Chapter 480: Mimi L—Gone Upstairs

“Mom! Are they going to pull, Daddy now?” Jana asked, Michele could feel Jana’s little fingers poking her arm. “Are they? It’s not Daddy’s fault, Joe and Chris were the ones who did it not him”

“Well, Dad could have stopped at least one of those!” Jonathan scoffed his eyes wide with disbelief. “He might need a rest or something.”

Well that was surprising. She never expected to hear something like that from Jonathan about his beloved father. However, she did notice the boy’s habit lately of being meticulously practical and non-sentimental about things. It seemed to her that Jonathan was trying to emulate a no-nonsense logical man, bereft of the twitches and eccentricities most people put upon goaltenders. It would be sad if it went so far as the boy suddenly becoming embarrassed about Patrick’s on ice tics, but she doubted that it would.

“Dad doesn’t get tired!” Jana snapped.

Michele really didn’t know what to say or think; even a child would know to be ready for a clean face off like that. Somehow, it didn’t surprise her that if a fluke like that would have happened, it would happen to him. Patrick just attracted that sort of drama. “No I don’t think they will pull him,” Michele replied, looking at the ice, looking down it to the bench and squinting to see if the coach would send the signal to switch goaltenders. She knew Patrick probably had the same thought in his mind.

“No they won’t pull him, Jana,” Freddy said, “If it was Aebischer or some other goalie they’d pull him but not, Dad.”

“But they should,” Jonathan added.

“Noooo!” Jana exclaimed and Michele looked at the boy. Practical or not, she had an inkling that now Jonathan was just trying to worry and tease Jana for fun.

“Jonathan!”

Jonathan shrugged. “It looks like there’s something wrong with Joe too. I bet it’s that chemical leak thing earlier today. They should be playing tomorrow morning not today.”

Michele didn’t even want to know the entire story behind that one. The news broke the story of the incident earlier in the day before it had even reached the wives’ cell phones. Why the men even wanted to play tonight was beyond her. She couldn’t imagine that they’d be completely healthy enough to go.

When her cell phone rang, Michele rummaged through her purse to find it. “Yes?” She answered, looking at the ice, Patrick skated to the bench, as did the rest of the team apparently Coach Hartley had opted for a thirty second time out rather than switching goaltenders. She could only wonder what all of the fans thought about this.

“Mimi! What is going on? Is Patrick alright?”

Michele shrugged, “After what happened today to all of them, I wonder if any of them are, Debbie, yes?”

“I guess,” Debbie replied, “The game’s still early though, aye, they always seem to get over those flukie goals.” She laughed. “Now Mimi get your skinny butt up here, please! You have to meet her, don’t tell me Patty can’t spare you for one game, just come on up here!”

“On intermission!” Michele replied, “I told you before, we’ll go up then. I can send the children up now if you want them. But I do not want to disappoint Patty, yes?”

“Alright, alright.”

Michele frowned. “So prepare me, what is she like?”

Debbie paused for a moment, and in that flash, Michele thought of Alex’s face, and marveled how the boy had landed himself in a spotlight such as this. “She’s nice, Mimi, she’s a little, different. Yeah, she’s different, but she seems sweet.” Debbie’s voice lowered to a whisper, “I think maybe she’s a little spoiled, and a little eccentric but she’s okay. You’ll like her.”

“See you later than,” Michele smiled before hanging up. She looked at the children; the three of them were making completely different sour faces through the glass at a Canuck player skating past. It reminded her of the wooden novelty sculpture of the three monkeys who neither saw heard or spoke evil. “Are we going upstairs during the intermission?”

“If Penelope Cruz is up there HELL yeah!” Jonathan barked.

Michele half grinned, even Freddy had a sort of awestruck look upon his clean little face. “Be polite to her, I mean it. I do not want a half hearted promise to be good and then I must watch you play the part of the savage, eh?”

Identical goofy grins played on the lips of both boys and they nodded eagerly. “We’ll be good!” they said.

