Chapter 3

Emma's POV:

I woke the next morning feeling like I had been hit by a freight train. To put it delicately. I was a snotty, congested mess and I was afraid to even look in the mirror for fear of putting myself in a worse mood.

Pulling the thermometer out of my mouth, I read the temperature of 101.2 degrees fahrenheit. Great. Squaring my shoulders, I walked back into the bathroom determined to go into work anyway. After my disasterous day and evening yesterday, I had to go in and make this program the best charity program the Pens had ever seen.

An hour later I had pulled myself together and was even wearing a fancy black dress and sweater that I knew would give me an extra boost of confidence when I met with my bosses this afternoon to go over progress so far on this project and a few other groups I was working with. The Pens would be hosting their hockey camps for kids in a few months towards the end of summer and arrangements still needed to be made to get those together.

I was just walking into Mellon arena when my phone rang in my purse. "Hi Vero" I said answering and covering up a sneeze.

"Jeez. You sound terrible Em! Are you okay?" Gee, thanks Vero.

"I'm fine. I just have a cold or something." I really wanted to know why she was calling, not be told how terrible I sounded.

"Okay well, I was just calling to warn you ahead of time. On our way home last night, Sidney kept asking us questions about why you were so angry and more questions about the program itself and I think he's going to do it now." She sounded wary of my reaction considering how I had blown up twice yesterday over all of this.

"What?" I screeched startling the guard who opened the door for me. "Why? Tell him that he's not allowed!" I realized that I was now being extremely childish. Note: extremely childish. But he brought out this reaction in me considering I didn't understand him or his flip-flopping emotions at all.

"Em I can't! The guys are already at morning skate before the game tonight and if I know Sid, he'll come and find you himself."

She let me rant some more until I finally got off the line after promising to stay calm and sit with her at the game tonight. I always went to home games and usually sat with the Lemieuxs because they knew how much I loved hockey. Now it had become my custom to also hang out with Vero and Eliza on game nights which also made it a girl's night out of sorts.

I shut my phone and marched past everyone in the office until I could shut myself away and get to work. I had too much to do today to be bothered with comments about how horrible I knew I looked. Now it seemed I was going to have to avoid Sidney also.

By 2pm I had already sat through a meeting, a business lunch and a tearful consolation of a coworker in the ladies' room over an anniversary gift from her husband gone bad. I didn't want to mention that I was possibly the worst person to talk to about relationships and instead let her cry on my shoulder, careful not to sneeze on her or anything.

I was busy gathering up the phone numbers and contacts I needed to get the summer hockey camps in order when my phone rang. "Hello?"

"Emma, Sidney Crosby is here to see you." Florence, the middle-aged receptionist for our office said in her monotone voice. Mary the receptionist in the legal department was so much better. She at least has a personality.

"No!" I said speaking without thinking. "I mean, he can't. I'm on my way out to a meeting" I said trying to cover up my outburst. I heard her saying something away from the phone and what sounded like a male's voice responding.

"Do you know when you'll be back?" Florence asked. Damn it, I hated lying. "No, sorry I don't. Listen, I'm sorry but I really do have to get going." I didn't sound very convincing but then again, I was going to have to leave the office just to keep the story straight and that would definitely cut important time out of my work day. I hung up the phone feeling more sick than I had this morning and now I was going to be forced to run out and leave the office for awhile for my 'meeting.' Luckily I did have to run and meet with a few of the local YMCA directors to let them know that the Children's Partnership Program was indeed approved and running and to see if they knew of any other activity groups for kids that would be interested in the program. Normally this was something that I would reserve for my weekends but right now I was stuck and needed something to do away from the office. Thanks again, Crosby.

To top it off, my nose was running more than ever and I definitely looked like a crack addict with all of the nose-spray I had been using during the day. That'll really convince adults that I am responsible with children.

I wrapped my scarf securely around my neck, piling the rest of my layers on in an attempt to stay warm. Yes, it was almost the end of March but my screwy immune system had decimated my body temperatures. I'm sure that I vaguely looked like a colorful version of the Michelin man as I crept out of of the office praying to god that I didn't run into Sidney. With his mood swings from the past few days and my horrible luck, I wouldn't put it past him to wait for me and ambush me. Strike that, he has more important things to do.

"Emma" I froze hearing my name being called by the voice I once fantasized about. Now I was quickening my pace and pathetically running away. His stride was longer than mine and he quickly caught up to me.
"Oh, hi Sidney" I said pretending not to have heard him earlier. "Did you need something?"


