VII
Taylor walked out of the locker room after a late practice and into the lobby of the training center when he heard the sound of Emily's voice as she laughed. He smiled as he looked at his mother tickling her as she sat on her lap. He gently placed a hand on his mother's shoulder when he was close enough, causing both of them to look at him.
"Daddy's here," his mother said to Emily who immediately hugged him. He placed a kiss on her cheek before holding onto her hand as they left the building. And as soon as they were outside, Emily let go of his hand and began running around.
Taylor and his mother smiled as they watched her.
"Did you think about what I said?" his mother suddenly asked.
"About what?" he asked, hoping that she wasn't talking about what he thought she was talking about.
"Taylor," his mother said. He sighed. She turned slightly to look at him.
"You can't deny that I have a point, sweetheart. If you're not going to let her back into your lives, then you need to find someone else to fill that gap," she told him.
"What exactly are you trying to say, mom?" he asked.
"I'm saying that you should get back out there, on the dating scene."
Taylor couldn't hold back his laughter.
"What's so funny?" his mother asked.
"Who would want to date a twenty-seven old guy with a five year-old daughter? And besides, I don't have time to think about that now, my team just got into the Stanley Cup and I have to make that my focus now," he told his mother.
She was quiet for several moments before she said words that Taylor dreaded as soon as he heard them,
"I'll give you one week. If you can't find a date by then, I'll arrange one for you--no arguments. And I know that you're just using the Stanley Cup as an excuse. You can take an hour out of your time to go on a date--"
"Mom--"
"No arguments."
- - -
One Week Later
Taylor had not been able to find himself a date. And because of that, he was forced to go on a blind date that his mother had arranged.
As he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, the only thought he could focus on was the fact that he didn't want to go on the date. He pulled into a stall and turned off the engine before looking at the rear-view mirror and putting on the best smile he could.
It's only one hour, he said to himself before getting out of the car and locking it. And with one final breath, he walked towards the building of the restaurant.
As he entered the restaurant, he felt someone briefly brush up against him. He turned around to find a lady walking out of the restaurant with her eyes glued to her phone. He shrugged his shoulders before walking up to the hostess who smiled at him.
"Reservation for Taylor," he told her. She nodded her head before looking down at her iPad.
"Please follow me," she told him before leading the way to his reserved table. He thanked her before taking a seat and clearing his throat, hoping that his date would arrive soon so that he could get it over with.
And to his relief, a few moments later, someone walked up to his table. He pulled his eyes away from his phone as she asked,
"Are you Taylor?"
As soon as he looked at her, her mouth suddenly opened as she stared at him in awe.
"You're Taylor," she said. He nodded his head as he stood up.
"You must be--"
"Alexis but you can call me Alex," she said enthusiastically. Taylor chuckled slightly as he walked behind her chair and pulled it out for her. She tucked a few strands of her short hair behind her ear as she sat down before he returned to his seat.
"I can't believe my date is the Taylor Hill," she said as she continued to look at him.
"I take it you're a fan," he said, slightly disappointed by the fact. But she didn't notice as she nodded her head and leaned closer to him.
"I've been a fan since you were in college. We actually went to the same school but I was in a different department."
"Oh what department?"
"Psychology."
"Oh nice. Do you work in that field?" he asked her.
"So how did it feel to get your team into the Stanley Cup? You know, I was actually at that game. And everyone thought you guys couldn't make it but I knew you would," she said, ignoring his question altogether.
Taylor smiled at her awkwardly before saying,
"Why don't you look at the menu and pick something?"
She opened the menu and scanned it for several moments before closing it as she asked him,
"So how often do you train? It must be a lot now that you're in the Stanley Cup."
Taylor inwardly rolled his eyes as he looked at her, trying with every fiber of his being not to lash out at her. After all, she was just a fan. She couldn't help her curiosity towards him, he thought to himself.
He couldn't hide the relief he felt when a waitress arrived at their table to take their order.
And once she left, he couldn't ignore the one thought that permeated in his mind:
I can't wait for this to be over.
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