OMELETTES FOR TWO

Ding-dong

Ding-dong

Ding-dong

"Zane Alexander-Finnegan Hoffmann you open this door right now!"

Opening the door Zane Hoffmann couldn't help but chuckle at the unamused petite black woman who stood in front of him with her arms crossed. She was pretty cute whenever she was pissed at him; which was most of the time.

"You're my best friend too Maggie"

"I'm glad you find this funny"

"Please come in Miss Simmons make yourself at home" he said stepping back to let her inside "you want something to drink---"

"Zane have you been drinking?"

Shit.

Zane supposed he had that one coming as if the empty Coors Light cans over the dining room table weren't a dead giveaway.

"Zane you have to get your shit together"

"My shit is together"

"Um no clearly it's not"

Mahogany Rose Simmons was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Zane considered her tougher than any of the guys he faced on the ice rink.

"Maggie I'm still here" Zane insisted "trust me my body has been through worse"

"With your alcohol level being what it was and that hit to your head you could be laid out in morgue right now"

"It's a good thing for you I'm not" he gave her a smirk "who else on the team are you going to scold?"

"Zane I'm serious"

"I'm serious too" he replied "I was in the middle of making an omelette when you knocked; you want one?"

Mahogany watched as Zane walked around her to back in the kitchen as if he hadn't taken into consideration a word she said. She immediately followed him scolding him like a disobedient schoolboy instead of a grown man.

"Do you want to get benched for the rest of the season? Because that's what's going to happen if you keep drinking like this and refusing to go to your therapy sessions"

"I'm fine Maggie"

"No you're not Zane" Mahogany said patiently "I thought---I mean we thought we lost you

Zane stopped cracking the eggs in the whipping bowl and looked his publicist in the eye. Although she was clearly pissed at him; Zane could still see the genuine care and concern in her gentle brown orbs.

"No you were right the first time Mahogany" he said sincerely "you thought I was dead because you were one of the people who gave a shit about me"

Zane watched Mahogany bite her lower lip a little embarrassed he called her out. He didn't intend to make her feel ashamed; in fact he was flattered.

Zane had been in a coma for a week due to a head injury on the rink. Aside from his stepfather Edgar and younger brother Otto; Mahogany was the only one who visited frequently.

Not the coach

Not his teammates

Hell even his girlfriend Chelsea Burnett didn't come by to see him.

"Cat got your tongue?" he humored her "you want bacon or sausage in yours?"

"Zane you have to stop drinking so recklessly"

"A man is allowed to have a beer or two every once in a while"

"Every once in a while yes; not everyday"

Zane shrugged and Mahogany tried to reach out to him again

"What about your little brother?"

"I don't drink around Otto"

"I'm not saying you do but he looks up to you"

"I know" Zane replied "he's going to be one hell of a goalie by the time he's sixteen"

It was true Otto Hoffmann was only thirteen but he was already showing signs of being a promised hockey player.

"I would hope that you'd like to be there for him"

"I'll always be there for him" Zane said stubbornly "hell even our stepfather is more reliable than our piece of shit sperm donor.

That's when Mahogany knew she got to the root of the issue. A year ago Zane's mother was found dead in the middle of the forest. Linda Broflosky's body was cut and mutilated would give Nicole Simpson a run for her money.

Murdered by her ex-husband Hugh Hoffmann.

Anyone who knew Zane knew that he was a momma's boy. No he wasn't one of those insufferable momma's boys who were grown men still living up under their mothers and being taken care of like little boys.

Zane was the one to always see to his mother's needs. If there was something his stepfather Edgar couldn't do then Zane gladly stepped in. Mahogany still remembered when Zane brought Bruce a new house three years ago.

It was mostly to get Linda and Otto away from Hugh; but there was no denying how much Zane loved and cared about his mother.

Linda's death changed Zane and he turned to drinking more. Instead of grieving properly he turned to focusing on hockey and alcohol. Mahogany was concerned that in the grand scheme of things; Zane was neglecting himself.

"Zane is this about your mother?"

"You want some jam on your toast?"

"Zane"

Silence fell between the two of them. The only thing that could be heard was the bacon sizzling in the pan.  

"She would have been fifty-five this past Sunday"

There was anger and sadness in Zane's voice and she knew he was hurting.

