Keep Your Girl Out of My Shoe Cabinet, Your Wife

Veronique Fleury sat in the door frame between her bedroom and the walk in closet and watched her friend twist and turn in front of the mirror. Ever since Marc-André had walked into them drinking coffee in the kitchen and announced that Sid asked her not to wear anything white, Viviane had been strangely bouncy.

“What are you so nervous about? You are weird.” Vero summed up and saw Viviane fiddle with the hem of her shirt.

“I’m nervous about this date.”

Vero laughed loudly: “Oh my god. You act like a teenager going on her first date with her high school crush. Awww look at you you’re blushing.”

Viviane bit her lower lip and glanced at Vero. “Maybe because I am?”

Vero’s laughter got caught in her throat and her eyeballs bulged.

“Are you kidding me? You are married to the kid. Like you have never been on a date with him before. You can’t put that onto me. I know you guys grew up together. It’s not like we are in some bollywood movie and your parents made you marry some stranger.”

Viviane smiled. “Well we never really put a title on us until he asked me to marry him I guess.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah I mean it never really happened. So he never lied to you because we never really dated or called us a couple. We all know that long distance relationships sucks so yeah…”

Veronique just shook her head and continued flipping through the magazine she had in her lap planning some WAG’s event.
“I’m not going to ask any further. You are weird. Both of you.”

“Thank you.”

Soon the door bell rang and Marc-André yelled for the girls.
Calming her nerves with some deep breaths Viviane walked down the stairs and found Sidney and Marc-André by the door. Sid looked like he was trying to keep a straight face while Flower lectured him.

“Well, well, well my young friend. I hope you only have the best intentions by taking out my little girl. What again did you say you were doing for a living? You are an athlete? Do you make enough money to provide her a worthy life? I don’t want anyone to treat my girl like anything less than a princess. Young man I have an eye on you. I have eyes all over this town. One wrong step or move and I will let your parents know. Oh and have her home by 11.”
Vero giggled while Viviane stared at Marc in disbelief. Sidney on the other hand just nodded, shook his hand and answered.
“Of course Sir. You can trust me.”

Marc grinned, pulled Sid into a man hug and patted his shoulder.

“Good thing creature. Now hand over the little prince and take your girl out. If you come to pick him up before the morning you’ll never hear the end of it.”
Sidney stepped away from his goaltender, looked over to his wife and smiled at her. When his eyes landed on her, her breath got stuck in her throat. The brown orbs were sparkling golden and spread an unbelievable warmth.

“Hey.” She greeted in a low voice and walked over to him. Quickly he engulfed her in his arms and pressed her against his solid chest.
“Hey” he greeted back and release her just as quick as he had hugged her.
After handing Marc and Vero the sleeping boy and the diaper bag, he grabbed her hand and led her to an unknown car.

“Do we have a new car?” she asked but Sidney only laughed.

“No it’s a rental. Firstly people won’t know it’s us and secondly… you’ll know at the end of the day.”

Viviane giggled and looked around in the car after he walked her to the passenger seat, opening the door for her. “Don’t you think the car is a little small for that.”

Sid looked at her with big eyes: “VIVIANE ELISABETH CROSBY” he exclaimed. “I can’t believe you just said that. You should know I don’t… you know on a first day.”

Viviane tried to calm her giggle to answer: “The fact that I have your surname and you have a baby seat in the back of the car sure makes it sound believable. Look at our recent history.”

Sidney shook his head at his wife and concentrated on driving.

-------------------------------

Roughly 20 minutes later he pulled into a vacant parking lot, walked around the car to open the door for her. Hand in hand they walked towards the building Viviane recognized but couldn’t put a label to it. Sidney tipped something into his phone. Soon the front door swung open and a middle aged man stepped out smiling up to them.

“Mr. Crosby. Such a pleasure seeing you again. Mrs. Crosby nice to meet you.” Without waiting for her response he disappeared again.

Sidney smiled at her and let her walk into the building. When she took in the entrance area she realized where they were and smiled.

“May I give you a private tour through the Andy Warhol Museum My Lady?” he said with a fake British accent, helping her out of the thing trench coat she had put on.

“I’d love to.” She replied watching him drop her coat and his jacket onto a bench by the door.

“Sweet.” He grabbed an iPad from the counter that usually was the ticket sale, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. “Let’s go.”

In peace they strolled through the museum, looking at the different pictures and sculptures. Every time Viviane had a question Sidney would simply take out the iPad and tell her all about it. When it was made, what the intentions were and everything someone could possibly want to know about a piece of art.
After a while they entered a large room, Sidney sat down on a chair and watched her walk around. One picture had caught her eye and she stopped in front of it. Even before he could whip out the iPad to tell her all about it she turned around and smiled at it.

“I had a poster of this one in my room in Paris. It always reminded me of Cole Harbor.”

In confusion he stared at the colorful painting. The longer he stared at it the less he could draw a connection between it and the small town at the Atlantic coast.

“We had a post card of it in our class.” Viviane laughed at his expression. “Really? You don’t remember? Brian send it when he moved away.”

