Open Your Eyes

When Alyssa woke up and stretched in her bed, she heard faint humming coming from the bathroom. She quickly turned her head to look at Aimee’s bed, not believing that her best friend would be up so early. Aimee rarely woke up before noon, unless she deemed something worthy enough to rise earlier for. Seeing as the other bed was empty, Alyssa concurred that Aimee deemed the Olympics more than worthy.

The brunette laid in bed for another five minutes before she heard the shower turn off. Aimee came out a few moments later, wrapped in a towel and still humming a random tune. “I can’t believe you’re up already,” Alyssa yawned from bed. “I think the only other times you’ve been up at this hour were because you were still up partying from the night before.”

Aimee glared at her friend, squeezing her hair dry with a towel. “This is different. It’s the-”

“Olympics. Yes, so you’ve said a million times already,” Alyssa jabbed, rolling out of bed herself. Aimee glared again, and didn’t stop until Alyssa was out of sight in the bathroom and starting her own shower.

The young woman pinned up her hair and had started applying her makeup when she heard Alyssa’s phone go off. Aimee rose quickly and checked the caller I.D., seeing that it was Tomas calling. Aimee rolled her eyes and went back to her spot in front of the mirror, ignoring the tune emitting from the small device until it stopped.

Aimee almost smudged her eyeliner when she heard the phone go off again. She stomped over to it, glaring at the screen. “Really Tomas?” She grumbled, pushing the ‘end’ button and smirking at the inanimate object. She tossed the phone onto Alyssa’s bed and walked back over to her spot, and she had just sat down when there was a sharp knock on the door. “I hate that man. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.”

She almost considered not answering the door, but if the cell phone debacle was any indication, Tomas would keep knocking until someone answered. There was also always the chance that it wasn’t Tomas. Aimee rose and peered through the peephole, cursing her luck when she saw Tomas’ arrogant face peering back at her.

Aimee swung the door open, but before she could say anything, Tomas spoke. “I can’t believe you hung up on me.”

“It’s Alyssa’s phone,” Aimee argued. “Why would I have hung up on you?”

“Because Alyssa wouldn’t have,” Tomas shot back.

“Alyssa is in the shower. I’ll tell her you called,” Aimee began to shut the door in Tomas’ face, but he stopped it effortlessly with one hand.

“Are you only wearing a towel?” Tomas questioned, a smirk tugging at his lips and his gaze everywhere except Aimee’s face. Feeling a surge of adrenaline, Aimee shoved the door closed the rest of the way, locking it loudly to prove a point to Tomas. She heard him hit the door once and then his footsteps retreated, causing Aimee to let a satisfied smile spread across her face.

Alyssa came out of the bathroom shortly after, glancing at Aimee. “Are you still doing your makeup?”

“I’m just about finished,” Aimee answered, pulling the pins out of her hair so she could style it. “I would have been done sooner, but I encountered some distractions.”

“Distractions?”

“Your dumb boyfriend wouldn’t take a hint,” Aimee explained.

“Who, Marian?” Alyssa asked, rifling through her suitcase.

“No.”

“Ben?”

“No, Tomas! You slut,” Aimee huffed.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Ben is your boyfriend,” Alyssa teased, picking up her phone that Aimee gestured to.

“Don’t even start that shit,” Aimee said.

“Marty then, maybe? You two seemed pretty cozy last night at dinner,” Alyssa noted, trying to ease into the subject. While Alyssa knew that what Marty and Aimee used to have was just a fun relationship, she also knew that her best friend had had deeper feelings for the man than she had always let on. To Alyssa, it was safe to assume that Aimee never fully got over him.

“We were just catching up,” Aimee shrugged, watching as Alyssa found her phone and dialed Tomas’ number.

“Did you see Tomas’ face as soon as he realized you and Marty knew each other? And by ‘knew’ I mean in the Biblical sense of knowing somebody,” she teased, wiggling her eyebrows as she held the phone to her hear with her shoulder.

“No, I didn’t see his face. Nor did I care to. I was a bit preoccupied with someone far more interesting,” Aimee replied with a scowl, not bothering to tell her friend that she didn’t know Marty like that anyways. Alyssa opened her mouth to retort, but Tomas’ voicemail cut her off.

“That’s weird,” Alyssa commented, hanging up her phone. “He didn’t pick up.”

That’s when the girls heard a faint clicking at the door, and two seconds later Tomas barged in triumphantly holding a key card. Both girls stared at him, dumbfounded as they clutched their towels tighter.

“Who…what…how the hell did you get that?” Aimee finally yelled at him.

“My car,” Tomas shrugged simply. “It’s Alyssa’s.”

“You gave him a key to our room?” Aimee asked her friend incredulously.

“No! He told us the hotel only gave out one copy per room!”

“And you believed him?! Look at him!” Aimee flung her arm out to point at Tomas, who gave them both a mega-watt smile.

“Regardless, I trust him,” Alyssa replied.

“And yet, here he is, in our room without our permission. Yeah. so trustworthy,” Aimee ranted.

“It’s not like he was going to come and rape us in the middle of the night!”

“Put some clothes on or I might have to,” Tomas interjected, not forgetting that both women were still scantily clad in towels. Alyssa giggled and Aimee glared, to which Tomas just shrugged. “That will teach you to slam a door in my face.”

“You slammed a door in his face?” Alyssa asked, confused. “Wait, Tomas, you were here? I thought you had only just called…”

“I was on my way over anyway, and I called to make sure you were awake. I called again when you didn’t pick up the first time, but this one over here hung up on me before it even rang twice,” he blamed, gesturing to Aimee.

