Cheesecakes, Chips and Caity

“Don’t you dare!” I yelled, pointing a finger over at Max. “I will kill you, Talbot. I swear, I will. I will just drop you dead right here, in your kitchen.”

Max’s eyes grew big as he glanced back and forth between me and the cheesecake that I had brought over before looking at the fork in his hand and then back at me. “Are you a fast runner?” He asked.

I frowned, “Why is that impo-”

Before I could finish the question he had grabbed the cheesecake, still on it’s platter, and was running out of the kitchen, one hand holding the platter and one placed gingerly on top o the cake so that it didn’t fall off.

“Max!” I yelled, taking off after him, my bare feet slapping against the tile in his kitchen, almost stubbing my toes on the corner of the island counter.

Max was already outside, possibly running down the street for all I knew, and by the time I had reached the front door, which he had left open, I was too tired to keep chasing him. I leaned up against the doorframe, taking in a few deep breaths before I looked up at Marc, Jordan, Kris and Sidney who were all laughing so hard their faces were red and their eyes were watery. “His house is really big,” I told them.

“Hey guys,” Vero greeted, finally arriving to the barbeque Max was throwing. She slipped off her shoes, glancing at the three boys with a puzzled look before turning her attention to me. “I’m going to guess that them laughing has something to do with why Max is sitting on the sidewalk eating a cheesecake by himself?”

I nodded, “That would be the cheesecake I brought and had slaved over for hours! Seriously, hours. I never got around to buying a mixer. Do you know how hard it is to hand mix cheesecake?”

Vero laughed, carrying the fruit platter she brought into Max’s kitchen, shaking her head at the boys as she passed them.

Every year, or at least as long as he had been a Penguin, Max threw a barbeque two weeks before the playoffs to celebrate the season, calm the nerves that might be coming on and remind the team that they were all in it together. Or at least, that’s what Max claims. Seeing as he only invites the guys that he really likes or that will bring the best food, I’m thinking it’s more so that he knows everyone will be too stressed to hang out and he gets lonely easily. Whatever the real reason was, he had been throwing one at his house every year since he first made it into the NHL.

It was weird to see how the rest of the players lived in comparison to Sidney. Even though I knew that Sidney made far more money then almost every player on the team, he still lived at the Lemieux’s, and he never seemed to make any crazy purchases. No fancy cars, no gold watches, no exotic pets, he just bought the necessities. Not to say that the rest of the team bought unnecessary things, but they certainly weren’t secretive about their salary.
Max, for instance, had a house bigger then the apartment complex Peyton and I had lived in back in Vancouver, and the size of the pool in his back yard was so huge that, at first glance, I thought he lived on the waterfront. It wasn’t as gigantic and in your face as Mario Lemieux’s house, but it was still so spacious that I was out of breath running from his kitchen to the front door. Then there was Marc, with his Lamborghini car, his own mansion, which I had heard was even bigger than Max’s, along with an insane collection of Patrick Roy collectibles. Tyler owned three motorcycles, even though he didn’t know how to drive them, as well as a customized hummer. Then there was Evgeni Malkin, and even though he was a very kind person, and had a ridiculous sense of humour(or so I was told) he also owned four sports cars, his own mansion with an in-ground swimming pool, small golf course and don’t even get me started on how much his girlfriend’s plastic surgery must have cost him. The purchases these guys made, it didn’t mean that they had no sense of value or that they were spoiled, it just made me realize how different Sidney was from the typical millionaire athlete, and how special he was.

Max finally stepped back into the house a good ten minutes later, the strawberry glaze of the cheesecake covering his face and crumbs from the graham cracker bottom of the cake stuck to his shirt as he let out a long breath, placing his free hand on his stomach. “I don’t feel too good.”

“You are an entire cheesecake by yourself in ten minutes. Of course you don’t feel good,” Jordan said before shoving a handful of chips into his mouth, shooting Max a “duh” look.

Max nodded, sluggishly making his way over to the kitchen so he could put the now empty platter on the kitchen counter, letting out a big sigh. “Why do I do these things? Now I’m too full to eat any hamburgers.”

