How The Cookie Crumbles

by Ting, Melanie

  Frankie nodded, her hair soft on my chest. “It must be horrible. I can’t imagine a job where hundreds of people hang over your shoulder and tell you what you’re doing wrong! Talk about pressure.”

  “It’s not that bad. As long as we’re winning, everything’s cool. But a losing streak and there’s lots of crap.”

  “You shouldn’t pay attention to it. You have to listen to your coaches, but not to anyone else.”

  “Yeah, I don’t usually, but when stuff is going wrong, I keep looking for how to fix it. Y’know something weird… the more I worry about stuff, the worse I play. The more relaxed I feel, the better I see the ice.”

  She seemed to be thinking about this. “That’s true for so many things. Like exams, if you freeze up, you can’t remember anything you know. It’s brilliant, really. You should market it; the Jake Cookson philosophy of life: relax, and do better.”

  I smiled down at her. “You think I’m brilliant? I don’t hear that too much.”

  Frankie looked up at me, surprised. Then she squeezed me tightly. “People underestimate you. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you like it that way.”

  “Nah, it’s me. I say shit sometimes, and it makes total sense to me, but then everyone starts laughing. I don’t mind making people laugh, anyway.”

  “But you want to be taken seriously sometimes too,” she said. “It’s like that for me too. I’m good at organizing, but that doesn’t mean I always want to be the one in charge.”

  “See, you’re so smart. You get everything right away.” She was right; I actually felt better now, like the pressure was off me.

  “So, if a smart person takes you seriously, you must be smart too,” she said, laughing. I liked her laugh.

  “Maybe you’re just being nice to me, so, y’know, I’ll keep having sex with you.”

  Frankie really laughed at that. “Believe me, I don’t need to do anything special to encourage you! Undoing one button of my top works fine.”

  “Mmmm, but what about when you don’t have a top on?” I looked down at her tits, squished up against my chest. “Naked is good. I like you naked the best.” Moving away a little, I squeezed one tit in each hand and felt her nipples get hard right away. “I don’t have to do much to encourage you either.”

  “Jake! Again?” She tried to wriggle away. “I think we need to get to sleep.”

  “Sleep? What is this ‘sleep’ you speak of?” I pulled her closer so my boner was shoved up between her legs. She let out a little puff of breath, and I could feel she was already moist and excited.

  “Oh, Jake….”

  The next morning, I got up first, showered, and got dressed. While Jake taking a shower, and I cracked open my laptop and caught up on my emails and stuff.

  Beatrice was as efficient as she looked; she had already sent me all the information on internships. Most of them were centred on the fundraising/ corporate development areas of the museum, but the one that interested me the most was in the Registrar’s Office, documenting and cataloguing work.

  “What are you looking at?” Jake had come up behind me, wearing only a towel.

  “Oh, Beatrice, that woman I met Friday, she suggested that I apply for these internships at the LACMA. You work and get school credits. They sound amazing! You get to try jobs that you wouldn’t normally get unless you had tons of experience or degrees. Anyone in my program would love to get a chance to do this.”

  Jake read over the requirements. “So you’d end up living here for three months? Sounds great, when?”

  “Well, I guess the November deadline is the only one that might work.” I scrolled down to show the details to him.

  “And then, when would you be in L.A.?”

  “Um, if I got it… and that’s a huge if, I’d be here in January. But I don’t know, I’d have to make a ton of changes, and I wouldn’t graduate on time. Maybe another year….” It all seemed ridiculously rash to me.

  “What’s the point of getting school credits after you graduate? And it would be sweet to have you here.” He kissed me on the back of the neck.

  “Like, here?” I asked, surprised. “In your place?”

  “Of course, I mean here. We’ve got the room now that Link’s going. I’m sure Domer would be good with it.”

  I was pretty shocked. “Wow, Jake, that’s so nice of you. Obviously, I couldn’t afford a place of my own in L.A., so….”

