "I handle the scheduling, help with the billing, things like that. What do you do?"
"Biomedical stuff at Abbott Labs. I'm a researcher."
"Wow. Way beyond me. Suffice to say biology wasn't my favorite subject." She made a face. "I almost threw up when we had to dissect frogs."
"I don't deal with frogs," he assured her. "It's all computers and microscopes and white walls."
"No wonder you needed to get out and do something. That would drive me crazy." Kayla glanced at her watch. "It's getting late, I'd better get home." They paid the check and stepped outside, huddling into their jackets against the biting wind.
"How far away are you?" Jaden asked. "Want to split a cab?"
"No, I'll just take the El." She nudged him with an elbow. "I do want to say thanks, though. I had a fun day, thanks for going along with it."
"Surprisingly, I had fun, too."
They stopped at an El station entrance. Jaden held his hand out. "It was nice to meet you, Kayla Nowak. Maybe we can meet up again sometime?"
"Likewise, Jaden Connors, and I'd like that very much." She pulled a business card and a pen out of her purse and wrote on the back of the card. "There's my number and here's something to remember me by until you call." She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed him.
His lips were cold for a moment and then body heat conquered the winter cold. Kayla hesitated, then touched the tip of her tongue to his lips. He responded to the challenge by wrapping his arms around her and thrusting his tongue against hers. Kayla laughed inwardly as she brought her arms up around his neck, not backing down from the kiss.
When they were finished, Jaden looked down at her, his dark eyes glinting. "You're a piece of work, Kayla. But so am I."
* * * *
"Tell me more!" Theresa Jablonski, the other receptionist at Nowak Heating, leaned over her desk. "Did you go home with him?"
"No!" Kayla scolded. Never mind that she had thought about doing just that. She'd almost suggested it after that kiss, but had made herself take a step back. "Come on, I don't do that!"
"But you said he's cute, and smart! God, a doctor!"
"Not that kind of a doctor," Kayla reminded her. Jaden had handed her his own business card and she'd looked at it on the train home. When she saw the "Ph.D." after his name, she'd been a little awed.
Maybe she should toss the number, she thought. She didn't consider herself dumb by any means, but the business degree she'd worked for didn't compete with a doctorate.
"But—wait." Theresa picked up the phone. "Nowak Heating, this is Theresa, how can I help you?"
Kayla busied herself with checking the daily schedule, seeing if anything needed to be canceled or rescheduled. They were in a slower period, which was good. The cold snaps in December and January and the heat waves in the summers kept their technicians on the go constantly, but as spring approached and the weather warmed, the pace slowed a little.
Her mind wandered back to Jaden. She wanted to see him again, but could she hold his interest? Soccer and pierogies were fun, but not much to build on if there wasn't anything else.
"Hey, Kayla!" A loud voice ripped her from her thoughts and she winced.
She took a breath. "Hi, Mickey."
"What's on tap for today, babe?"
"Don't call me 'babe.' I'm printing out the schedule now."
If Mickey wasn't her father's best friend's son, she'd have let him have it long ago. Ever since he'd been moved up to a supervisory position, he thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. He also seemed to think it entitled him to Kayla. He'd started calling her things like "baby" and "sweetheart," which she didn't like on several levels, not least because it was unprofessional.
Kayla had told him flat out to stop, but he hadn't. He seemed to think she'd "come around" and she didn't appreciate it. When he'd tried to kiss her, she'd slapped him but he looked bemused instead of offended.
She'd told her father about Mickey's treatment, but he hadn't acted as she'd hoped. "He's my friend's son," her father had said. "He's a good boy, Kayla. Just ignore him and he'll move on."
Well, he hadn't moved on and Kayla was sick of it.