"Whoa, are you okay? You look terrible" he said looking at me. Was that concern I saw? He covered it up when he noticed that I was glaring at him again and I ground out another "Do you need something?" He hasn't commented on anything relating to me for years and now all of the sudden he has the balls to tell me I look terrible on a day when I'm sick?

He looked at me skeptically like he didn't buy my whole casual act. "Uh yeah. Do you have a minute to talk about the program thing? You know the one from yesterday?" He was rubbing the back of his neck again and that at least made me feel slightly better. I wanted him to feel nervous talking to me. Anything was better than the way he usually swatted me off like I was an annoyance or something.

"Actually, I'm on my way out. So can it wait? You don't have to apologize again Sidney- I have more than enough people willing to support the program and I understand how busy you are." That part at least was true. I more than a lot of people did understand just how busy and crazy his life was. I just couldn't bring myself to forgive him for saying yes and then backing out. If he had said no in the first place, then I would have gotten over the disappointment in time. But the fact that he said yes and then brushed me off really got to me. I did not forgive people who went back on their commitments.

I was entirely too used to people doing that in my life and when it came to Sidney, I wasn't willing to deal with it. It just hurt too much.

He sighed and I wished that he would just let it go because we were both obviously uncomfortable in each other's presence. "Are you coming to the game tonight?" he asked. His brown eyes were boring into mine and I suddenly felt a lot warmer. I settled for nodding instead of saying anything else. "Okay, well, can you try to wait around so I can find you? I really need to talk to you about this."

"I don't know. I don't really feel good Sidney. Can we please just let this go?"

"Just wait, please" he said clearly ignoring the fact that I didn't want to talk to him. Maybe it was a good thing I couldn't stand him anymore considering everything that he said and did now had the capacity to infuriate me. Why wasn't he picking up on my verbal and physical cues that I was unwilling to speak to him? Clenched fists, glares and the word "no" generally signified that, right?

"I have to go" I said not answering him and brushing past his tall figure. I didn't look back and I don't think he watched me go anyway.

Sid's POV:

I watched her walk away torn between going after her and forcing her to listen to me while feeling simultaneously defeated. I just had to open my big mouth and tell her that she looks terrible before trying to get her to talk to me. Way to go, Crosby.

Why did she have to be so difficult? She never seemed this hostile before and I had known her for a long time. A few years at least since she was almost a permanent fixture in the Lemieux family. Despite this, I didn't know a whole lot about her- except now I knew she was stubborn as hell and that I made her angry.

To be honest, I had never really paid a lot of attention to her. She was just there, always in the perimeter and the only real things I knew about her was that she didn't have a good relationship with her parents who were a little flaky and hardly ever around while she was growing up.

I didn't even know how her family knew the Lemieuxs, I just always saw her with Mario and Nathalie who she called her Aunt and Uncle.

Obviously they were close, so how did I still not know anything about her?

When I asked Jordan about it last night, his response had been "Dude, seriously you're a jerk. We're all friends with her except for you" before turning his attention back to the TV show we were watching. Needless to say, that hadn't been helpful and I still hadn't gotten any closer to figuring her out. I guess I could admit that I hadn't exactly been nice to her in the past. She was just too much of something that I couldn't put a label on. Too nice, too vibrant with that red hair of hers- too much of everything that overwhelmed me. It was just easier to brush her off and pretend she wasn't there. When she was still in college, it was easy but now this season when she started working for the team, it seemed like she was everywhere at once and it was getting harder and harder to avoid her.

Well, until now when all of the sudden, she wanted nothing to do with me and I felt like a shitty person for obviously upsetting her even though she kept trying to brush it off. Maybe it was the way I was raised or the fact that I have a little sister, but I can't stand it when women are mad at me. Right now especially, I felt like the lowest of the low and she was making it particularly difficult for me to apologize so that we could both move on. I was even willing to sign back up for her program if it meant she would forgive me and stop looking so angry with me.

I wasn't a miracle worker by any means but I could at least try to make amends with her. If she'll let me.