  “No problem. Do it.” Jake seemed to think we had talked enough about something that was so life-changing for me. “So, what’s for breakfast, babe?”

  “Um, I could make scrambled eggs. But we need bread,” I told him. Food around here disappeared pretty quickly.

  “Why don’t we go out? There’s a good place on the pier.”

  I nodded, “Sure, anytime. I’m all ready.”

  He wandered off to get ready. Wow. I took a deep breath and pulled up my résumé to see if it needed updating. As I worked, I felt like I was floating on a happy cloud.

  40. What Men Want

  Jake

  I let Frankie drag me to a museum on Sunday. It was her last day in L.A., and she was all cute and excited. The Getty Museum was actually pretty cool, more like a modern city above L.A. The buildings were great, full of light, and there were big outdoor spaces. And Frankie was a good tour guide, a guide who got your interests. She was showing me a painting of a place that looked vaguely familiar, and then she told me that it was the town used for the background of Assassin’s Creed II.

  Taking a break, we were sitting out in the sunny courtyard, and I told Frankie that I was actually interested in architecture.

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind having a really modern house someday, maybe designed by an architect or something.”

  Her face lit up. “That would be amazing. You could get a home designed to your specific tastes and needs. It could be beautiful. Hey, have you seen the Disney concert hall that Frank Gehry designed?”

  “I’ve driven by there, but I haven’t gone inside. It looks weird. I like clean lines, lots of concrete and glass.” I had some ideas in my head, but it wasn’t totally clear yet.

  “Wow Jake, I didn’t know you had such an aesthetic side. That’s great.” Frankie smiled up at me and I felt stupidly proud, like when you accidentally say the right answer in class. I tried to change the subject.

  “It’s cool that this whole place is free.”

  “I guess the Getty family wanted to use their money to benefit the public culturally. It’s wonderful. I wonder if I would do the same thing if I were rich.” Frankie looked thoughtful.

  “I bet you would,” I told her.

  She shrugged, “I don’t know, I’d probably just buy designer shoes and clothes or something. It’s tough to be noble.”

  “I dunno, I sponsor a suite, back in at the Civic Centre where I played junior. So y’know, people or kids who don’t usually get to go to a game can go.” I couldn’t believe I was telling her all this stuff, because it sounded like bragging but it was like I had verbal diarrhoea when she was around.

  “That’s incredibly generous. It’s like you’re full of surprises today. You hardly ever show your sensitive side,” Frankie remarked, looking admiringly at me. Then she leaned over and kissed me softly. It was so weird with Frankie; we hardly ever talked about hockey, and we ended up talking about totally different stuff.

  After lunch, it was time to take her to the airport. We went back to my place to get her suitcases, and Ella came running out to see her.

  “Oh my gosh! Frankie, I’m so glad I got to see you!” They started hugging each other. Frankie and Ella were acting like they had known each other for years. Link was grinning away in the background, but Domer was nowhere to be seen. He had complained to me that this weekend it seemed like everyone in the house was having great sex except him.

  Ella’s voice got even higher. “We’re engaged now! Ryan proposed last night at the hotel!” Link had said they were going to some fancy hotel for the night. Frankie a
nd I both looked down, but there was no ring on her hand. Ella noticed us looking and explained, “Oh, he wants me to pick out the ring with him. Isn’t that considerate?”

  “Oh Ella, that’s wonderful, I’m so happy for you!” There was more hugging and kissing between the girls. I went over and punched Link in the arm. “Hey bud, congrats,” I told him, but I was actually thinking he was nuts. Fuck, they had only known each other a few months. Man, I could not believe how much one of my best buds had changed in such a short time.

  “Well, I knew Ella’s parents were not too happy about her moving here with me,” he explained. “So, you know, I had to make an honest woman out of her!”

  Ella came over and wrapped her arms around Link. “Isn’t he just the sweetest?”

  “Yeah,” I said, “That’s the word I always use to describe Link.”

  “Ah c’mon, Cookie. You gotta admit, I’ve changed since I met my little Ella!” Link said, making a kissy face at her.