“If Peyton was here, she’d say it was because you’re French,” I answered, frowning afterwards and turning to look at Kris. “It’s weird that she mocks the French thing so often, but she likes you.”

Kris shrugged, his face turning pink as Jordan nudged him, laughing at how obviously embarrassed the poor guy was.

“So, Hanna,” Vero began, tugging my arm so that she and I were further away from the boys and in our little corner of the kitchen, waiting until Max had ventured back into the living room where the others were to talk. “I hear that you want to open a bakery?”

I smiled, “Yeah. I mean, I love baking and cooking, and I always thought about it when I was younger, but I don’t actually think it could happen. I mean, I don’t have the money or the time yet.”

She nodded, taking a sip from the juice she had poured herself. “Well, I’m asking because my dad owns a bakery and he’s looking for some extra workers. I know you’re working at the Mellon right now, but if you want to start getting some experience, I could put in a good word for you.”

I had to take a second before answering. “Wow, really?”

“Yes,” She said, laughing lightly. “I want to help you make this happen. I…maybe I shouldn’t know, but Marc-Andre, he told me that you are not sure what you want to do with your life yet, and if owning your own bakery or something is where you want to go, I want to help you get there,” She explained.

I smiled, “Thanks, Vero. I mean, I don’t know if I want to spend my life owning a bakery, but I love baking, and I can’t think of anything else that I could actually handle doing for the rest of my life.”

“You don’t have to be in baking forever. Maybe working for my father will just help you see if it’s actually something you want to do or not. Besides, I know it will pay more than the arena pays you to deliver food to the people in the suites.” She smoothed out the ends of her hair, smiling at me. “I’m excited for you now. It’s like you’re finding your way, right in front of all of us.”

I grinned back at her, letting out a small laugh as she and I made our way into the living room, noticing that Tyler and Caity had arrived. I sat down on one of the three leather couches in the living room, making a face as Jordan, who was standing behind the couch, leaned down to chew obnoxiously in my ear.

Caity came to sit next to me, setting the container of cookies she had brought down on the table before she turned to smile at me. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Not too bad. How have you been? How’s school?” I asked.

She shrugged, “Okay. I’m begging to wonder what on earth ever made me want to be a nurse, because the more time I spend in hospitals, the more I hate-”

“People?” I asked.

“Old people,” She corrected, making me laugh. She leaned down to take the lid off of the Tupperware container the cookies were in, picking one up before leaning back and looking at me. “How long have you been in Pittsburgh now?”

I felt my eye twitch as she took a bite of the cookie, chewing with her mouth open. I shook my head, trying to ignore it, “Uhm, just about three months now.”

“And you and Sid have been dating?” She asked.

I had to wipe a few cookie crumbs off of my face from her asking the question with her mouth full, ignoring the sound of Jordan choking on the chips he was eating as he laughed at me. “Well, I guess almost three months. I was only here a week when we started dating.”

She nodded, grabbing another cookie, “Do you want one?” She asked.

“Sure,” I accepted the cookie, taking a bite out of it and looking around the room, noticing that Max and Sidney were having an intense game of rock-paper-scissors on the couch across from me while Tyler and Kris were comparing tattoos. It was such a relaxed atmosphere, with everyone talking and laughing while Max’s horrible music taste played in the background(I swear, a Celine Dion song came on and he got offended when I laughed). It was hard to imagine that in just under two weeks these calm boys would be in what Sidney called “the Playoff zone.” Their diets changed, their exercise routines were increased, their sleep schedules were thrown off. Everything was intensified because of the non-stop playoff schedule, with a game every second day and flying back and forth between cities, or sometimes countries. I didn’t know what to expect from Sidney when he was in that mind-set, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it scared the crap out of me to even think about what I would have to say if they were eliminated.

“Hey, Caity,” I asked her, almost whispering so that the boys wouldn’t hear me, “how long have you and Tyler been together?”

“Four years,” She answered. “Why?”

I sighed, “What did you say when they were…when they didn’t…when the playoffs were happening and they…you know…didn’t win?”

