Maybe Someday

Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia was not the most interesting place to grow up in; that, Sidney and Ellen had come to terms with a long time ago. At sixteen years old and on the verge of bigger and better things, they were itching for something to do, something to pass the lazy summer days that were slowly creeping by them. Before they knew it, Sid would be in Rimouski, Ellen would be left in their small town, and it would be months before they could see each other again.

“We should take a trip.”

Sidney turned to Ellen, whom he was laying next to on the grass in his backyard, “What kind of trip?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know, somewhere crazy, like New York City, or something. Remember when we said we wanted to see the world together? Let’s get started!”

“You can’t be serious, Ellen. Our parents will never let us go to New York.”

“By the time they realize we’re gone, we’ll be halfway through Maine. It’ll take us a day to drive there; come on, Sid! Live a little.”

He paused, looking like he was in deep thought. He finally sighed and smiled at Ellen, asking, “Do you have a passport?”

Ellen grinned and jumped up from where she had been laying on the grass. She grabbed Sidney’s hand and pulled him up with her. He could tell by the look on her face that she was determined to make their little runaway work, and Sidney was going to do all he could to help it along, too.

Sidney watched as Ellen paced along the back patio of her family’s home. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking or how she was feeling, but he wanted to know. Figuring she needed a few moments to process her thoughts, the hockey superstar backed off and waited. And waited. And Waited.

Ellen had opened her mouth to say something almost five times, but she only sighed or shook her head, going back to her pacing. It was ten minutes later when she finally stopped, faced Sidney, and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I missed you,” he said, reaching out to grab her hand. “When I saw you earlier, I realized how much I did.”

“I’m glad all it took for you to think of me was actually seeing me…”

“Ellen, I - ”

“Four years it’s been, you know, and I’ve heard nothing from you. I don’t think you know how much that hurt me, Sid. It was like… As soon as you got drafted, you forgot about me.”

“I didn’t.”

“But, you did.”

A silence fell over them as they stared each other down, neither sure what to say next. Sidney knew he was in the wrong for what he had done; he had completely forgotten about his best friend of nearly eighteen years as soon as he had been drafted. He ran a hand over his face as he thought about the summer of 2005, the last time he remembered talking to Ellen was just before he had gone to Ottawa to get drafted, just after the lockout.

Ellen would have a last minute interview while he was gone to find out whether she’d be studying abroad that fall after one of the students in her program had dropped out and opened up the position. He remembered wishing her good luck, and that was it. He’d never talked to her again.

“I’m sorry, Ellen. I just got caught up in everything. I never meant to forget about you; you know I’m not like that.”

She nodded, wrapping her arms tighter around herself as the late night breeze picked up. Sidney saw her shiver and using it as excuse, he wrapped his arms around her again, making her laugh. She rested her head against his chest, finally wrapping her own arms around him too.

“You want to come over?” He asked, pulling away from her slightly to catch her blue eyes with his brown ones. She laughed, but nodded, pulling away from him completely and mumbling about needing to catch up. Sidney grinned as she walked toward her door, telling her he’d be in the car. She did need change and grab some things; no doubt the two of them were going to pull an all-nighter as they caught up.

Sid sat in his Range Rover, waiting for Ellen to sneak back out of her house (though, he supposed it wasn’t really sneaking when she was twenty one years old, almost twenty two, and free to do what she wanted). He could remember, however, plenty of times the two of them had snuck out of their houses, for whatever reasons.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Ellen pulling the passenger side door open and climbing into the seat. She smiled at him, brushing a strand of blond hair from her eyes before she belted herself in. Sidney nodded and pulled away from the curb, heading back toward his house.

“So, you obviously got into the study program…” He started.

“I did,” she laughed.

“Are you done with school?”

“I am.”

“Oh, my mom said you’re only home for a little while before you’re going back to Paris.”

Ellen nodded, “Well, Sid, honestly; Paris is home now. Even though I’m done with school, I’ve made a nice little life in Paris. I really love it. I would suggest you come visit sometime, but with your season starting soon, I know you can’t.”

Sidney nodded, glancing at her as he drove. “Remember when we ran away to New York?”

Ellen grinned, “One of my best ideas, you know.”

It was, too, Sid had to agree. Even with everything that had happened in his twenty two years, he remembered the weekend he spent with Ellen in New York City as one of his best and most fun memories. Although any time he spent with Ellen was always fun, there was something different about that spontaneous trip. Sid tried to tell himself the whole time they were there that it felt different because he knew when they got back, they were going to be punished for running off to another country, but he knew it was because sooner rather than later, their relationship (however it was defined) was never going to be the same.

He knew he’d be getting drafted, Ellen would be going off to school, and they would lose touch. He had felt it at the time, and the sad part was, even though he knew it was coming, he hadn’t prevented it.

Pulling into his driveway, he saw his parents’ car gone. Glancing at Ellen, he saw her eyes wide as she stared at the huge lakefront house.

“Wow.”

Sid laughed and pulled the car up to the garage, walked to Ellen’s side of the car, and led her through the back door. He threw his keys on the table and kicked his shoes off, asking Ellen if she wanted anything to drink. She nodded, her eyes still wide as she took in everything about the mansion.

In the kitchen, Sid found a note from his mother saying his family had gone home for the night. He laughed, knowing he’d been caught sneaking out. He was sure they knew he had gone to Ellen’s and if things had gone well, he would be bringing his best friend back to his place to catch up. After everything, he still considered her his best friend.

“I wish we could do that again,” he said, handing her a bottle of Gatorade and taking a seat at the counter. Ellen sat down, too, but stared at him curiously, wondering what he meant. “I wish me and you could up and leave everything and do a trip like that again. Besides my busy schedule and you living in France, I can’t go many places without being recognized.”

Ellen smiled sadly, “We really could if you wanted, Sid. Of course, it would have to be next summer, and next summer’s going to be super busy for me, so I don’t think that will work out.”

It was Sidney’s turn to stare at Ellen, wondering what she meant. She smiled shyly, something he had never seen from her before. She took a deep breath and held up her left hand, showing him something else he hadn’t seen before. He kept his eyes locked on the diamond ring that sat on her ring finger, afraid to say anything, but he finally did.

“You’re engaged?” He asked.

Ellen nodded, “That’s why I’m going back to Paris; my life is there now. So is my fiancé.”

On one hand, he was happy for his best friend for finding someone that made her as happy as she seemed. Another part of Sid was still clinging onto a small amount of hope that he and Ellen would end up together. He felt like ripping the ring off of her finger and once again claiming her as his own, something he had been only been able to do for a short amount of time when they were teenagers.

Sidney felt like the wind had been knocked out of him as his eyes darted from the ring to Ellen’s smiling face. He didn’t know what to think.

Ellen couldn’t get married.