“I don’t want to meet her,” Jana snapped and she crossed her arms. “She’s not Alex’s real girlfriend, she’s just a stupid actress. He doesn’t really like her that much.” The girl slouched in her seat and let her lip hang down in a pout reminiscent of her father on a bad day.

“Oh just be nice,” Michele said to Jana, “Alex can have any friend that he wants to young lady and you act like a lady to her or you will not have any friends over for two weeks do you understand?” Better nip that one in the bud. Although Michele didn’t want to admit it, she felt a rumbling excited nervousness inside about meeting the actress and she didn’t want her children’s pretentious antics being the highlight of this evening. Besides, at almost ten years old Jana was too old to be nursing crushes on older men.

“I bet she’s mean,” Jana sniffed, getting in her last word.

“Who cares if she’s mean, she’s hot!” Jonathan exclaimed.

Michele nailed the boy with a glare. “And she does not need you drooling on her either yes?”

The boy grinned.

“Hey think of it this way,” Freddy offered kindly, “You can brag to all the girls at school tomorrow that you met a really famous movie star.”

Michele smiled in gratitude to Freddy who blushed.

“You think they’d be jealous?” Jana asked, her voice lifting in curiosity.

“Everyone’s gonna be,” Freddy nodded.

Michele reached over and messed up his hair affectionately. She cleared her throat and then took a sip from Jana’s soda to try calming her nerves. Why should she feel so excited? She couldn’t deny it, she almost felt like a young kid again before Christmas, she liked the idea of meeting a movie star, and she liked that her children would be able to as well.

“And think of this!” Freddy added, “Maybe she can get you into the movies, Jana! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Oooooo!” Jana cooed.

Michele grimaced and looked at Freddy, “Oh Freddy, no we don’t want to be in the movies, really honey?”

Freddy closed one eye. “Sorry Mom!” he mouthed out.

The last thing Michele wanted to deal with was Jana the movie star.

The time out seemed to settle the team down, fortunately and Michele was happy to see Patrick make a few good saves, and the rest of the team have a couple of good scoring chances before the end of the period. As soon as the end of period buzzer sounded, Michele stood up with the children. She could hear smatterings of conversation around her, and everyone seemed to be abuzz over those two fluke goals.

They would really have to live this one down.

The first impression Michele had of Penelope is that the woman reminded her of a frail girl with large eyes. Perhaps it was the trick of seeing someone only on the television or movie screen, but somehow she’d thought that Cruz would be larger, somehow more voluptuous and less diminutive. She certainly did not expect this tiny creature presented to her.

“Penelope, Mimi, Mimi, Penelope,” Debbie introduced them, smiling warmly and showing a little too much teeth. That signaled to Michele a sort of worried, desperate look about her.

“Oo it’s nice to finally meet the lady who has stolen our Alex,” Michele replied, taking Penelope’s proffered hand lightly between her own fingers. Penelope’s hand felt very tiny and very cool.

Penelope smiled, blinked with those impossibly large, almost cartoonish eyes, and then closed them, contented. “Oh a fun steal too, he is, I cannot believe my luck.”

“It seems we’re as fortunate as you eh?” Michele smiled and she felt much more comfortable now. “No we have the pleasure of meeting you.”

Penelope raised her eyebrows, and when she spoke Michele felt a little comforted by the woman’s Spanish accent, it did not stumble by any means but the slight thickness of it made Michele feel not so alone with her own accent. “It is fun all around, eh? I like this here, it’s very nice, I shall stay with Alex and have fun and relax. And Debbie, she is so nice to me to let me have a seat in this box, which one is your husband? She showed me hers, I like to know everyone’s husbands.”

“Oh, yes, he’s the goaltender,” Michele said.

“The one playing?” Penelope’s eyebrows fell in a straight line that made her look so coquettishly like a small girl that Michele felt an urge in her breast, a pain that she couldn’t quite label. So this is the presence of celebrity? To be sure, Michele knew that Ms. Cruz had not quite made a name for herself in American cinema as she did overseas, but nevertheless here she was, a catch she would never have thought for Alex.