She smiled, “You’re worried that you won’t know what to say if that happens this year?” She asked, biting her lip a bit when I nodded. “It depends. Tyler, he just needed a day to himself, and then I just had to be careful not to bring up the playoffs for a couple of days. When they went all the way to the finals and didn’t win, that was harder. There were many days where he woke up and asked me if that had actually happened, or where he couldn’t eat because he was so upset. I mean, these guys spend the entire season playing for the chance to win the cup, and to be so close but not win it?” She sighed, “But, they won it last year, so I think that if they do end up getting eliminated this year, they’ll be okay. Not great, but okay. Or at least Tyler will be. Sid’s pretty serious about his hockey, he might have a hard time with it.”

“That’s my worry,” I admitted. “Sidney’s a pretty calm guy most of the time, but he puts everything he has into hockey, and I don’t even want to think about what I would have to do if he didn’t win the cup.”

Caity raised her eyebrows at me, smirking a bit. “Then I guess you better hope they win it,” She said.

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

I stood on the edge of Max’s back porch, watching as the rest of the guests stood around the small fire that Max had made and laughed and talked, while a few of them had hopped into the pool, despite the coolness of the night.

I was tired. It was only just past nine, but I was completely exhausted. I brushed my bangs away from my eyes, making a mental note to get a hair cut sometime in the next week, and tugged my sweater around me, trying to fight off the chills I was getting.

“Hey,” Sidney said, surprising me as he came to stand next to me on the porch, his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “I feel like I haven’t seen you since you got here,” He said, pulling a hand out of his pocket and wrapping it around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

“Yeah, I was with Vero and Caity for most of the night,” I told him, still watching as Jordan and some random friend of Max’s tried to start a Congo line.

“Are you okay? You seem quieter than usual,” He asked.

“I’m really tired. I don’t know why, but I feel drained,” I admitted.

He nodded, letting out a soft sigh. “Do you want me to take you home?”

I smiled, “Sidney, I drove myself here, I could go home by myself if I wanted to leave.”

“Well, I just thought that maybe you were too tired to drive yourself or something. Besides, I don’t mind driving you home anyways, it’s not like you live really far away from Talbot’s house,” He reminded me.

I laughed, “I can drive myself home, Sid, don’t worry about it.” I finally looked away from Jordan and his crazy dancing to look up at Sidney as he was glancing up towards the sky at something. There was something about Sidney’s eyes that I just couldn’t get over. It wasn’t even the fact that, in certain lights, they were a light hazel colour instead of their usual light brown, but the way everything reflected in them always caught me by surprise. I could see the moon shining back at me when I looked up into his eyes at that moment, and when he glanced back down at me, I could see the porch light behind me, and I could see a ghostlike version of myself. I bit my lip, giving my head a small shake, “Sidney, you have the most amazing eyes.”

He grinned, “Do I?” He widened his eyes at me, making me chuckle a bit before he leaned down and placed a kiss on the tip of my nose. “Are you actually thinking about heading home?”

I nodded, “I know, it’s lame, but I’m really tired. Besides, Vero said she could get me a job at her dad’s bakery, so I’ll probably have to be up early so I can make myself look pretty for the interview.”

Sidney rolled his eyes, “You always look pretty. You are pretty, I don’t know why you need to put any effort into it,” He said. “If you’re going, I’m walking you to your car.”

I grinned, “Well, then we should start walking.”

“Don’t you want to go say bye to anybody?” He asked.

I glanced back at everybody out on the lawn before shaking my head, “Nah, I’ll just see all of them tomorrow anyways.” He laughed, walking the few feet to the back door and holding it open for me so we could make our way through Max’s house and out to the road where my car was parked. “So, are you ready for the playoffs?” I asked him.

He shrugged a bit, “I guess so. As ready as you can be, anyways. I’m trying not to think about it too much since the regular season isn’t over and I don’t want to get ahead of myself.” He let out a long sigh, “I can’t believe it’s already playoff time. I feel like the season just started. I feel like I just played game seven of the finals a week ago.”

“Maybe it’s from having no time off?” I suggested.

“Maybe,” He agreed, thinking about it for a moment, “You know what? Now that you mention it, I can’t remember having more then two weeks off in the last three years.”

“Really? Wow. Maybe you should, I don’t know, take a vacation or something,” I suggested. “What do you do once hockey is over? I mean, even last year when you guys went all the way, that was in June and the season doesn’t start until October.”

