Meetings

I blew my bangs away from my forehead as I loaded the last of the dishes into the dishwasher before untying my apron and heading into the back room.

It had been a long night, or at least it seemed like it had been. There had been two suites filled for a business party, where only two of the employees even paid attention to the game while the rest of the company had chugged back their last two paycheques and asked me if Jagr was still in town.

The only thing that made me feel a tad bit more at ease was that Lisa was with me, and she was used to dealing with macho men in suites who had booked the suites for the image side of it as opposed to the love of the sport. She laughed at their inappropriate jokes, smiled when openly stared at her and pretended that she didn’t know anything about the sport, either. During the night, I had been calling her names in my head. But when she was left almost three hundred dollars in tips, whereas I had a measly ninety-two dollars in comparison, I understood why she had played that card.

“Doesn’t make it you feel…I don’t know, degraded, or like a sell-out, maybe?” I asked her as we both washed up for the night.

Lisa sighed, brushing her hair. “It did at first. Obviously I don’t want to be some air-head waitress, but if that’s what gets me the tips from those guys, so be it. When you deal with a group of younger kids, like 18 and under, you make sure to tell them that you know Crosby. They’ll eat out of the palm of your hand if you tell them that, even if you don’t know him.”

I frowned, pulling my hair out of it’s elastic and running my fingers through it. “You’ve never met Sidney?”

Lisa shook her head. “No. I’ve only taken up Michael’s offer of letting us go downstairs to watch from the back area once, and Crosby was sick.”

I laughed, “So he was up in the suite area the night that you weren’t?” She nodded. “That’s shitty.”

Lisa laughed, “I know. My brother is the biggest Penguins fan alive. It’s the main reason that I got this job, was for the chance to score any leftover tickets and to maybe get on Michael’s good side so he’d let me go down and meet the team. But, you know, now the arena sells out almost every game, and I’m always so tired by the end of my shift I don’t even think about heading down to get Shawn an autograph.”

I listened, nodding my head a bit as I zipped up my hoodie. “How old is your brother?” I asked her, grabbing my purse from my locker.

Lisa tugged a sweater over her head before answering. “He’s twleve. I know, almost half my age. My mom re-married when I was eight.”

I held up both of my hands, “Hey, I’m not judging, I was just asking.”

She laughed, “I know. I always feel obligated to offer an explanation, though,” She told me.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, signalling a text. I quickly checked it, seeing that Sidney was asking where I was. “Is your brother here?” I asked her, starting to text Sidney back.

“No. He’s at his house,” She answered, yawning. “Which is about ten minutes from here.”

I nodded, texting Sidney and waiting for a reply before I looked back up at Lisa. “Hey, would you mind walking with me to my car?” I asked her. “I get freaked out walking alone.”

Lisa smirked at me, grabbing her purse. “Okay, if you’re really that scared. Baby,” She joked, waiting for me before we headed out.

“So, what made you move out here to Pittsburgh?” Lisa asked me as we stepped into the elevators that would take us to the bottom parking lot. “You’re from somewhere up north, right?” She asked with a small smile.

I nodded. “Yes, I am from the native land of Canada,” I replied. “It was actually my boyfriend who talked me into it. Well, his friends and him. Even though he wasn’t my boyfriend when I first got here.” I glanced over at Lisa, who was staring back at me with a completely confused look on her face. “It’s a long story.”

I stepped out of the elevator, heading out into the parking lot with Lisa next to me, looking around for where I knew Sidney would be waiting. Lisa spotted him first, pausing in her step for a moment and blinking a few times. “Holy shit, it’s Crosby.”

I grinned over at Sidney who smiled back at Lisa, walking over to where the two of us were. “Hi. Hanna said you have a brother I need to meet?”

Lisa stared at him for a moment before she glanced over at me, noticing the sheepish grin on my face. “Your boyfriend is Sidney Crosby?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know how it happened.”

Sidney laughed, extending a hand. “I’m Sid. I’m sorry we haven’t met before,” He told her.
Lisa shook his hand, “I…yeah. That’s…you’re…you’re a lot bigger than I thought you’d be.”

He grinned, “Yeah, it’s hard to look even average height when you’ve got Staalsy next to you.”

Lisa nodded, shaking her head a little bit before she took in a deep breath. “So…my dad’s house?”

I laughed, telling Lisa that we’d follow behind her car before Sidney and I hopped into my car. I buckled in my seatbelt and turned to look at him as he yawned, letting his head fall back against the head rest. “I’m sorry if you’re tired. You could have told me, Lisa didn’t know that you and I had even met.”

Sidney shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I try to meet everyone who works in the arena, so I was kind of bummed that I hadn’t met her before.”

I nodded, backing out of my parking space and following behind Lisa’s car as she drove off towards her dad’s house. I glanced over at Sidney, noticing the way that he was staring out the window tiredly, the lights of passing cars and driven past traffic lights reflecting against his dark eyes as he watched the scenery speed by. His eyes were glistening with fatigue, and I could see the struggle he was having to keep his eyelids from remaining shut with each blink. I looked back at the road, waiting until we arrived at a red light to turn to Sidney, noticing that he had let his head fall to rest against the window. “Ten minutes at the most, okay?” I said, causing him to look at me. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to do this, you’re so tired.”

