Emerson had the day off as soon as morning skate was over. She was glad for that as soon as she plopped herself down onto the couch in her living room just an hour earlier. Pete was still at work so as of right now she was alone,, but the two planned to meet soon to go for lunch. Food was much needed as her stomach let out a low uncomfortable grumble.
Tomorrow the team would be heading to Florida, and she was actually very excited because she had never been before. She hated to say the teams would be easy to beat, but she was secretly hoping they would get two easy wins this week after Ottawa yesterday. Speaking of the Canadian team, Ems spent what felt like hours chatting on the phone with her former teammate. It felt normal talking to him about anything and everything. She had missed that.
Waking up this morning she felt genuinely very good. Maybe seeing people who mattered to her was helping her come to terms with things. So far she had been having a great day even though it was hardly noon. Mentally there was this unexplainable happy feeling that caused a hop in her step, a smile to form midway through drills, and allowed her to think more positively. Days like these were what she wanted to continue with.
"Alright I'm leaving work now so let's meet at our favorite deli now!" -Pete
Seeing Pete's text she immediately kicked her legs off the couch to force herself to get up. She had already been dressed and ready to go, she was just waiting for the message.
The sun shimmering down onto the sidewalks was misleading, as the air was sharp and chilly. There was yet to any type of snow, but Emerson was pulling her warm jacket into her body tighter as she began jogging to her car. Her breath was easily visible and the cold air was hurting her lungs as it came in. She absolutely hated winter, but this was nothing compared to what went on up in Boston.
It didn't take long for her to drive to the deli. Only a few minutes longer due to some unnecessary traffic.
As she walked into the place, the small bell dinging as the door opened; she spotted Pete already sitting.
The deli was a bright, modern, quaint place they liked to frequent. The workers were always the same five people, who were the types to memorize your order and spark up a
conversations.. The walls were decorated with beautiful paintings of nature and things that represented the world of food. Some of her favorites were the small signs scattered about with sarcastic comments. All in all the environment was perfect for the healthy close to home-cooked as it could get food for literally anyone.
"Hey!" Emerson said happily as she took a seat across from her close friend.
"Hey there, you seem happy today."
"I am. It's been going pretty good so far."
"Awesome! Well I already ordered your usual so we wouldn't have to wait much longer." Pete moved a glass of water closer to her signaling it was hers, "Hopefully it'll be out soon."
"Oh thanks." Emerson thanked him bringing the small black straw to her lips to take a sip of water.
"When do you again? Tomorrow?"
"Yeah, a bit early too, just so we can get there. It'll be much nicer weather than here."
"You hate the heat!"
"Yeah but I also dislike the cold.."
"You need to go to like.. North Carolina of someplace around there that's like always the same." Pete eyes sparkled with amusement. He knew his friend was hard to please when it came to weather; she was always complaining. How was she a hockey player again? He could never get over how cold rinks got at times.
"Hmm, maybe when I retire I'll move somewhere that's 60 degrees year round."
"I'll follow. Doesn't sound too bad."
Emerson laughed aloud with an eye roll, "what am I just gonna be stuck with you for the rest of my life?"
"What?? Doesn't it sound fun?"
"Well I'm hoping to be married by that time jeez, and last time I checked I'm not exactly your type."
"True.. I'll just move next door? Or! You can build a guest house for me with all that money you'll be making."
"Yeah whatever." Emerson smirked at him. A lot of her friends joked about all the money she was making already, but she knew Pete would actually want to use some of it.
"But speaking of... types... yours is definitely proving itself to be true?" Pete had a grin forming on his lips. He noticed everything and loved to talk about it.
"And that is?"
"Older men."
"Jesus Pete really?"
"But listen Ems. You've never once been interested in any teammate you've had right?" Emerson nodded because that was very true, "because they were too immature for you and I think you're into men, like strong in who they are. I mean Gio? He was a confident dude. Now your Captain? He's like the definition of what you're into."
"I'm still confused about what I'm into."
"You're just trying to act dumb! You know it stop denying it. You want someone to just have your back that can get protective or-"
Emerson practically lunged herself across the table to shove her hands over his mouth. People were starting to look over and she was done with that he had to say, "Oi shut it you're embarrassing me!"
