Maybe Someday

Ellen held her breath as she drove past a sign welcoming she and Sid to Pittsburgh. She glanced at her best friend to find there was no expression on his face at all; it was simply blank. Nodding her head to herself, she pulled off the highway when the GPS told her to and began navigating her way through the streets of the city.

As nervous as she was to be there and as much as she knew she needed to be paying attention to the directions the small electronic device was giving her, she kept looking at everything they passed. Sure, she had been in Paris (one of the most beautiful cities in the world according to most people) for almost four years, but Pittsburgh was a different kind of beautiful. Paris was all about the past, the classic architecture and sculptures. Pittsburgh was a steel town, filled with large and modern skyscrapers. It reminded her of a mini New York City, a city she had only been to once; with Sidney.

“Hey, take a left here,” he told her when they approached a stop light.

“The GPS says - ”

“We’re taking a pit stop; I think I know where I’m going, El.” She gave him a skeptical look and he frowned. “I’m not that bad at directions, shut up.” Ellen laughed and did as he told her, realizing as soon as she made the turn where he was taking her.

Mellon Arena was like nothing Ellen had ever seen. She had seen the dome shaped arena on television countless times, but she wasn’t aware of how beautiful the silver, globe-like arena would be in person. It was odd, it was unique, and it was the Pittsburgh Penguins. She saw Sidney’s face light up as he instructed her to pull into the player entrance, rolling down her window to greet the security guard that stepped out from his post.

“Mr. Crosby! Go right ahead,” the man said as soon as he saw the hockey superstar in the passenger seat. Ellen laughed and shook her head, but stayed silent as she continued forward before pulling into a spot like her best friend instructed.

“Sixty-six Mario Lemieux Place.” Ellen turned to Sidney, her brows pulled together in confusion, and he laughed. “That’s Mellon’s official address,” he told her, make her eyes widen as a small laugh float past her lips, a silent ‘oh’ coming from her mouth. “Come on.”

“We’re going in?” She asked, eyes wide.

“Of course,” he answered, grinning as he climbed from the car and jogged around to her side of the car. “I’m giving you the tour. Besides, Mario’s here now,” he continued, pointing to a car not far from theirs. “I’ll introduce you.”

She nodded, letting Sid take her by the hand as they walked toward an entrance to the hockey arena, security greeting ‘Mr. Crosby’ as he walked by, making Ellen snort and roll her eyes. “Really, Sid? Mr. Crosby?” He only shrugged and sent her a wink, leading her toward the business wing of the building.

She wasn’t sure anything could compare to the nerves she was feeling as they stood outside of Mario Lemieux’s office, Sidney knocking a few times on the giant, beautiful oak door. They heard a faint ‘come in’ before Ellen felt her best friend give her hand a squeeze, sensing how nervous she was.

“Mario,” Sidney said, catching his attention from the stack of papers on his desk.

“Sid!” He smiled back, cheerfully, before his eyes fell on Ellen, who smiled and offered a shy ‘hello.’ “This must be Ellen,” he said coming out from behind his desk and offering her his hand. “Sid’s told us about all about you. Welcome to Pittsburgh.”

“Thank you,” she said, quietly making Sid snort out a laugh. She shot him a small glare before turning back to Mario, shaking his hand and telling him she was glad to meet him.

“I’m giving her a tour before we go over to the house. You’re sure you don’t mind housing her for a little while?”

“Not at all,” Mario responded quickly, shaking his head as Ellen’s eyes widened. She was staying at Mario Lemieux’s house?

Sidney saw her face and smiled, “just for a little while, until the condo I’m renting this season is ready to move into. It’ll be a couple weeks.”

“You finally got a place of your own?” She asked, an incredulous tone in her voice, making Mario laugh.

He shrugged, “Only while you’re here, unless I really like it. Nathalie’s cooking is too good to pass up, you know?” Sid put his hand on Ellen’s lower back and starting leading her toward the door, as he told Mario they’d see him later.

“You’re such a mama’s boy; poor Mrs. Lemieux, having to be your replacement mom during the season.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

Sidney led Ellen through the intricate hallways of the arena, telling her some facts as they went. She had to laugh at his tour guide skills; not because they were bad, but because he was actually really good at it.

“So, this is the last season it’ll be home to the Penguins?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, a small frown on his face. “It’s the oldest, and officially the smallest arena in the NHL. The Consol Engery Center is going up across the street, as you saw.” She nodded, remembering the construction site they had driven past. “I’m sad to see it go; last season was pretty magical.”

