Page 23 of Buried Treasure
Chapter 7
The cold was a problem in every northern Midwest town currently held in the clutches of an arctic blast from Canada. But weather like this was always worse in Detroit with the wind whipping off the river and through the downtown streets. Sydney cursed as another gust came rushing up from the waterfront, forcing her to pull her coat tighter. It didn't help much.
"Why is it so damn cold?"
Ryan groaned in pain as he walked next to her. "This sucks, and I'm a Canadian saying this sucks."
Sydney pulled her scarf up over her face. "Remind me again why we decided to go out tonight," she said.
"Because my mom guilted us into leaving our apartments," he replied.
"And yet she's currently sitting in your warm place with wine while we're out here."
Ryan sighed. "I hate that I'm about to say this, but we both know she was right."
She chuckled. "We're never telling her that."
"Oh, no way!"
Sydney's shoulders stiffened as another shot of wind forced its way past them. But she knew she had to be out there. It had been more than a week since she came home to an empty apartment without a job, and she hadn't left since. It had become so bad that she had actually ordered more yoga pants online since she could only see a future in which she was lounging around her apartment instead of going out to interact with other human beings.
But Amelia had insisted they go out. Ryan needed someone to make sure he didn't drink since he was still on drugs after his surgery, and Sydney needed to get out of the house.
"When was the last time you dressed up and left this building?" Amelia had asked her yesterday.
Reality stung. She definitely had locked herself away, sustained only on Amelia's cooking and local take out. At one point, she wondered what it would take to persuade Lafayette Coney Island to deliver.
So when Ryan's teammates invited him out, he invited Sydney to go with him. She wanted to say no or come up with some excuse to not leave, but she and Ryan both knew she had nowhere to be. Luckily, the bar was only a few blocks away, but they were still cold blocks.
"I wish I could walk faster." Ryan said. "Stupid surgery making me slow."
"I wish I hadn't decided to wear these boots."
"I'll give you credit though," he said. "You make them look good."
Sydney just nodded in wordless thanks. She could admit that she tried to look good tonight. She pulled out her tight dark blue jeans that she paired with her black leather boots. The black sweater she grabbed from her closet was warm and soft while hugging her in all the right places. On the outside, she felt confident knowing that she looked good. But inside, she felt like crap. No soft sweater was going to fix her emotional state right now, but she needed a drink so it was off to the bar. She figured it was also a good idea to have the gimpy Pirates rookie as her sidekick so they could watch out for each other.
The pair walked into the bar, a swanky one that was nicer than the dive bars that used to be around there years ago. It was apparently the new place to be seen in the area, attracting even the local sports stars in the city. It also had a coat check, which Sydney was particularly thankful for. It always bugged her when she had to figure out what to do with her coat in a crowded bar in the middle of winter. The place wasn't too crowded tonight. It was a Thursday after all, and most people had already headed home to the suburbs, making the bar busy but not too loud and too crowded by the time they got there. Ryan headed to a reserved spot in the back of the bar where some of the Pirates' players and staff had set up for the evening.
Sydney wouldn't admit it, but her first instinct may have been to look for Andy among the crowd in the back. He was sitting in a corner, a bit off by himself, looking glum. It was the first time she had seen him like that. Andy always seemed to be kind and warm whether it was complimenting Amelia's food or trying to comfort a woman who cried over a dead goldfish. He didn't do a great job with that last one, but Sydney still appreciated the effort. He seemed different tonight though.
"Hey, I know you! I saw you on TV!"
Sydney turned to see some drunk guy staggering over to her.
"You probably did," she replied sarcastically.
He pointed at her with the beer in his hand, spilling some over the arm of her sweater. "Hey, Bob! It's that girl that stole that money!" he yelled to someone in the crowd.
"It's the girlwhostole it," she corrected. "Get your grammar right, I'm not a 'that.'" She started to turn away from him before stopping to look back. "And I didn't steal anyone's money." Another move forward and another move back. "And you're a complete moronwhohas no manners."
"And you're a bitch," he spat.
Sydney gave him a bitter smile. She should've never left the house. Instead she turned her back on the moron, pushing her way towards Andy in the corner. She didn't care if he looked like he didn't want company. She didn't care that she wasn't using her smooth sexy walk she had tried to perfect over the years. She didn't even care that she was abandoning Ryan. Hell, he was already talking to his teammates he hadn't seen since his surgery. He needed them. She understood that. But she also realized she needed none of the crap that was going to be dumped on her by the drunk guys at this bar.
Instead, she dropped into the open spot next to Andy.
"I need a drink," she announced.