The confusion still didn’t leave his face. “Okay I don’t remember the post card, that’s one thing but now who is Brian?”

“Oh Sidney.” She shook her head at him. “Brian was that blond kid that sat next to you in biology in like 5th grade but moved away after a year. His parents worked for some company and were always moving across the country.”

Sidney thought a while and smiled suddenly. “Oh right… I remember. He moved to Pittsburgh? Wow. I did not know that. Why do you remember that?”

Viviane blushed slightly. ”Dunno. Maybe I thought he was a little cute or something.”

Sid shook his head, stood up and walked over to her. “Really? I did not know you had a thing for blondes. Do I have to dye my hair so I stand a tiny chance at you?”

Viviane’s hand flew up to his grown out curls and ruffled through them.

“You wouldn’t dare. That orange was horrible. Don’t ever, listen EVER do that again. We’d have to trade you to Philadelphia for that.”

“We eh?” he smiled at her and placed both of his hands on her lower back. “I always thought you were a Canadians fan.”

Viviane shook her head. “I guess Mario and Ray adopted me and now I’m a penguins. Plus when I went to France I became a mean Amiens fan. Couldn’t resist Hecquefeuille’s curls… ”

“Allez les bleus or what?”

She just nodded and smiled at him.

“Wanna get out of here and grab some food?”

“Sure.” Viviane melted into his side and together they brought the tablet back to the man that greeted them, bid good bye and headed back to the car.

“Where to now?” she asked impatiently.

“You will see. It is my favorite place in the city. It’s a nice little place and they treat me like a normal person you know? You will love this place. Should have taken you there on you first day in town.” He answered.

Only 10 minutes later he opened the door to the little house for her.

“Sidney” a lady around 60 exclaimed when they stepped into the light. “So good to see you. It has been forever oh and you must be Viviane. Considering how much he told me about you it took him an awful lot of time to bring you here. Hi. I’m Henriett and this is my little restaurant.”

“Hi I’m Viviane.”

“Hi Henriett good to see you to. Yeah it never really fit but today seemed like a good day to bring her here.”

“Well go hide in your booth I’ll be with you in a minute.”

Sidney grabbed Viviane’s hand and guided her through the old house and stopped at a cozy little nook.
Soon Henriett returned and handed Viviane a menu. Sidney just nodded and smiled, obviously always ordering the same. Everything sounded so mouthwatering but finally she ordered Chicken-Sesame-Tajine. Soon they started talking and for the first time since a long long time their conversation wasn’t about hockey, Anakin or fighting. Sidney couldn’t help but smile when he saw how Viviane’s eyes sparkled when she told him a story about her first days in Paris. He remembered the one time he went there with Jordan, Max and Evgeni. He sure was overwhelmed but the most of the guys had been there before and dragged him along.

“We totally have to go there one day. You have to try it. I can’t believe you were in Paris and didn’t have ice cream at Glacier Berthillon. Next summer we are going there. Mark my words.” She insisted and squeezed his hand.

“Okay… I’m looking forward to that. The guys never stopped long enough to take a thorough look at something… except in the area around Montmatre.”

Viviane and Sidney laughed. It sure sounded like the boys.

“Good… so we’re going on summer vacation to Paris. I’m a fan of that.”

“Cool. Maybe we can go down to the French or Spanish coast for a week or two, get some sunrays in before heading back here.” Sidney started planning.

“Hold your horses… we’ll plan it let’s say in spring. Who knows maybe you have to play hockey way into the summer and we have a cup party to plan for your 26th birthday.”

Sidney shook his head to dismiss the thought and said: “Okay let’s not think about the summer yet. We don’t want to play with our luck right? Wow next summer… Ani will be running and talking by then.”

Viviane leaned back in her seat. “Time flies by huh? It’s been well over a year since you put this on my hand.”
She held her hand up and watched the light making the diamond sparkle.

“You like it huh?” Sidney asked after watching her for a while.

“Yes. A lot. Thank you so much. It must have cost a little fortune.” She smiled coyly but he just stood up.

“Don’t worry about money. We have more than enough.”

Viviane followed his lead and stood up.

“Wanna head out? One last thing?”

“More than anything. I need to find out what you meant with the car thing.”

“Okay let’s go.”

They said goodbye to Henriett, paid the check and left the restaurant. In silence they drove through the darkness until Sidney suddenly spoke up.

“Could you please use this?” he asked in a low voice and pulled a blind fold out of his pocket.

She shot him a glance that clearly stated ‘are you kidding me?’ but followed his advice and put it on.

Totally blind she listened to the noise the car made. The tires on the tarmac, the clicking of the blinker, the soft hum when he used the clutch to change the gear. At some point she heard him kill the engine and pull the key out.
“I’ll be right back.” He said and stepped out of the car. Time passed and it felt like an eternity.
‘Passing people must think I’m an idiot’ she thought. ‘Sitting in an empty car, blindfolded, somewhere in the middle of the night.’