“Yeah, it’s not like you won the cup here though. The day they demolish Joe Louis is when you should be really bummed,” she told him, making him laugh. “So…” she continued. “Where is this condo we’re staying at?”

“Just a few blocks from here, actually, in a high rise building over-looking the rivers.”

“Fancy,” she commented, pinching at his side.

“Only the best for my best friend, right?”

“Right.”

- - -

Lying down on the bed in the spare bedroom at the Lemieux house, Ellen let her eyes close as she took a few minutes for herself. After the long, but incredibly fun, tour Sid had given her of Mellon, the construction site of the new arena (which was off limits, technically, but not for Mr. Crosby) and the condo they would be sharing in just a couple weeks, they had finally made it to the house, but before either could get settled in, they were in the backyard playing with Mario’s kids and having a water fight, leaving the two of them completely soaked and totally exhausted.

A soft knock sounded at her closed door, and knowing it was probably Sid, she called for him to come in. The other side of the bed sunk down as he laid down next to her, letting out a loud yawn as he did so.

“Tell me about it,” she laughed before turning to look at him.

“So, I forgot – because of us staying the extra night at Hershey Park – that Mario’s throwing a small get together tonight for some management, some coaching staff, and some of the players that are already in town.”

“That doesn’t sound very small.”

“Yeah, I know, but I didn’t want you to get all nervous like you usually do around people you don’t know. It’s really not a big deal; nothing fancy at all. Mostly a backyard BBQ.”

“The backyard is bigger than our childhood houses, combined.”

Sid laughed, getting off the bed and standing above her, “Get ready; people will be showing up in an hour.”

She hopped off the bed quickly, grabbed a clean outfit from her luggage, and followed Sidney into his room, wanting to use his private bathroom to take a shower and get ready. “Don’t take too long; I want to shower, too,” he told her as she shut the door behind herself.

Her shower was relatively quick, but as soon as she slipped her clothes on, Sidney was knocking at the door, wanting to hop in the shower. She groaned, flinging the door open as she plugged in her hair dryer. “This condo we’re living at better have two bathrooms or we’re going to come to blows.”

“Like I would live with you with only one bathroom.”

Despite the insult, she laughed and nodded her head, turning her hair dryer on as she tried not to look at Sidney as he took his shirt and shorts off, leaving him in his boxer briefs before he stepped into the shower and closed the curtain. She rolled her eyes when only a few seconds after he closed the shower curtain – and before he turned the water on – his underwear hit her in the back of the head before falling to the floor.

“You ass,” she laughed, kicking them over to the rest of his clothes before she finished her hair and put on some makeup.

She was sitting on his bed, kicking her feet back and forth in front of her when he finally came out of the bathroom, only a towel wrapped around his waist. She shook her head, wondering if he was doing it on purpose, trying to make her feel uncomfortable, but why would he? That had agreed to forget about the kiss, right?

When Ellen turned to look at him again, he was dressed in cargo shorts and a plain black v-neck tee shirt, one that hugged close enough to his body to show off his muscles, but loose enough to not look like he was trying too hard. He reached for the hair gel on his dresser, when Ellen grabbed his hand, shaking her head. “Let it go natural.”

He nodded and turned to her, “Ready to meet everyone?”

“Not really.”

He laughed, grabbing her hand again and walking down to the first level of the house with her. The house was quiet and empty due to everyone being outside. Walking to the back door, Sid again gave her hand a squeeze, silently telling her everything was fine. “They’re going to love you.” She smiled and wondered when hand-holding had become routine for them. Even when they were dating as teenagers, they barely ever held hands.

Again, her mind went to the kiss they had shared two nights ago, but before she could really think about it, she walked outside and every person in the backyard turned to look and she and Sid, and there were a lot of people. She instinctively sunk closer to him, almost wishing she could hide, as Sid smiled at everyone.

“This is my best friend Ellen.” She smiled shyly and waved, offering a small ‘hello’ to everyone at the party. Sid grinned down at her and removed his hand from hers, instead wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “She’s going to be staying in Pittsburgh for a while.”

She swallowed nervously as she nodded her head, realizing for the first time that the simple, boy next door she had grown up with and fallen in love with so many years ago was not just her Sidney anymore, and there was about one hundred people in the backyard whom else he belonged, not to mention the thousands upon thousands of fans that called him their captain.

Things, she decided, were certainly going to get interesting.