Sidney sat straight up, shaking his head again and giving his eyes a rub. “It’s fine. If Lisa’s a friend of yours, then I’m more than willing to meet her brother.” I glanced away from him, making a bit of a face as I checked to make sure the light hadn’t changed yet. Sidney narrowed his eyes at me. “She’s not a friend?”

I gave him a small smile, “Not yet. She could be, though. I mean, I work with her all the time.”

Sidney laughed, “I swear, you and Staalsy are going to be the reason I throw myself off a building one day,” He mumbled, letting his head fall against the window again as the light changed and I started driving once more before he added, “Or join figure skating. I hear the people are nicer there.”


“You heard wrong. Remember that Russian figure skater who was all about his quads?” I asked.

Sidney made a face, “Did he have nice quads or something?”

I laughed, “Not the body part. He was the only male skater that could do a quadruple axel or something.”

Sidney shook his head, “Whatever, I bet he wouldn’t lie to me.”

I shook my head, letting out a small chuckle as I continued driving.

Lisa’s mom and step dad lived in a surprisingly large house, with a tiny front yard but a giant garage, probably for his collection of sports cars or tools or…something else that’s expensive. Sidney and I both had to take a moment to stare up at the giant brick house in shock before we noticed Lisa waiting for us at the front door, an amused smirk on her face as she opened up the door. “I’m just warning you, my step-dad is a macho manly man, but he will probably cry when he sees Sidney Crosby,” She warned us, stepping into the house.

Sidney took off his shoes, waiting for me to take off my own before we followed Lisa through the large front foyer and into the kitchen, was almost the same size as my entire basement suite. “Dad?” Lisa called, signalling for Sidney and I to wait just around the corner as we heard her dad call back. “Is Shawn still awake?” She asked, walking further into the kitchen and disappearing from our view.

Sidney yawned, leaning against the wall and making me frown. “I’m so sorry, Sidney.”

He laughed, reaching an arm out to pull me closer to him. “Stop apologizing to me, it’s fine,” he told me, leaning down to kiss the top of my head.

“Actually,” I heard Lisa begin, walking back over to Sidney and I. “I brought someone over, I hope that’s okay.” She grinned at the two of us, waving us forward.

I stepped out first, smiling at her dad, a tall man with greying hair and an aged face that seemed to hold stories in each fallen line that rested around his eyes. He smiled to me, extending a hand. “Marshall.”

I was surprised by the greeting, accepting his hand and almost wincing at the force of the handshake. “Hanna. Hi.” I said back, removing my hand and sending a terrified glance back at Sidney who had his mouth covered to try and hide the amusement he clearly saw in that exchange.

“And this is my brother, Shawn,” Lisa said, placing both of her hands on the shoulders of the small, blonde boy in front of her. He looked almost nothing like Lisa, with white blonde, curly hair and big green eyes. He smiled up at me shyly, his cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment.

“I hear you’re a big Penguins fan,” I said to Shawn, earning a vigorous nod from him. “Who’s your favourite player?” I asked.

Shawn cleared his throat. “Sidney Crosby. He’s the best player alive.”

I glanced back at Sidney over my shoulder with a grin. “Have you ever met him?

Shawn laughed a little bit, reaching up and scratching just behind his ear. “No. I passed him at the mall once, but I didn’t bother him. Plus, I was with my cousin, and he’s a Red Wings fan, so I didn’t want him to say anything.”

I nodded, looking up at Lisa. “Well…do you want to meet him?”

Shawn’s eyes grew wide as he stared up at me. “Do you know him?”

I laughed, nodding my head and turning to look at Sidney. He stepped into the kitchen, smiling down at Shawn, who looked like he was about to fall over, as did Marshall. “Hi. I’m sorry we didn’t meet sooner,” He said kindly, holding out a hand to Marshall. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

I took a couple of steps back, watching as Sidney talked to Lisa’s brother and her step dad, the way he’d laugh at Marshall’s attempts at humour, how he listened to Shawn describe the way he had looked on the ice during tonight’s game and how he more than happily obliged to sign autographs, even waiting for Shawn to race upstairs and grab his Crosby jersey.

Five minutes before, he was almost falling asleep from the fatigue weighing down his body, and now he was using all of his leftover energy to converse with a couple of fans, hiding his tiredness from them.

I could only shake my head in disbelief at him. The more I got to see of Sidney, the more I could hardly believe that he was even real.

---------------------------------

“Next week?” I repeated, grabbing a marker and walking over to my calendar.

“Yes. Is that too soon, or is it a bad time?” My mom asked from the other end of the phone.

“No, it’s fine. I’m just surprised you and dad want to come out so soon, that’s all,” I explained, scribbling down a reminder. “Have you already booked your flight?”

“Everything’s already taken care of. Sidney’s agent called with a list of weekends that he knew worked for the team and we agreed to the earliest one,” She told me. “I don’t know where you found that boy, Hanna, but don’t you let him get away,”

I felt my face heat up again and was thankful that she couldn’t see me. “Yeah, I don’t know how I managed to get him, either.” I said back to her. “Is Peyton coming with you?”

