“I have instructions.” I pulled out my phone and read the text out loud. “We are to find the lot marked blue lot, city officials only and give Aaron’s name. They will need my ID.”
We were only about five minutes away and with traffic, so the hardest part was finding the blue lot. When we finally did, I realized why: it was only for about twenty cars.
Stella pulled up so the guard was more on my side; he reminded me of John Candy. “This is a reserved lot.”
“Thank goodness. I believe there is a spot reserved for me. My name is Vivian Haines, Aaron—”
“Of course Ms. Haines, park anywhere. Walk right through here and you can use the back side of will call. There is never a line; it is for VIPs.”
“Thank you so much.” I rolled up the window and turned to Mikki, who was sitting in the back.
“Thank you, thank you so damn much for bringing me. I still hate you for encroaching on Aaron, but if you keep up these perks, I might learn to forgive you. Can you ask him who else is single?”
“You’re weird.” I shook my head.
“Okay ladies, let’s go check out this man of Vivian’s and maybe find an extra for Mikki.”
We headed in the direction the guard had pointed, stopping to clear thorough security before stepping up to what looked like a teller window. “Hey, whose tickets do you need?” a woman asked without turning to face us. She was busy working with the fan in front of her, he was still outside.
“Aaron Skkye, there should be three tickets,” I answered.
Without skipping a beat, she reached into her drawer, grabbed an envelope, scanned the three of us, and turned her focus back at me. She opened the envelope and studied the passes. “What’s your name?”
“Vivian Haines, this is Stella—”
“Good enough, here you go.” She slid me the envelope and went back to helping the fan at the other window.
I pulled out the lanyards and handed them out. “Oh. My. God. He gave us Lightning passes.” Mikki kissed the plastic card and then prayed to the Almighty above.
“I figured since that’s the name of his team.”
“No, there are three levels of tickets: silver, blue, and lightning. Most of the people who come in here are silver. They have their seats. Blue has special seating, maybe even a box, plus they get extras like if there is a before game or a meet-the-team thing after a game. It’s never the whole team, just a player or two. Last but not least, there are lightning passes: spouses have those, maybe parents, but that is about it. You can go into the tunnel. You will have someone come check on you and your comfort. It is the best of the fucking best.”
“Is that all, Mikki?” I fought to hold back my grin.
“Is that all? You’re kidding me, right?”
“Yes, I’m kidding you. We’re here to show support. Who wants to get a drink and snack?” I asked and moved toward a concession stand.
Mikki grabbed my arm. “Don’t, I’m serious. Food is brought to us. Trust me, please.”
“I say we trust her. Look at her. She matches most of these people, you look like the freak.” Stella pointed to me. “Not so sure we should be seen with you.” Stella wrapped an arm around me. “Maybe we’ll forgive you this time. Come on.” Her beads jangled.
“Are you going to take those sunglasses off?” I asked.
“Nope, I make this shit look good.” She placed a finger at the tip of one arm of the glasses and wiggled them. Do I look like Rizzo from Grease?”
“More like Jan.” I waited for her comeback.
Without missing a beat, she lifted one leg behind me, brought it up, and kicked my butt.
“Where are our seats?” I asked Mikki.
“They’re in the first row—holy shit, we have seats behind the bench.”
“I’m totally lost,” I said to Stella.
“Me too.”
We followed Mikki down stair after stair, a mixture of leather, plastic, and sweat sort of filled the air. It was not overwhelming, but it was there. I wondered how someone got rid of the smell of sweat, or if it was like old bars with the smell of smoke, there was nothing you could do, it was in the very fibers of the foundation.
Our seats were directly behind a bench. “That’s where our players sit,” Mikki announced. “You’ll get to see Aaron up close and personal.”
I smiled when I spotted the souvenirs that had been left for us, and my smile only got bigger when I took in what was in my seat.
“Put it on.” Mikki grabbed the jersey from the stack and slid it over my head. “It’s his official jersey.”
“It’s so big.” I held it away from my body. “It’s practically a dress.”
“Yeah, because it is really his. Like one of his that he wears. I’m so jealous.”
I picked up the tote bag that was full of socks, decals, beads, clackers, and all the other swag that Mikki seemed to come with. But it was the pale blue envelope that caught my attention.
Sliding one nail under the flap, I opened it and slid out the card. A simple matching blue correspondence card.
Vivian,
I’m glad you came tonight. Let me take you home. After the game, I have to go to the locker room, but I’ll hurry. I’ll meet you at our tunnel.
Aaron
“Which is the Lightning’s tunnel?” I asked Mikki.
“That one”—she pointed to her left—“and the one on the right is for the visiting team. They lead to the locker rooms.”
“I don’t care about tunnels, what did the letter say?” Stella asked. I handed it over before flagging down someone.
“May I get you something?” a woman in what could only be described as caterer clothes asked.
“Can we just get some sodas?”
“Absolutely.” She called off the list of drinks. “Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Mr. Pibb—”
“Diet Coke,” we all said in unison.
“May I grab