"I know you too well Ems. Just admit it."
"No way never to you."
"You may not admit to that, but," his voice turned sing-songy as he piped up, "I got what I was looking for."
"And that is?" her heart started to beat a little faster with every passing second.
"You definitely like Sidney."
The young goalie huffed, "and what if I do? What does it even matter? Nothing will happen anyways I can't think that way; or I'll get too far in then get my hopes destroyed."
"You're being too negative. You're just afraid to get hurt again.. I'm sure if he was aware of Gio he'd know to-"
"He knows all about him.."
"That makes things easier then."
"Yeah I guess. He just- seems to care yah know? Like with how DJ, Bryce, Coops, and those guys always are. It just seems so genuine to me.." Emerson didn't have the words to explain why she felt this way about him; why Sidney was so different to her.
"I'm glad you're not denying these feelings anymore though. And he seems like he's a good guy- at least from all the interviews and stuff people have to say about him. I already like him much more than I ever did Gio."
"I guess that's good. Though I feel like you're going to be the one to get your hopes up on this whole thing."
"Listen, a guy can hope!"
It only took a few more minutes for their food to come out. Emerson was glad to finally be able to dig into her favorite turkey wrap. Quite honestly she didn't know what was in it besides the basics, but she didn't mind. It was always delicious and right now was hitting the spot. Her hunger had been starting to feel like it was eating her stomach from the inside out where she would have eaten anything.
The pair remained silent for a bit as they enjoyed their meals rather thoroughly. Pete though broke the silence, "would you.. want to be with Sid?"
"I-I don't know." she sighed setting down the wrap. This was something she surprisingly allowed herself to dwell on because it let her think about the reality of things, "I mean, yah. I want someone to be with, that I can talk to late at night that I know would just hold me.. Ah, I've wanted that for awhile now... but I try to look at what kind of future we could have and I'm not sure. I doubt it would work there's too many unknowns."
The two would probably get eaten alive by it. All she could imagine was announcers only talking about their relationship for the entirety of games, or everyone wanting to know what they were up to. Emerson also was scared she'd manage to get labeled as a slut. Girls or even some guys would use that to judge her, try to pick apart to life to find out if she had ever dated a teammate before. She always held herself to a higher standard not to get herself in these petty type of issues. So much could go wrong.
And if she already could think of those small things, imagine what Sidney was thinking. He had been living this life in the nhl much longer than her. And he was probably the most private player too.
"I get what you're saying Ems. But at the same time, you two could easily hide it. I mean come on.. if you two were that concerned you could just be separate during the summer. It's really not that hard. And come on, people should only be caring about the sport of hockey rather than who's with who."
"I guess you're right." she sighed beginning to feel stressed. Emerson didn't want to think all these things through and then feel like an idiot as her feelings were one sided, "I'm not sure."
"Just.." Pete ran a hand through his hair, "Ah, this'll be hard to do but let things happen as they're meant to. If it's rushed then there'll be more problems I guess."
"He'll be the one having to make all the moves though. I'm not doing a thing!"
"I'd so the same thing as you. No harm in that. He's older and all."
"You know..." Emerson thought back to the events taking place lately with her other teammates. They were starting to ask too many questions regarding the pair and maybe that meant something as well, "a few of my teammates have approached me about it. They think we'd be cute too..."
"Then it's definitely not all in your head Ems. They'd know Sidney better than anyone with stuff like this." Pete felt excitement knowing there was now a chance for Ems to get a boyfriend that really wanted her. He wanted his best friend to be happy, have someone that for once she'd actually listen to when feeling down rather than arguing. And it only made since for Emerson to date another hockey player, no other guy could possibly understand the life.
It's different with girls knowing their men would be with a team of other guys... but how could a guy stay level headed knowing his girlfriend was surrounded by guys on a daily basis. That's why Pete believed Gio and Ems never worked out and why she never dated in high school. It was sad to think about because she was one hell of a catch..
Pete could only sit back and wait now for love to take its course.