"But hey my sperm donor is still here to celebrate another birthday"

"Zane I know you miss your mother" Mahogany said "but I'm sure she wouldn't want you to be this way"

"Yeah well she's not here to see me this way she'd be embarrassed" he said "now do you want jam or not Miss Simmons because you're about to have some dry ass toast"

"I'm assuming you're not taking the suspension well"

"I'm just peachy Maggie" Zane said going through his fridge "speaking of which I have peach jelly it's great on rye you'll love that"

"It's only for a month Zane" Mahogany insisted still trying to get through to him "Coach Evason and I felt it was for the best---"

"Is he still ogling you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Mahogany you know exactly what I'm talking about," Zane said flipping the first omlette over "the man is old enough to be your father but the way he looks at you says otherwise don't think I haven't noticed"

Mahogany wasn't oblivious to the way Coach Dean Evason's slick comments or the direction of his eyes on her body. She figured as long as she didn't lead him on nothing would come of it.

"So did you feel the suspension was best or was it really his idea?" Zane asked "he probably sees it as an opportunity---"

"Zane please don't start anything that will get you in trouble" Mahogany insisted, "I'm grown I can look after myself"

He knew that she could espcially after all the bullshit she went through when they were in college. However Mahogany was still a woman at the end of the day and he wished she'd realize that but she was so damn stubborn. She reminded him of his mother sometimes and he didn't need her meeting the same fate.

"It's mainly medical concern" Mahogany went on to say, "it was a pretty nasty fall"

"And yet I'm still here to bless you with my presence Miss Simmons"

"Zane stop being a smart ass" she scolded him "you need to take care of yourself and no that does not include drinking"

"I'm a quarter Irish it's in my blood" Zane replied "one of my middle names is Finnegan for crying out loud; got it from the sperm donor's side"

"You could spend time with Otto" Mahogany suggested "you said you don't drink around him and he has his bar mitzvah coming up"

Mahogany noticed the little smirk that played at Zane's lips as he scooped the two omlettes onto their perspective plates. She knew that he had a soft spot for his little brother and no matter how angry he was Otto always changed his mood.

"It will be an experience for both of us" he said "the sperm donor didn't let me have my bar mitzvah since I already had my first communion at seven; some bullshit about not raising a wimpy Jewish boy despite the fact that he married a Jewish woman. Which would make me more Jewish than Catholic but the asshole always had to have his way"

Mahogany couldn't help but smile at Zane's dry humor. He always was pretty funny even if he used it as a coping mechanism sometimes.

She could sometimes hear the little boy in his voice who always wanted Hugh Hoffmann's approval and never got it. Once the man killed Linda though it was a done deal for Zane but the hurt still remained.

"You could spend time with Chelsea too"

"Who?"

"Your girlfriend"

"You want orange juice or iced tea?"

"Zane"

"Maggie she didn't even come see me when I was in the hospital"

"Perhaps she was busy besides you were in a coma how would you know?"

"Trust me I know" Zane said "too busy to see her professional hockey player boyfriend sounds like bullshit to me"

"I'm sure she had her reasons"

"Or another dick to ride"

"Well that's between you and her"

The two of them were close friends going on eight years now but they never talked to each other about their sex lives.....well at least Zane's sex life. Virgins by definition don't have sex lives plus some things were better left unsaid.

"Wouldn't want to ruin breakfast," Zane said setting Mahogany's plate in front of her

"It's almost two in the afternoon I think it's safe to say this is lunch"

"You're absolutely right Maggie" he humored her "but time has no concept under my roof"

"Maybe you should stop by for breakfast every morning for the next month"

"If I did that I would have to do that for the rest of the team too"

"Over my dead body"

Zane heard some of the lewd comments his teammates made about Mahogany in the locker room; he had to scare some of them straight. The thought of her sharing a meal as simple as breakfast with one of those meatheads was a little too intimate for his liking.

"Really Zane"

"Call me a hypocrite those guys have more than omlettes and toast on their minds"

"And you?"

"I'm the platonic friend who respects you"

The two of them began to cut into their food and Mahogany moaned in approval.

"Still make a mean omlette?"

"Yup still a mean omlette" she agreed, "the peach jelly is really good too"

"That's because it's sweet like you"

Zane always knew when to turn his charm on or tease her. She did genuinely care about him no matter how much he pissed her off and wanted him to get better.

"You're not going to talk your way out of suspension you know that right?"

"I know but I don't lie either" he winked at her

"Promise me that you'll take it easy for a while okay?"

"I promise"