  “Oh, for sure,” I replied. And not for the better, I thought.

  In the car on the way to the airport, Frankie said what I had been thinking. “It’s great that they’re both so happy, but it seems really soon to me. Didn’t they just meet in May?”

  “I guess, we were done playoffs in late April, so that woulda been the earliest.”

  “Well, hopefully they’ll have a long engagement,” she said. “And maybe they’ll learn a lot by living together. Ella told me they’ve found a lovely ocean view condo, and they’re going to move in very soon.”

  I sighed. I was going to miss Link – well, my old buddy Link, anyway. The new Link was kind of a wuss. But I was happy to hear that Frankie thought they were nuts too.

  She changed the subject, “So are you busy this week?”

  “Yeah, the coaching staff sees a gap in the schedule as a good chance to have really intense practices. And I’ve got special teams stuff as well. They’ll be skating our asses off tomorrow. Then I’ve got games later this week. I like games way better.”

  I pulled up to the drop off zone to let her out.

  I got out, grabbed her suitcase out of the back, and plunked it on the sidewalk. She hugged me, “Hey Jake, thanks. I had a great time here.”

  “Yeah, it was good.” I lifted her face and kissed her hard. “See you, Frankie.”

  “Bye,” she said, and I drove off.

  Domer and I drove to practice the next morning. Link had to sign real estate documents or something, so he had already taken off.

  “Can you believe Link’s engaged?” I said. “I can’t believe that guy. It’s not only that he’s all ‘in love,’ but he’s acting so dopey about it.”

  Domer shook his head. “Yeah, he’s changed, for sure. But he seems like he’s pretty happy.” He stopped for a red light and asked me, “Did you have a good weekend?”

  I nodded. I actually had an awesome weekend with Frankie. Man, she was hot in bed. I guess it was true that nice girls like to be bad. I hardly ever worried about my performance in the sack, but Frankie was always telling me how great I was. And not in a phony, sucking-up way either, she was all matter of fact about it. I liked that she was honest about stuff.

  The team was pretty busy for the next couple of weeks, but maybe she could visit again after that. But wait, that would be three times. I kinda followed a rule about getting with chicks, and that was not to see them more than twice. Once they got the idea that we were “seeing each other,” things always got bad. Somehow I had forgotten all about my rule until now. But seeing Link walking right into life imprisonment made me nervous. I liked Frankie, and I sure wanted to do her again, but I didn’t want things to get serious. Fuck.

  As soon as I got into the dressing room, I started getting hassled about her.

  “Cookie! Didja have a good fuckin’ weekend?”

  “Frankie’s hot! What’s she doing with you?”

  “Cookie has a hot girl?” Lovey looked surprised, “What does she do?”

  “She’s going to university,” I answered.

  Lovey shook his head. “Wants your money. I told you, go big. It’s L.A., you can get the whole package out there.”

  “Besides,” said D.J., “Isn’t it kind of ironic that you’re going out with a university student?”

  Oh ironic. College hockey guys were always talking like they were smarter than guys who played junior. Jones was always beaking me.

  “I mean, you’re the only defenceman on our team who hasn’t gone to college.”

  Sometimes I did get a feeling that Frankie looked down on me because I didn’t go to university. I think her mom was a prof or something.

  “You should go out with the smartest girl who’ll have you,” advised Mally. I think that’s what he had done, his wife was a teacher or something.

  “Who cares how fucking smart she is, did you see her tits?”

  “How was it, man? She’s hot.”

  This was the part I didn’t really want to get into. It’s one thing to tell stories about crazy chicks you hooked up with and weren’t ever going to see again, but it was different with Frankie. I’d feel bad talking about her and all the things we did, even though it would blow their minds. And that was one reason I didn’t want Frankie to meet everyone; I wanted to keep things private until I figured them out for myself.

  “Oh, for once he’s not talking. What’s wrong, is it true fucking love or something?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not into that shit.”