The clothes, the sweet perfume, the carefully arranged tousled look of her hair, her tight little body, all of it pointed to a woman meticulously in charge of her own image and how she felt displayed. She smelled of the intense confidence of a practiced courtesan, which when it came down to it, that is all some of these entertainers, male or female were. “Yes, the one playing,” Michele said feeling tight all of a sudden.

“Oh,” Penelope replied but she stopped herself short of saying too bad. Michele could see it on her pursed lips, and Michele hated Patrick for not being more impressive tonight. “Oh I see. Yes.”

A brief silence ensued, and Michele’s gaze wandered to the other occupants of the box, she saw Peter Forsberg, Brandi Blake, Jennifer Foote, Debbie and a few others she recognized as acquaintances of someone or other. “Well it is a funny night, tonight,” Michele said quickly, “After what happened today.”

Penelope nodded. “Oh and Alex did not tell me either, he said nothing at all. Debbie tells me about the poison fumes, yes amazing story!”

Michele felt a tug from three different hands on her body and she blinked. “Oh and these are my children, Jonathan is my oldest, Frederick and this is Jana.”

Jana stepped forward. “I’m a lady!” she declared.

Penelope grinned and leaned to Jana’s height, “I can see you’re pretty like an angel little one.”

Jana beamed and then looking up at the boys, Penelope held her hand out to them, neither Freddy nor Jonathan took it both boys opted instead the put their hands behind their backs and turn bright red. “As you can see they are fans,” Michele said carefully. At least they weren’t saying anything startling…

“Well I am glad to have handsome young fans like you,” Penelope said sweetly causing Freddy not only to squeak but to run and Jonathan to leer like a sailor in heat.

Penelope stood up and smoothed the tummy of her blouse with her slim fingers and she looked at Michele, “Are you the beautiful family Alex tell me about? The one with the basement?” She whispered basement and wiggled her fingers as if discussing something naughty and secret.

“Oh yes,” Michele replied feeling more in control of herself and confident, in fact, she thought to herself, she’d seen prettier women, Peter’s ex-girlfriend Josefina in fact, and Peter had not even taken one back glance at Penelope so far. So Peter probably agreed. “Yes that’s us, poor Alex, I don’t know what else we would have done without him, he was like a blessing to our family. In fact he is like a son to me almost.”

“You don’t look that old!” Penelope exclaimed with wide amazed eyes and Michele felt stung and off balance at the same time. Somehow she could sense that Penelope had not meant to insult her, but then again…

“Well…” Michele paused.

“Yes Alex talk about you like a mother, I see this now,” Penelope nodded with a slight narrowing of her eyes. “Everything is well.”

“Oh…” Michele said quietly and for once in her life she felt tongue tied in the presence of another woman. Had this ever happened before? She hated this feeling, and now she understood that tight toothy smile of Debbie’s, a desperate cry of confusion and fear. “Oh yes he’s… he’s our Alex…the children just love him, he is like a brother, so good with the kids. Oui so good with the children.”

“I love children,” Penelope said pertly, “There are little children on my movie set, they are sweet, I miss them dearly.”

“You’re still filming a movie aren’t you?” Jonathan broke in with boyish enthusiasm. “In San Diego right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Aren’t you lesbian with Angelina Jolie in it?”

Now she could kill her son.

Penelope for her part laughed, and oddly Michele felt alarm bells in her breast to hear that Penelope indeed had laughter that a poet could liken to the ringing of heavenly bells. “Yes but you will not be seeing such a film not for another five years or so eh? By then it will be old and no one will care.”

“Oh I’ll care,” Jonathan nodded solemnly.

“Jonathan go get Jana some food!” Michele snapped and too sharply for her taste.

At least Jonathan didn’t protest and he swept Jana away with him to the food laid out in the suite. The people gathered around the table were looking in their direction, staring at the actress with a mixture of curiosity and rapture.

In the presence of a goddess, it seemed.

