It didn't take long when they were out to eat for Emerson to forget about her worries. Since things between her and Gio were finally over she decided not to dwell on it anymore. She could breathe and now the best thing to do in this situation was to move on. And being surrounded by amazing teammates, funny guys that could crack joke after joke made that a lot easier. She was able to flip a switch to make her seem fine and she was grateful for that.
She sat with Olli, Jake and a few of the other younger guys at a Panera Bread. After the whole team met up in the lobby of the hotel, everyone split up depending on what they wanted. There was still time before they had to make their way to the arena.
"I say we prank one of the older guys.." Guentzel said as he was sipping on his drink, "We could so get Geno in on it too."
"We gotta do Horny, that guy can get mad quick I think it'll be funny."
"Or Phil.."
"What do you think Ems?"
"If we're gonna do something, I am not taking the fall like last time!" she sent the table all glares, "and let's do it at the hotel rather than practice."
"Good idea. Maybe take some bags, switch some gear..." everyone could probably see the wheels turning in Olli's head. Why he enjoyed random moments of this type of stuff was beyond them. Everyone had their times like this, Emerson guessed.
"This'll be interesting."
***
Emerson sat in the lockeroom at the end of practice shocked. Everyone was busy getting ready to head back to the hotel when she could barely function thinking about today's announcement.
"Rousseau you're starting tomorrow."
Right away her teammates clapped her on the back with excitement. Flower gave her an encouraging smile and a shoulder squeeze. Emerson could hardly believe tomorrow would finally be the day.
Flower of course already gave her the full pep talk, telling her she'd be fine. Trying not to over think things would be key and the moment she stepped out on the ice she'd be okay. Emerson knew he was right, that's how it had been for years- yet this felt very different. This time thousands of people would be watching her, thousands more than college games. And this would be on national television that people actually watched. Loyal sports fan that gave everything to their teams, and she didn't want her first game to be a loss.
"You will kill it tomorrow kid." the large Russian of the team gave her a sweet smile as he was leaving the room to head to the bus. Geno was a laid back guy that knew how to cheer people up or know when someone was down. Even with a slight language barrier he had great communication skills.
"Thanks Geno." Emerson said softly. Her hands were shaking slightly as she tried to lace them together to make them stop. She was no longer in any gear, sitting in only sweats and a tee, hair damp from a quick shower she took in the shower rooms.
"Everyone let's get going." Coach Sullivan only peaked his head in to call. There weren't too many people left lingering, Ems being one of them of course. She was still in shock.
Each step she took as she left filled her stomach with even more butterflies. The nerves starting to set in were hardly bad as of now, but she couldn't begin to imagine what tomorrow would feel like. For the first time in awhile Emerson felt small and insignificant compared to everything around her, knowing all the pressure she'd be force to face. What if she was the reason they lost?
***
"Just take the bag and run!"
"He'll kill you, hide!"
A group of young hockey players stood in the hotel's hall late at night. On either side of them were rooms where other teammates were probably asleep. In any minute one of them would be feeling the full anger of Patric Hornqvist.
"This was a horrible idea!" Emerson was in sports shorts and a large t-shirt. Truth be told she didn't even have a bra on, she had been laying in bed trying to sleep when Olli started banging on her door. Her hair was messy, eyes feeling tired- whereas by each passing second she was now becoming more awake. These idiots were making her anxiety skyrocket when she wanted to be on her best for tomorrow.
Suddenly all their heads snapped to the sound of a door opening. Their faces drained of color as Sidney Crosby stepped out of one of the rooms, "guys its 10 at night, what's going on?"
"N-nothing! Just conversing about tomorrow!" Jake stuttered out, hiding Pat's bag behind his back.
"Try to get some sleep."
Sidney's eyes scanned over the group until they landed onto Emerson. She couldn't tell what he was thinking but she immediately felt like a small child being scolded. Yet, apart of her felt drawn to go over to him.. even if she tried to go sleep it wouldn't happen. And there were so many thoughts racing through her head about the game tomorrow.
"Hey Sid, could I talk to you?" it came out quiet as she took a few steps towards him. She wasn't entirely sure where this confidence was coming from, but at least this would get her out of an angry Horny's way.
He gave her a nod, "of course."
The moment she left the group of boys she was just with, they didn't pay her any attention as they realized the problem they were stuck with. Emerson couldn't help but wonder what they were gonna do about their predicament.
Sidney allowed her into his room with ease, and everything was just as neat as when they first arrived. It didn't even look like he unpacked at all.