“Well, there were appearances with the cups to make, plus charity work and fundraising, which we do every year with the team and by ourselves. Then I have my own sponsorships to take care of, like Reebok, which means flying out to wherever they want me to be and shooting commercials or doing store appearances, as well as Gatorade and Tim Horton’s. I guess I just make too many commitments, that’s all,” He answered.

I gave my head a small shake, pulling my car keys out of purse as we neared my car. “You really do give everything you have into hockey, don’t you?”

He didn’t answer for a moment, seeming to think over the question before he answered, “I guess I do. I mean, when I was younger, I thought that I would never love anything as much as I loved hockey, and I feel like I threw myself into the sport and endorsing it, and all of the other endorsement deals, because I would be content with having hockey as the one constant in my life, and I figured I’d never get sick of it.”

“Are you getting sick of hockey?” I asked, leaning against my car and looking up at him.

“Maybe that was bad choice of words,” He said quietly. “I’m not sick of it, no. Hockey is my passion, and I can’t even imagine not playing it, I just feel like everything might be starting to get to me. It’s like, for every commitment I make to the game, it’s another weight on my shoulders. The first few years I could handle it, because fifty commitments, that’s just fifty pounds, I could handle that. But now, with everyone waiting to see what I’ll do to ‘top’ the gold medal game, and everyone pinning Ovechkin and I against each other to see who will get to 50 goals, or who will score more goals, as well as the pressure to be repeat cup champions, it’s just getting to me, I guess.” He admitted.

“You don’t have to carry all of that by yourself, Sidney,” I reminded him.

He nodded, “I know that. It’s just that, I really did think that I would never feel like hockey was too much. I just assumed that it would be the number one love of my life, forever.”

“You aren’t in love with hockey anymore?” I teased.

“No, I still am,” He said, laughing slightly before he bit his lip, looking down at me. “I’m just learning how to love something other then hockey,” He explained, leaning down to open up my car door for me before he leaned down, placing one hand on the side of my face as he kissed me, a passionate kiss that almost caught me off guard, stunning me for a second before I came to my sense and responded, one of my hands on his hip and the other reaching up to rest on the back of his neck. When he pulled away from the kiss he smoothed out my hair, pulling the door open completely for me and watching as I stepped around him to stand in front of the open car door, making sure I was seated before saying, “I love you, Hanna.”

If I hadn’t been sitting down, I probably would have just died on the sidewalk. He tried to shut the door and head off, I’m assuming so that he didn’t have to wait and see if I wouldn’t say it back, but I pushed the door back open first, surprising him a bit. “You don’t get to just say that and then run off. What is this, a Kate Hudson movie?” I asked, climbing back out of the car and looking up at him. “Let’s try that again.”

His eyebrows furrowed down a bit, confusion spreading across his face. “You want me to…to say it again?”

“Yes. Here, we’ll back track a bit,” I suggested, clearing my throat. “You aren’t in love with hockey anymore?”

He looked down at me silently for a moment, the shadow of a smirk on his face as he let out a loud breath of air. “I still am, but I’m learning how to love something other then hockey,” He repeated, stopping for a second and making a bit of a face. “Do I kiss you again?”

I laughed, “Why not?” I said, smiling as he playfully rolled his eyes and leaned down, kissing me again.

Sidney pulled away once more, looking at me as if he could hardly believe that I was actually making him do this all over again, before he repeated, “I love you, Hanna.”
I grinned, my hand still resting on the back of his neck. “I love you too, Sidney.”

He seemed surprised to hear me say it, moving his head back a bit after I said it, but after a few seconds he grinned, leaning down to kiss my lips once more before scattering a few kisses across my cheeks and nose, placing both of his hands on either side of my face. “You know what, I’m really glad that you made us go back and re-enact that.”

I nodded, “It’s way better this way, right?” I asked, leaning up to kiss him one last time before I took a step back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He nodded, backing away from my car and watching as I climbed in, watching as I started the car and drove off. I could see him in my rear-view mirror, just standing on the sidewalk outside of Max’s house, watching me drive off until I had turn off of the street.