Meet Me at the Graveyard

pitying

MILA'S POINT OF VIEW

TWO WEEKS LATER.

I signed the contract. Calix sounded so convincing I just thought I might as well give coaching the New York team a chance. I chose to believe Calix.

Now I was officially moving in on New York City. I arrived yesterday, to settle in my apartment. I spoke with my husband and we agreed to do the long distance relationship since he couldn't leave Moscow. He had a job there. I was sad we were apart but he really thought moving to New York and having this new opportunity was something good. I appreciated his support. It meant so much.

So, I bought an apartment in New York. I might have lost my career for playing hockey but I have had the career for the last ten years or so. I had been playing hockey longer than I could remember. I was getting paid really well so I would say I was well off. I was more than well off. I had my father's inheritance too. He was pretty wealthy and when he died he left all his properties to me, my mother and my younger brother. He's in college. Actually, he's the same age as Calix.

My mother was back in Russia. She had been in Russia for some years after my dad and her divorced. She was American and my Dad was Russian but I was born and raised in New York up to a certain age in my life, I guess till my late teens. That's when we moved to Russia but I did visit my Dad in New York occasionally when I had off session playoffs in hockey. I liked New York.

It's ironic that after their divorce my mom moved to Russia instead of staying in America where she was born and raised while my Dad stayed in America where he wasn't born and raised. My grandparents on my father's side adored my mother so after her divorce, they surprisingly asked her to live with them in Russia. They are alive but they are wealthy, like generational money wealthy.

My brother, mother and I, moved to Russia after the divorce because we all kind of chose her when it came choosing sides on which parent we wanted to stay with. We didn't hate our Dad but he was not really the safest person to be around. He understood our decision so it wasn't a big deal.

I was familiar with New York City. Way too familiar such that I knew what train to take, the streets to take when I need a certain thing. I was well acquainted.

After I was all settled yesterday, today I decided to explore the city while I officially start my job as a coaching assistant tomorrow.

I wore a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, black boots and long leather coat. Instead of sunglasses, I wore a cap to hide half my face. I was not famous anymore but a few people in the streets did recognize me and they all threw insults my way after they do. It was pretty exhausting receiving insults every time. I guess fame really is a curse sometimes.

I picked my hand bag and my bike keys and headed out. I bought a bike instead of a car although I had plans of getting a car soon. I just had not decided yet which car to get. I just preferred bikes over cars. They made sense to me more.

So I reached the garage in the basement and ignited my bike and I rode away. I had a specific place I wanted to visit. I had not been to that place for do long. Two weeks ago I was in New York but I didn't get a chance to visit the place.

But before visiting the place today, I had to get something to eat so I headed to my favourite diner in New York. I was the diner type of woman. I preferred them over restaurants. The food just tasted better and somehow authentic. That was a crazy take but that was according to me.

Soon after I got the food and the drinks I wanted, I rode to the cemetery. That was the only place in New York at the moment I could call home. My Dad had a grave there amongst all the graveyards in the cemetery. He was buried there.

A moment later, I stopped at the familiar place filled with thousands of graves. I sighed getting off my bike and I removed my helmet. I put my cap back on and then got the paper bags with my food and drinks. I walked straight to the only grave I knew it belonged to my Dad.

Just as I was approaching, I saw a familiar figure sitting there, on my Dad's grave smoking? Why would sn athlete be freaking smoking? Was this guy okay in the head?

I hurried my steps, stomping angrily and then when I reached the grave, I took the cigarette away from his mouth and I dropped it on the green grass and stepped on it hard and agrresively.

"Are you out of your god-damn mind Calix?"I asked glaring at him.

He stared at me then he smirked his eyes hazy from smoking the cigarette. "I knew you would come here today."he said and I frowned.

"What?"I was confused.

"Jason said you came yesterday and that you will start being his assistant coach tomorrow. So I thought you would use today to visit your dad's grave."he told me smiling and I sighed. What the hell was this guy doing?

"Why would you want me to find you here Calix?"I asked him because it seems he was here, waiting for me.

"I wanted to visit your dad today too. I had freed my schedule to do this today, so this isn't about you."he explained to me and I think I jumped the gun too fast. "I didn't plan to meet you today. You just found me as I was about to leave."he added.

I shook my head turning away from him. "Do you visit so often?"I asked him walking towards the stone and I put my bags there so that I could get rid of my coat. Then I sat down, like Calix who sat on the grass next to the grave.

"No, but ever since I saw you I got the urge to visit."he told me looking at me. "We met here for the first time you know."he added.