"Everything okay?"
"Tomorrow's really getting to me..."
"You're nervous." Sid chuckled, "Don't worry it's normal, but I'm sure you know that."
"Yeah just-"
"Let's go sit outside on the balcony, it's a nice night out."
"Okay." Emerson blindly followed him out the sliding door. He took a seat on one of the padded chairs, and she sat in the one besides him. He seemed very focused on the city lights around them, staring out into the night sky.
He folded his arms across his chest, "I still remember how I felt before my first game in the nhl.. You're right, it's a whole different feeling and I'm sure that's scary for you- especially considering you're a girl and there's a lot of pressure on you for that."
"I don't know why I feel like I'm going to be the one to lose this for us, I keep trying to remind myself I'm here for a reason.."
"And you are Ems. If more girls could play like you then they'd be here too. But they can't, you're a great goalie don't forget that."
"Thank you..." Emerson felt content knowing Sidney seemed to have so much faith in her... Emerson had her legs resting on the coffee table in front of them, she tried to make sure her shorts weren't riding up too much. Then she felt a slight panic and prayed that Sidney wouldn't notice that she didn't have much on besides her shirt and shorts. Hopefully the small balcony light wouldn't allow him much sight, she felt mortified with herself that she didn't think this through.
It took a few minutes of them sitting there in a comfortable silence before Sid spoke up, "do you mind if I pry about earlier?"
"No?" Emerson had a few ideas on what he could ask about but she didn't want to jump the gun.
"When I knocked on your door earlier, you looked as if you had been crying. Did something happen? Will it affect your game tomorrow?"
Ems didn't want anyone to know that part of her personal life, but it made sense that he was asking.. especially if he thought there could be any way it would affect her goalieing, "Oh I'll be fine for tomorrow. Everyone has stuff that comes up."
"Need anyone to talk about it with? I try to be someone people can come to.."
"Sid you have enough stuff to worry about you don't need to hear my petty issues."
"I do care, if that helps. I get you probably only see me as your Captain, or this legendary player I'm always made out to be.. but I'm your teammate at the end of the day and we all have to help each other out."
"Ah no wonder you're so good at being Captain." Emerson chuckled staring down at her hands. It was funny, those words he spoke came out so easily yet truly sounded sincere. There wasn't a reason to doubt him like with Gio. The vibes Sidney gave off her ones of confidence yet so caring, very different from her at times conniving "ex".
"I try my best." he looked at Emerson as she sat there silently. She looked tired in the small bouts of light they had. But she still looked beautiful, no guy in his right mind could deny she was attractive- even after hours of practice in all the goalie gear.. Sidney was getting a major soft spot for Emerson, to the point where a couple close friends of his spoke on it. Marc especially, "I won't force you to talk about it, but it helps."
Emerson took a deep breath before proceeding carefully, "Simply? I ended things with a guy."
"You had a boyfriend..." for some reason it didn't come out like a question. Not once did Sid ever think she was in a relationship, none of the other guys thought so either. It almost, for some reason, made him uncomfortable to think about.
"Not exactly. It was really complicated."
"Huh."
"But yeah, that's why I was upset. I'm just glad it's done.. though it had been for months anyways."
"I'm sorry."
"No you're fine. I shouldn't have let it get to me as much as it did."
"It's okay to get emotional over something like that Ems.. I'm sure at one point there was a lot of care between you two." His words were drier than he anticipated them sounding.
Why did this bother him so much?
"I guess. It's not important now though." Emerson for the first time looked over at him, she smiled sweetly, but closed lipped, "I don't think I'll be able to sleep much tonight, but I'd hate to keep you up."
"It takes me awhile as well, don't worry. I normally end up just passing out to whatever's on TV."
"Oh god that's literally me!" she started to giggle, and it hit Sidney's ears and he only could focus on her. She carefully tucked free pieces of her long hair behind an ear. In this way, she looked so young, "my advice. Put TLC on, those dress/wedding/family shows really put you out. They're repetitive."
"I'll try to keep that in mind."
Emerson started to feel guilty even with was Sid said. She didn't want to keep him up any longer, and a part of her wanted to try to sleep, "I should go back to my room now.. thank you." the night breeze was beginning to gently blow through. It was beautiful out; the city lights and noises were almost comforting.
As Emerson went to stand up Sid followed suit, "Try not to let tomorrow get into your head. Everything will come naturally, don't doubt yourself, okay?"
"I'll do my best Sid, thanks again."