Chapter 448: Modo XXII—Just a Gift
Oh Modano
felt a little glum, more than a little glum, okay he felt downright depressed
as he looked out the window of the plane going into
“So Mikey you’re looking pretty glum there, wanna talk about it?”
Modano looked at Keaner who had buckled into the seat next to him, everyone else either in the middle of the plane, or in the back and most of them snoring. He raised his eyebrows. “Glum? I’m not glum Keanes, I’m cheerful, watch me as I smile.” And Mike smiled as big as he could seemingly just to Keaner’s amusement.
“I gather,” Keane said with a roll of his eyes. “So come on Mikey, what’s the problem I thought you’d be happy now, shit I even forced Joey into late night alcohol and pizza to celebrate. Hell I wouldn’t have been able to do better myself; I thought you’d be proud of yourself.”
Modano exhaled, well no one around, he sunk deep into his seat and interlaced his fingers on his lap, “I’ve got great taste, don’t I Keanes?”
“Aw hell,” Keane replied, and he shook his head, “Already? What happened?”
“Nothing really,” Modano sighed. “Pete’s a flake. That’s all.”
Keane whistled, “Well true, but this soon? He already flaked out?”
“Well he seemed pretty new to everything,” Modano said feeling suddenly a little charitable to Peter; at least he didn’t want someone else ragging on him if it wasn’t his subject to bring up first. “So I guess he just got scared you know? Didn’t he just come off a relationship?”
“Sure, with the most beautiful woman on Earth since Eve,” Keane said bluntly.
Mike lifted an eyebrow. “Thanks Keane.”
“No problem,” Keaner grinned patting him on the arm. “Better luck next time, don’t get discouraged Mikey, okay? We need you right now with your grin and shot. And look at the bright side.”
“And what’s on the bright side?”
Keane winked. “At least you got some tasty ass without the commitment. We all need a good dose of that every now and then. Unless of course you were really emotionally knotted to him, were ya?”
“With that airhead?” Modano exclaimed. “Of course not!”
Keane laughed, “Then no harm no foul.”
“Riiight…” Modano said but Keane seemed satisfied enough with himself so he didn’t say anything further. Still, he thought, I don’t like being used.
And as if the subject couldn’t kill itself, Peter caught up with him at the airport. Oh God Mike thought, please don’t let him ask for a ride home. Call a cab, Peter, call a cab! He smiled, “Hey Pete.”
“Yeah, Mike, I just wanted to talk to you real quick.”
Modano shrugged and lowered his baggage to the floor. “Sure?”
Peter nodded, “Yeah,” he sighed and adjusted his bags over his shoulder. “Look Mike I’ve been kinda embarrassed about what happened and I feel like crap really.”
Please don’t say you want to give it another try, Mike thought, please oh please oh please oh please don’t say you want another try cause I’m gonna give in cause you have the most sculpted body since Adonis and I know you’d probably be the best blow ever but I do not neeeeed this right…. “Aw Peter you don’t have to feel like that no hard feelings, you know? Let’s just move on.”
Modano scooped his bags up and turned around to go.
“Wait!” Peter exclaimed. “Woah wait!”
Modano turned around. “Yeah?” Wow this feels pretty good! He looked at Peter’s large eyes, slightly confused, a mouth tender and vulnerable, completely frail and attractive. At this point right now, Modano could sense that maybe he had the upper hand, if he wanted to he could probably manipulate something right now, for tonight. The blood in his veins rushed and pulsed and he imagined how nice an evening that could make, so called make up sex.
Peter lowered his chin, looked a little demented and he walked forward a few steps. “You’re okay with that? I mean, you’re willing to call it just a thing? You’re fine?”
“Sure,” Modano nodded, “Aren’t you?”
“Yeah!” Peter said quickly in a high voice. And then he grinned, a wolfish, perfect grin, a twinkle in the eye and Modano suddenly felt his upper hand dissipate as Peter walked closer and leaned forward. “So if we’re both agreed it’s just a… a ‘thing’ then why not one more, heh, just for tonight, you know to cap it all off. Hey I’m up for anything, I mean as long as it’s nothing serious.”
Oh yes, flake. Modano rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You’re unbelievable you know that?”
Peter frowned, “What’s the big deal?”
Oh he really had no clue, completely no clue. “You really need to be neutered, you know that?” Modano said shaking his head and he turned and began walking away again. Christ how could he have even been sucked in, in the first place?
“Why does everyone say that?” Peter exclaimed falling into step beside him. “I thought that was just a woman line.”
“Yeah it’s a universal line,” Modano muttered, “Emotionally abused people use it Peter, people who have been used, who have been patronized who’ve been made to feel like a robotic pleasure device use it Peter, and they use it on sexually selfish insensitive pieces of shit like you.” Just go away, please just go away! Modano felt his stomach roll with hurt and insult.
“Hey I thought you were okay!” Peter insisted, “You said you were okay!”
Modano stopped. “Of course I’m not okay, Peter, okay? I’m not okay, no one is ever okay, and I just wanted to get rid of the situation so I won’t have to deal with it and let it ruin my day off. Now please go away and mess up someone else. Go find some poor woman to ride and manipulate and throw away before she gets a clue.”
“Wow,” Peter said and his cheeks reddened only making his eyes seem more silvery and pale. If Modano weren’t smarter he would have been convinced that he even saw those eyes glisten, with tears even. “I didn’t know, I’m sorry. Mike I didn’t want to hurt you like that, man, really I didn’t mean to.”
“Well you did,” Mike said thinly, “But that’s life.”
