Maybe Someday

Ellen twirled the old fashioned phone cord between her fingers as she sat on the incredibly soft bed beneath her. A small smile spread across her face as she looked in the mirror at herself. As her sister talked at a mile a minute, Ellen laughed at her disheveled appearance.

“What’s funny about that?” her sister asked on the other end of the line.

“Oh, sorry, Kelc,” she laughed. “You should see what I look like right now. It’s a sight.”

“Sid’s been keeping you busy, eh?” she asked laughing, and Ellen could practically see the amused smirk on her twin’s face.

“Shut up,” she laughed in response.

“Have you guys even seen anything outside of your hotel room yet?”

“I said shut up, you brat,” Ellen groaned, throwing herself back onto the bed, as Sidney stepped out of the bathroom, freshly showered and dressed in only his boxer briefs. Ellen raised her eyebrows as a wide grin spread across her face. She lifted her leg and tapped Sid on the butt as he bent over his luggage. Snapping up, he glared at his girlfriend making her laugh.

“So, how’s Montreal?” Ellen asked, thinking it was time to turn the tables on her sister. “Have you seen anything besides Max’s bedroom.”

“Shut up,” Kelcey groaned, sounding exactly like her sister had just minutes before.

“That’s what I thought,” she laughed, watching as Sidney pulled on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Letting out a sigh, she told her sister she had to go. A shower was definitely in order. Hanging up the phone and placing it back on the bedside table, Ellen stood up, running her manicured hands through her messy blond curls, groaning when Sidney came up behind her and placed his lips on her neck.

“Sid,” she laughed. “I am exhausted!”

“I’m not,” he told her, turning her around to face him, making Ellen laugh again.

“I need a shower,” she started to say. “You are not invited,” she continued, pressing a finger against Sidney’s chest, rolling her eyes as he stuck his already pouty bottom lip out. “You already had one!” she yelled, stepping into the large bathroom and locking the door behind her.

Quickly washing her hair, face, and body under the hot water, Ellen felt much better and much cleaner from the past few days spent in the hotel room. A post season vacation was something both she and Sidney were looking forward to since he had uncharacteristically booked it in March, just after the NHL season had resumed from the (ridiculously successful for him) Olympic break. Usually Sidney Crosby refused to think past the end of the season, which for him, hopefully ended in early to mid June and not any earlier. Not being able to get past the Canadiens did not bode well with the more than serious hockey player, but he was learning there was always a ‘next year’ for him, too.

When Ellen finally stepped out from the bathroom in her under garments, her makeup done and her curls styled, she grabbed a pair of jeans and a tank top from her luggage, quickly pulling them on. “We need to get out of the hotel room,” she laughed, pointing a finger at Sid.

“But, why?” he asked, frowning as she sat on the edge of the bed. “We have a fully stocked kitchen and this big, wonderful, incredibly comfortable bed!”

“Sidney,” she stated. “I know what you’re doing. You don’t want to go out because you’re both afraid to get recognized and afraid we’ll see Pierre.” Sidney sighed, making Ellen shake her head.

“That’s not the only reason I’ve been trying to keep you in bed,” he laughed, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

“Sid,” she sighed. “We’re in Paris! It’s a huge, beautiful city. You are not going to get recognized by mobs of people like in Canada or the States. You might get a few, Sidney, but please don’t let that turn you into a hermit.”

“I know,” he sighed, wrapping his arms around her waist. “And Pierre?”

“I guarantee Pierre is at his restaurant. He’s always at his restaurant. I don’t plan on going there for dinner, Sid. Do you?”

“Of course not,” he laughed. “Let’s go out,” he finally agreed. “Where do you want to go?”

Ellen grinned and pointed out their hotel room window, the setting sun illuminating the Eiffel Tower in the distance. The hockey player’s eyes widened and he let out a smile, nodding his head as he grabbed their room key and his wallet before pulling her out of the bedroom, through the sitting area, and out the door.

Ellen let out a big, happy sigh as they stepped from their hotel’s lobby and into the warm, early summer air of the place she was once lucky enough to live. “How long were you here?” he asked.