She felt even worse for suddenly losing her temper with the boy.

Penelope did not seem off put however, and she grinned slyly. “Children are so pompous; it is a beautiful thing no? Alex he talks about these children of yours all the time, almost as much as he talks about you, it is nice to meet you. I can see you are almost family of his, almost blood yes?”

“Yes, yes he is our family.”

Penelope smiled showing perfect little teeth, “And now he is mine. I hope it does not bother you too much?”

“Why would it?”

She shrugged with one shoulder. “Then it doesn’t.”

“Oh Penelope!” Brandi Blake called out, “Debbie said that you didn’t get to see my bag! You have to see it!”

Penelope went graciously to Brandi’s side and admired her bag, and seemed genuinely taken with it. Michele went slowly to the group of wives, and watched as Penelope examined the bag and then complimented Brandi’s amazing jewelry.

“My Robbie buys it for me.”

“Oh the one with the big butt?” Penelope said happily.

And everyone laughed, charmed beyond belief.

“Yes that one,” Brandi giggled.

A joke about Rob’s big butt floated in Michele’s mind and then fell away as irrelevant because it just didn’t seem the right thing to say. She didn’t know what to say!

“Oh let me see that,” Penelope exclaimed after a few more minutes of friendly banter. It took Michele a few moments to realize that Penelope had spoken to her.

“Pardon?”

Penelope reached forward and grabbed Michele’s purse, inspecting it like a child would an interesting toy. “Is this a real Prada?”

“Yes,” Michele said.

“Ah I see, ah I like this one.”

Now Michele felt a little better. “It is my favorite…”

“I haven’t seen it in years I felt so sorry to miss it, and here it is!” Penelope held it up smiling. “You’ve taken great care of it, you must like it the best.” She handed it back, dropping it into Michele’s hands, “I shall now start looking for it again, perhaps vintage?”

Michele blinked slowly….

The purse was no more than a year old.

What’s worse, she saw Jennifer Foote barely contain a smirk.

“Mooooom,” Jonathan appeared at her elbow, “Freddy and I wanna walk around is that okay?”

“Yes it’s fine,” Michele murmured looking at Penelope, trying to figure out…anything.

“Take me too!” Penelope said spontaneously, and Michele heard Freddy squeak again. “I would like to see the rest of the building.”

“Well we’re going to the video room,” Jonathan said, “To watch the rest of the game.”

“Is it nice there?”

“Sure,” Jonathan said, “There’s like the same game on a million televisions.”

“Then show me,” Penelope declared.

“Yes Ma’am,” Jonathan breathed and Penelope blew a kiss to the rest of the little people in the suite and she followed Jonathan and Frederick out with Jana running behind them. Michele still couldn’t believe it when the door swung closed and she blinked, looking at Debbie.

“Well at least she likes the children?”

“Good she’s gone!” Jennifer sighed, “Come on Brandi let’s EAT!”

The two pregnant ladies hopped to their feet and rushed to the food table leaving behind their purses and shoes, Debbie followed them. Michele frowned and sat down, her knees feeling weak and her blood feeling slow. She picked up Brandi’s cherished Vitton bag and set it gently on the seat rather than the floor and then she looked at her own bag. It still looked new, it was still in fashion! Vintage?

“Don’t worry, in her world three months old might as well be three years,” Peter Forsberg said in his soft, shy voice sitting down in the seat next to her.

“Oo I am not bothered by…” Michele began.

“Yeah it’s okay, look if it’s any consolation I think Jo would have…” Peter stopped and frowned. “Hell, I know how you ladies work. I think she’s just nervous because of your relationship with Alex.”

Michele smiled and then looked at Peter, into those silvery eyes. “Well thank you Peter, really.”

Peter smiled back. “I never actually believed Alex about her until now, you know?”

“And what do you think?” Michele asked. “Now I mean?”

Peter blew out a long breath of air. “Poor kid’s gonna get eaten alive.”

Michele twisted her mouth and then pulled out her compact to check her make up. “Not if I can help it.”