“You know maybe you should grow a thicker skin,” Peter said with a nod as if he felt he were being helpful and dispensing the most profound of advice. “I mean, you wouldn’t get hurt so easy that way.”
“And maybe I should just skin you and wear it so I can finally figure out what it’s like to be a brainless flake like you!” Mike said before he could stop himself and by the wide eyes and open mouth and paled cheeks on Peter’s face he knew that he’d delivered the line with all the proper venom through his eyes. Mike grinned, and he put all the anger he could into it, “But it wouldn’t matter anyway it’s not like you’d feel it. Why even bother.”
Peter swallowed.
Smiling to himself Mike began to walk away, he really shouldn’t have said that but it felt good and, well it just felt nice to see that look on Peter’s face. It felt real good.
“Mike!” Peter called.
Oh shoot me! Modano thought. He turned around, “Yes?”
Peter
scurried forward, his voice low. “You know, you know we had a road trip a few
months ago, in
“Yeah?”
Peter licked his lips, those raspberry red lips, “I uh… I remember you were on Dallas, I mean you were in town, you had that lunch with Joe.”
Mike slowly nodded and he felt something, it could only be described as an inner cackle. “Sure.”
“I remember Danny and Alex said something about ‘chasing’ you away from Joe so you couldn’t like, well bother him cause we didn’t know what you intended towards him,” Peter breathed out. “You know our buffet table was laced or poisoned with some sort of drug that day, we could barely play out there it was terrible, Footer was seeing flying monkeys.”
“Flying monkeys, interesting,” Modano nodded and he began to feel really, really good. “That’s a side effect?”
“Yeah,” Peter breathed, “Yeah. Um, Mike…”
Modano grinned.
“Mike you didn’t have anything to do with that did you?” And then he gulped.
Modano rolled his eyes, and he had to stop himself from downright cackling. “Peter, Peter, Peter,” he said patting Peter on his shoulders, giving him a friendly squeeze, “Are you telling me that you think I did that? I mean you really can’t think I’d be insane enough to poison your entire hockey team regardless of who I had a beef with just because a couple of your teammates didn’t let me have a peaceful lunch with Joe Sakic whom you thought I had a woefully passionate crush on? Could you?”
“Uh…” Peter said looking particularly helpless.
“I mean Peter if you really thought I was insane to do that on top of sending twenty thousand dollars worth of gift baskets…”
“Twenty thousand!” Peter interrupted, “Are you…”
“Exactly,” Modano said, “I mean if you thought I was then that would make you an idiot for even sleeping with me in the first place because sleeping with a psycho who would poison an entire hockey team out of spite for an interrupted lunch date and then making him feel like trash with a couple one night stands and then dumping him regardless of the danger of ‘Fatal Attraction’ style retribution that could possibly haunt him for the rest of his life because he can’t tell anyone else that he had consensual gay sex couldn’t be a very good thing to do could it?”
Peter squeaked.
Modano patted his cheek. “Have a nice day, Pete. Don’t ya just love road trips?”
Oh now walking away right there, now that felt good! As soon as Mike got to his car he laughed and pumped his fist with power, “Yesssss!”
The rest of the day got better if that were possible. Days like that were rare for Mike, days without worry, days full of self esteem. At this point he didn’t give a shit what Peter could possibly be saying or doing right now, because it didn’t matter.
I have a life! Mike thought I have my own identity. The realization just bubbled inside and tickled. When was the last time he felt this much security without someone else to validate it? Well stomping on old Peter Forsberg, poor shit, that seemed to be the magic cure. Mike wondered if any of Peter’s other old flames had caught onto this magical cure, and if there was any way to contact them. Let’s all get together, and burn an effigy of Peter the Great. Pbbbbth….
“Oh you’re such a queer,” Mike laughed to himself and he dumped his bags onto the bed, and one very important package fell out and bounced on the comforter and then onto the floor. He squatted down and picked up the package, the tissue paper inside crinkled. Ah the day could get better.
After being rerouted through various households within the team network Mike finally found out that the Blake’s were at the Sakic house, and there was some sort of informal gathering going over there that only the wives were supposed to be at. Still, if Rob were there, Mike shrugged. To the Sakic house it was. He tucked the package under his arm he whistled on his way out the door.
Decibels, octaves, ear shattering heights of ecstasy; Mike knew his hearing would snap. But oh it was worth it, the smile on Brandi’s face, the scream, the clapping hands, and most of all the looks of complete envy and shock from the other women. “A Victoire Red Louis Vitton!” Brandi cried.
“And look at the bottom corner there,” Modano pointed.
“And it’s personalized!” Brandi shrieked. “OH MIKEY!”
“Well that’s lavish,” Michele Roy said and Mike wondered if there was a little sneer in that. Oh wouldn’t that be the best thing to rattle both Peter Forsberg and Bitch-Queen Roy in the same day?
Modano smiled at her. “Just a little gift you know?”
“LITTLE GIFT!” Brandi cried hugging the bag to her breast and kissing Mike on the cheek making him smile and he felt his cheeks redden. “You’re an angel!”
“Hey, you’re not supposed to give gifts like that to my wife!” Rob Blake pointed out, a weak smile on his face. Mike wondered how much longer it would be before they got their defenseman back on the ice.
“Oh Robbie,” Brandi sighed and she her husband. “You still gave me the best gift ever poopsy.”
Aww he wanted to trump Robbie too, “Oh and what was that?” Mike asked.
Brandi grinned slyly. “Another baby.”
Mike’s eyes
widened and he felt just as the women screamed in excitement and surprise,
covering her in congratulatory hugs and kisses that this day couldn’t get
better.