“Four years,” she answered. “You know, the four years we didn’t talk.”

“Right,” he sighed, looking over at her as they walked down the sidewalk.

“Don’t get all regretful and sad on me,” she warned. “We’re in one of the most romantic cities in the world, Sidney. There’s no time for regrets here.”

“You’re right,” he agreed, realizing there was no sense in ever again regretting the four years they spent apart. They were together again, and that was what mattered. As they grew old together, he realized they would look back on the years in between eighteen and twenty two and laugh at how young and stupid they were.

“I used to come out here all the time,” Ellen said as they reached the edge of the lawn in front of the tower. “I would just sit here, listen to music, maybe do some writing, or try to at least. It’s beautiful.”

Sidney smiled; glad he could experience Paris with Ellen. It was obvious how much she loved the city, but he couldn’t help feel slightly left out that all of her experiences of the city were with Pierre. He had worried that she would react negatively to his surprising her with the trip, but she had only grinned, hugged, and kissed him, telling him she couldn’t wait to show him all her favorite things about the city. Things were seriously working out for the young couple.

They stood together, on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower—located 58 meters—above the streets of Paris waiting for elevator to take them to the top, observatory floor, only a few people in front of them. “Excuse me?” they heard from behind them. Turning, Sidney and Ellen were greeted with the smiling face of a middle aged man, a woman, and two teenagers. “I know you’re on vacation, but we’re big fans,” the man said, motioning toward Sidney and then to the Team Canada tee shirt he wore.

Sidney grinned and extended his hand toward the man and the three members of his family, his wife and two sons. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, as he took the permanent marker the dad handed him before signing his tee shirt and the boys’ Team Canada hats. “We never thought we’d see Sidney Crosby while on our family vacation in Paris!”

“My girlfriend told me no one would recognize me,” he laughed. “She lied.”

“Hey,” Ellen laughed. “I said locals didn’t know much about hockey! How was I supposed to know we’d run into people from home?”

Sidney and Ellen talked with the family for a few minutes before the elevator came back down and the couple was ushered inside of it, along with the few people in front of them. “You have been up here before, right?” Sid asked.

“Of course,” she laughed. “You don’t live in Paris for four years and not go to the Eiffel Tower, Sid.”

“Don’t get an attitude,” he laughed, wrapping his arm tighter around her waist, smiling when she leaned up to kiss his lips.

By the time they reached the top, the sun had almost completely set under the horizon and the lights of Paris were glowing beneath them. Sid gasped in a breath as they walked toward the edge of the observatory, realizing no one could prepare themselves for the beauty of what they would see. He let go of Ellen’s hand as he wandered around the floor in wonder, his brown eyes wide as he took in the scenes around him.

“I told you so,” Ellen whispered, wrapping her arms around his torso, making him laugh.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he breathed out, his own arms reaching around Ellen’s body. “Thank you for taking me here.”

“Thank you for bringing me to Paris,” she smiled. “I missed it so much.”

“We’ll have to make a point to come here every summer, if we can.”

“Really?” she asked, her blue eyes wide with excitement.

“It’s a pretty special place to us,” he told her, “so, yeah.” Ellen stared curiously at Sidney, wondering what he meant by his statement. He only smiled and stepped back from her, holding her hands tightly in his as he leaned down to capture her lips in a kiss. “I love you,” he told her.

“I love you, too,” she responded, immediately, her eyes going wide as she watched Sidney lower himself onto his knee. Suddenly she realized why he had been so nervous about coming up here. It wasn’t because of the elevators or the height. His statement about Paris being special to them made sense then, too.

“Marry me?” he asked, simple and easy as he stared up at her with hopeful eyes. “I’m not letting you go again.” Ellen grinned and nodded as Sidney slipped the ring on her finger, more happy than she could ever remember being. It didn’t matter if they got married the next day, next year, or five years from now. She and Sidney had come back to each other, and like they had always hoped, they had run away together like they had always planned.