The Road to the Cup ~ Wattys 2015

Remind Me

I texted Joe that night, saying I wanted to meet him for dinner or something along those lines. He was very quick to agree. We decided to meet up at a restaurant near the outskirts of town. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember why, so I went along with it. I had to do something to forget about Sidney for a while. This time, I knew better than to try alcohol, because that had just resulted in a headache. I knew that I wanted to be with him, and that he wanted to be with me, but I also knew that I had picked my job and I had to stick by my decision.

I arrived at the restaurant and realized why it had sounded familiar; it was the restaurant Sidney and I always went to before games. So much for forgetting about him. I walked in and the hostess pointed me in the direction of Joe's table. He was reading the menu. On my way over, someone reached out and grabbed my butt. "Hey!" I said a little too loudly.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Olli Maatta smirked.

"No need to be an asshole, Maatta," Brandon Sutter said, "Hey, Erin."

"Hey, Brandon. Bortuzzo, Sunshine," I said to the three guys I wasn't currently pissed at. Then I turned to Maatta, "You touch my ass again you're going to be in trouble."

"Don't tempt me," he said. When I glared at him he continued, "Oh, come on, Erin! I'm only kidding!"

"Better be," I huffed.

"What are you doing here?" Beau asked.

"Funny, I was going to ask the same question," Bortuzzo said.

"I guess you two are brothers from separate mothers. And as for me, I'm here on a date."

That comment gained me comments like "Oooh, Erin!" and "Ow, ow!"

I rolled my eyes, "Shut up, guys."

"Should we scope him out first? Check and see if he's good enough for you?" Sutter winked and I frowned. The 'good enough for you' comment reminded me of Sidney.

"I'll be fine. We've already spent a little time together, but thanks," I told Sutter.

That gained me a few more uncalled for remarks about my activities away from the arena.

"Guys, I'm already late as it is. I'll catch you later."

"Just let us know if you need back-up. We will beat him up if he tries anything," Bortuzzo promised.

"Thanks," I smiled and headed off to Joe's table. I sat down, "Hey, sorry I'm a few minutes late. I ran into some old friends and we spent a few minutes catching up."

"It's no problem at all. I was just getting ready to order drinks. I was going to order a beer for you, but- oh! They're ready for us!" He chuckled.

The waiter was the same as the one who usually waited on Sidney and I, just another unnecessary reminder of him. He knew I always ordered a Shirley Temple, so he wrote it down without having to ask.

"How did he know what you wanted?" Joe asked.

"I've come here a few times."

When the waiter came back with drinks, he dropped a napkin in front of me with something scribbled on it. 'New guy? Personally, I think you looked better with the last one, but this one isn't bad.' I blushed, and thoughts of Sidney and I together flashed through my head.

"What's wrong? Why are you blushing? Was the waiter hitting on you, because I can go ask for a different one if you like," Joe asked, trying to be my knight in shining armor; too bad I liked my men armed with sticks and skates.

"No, no, it's fine. He said we look great together," I lied.

"Oh, that's, uh, nice of him."

I nodded in response. My gaze flicked over Joe's shoulder to where Bortz, Sunshine, Sutter, and Maatta were sitting, only to have them staring right at me. I blushed again and shook my head. Joe turned to see what I was looking at and was surprised to find that I knew more of the Pittsburgh Penguins than he had seen last night.