  41. It’s All in Your Head

  “Behold Frankie Taylor, Exhibit A showing that getting some does make people cheerier,” Bianca declared the Monday morning after I got back.

  I blushed. Okay, maybe I had been singing as I made breakfast, but I was a morning person. “When it’s sunny in Vancouver, everyone’s happy.”

  “Mmmm, perhaps. But people who spent four days with NHL hockey players have an extra something in their step. So, you had a good time?”

  “Yes, great.” I hadn’t done as many museums as I wanted, but I had gone on a studio tour, seen two hockey games, met tons of new people, and then of course there was the sex. Sex with Jake was amazing on a physical plane, but it also made me feel so connected to him. Jake was not the most eloquent guy, but when we made love he showed me what he was really like: funny, sexy, and unpredictable. “Jake’s such a sweetheart.”

  “Really? I’ll have to admit I’m surprised, I’d always heard that he was kind of a wild man. So, are you guys going out now?”

  That was something I’d been wondering about myself; we hadn’t really discussed anything, but given everything that happened between us, we were certainly headed in the right direction. However, since my overreaction with Matt, I was trying to be cooler. “Well, I’m not assuming anything. If we get together again, great; I’ll play it by ear.”

  Bianca pinched my cheek, and I yelped. “What are you doing?”

  “Oh, I had to check to make sure it was you and not some alien. Because I’m pretty sure that the Master Planner had never played anything by ear in her life.”

  “Maybe I’m getting to be more like Jake, you know, relaxed.”

  Bianca looked at me suspiciously and waited.

  “Okay, well… we haven’t said we’re going out, but there’s certainly a future for us. I’m applying for this museum internship in L.A. and if I get it, Jake invited me to live with them. Isn’t that great? I feel like I underestimated him for so long.”

  “What are you talking about? How can you leave during fourth year? What about graduating?”

  “Well, I figured it all out on the plane ride home. I already have extra credits through my regular coursework, my intercession courses, and I’ll get some for the internship. If I attend intercession this summer, I can complete my degree in time for fall convocation. I think that having some actual work experience will help me to better determine what I want to do after undergrad.”

  “That sounds more like the Frankie Taylor we know and fear. So, you
’d be leaving us again?”

  “Well, if I got it, I’d go in January. But don’t worry, my chances are not great. I mean, it’s the LACMA! What are the chances that some little Canadian art history student is going to get in?” I didn’t mention that Beatrice had offered to fast-track my application, because I was trying to keep from getting over-excited.

  “But living with Jake, isn’t that a little premature?”

  “Probably, but what can we do? His life is so busy, and while I’m at school, it’s pretty difficult to have a normal relationship. Anyway, we’re not living together, I’m only going to stay with him temporarily.”

  “A fine distinction, Frankie.” Bianca didn’t look quite happy though. “But really, you haven’t gone out that long.”

  “I shouldn’t even be discussing this with you yet since it probably won’t happen, but it’s all I’ve been thinking about. Don’t worry about anything, I’ll keep paying my rent since I’ll only be gone three months, and I’ll be back for spring classes.”

  “It’s not about the rent, I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Bianca said softly.

  I smiled at her, “Bee, don’t worry, Jake’s a good guy. We have such fun together; I don’t think I’ve laughed so much with anyone before. I know it seems sudden, but we did hang out all summer, and we do know each other.”

  “But you weren’t dating all summer. It’s not a rebound after Matt, is it?”

  I thought about this, “No. I was over Matt before I even went out with Liam. Anyway, don’t worry; everything is hypothetical right now. We’ll see what happens.”

  I already knew that Jake was not very good at staying in touch; he was great when you were right in front of him but out of sight, out of mind. Still I thought I’d get more than a few texts from him after everything that happened. But I was busy too: I got my LACMA application in right away, I had lots of schoolwork, and I was getting caught up with all my friends. Socially, I felt like I was in a no-man’s-land where I wasn’t really going out with Jake, but I wasn’t interested in dating other people.