Eliza's POV:



"Thank you so much for your time- I know the kids are going to love this program. Call me if you have more questions, if not, I will be in touch when I have further information." I shook the hand of one of the YMCA directors in downtown Pittsburgh and made my escape. The woman had given me some great leads of different foster homes and after-school programs in the area that had kids who needed help and attention. I glanced at my watch and noted that I could probably make it back to my office and get more work done until the game tonight. It wasn't worth the hassle of running home and changing when I could just stay and get ahead on compiling as much information together as I needed to keep showing the directors in charge of charitable events that I had this under control. I didn't like it, but I was going to have to have some sort of fundraising event to make enough money for the program. The yearly Skates and Plates event was the biggest one that all of the Pens committed to but were they really willing to do another event like that? The guys hated getting dressed up- possibly with the exception of Max Talbot but he was unique anyway. Maybe a little sweet-talking and teary eyes would help me win my case on this one.

It was after 5pm so I knew that I was safe to return to my office without another run-in with Sidney. He would be too busy with pre-game stuff allowing me to safely navigate around Mellon Arena. I rolled my eyes when I passed some fans already loitering in front of the gates with "MARRY ME SID" signs. Honestly, did they even expect him to notice those signs? When he played hockey, he noticed nothing but the game around him and those girls were fools if they thought he appreciated them.

There I was getting bitter again for no reason. My mood was never this terrible and I hated that he was getting to me when he shouldn't be. As if on cue, to distract me from more Sidney-related thoughts, my phone began vibrating on my desk next to where I was working on my computer.

"Emma?" I felt relieved when I noticed that it was Nathalie Lemieux on the other end.

"Hi Aunt Nat. What's up?"

"Emma you sound terrible, what's wrong?" Jeez, did I really sound that horrible that everyone had to make a comment about it.

"I just woke up with a cold or something this morning, that's all."

"Well I was calling to see if you were joining us at the game tonight. We're going out to dinner afterwards and would love if you came with us." My heart warmed a little at her invitation. Despite my shitty experiences with family, Mario and Nathalie gave me hope that not all parents of privilege were as neglectful as mine. I agreed and hung up before turning off my phone ensuring that there would be no more interruptions for the rest of the evening.

I didn't come up for air until quarter to 8 when I finally realized how late it had gotten. I never missed the puck drop and turned on my phone to see 8 messages from Vero, Eliza and Nat and sadly even one from Mario making sure that I was still alive. I quickly packed up stifling the dizziness I felt from getting up too fast and closed up my office. I didn't feel well enough to be there but I also didn't want to miss the rest of the game. The Caps were here tonight and hands down, Pens/Caps games were my favorite to watch. Even though the Pens had my heart, I couldn't help but give props to Ovechkin based on his agility alone. Pittsburgh was biased and would of course stick by Sidney but that didn't mean that I couldn't recognize that Ovechkin was one talented player.

"Oh my god, where were you? The game started already!" Vero cried out spotting me when I entered the owner's box. It had become our custom to sit up here due to the high occupancy levels of games and overall, it was easier to watch the game from up above where you could see everything.

"Sorry, I shut my phone off and got carried away, I'm here now" I said pulling out tissues from my bag.

I avoided more questions about my general health and watched the game unfold trying not to concentrate on a certain player's moves like I usually would. I couldn't help it though, he was hypnotizing on the ice but I entertained myself with Ovechkin's on-ice antics. He always seemed to play it up for the crowds more in cities that hated him, namely Pittsburgh.

"So are you coming for dinner tonight?" Nathalie asked sliding into the chair next to me. I nodded because I splitting my concentration between the game below us and what she was telling me. My ears perked up upon hearing Sidney's name.

"Sidney's coming with us?" Since when had he ever joined us after games? It was customary for all the guys to go out and party after games. Nathalie looked confused at my obvious protest.

"He backed out of joining her new charity program and she yelled at him and now they're awkward around each other" Vero supplied from where she had joined us.

"It's a little more complicated than that" I said rolling my eyes at Vero's comment. She grinned at me instead before cheering for Marc who had just made a big save.

"Sidney did what?" Nathalie said looking at me curiously.

"It's not a big deal, really." This was officially the subject that was never going to die and now it was getting out of hand. How hard should it be to avoid Sidney for the rest of forever- apparently very hard.

I went into another sneezing and hacking fit and decided enough was enough. Everyone was looking at me in fear like I had tuberculosis and I couldn't handle being there anymore. The mellon was cold damn it.

"I'm going to go home and rest instead" I said saying goodbye and gathering up my stuff. No one protested to me leaving and all I wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed and sleep for the next 12-14 hours.

Tomorrow would be the good day I had been fantasizing about for the past 48 hours.