Just when she thought about taking of the blind fold she heard the door open and the breeze of the summer night brush against the bare skin of her arm.

“Okay give me your hands and trust me.” Sidney said. Slowly he lead her around the car, picked her up and carried her.

“Sid” she squealed in a whisper unsure of where they were and whether people could hear her or not.

“Like I said trust me and no name okay?” he whispered back. Viviane nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder trying to relax.

Carefully he put her down, stood behind her and took off the blindfold.

Viviane squeezed her eyes shut immediately but opened them eventually.
“This is beautiful. Where are we?”
She whispered and smiled at him, when she saw that he had put on a simple black cap that was pulled into his face.

“We are at PPG Place in downtown Pittsburgh. I hear I still owe you a first dance?” he whispered in a husky voice, spun her around and led her into the fountain.

Viviane squealed when the cold water splashed down on them but soon melted into his arms swaying along to the music a street artist played.

Sidney started singing along:

She's got a fine sense of humor when I'm feeling down 

And I'm running to her when the sun goes down 

She takes away my trouble, she takes away my grief 

She takes away my heartache and I go right to sleep

Viviane squeezed her eyes shut getting a little emotional. When the song ended, Sidney hugged her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

She smiled at him and he couldn’t help but to think how lucky he was.

What other girl would dance with him in a fountain without complaining about the ruined make up?

The little mascara she wore had streamed down her face and he softly wiped away the streak it had left behind. Viviane laughed.

“You are such a sucker. Now I know why you rented a car and told me not to wear white… what a cheap shot you are… first date and you put on our wedding song.”

Sidney looked down to his feet but couldn’t help but to smile.

“And I freaking love it.” She whispered, tilted up his head and kissed him with all the passion she could muster up.

------------------------

Sidney laid on the giant bed in the master bedroom. Only the light of the bathroom shone into the room as he waited for Viviane. Soon he heard the sound of her bare feet on the hardwood floor and looked up. She stood in the door frame wearing one of his tshirts. The prominent ‘C’ on the chest told him it really was HIS shirt and he smiled.

“Mind if I join you?” she said in a seductive voice and ruffled her air dried now super wavy hair.

He had to swallow hard and felt a heat creep up in his cheeks.

“Uhm… uhm…”

“I take that as a no.” she answered as calm and seductive as before. Then she ran towards the bed, jumping of about 2 feet away from the frame and landed on her stomach leaving her giggling.

“That was so much fun.” She turned around onto her back but continued laughing.

“Really?” Sidney found his calm self again. Viviane just nodded but continued laughing. With one swift movement, he picked her up and pulled her on top of him. “I could think of something else that is a lot of fun too.” He smirked and silenced her laughter with his lips.

“Sorry dude but I don’t fuck on the first date. I don’t want you to think I’m just some puck bunny or sth.” She said in a really squeaky voice when they pulled away panting to get some air.

“I think that’s better for both of our hearts.” Sidney tried to be rational.

“Oh really?” Viviane laughed and mustered him up and down letting her eyes linger on his suddenly very tight boxers. Slowly she let her hand wander south but he grabbed her wrist.

“Really… let’s leave it for breakfast… then you’ll have something to dream about.”

Letting out a defeat sigh, she snuggled into his chest and let him pull up the covers over both of them. He wrapped his arm around her and let his hand slip under her shirt where it rested on her warm back.

“Thank you for the great date, Siddy.” She mumbled into his chest.

“No problem. Thank you for giving us another chance, Vivy” he mumbled back.

“You’re welcome… thank you for forgiving the thing….”

“Shhh…. Don’t ruin the night with him okay? We said we’ll never talk about it again.”

“Okay… Lovvy Siddy” she pecked his chin and closed her eyed.

“Lovvy Vivy” both of them let out a content smiled and drifted away.

Flashback

“Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Sidney, happy birthday to you.” Everyone sang. The four year old smiled and blew out the four candles on his CH-shaped cake. His mother, his grandmothers and fathers, his best friend and her mother clapped. A little sad he looked around and found his father missing.

“Daddy will come home late today so you will get your present once he is home honey.” His mother explained with a smile on her face.

‘No present for me.’ He thought with a sad frown.

It broke Trina’s heart watching the emotions of her little boy change. Being in her early 20’s she vividly remembered what it was like to be a kid and what it was like to grow up with little money.

“I brought you present.” The little brunette girl that could barely peek over the table suddenly said and ran to her mother.
Viviane proudly presented the poorly wrapped gift which shape already gave away what was wrapped in it.
Excitedly Sidney unwrapped the present, with greatest caution though. When his eyes fell onto the simple wooden hockey stick his whole face lit up.

“Tank you Vivy.”

Viviane smiled and hugged him. The toddlers smiled at each others and Sidney suddenly said.

“Lovvy Vivy.”

Viviane’s face lit up and matched his.

“Lovvy Siddy.”
Sidney smiled at her and pressed his lips onto her squeezing his eyes shut.
Quickly his grandmother took a picture and the mothers shot each others a knowing glance.