"That has nothing to do with anything. It's in the past so let's not talk about things in the past."I said setting a boundary. The past was in the past.

"So, you agreed to be the coach."he told me and I nodded.

"You begged me to coach. I felt pity for you."I shrugged.

He chuckled. "Thanks for the pity then. It means a lot to be pitied. It means you care."he said and I softly groaned in disagreement.

"Pity is annoying. Why would anyone want to be pitied?"I asked him unwrapping my food from the paper bags.

"Because they are desperate."he replied and I just shrugged. I didn't get it but I wasn't arguing with him. I was hungry. "Cool ride by the way. I didn't think you were the type to like motorcycles."he said.

"Sorry to disappoint you because of your assumptions about me."I told him. "Next time don't assume what I would like and what I wouldn't."

"Wow, you are quirky. I didn't think you were the quirky type either."he added and I just rolled my eyes at him.

"Shouldn't you be leaving now? You were about to leave right?"I asked him taking the fork in my food. "Oh, before I forget."I cleared my thoughts. "Why were you smoking? You know athletes don't smoke right?"I glanced at him.

"I don't do it often."he told me standing up and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"You shouldn't be smoking. You should quit."I told him now fully staring at him. He was already looking at me and he was smiling? "What's funny?"I asked him angrily.

He shrugged. "Nothing."he told me and my glare hardened and he burst out laughing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh."he apologized later but I felt like it wasn't a sincere apology.

I clicked my tongue annoyed then I began eating ignoring him. I was pretty hungry.

"I asked you last time how you are doing. You didn't answer me."Calix suddenly asked me and I glanced at him.

I sighed. "Are you hungry?"I gestured to the food I was eating.

"Stop deflecting Mila."he told me. "I am serious. How are you doing? I've been seeing the news. It's bad."he told me.

I was silent. I didn't want to talk about it but then again I felt really good that someone asked me how I was doing. Ever since what happened, went down, nobody except my family seemed to care about how I was holding up.

I smiled sadly lifting my head to look at Calix. "I'm better now."I simplified everything. I couldn't tell him that I had been wallowing in depression. It didn't matter. I was better now, that's all that mattered.

"How is your leg?"he asked again and my sad smile widened. He actually cared? He was the first stranger to care about my leg that messed up everything for me.

"My leg is doing better too."I told him now taking the matcha latte I had bought. I took a sip of it. "I have been going to therapy and it's doing okay just not okay enough to allow me to play hockey."I told him shrugging trying to make it less of a big deal.

"You can talk to me when you want to talk to someone. I am offering to be your venting bag."Calix suddenly told me and I chuckled. He was ridiculous.

"Venting bag?"I raised my eyebrows at him amused. "Is that even a word?"I asked him smiling.

"I don't know."he smiled back. "But you understand what I mean."he added.

"Don't worry. I don't need to burden you with my problems. I am doing okay. I don't need to vent to anyone."I told him. "I appreciate your concern though but I am your coach."I put a boundary.

"That doesn't mean we can't be friends. I am speaking in the perspective of your friend you know."he told me.

"I'll say it again. I am your coach."I reminded him.

"And it doesn't mean anything."he argued.

I looked at him smiling softly so that he could understand what I was about to tell him. "Calix, our age difference doesn't allow us to be friends. I'm way too old to be your friend. I advise you to find friends your age please. I am also your coach. I don't think it's professional for me to be your friend."I told him smiling.

"You are being difficult. It's not a big deal like you are making it to be."he told me standing up. "I'm here for you anyway."he said his hands in the pocket now looking all nonchalant.

"Yeah, whatever."I took a sip of my matcha latte.

"It was nice seeing you again here. Let's meet tomorrow at training."he told me staring at me.

"Let's meet tomorrow."I stated. "And quit smoking."I warned.

"Don't snitch on me about my bad habit."he remarked smirking.

"If you don't quit I'll definitely snitch."I told him.

He just stared at me smirking. "Welcome to New York City Mila. Let's get along."he told me later while walking away. I stared at him leave watching his broad shoulders. He was bulky now compared to two years ago. When I met him, he had small muscles. Watching him now, I could tell he had spent hours in the gym.

He disappeared in the distance and I sighed turning my head to stare at my dad's grave now. "Hey Dad."I whispered staring at the cursive writings carved on the stone to spell his name and the year he was born to the year he died. Staring at the grave, I could tell this was going to be my favourite place in this whole city after the ice rink. This was where my Dad was. I wanted to be closer to him, to feel slightly at home.