“She’s hoping too,” My mom answered. “Listen sweetie, I have to get going. I told your dad I’d make lasagne for dinner, but I don’t have the noodles so I have to go out and buy them before he gets home.”

I laughed, “Okay, mom. Call me the day before you guys are supposed to leave so we can sort everything out, alright?”

She agreed, saying bye to me before she hung up. I tossed the phone over to my bed, walking out into the living room and sitting down on the couch, flicking on the TV and heading over to the sports channel so I could check the hockey scores from the night. The Playoffs were coming up in a few weeks, and even though the Penguins were almost guaranteed a spot, I still felt the need to check out the other teams. With New Jersey three points ahead and Buffalo tied with Pittsburgh, I was growing concerned. Sidney continued to tell me not to worry, but that was almost impossible.

I let out a long sigh as I muted the TV so that I wouldn’t have to listen to the basketball highlights, and watched the bottom of the screen to see the NHL scores. I made sure to throw an arm up in celebration upon seeing that the Canucks had won their third straight, meaning that they had taken over the North West division title, but felt my face fall when I saw that Buffalo had won their game, meaning that hopped over the Penguins for third in the Eastern division, overall.

It wasn’t until they began talking about upcoming games that I was reminded of the fact that the boys would be heading off on a six game road trip. Sidney had mentioned it to me, but for some reason, the thought of how many times a season he’d be off and away hadn’t occurred to me. I looked over the dates, noticing that the day after my parent’s would head back home, he’d be leaving for his road trip.

I probably would have fallen into some form a depression mode if there hadn’t been a knock at my downstairs door, meaning that someone from upstairs wanted to talk to me. I pushed myself up off of the couch and headed over to the door, pulling it open to find Pascal grinning back at me with a chocolate cheesecake in his hands. “My wife wants you to have this,” He told me.

I laughed, taking the cheesecake from him. “Thank you.” I saw him trying to peer around me and grinned, “Do you want to come in? I guess you haven’t seen the finished product of the basement.”

He nodded, stepping into the room and looking around. “What happened to the green?”

“Oh, right. I painted over that,” I told him, shrugging when he gasped at me. “Sorry, man, but I’m not colour blind, so I couldn’t handle looking at it,” I explained.

Pascal shook his head, walking through the living room and looking at the kitchen before he nodded. “I approve. I’m still upset that you got rid of the glorious green paint I had lovingly covered these walls in, but other than that, good job.”

I shook my head, walking into the kitchen and setting the cheesecake down on the counter. “So, getting rid for your roadtrip?”

He nodded. “I am. How are you feeling about that? First time having your boyfriend head off without you.”

“I hadn’t thought about it until it was brought up tonight on ESPN, honestly,” I admitted.

He chuckled. “You have nothing to worry about. Sid hardly leaves his hotel room and he’s already wrapped around your finger. He’ll probably drive you crazy with his text messages and phone calls.”

I smiled, “I hope so.”

“You don’t need to hope,” Pascal said, “I know he’ll do that.” He began to make his way back out of the kitchen. “You know, while I’m gone and Sidney’s gone, you and Maria should have dinner together. She’ll be upstairs alone and you’ll be alone down here anyway. She’s a good cook, too.”

I nodded walking with him over to the door once more. “Yeah, I guess I could do that,” I agreed. “I’m sure I’ll need to distraction.”

Pascal frowned, looking at me. “Hanna, you don’t need to worry about Sidney.”

“I’m not worried he’ll do anything,” I explained, “I’m just worried about how much I’m going to miss him.”

Pascal grinned, “Aww, that’s cute. It’s only nine days, Hanna. Just over a week, and then he’s back and he’ll be skipping practices to buy you lunch again.”

“Six games in nine days?” I asked.

He made a face. “Right. I must be wrong about that. Well, he’ll be back soon enough. And he hasn’t left yet, so stop worrying.”

I nodded, thanking him for the cheesecake once more before I shut the door behind him as he headed back upstairs.

I turned back around to see the TV showing an interview with Sidney from right after the game and almost broke a leg jumping over my couch so I could unmute the TV in time. Sidney was laughing at whatever had just been said, wiping his face off with a towel as he nodded. “Yeah, I have a lot of pretty crazy routines, I’ll admit it. They haven’t been as bad lately, though. I’ve actually skipped a couple of them.”

“Any reason for that?” The interviewer asked him.

Sidney raised his eyebrows, pressing his lips together as he tilted his head to the side for a second before he looked into the camera and answered. “I’ve got a different kind of luck with me now. One that makes me see that it’s not about routines, it’s about believing in yourself. And as long as I’ve got that beside me, I don’t need to walk into the arena a certain way.”

I didn’t have to try and figure out what Sidney was so vaguely referring to. The way he gave a small wink at the camera just after he thanked the interviewer was enough to let me know that he was well aware of the fact that I’d be watching that interview a few hours later. I smiled at the TV for a few minutes before I let out a long sigh.

I was going to miss him.