“Well that will teach you to show up somewhere uninvited,” Aimee retorted. “Honestly, who shows up somewhere and then calls to make sure it’s okay?”

“For your information, I was invited.”

Aimee glared over at Alyssa, who was sheepishly avoiding eye contact. “Lyss.”

“He was going to take us over to the arena to watch some practices,” Alyssa defended. “Tomas and I talked about it last night at dinner when you weren’t paying attention. It was supposed to be a surprise. I didn’t expect him to come so early.” She finished her statement with an accusatory glance at Tomas.

“Aw, Lyss,” Aimee smiled, touched that her best friend wanted to do something special for the event that was the Olympics. Something clenched in Aimee’s stomach when she realized that Tomas was instrumental in the surprise as well, but she ignored it. He was doing it as a favor to Alyssa, that was all.

The Slovakian man checked his watch before muttering in his native language. “Just get dressed and let’s go,” he growled angrily.

Thirty minutes later, both of the girls and Tomas were seated behind the glass in the nearly empty stadium as they looked out at the men practicing on the ice. It was the United States Men’s team, and it looked like they were just about finished. Patrick Kane spotted them as he was skating off, and he motioned that he’d be out to see them in a little bit.

Marian arrived a few minutes later, sitting with them a bit before Kaner joined them. The three men talked hockey while Aimee and Alyssa waited for the next team to step out onto the ice. Just as soon as the first few guys skated out, the girls were able to identify them as Canadians.

Alyssa squealed at the sight of a certain jersey, and nudged Aimee, who was ignoring her and straining to see behind the man Alyssa was excited about. “Aimee, it’s Sidney Cros-”

“TAAAZER!” Aimee arose and screamed, still ignoring Alyssa. Since the arena was mostly empty, Aimee’s loud voice echoed through the building. Jonathan let out a wide-eyed chuckle and waved, and the other players on the ice slowed their skating to look up into the stands at her. Aimee didn’t care however, as she shouted once again at the last two men that skated out. “DUNCAN! SEABS!”

Tomas rolled his eyes at the kiss that Brent blew to Aimee, but he had to admit he enjoyed seeing her eyes light up the way they did. It was clear she wasn’t taking this Olympic trip for granted. She finally sat back down, a satisfied smile on her lips and she sighed and looked at Alyssa. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“It seems incomparable now,” Alyssa commented with a smile.

“I got excited,” Aimee shrugged, her gaze still transfixed on the ice. “So sue me.”

“Good luck sitting with her at a game,” Patrick said to Alyssa. Aimee glared at him and he chuckled, and the group continued to chat while watching the practice. Halfway through, Tomas and Marian stood up.

“Alright, we have to go get ready,” Marian announced. “Our ice time is next.” Alyssa nodded and rose to hug him, and then he moved along to Aimee so she could hug Tomas as well.

“Have fun,” Aimee said to Marian, releasing him from her own hug. She moved to sit down but Tomas caught her and pulled her to his body.

“We will,” he smirked, pulling away only to wrap his arm around her neck and bring her close again, almost like he was about to give her a noogie or put her into a headlock. “You guys don’t have to stay and watch us practice,” he addressed Alyssa, ignoring the struggling woman under his arm. “You guys could go shopping or out to lunch with Kaner here.”

“Lunch sounds good, I haven’t eaten since like five this morning,” Kaner agreed.

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s wait for Johnny, Duncan, and Brent,” Aimee emphasized the last name, knowing it would bother Tomas. “I bet they’d like to join.”

“Yeah I bet,” Tomas grumbled, squeezing his arm around her a little tighter before releasing her all together. Aimee immediately pushed away from him, rubbing her sore neck.

“If we’re going to wait for them, we can wait for you guys too,” Alyssa offered, earning a sharp glance from Aimee. “It will be fun,” she continued. “A nice Olympic Blackhawk lunch.”

“If you insist,” Tomas smirked, winking at Aimee and receiving the scoff he was looking for. Marian shook his head from behind the younger man, sharing a small smile with Alyssa before he left with Tomas in tow.

Aimee sulked in her seat for a few minutes after their departure, but then soon enough she was caught up in her excitement again. Once the Canadian team was done practicing and off the ice for a bit, Patrick began texting Jonathan, Duncan, and Brent.

“Do we have to wait for Tomas and Marian?” Aimee asked after Patrick excused himself to go meet the other guys.

“Aimee, they’re the whole reason you’re even here right now, so yes, yes we do,” Alyssa informed her. Aimee fought the urge to stick her tongue out at her best friend and settled for killing her with her eyes.

Suddenly there was a loud, almost deafening bang against the glass in front of them, causing both girls to shriek and practically jump from their seats. They turned their attention to the source of the noise, and saw that Tomas had shot a puck at the glass that was just feet from their faces. This time Aimee did stick out her tongue, and then she looked pointedly at her roommate.

“I hate him and the smug ass smirk he always has on that self-satisfied face of his,” Aimee complained. “He nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Alyssa didn’t respond, because she was currently having a heart attack of her own. Patrick was coming back toward them with Jon, Duncs, and Seabs, but there were also two other men along with them. “Hope you ladies don’t mind,” Patrick called out, still several yards away from them. Aimee heard him but wasn’t listening, as she was still trying to use her Jedi-mind to cause Tomas to toe-pick and fall on his face.

“They heard us talking about lunch and invited themselves right along,” Brent added once they reached the girls, and shoved the man next to him lightly. The other man recovered easily and stuck out his hand to Alyssa, who had yet to take her eyes from them ever since she noticed them in the first place.

“Hi, I’m Sidney,” he introduced. That caught Aimee’s attention, and she looked up at him.

“Yeah, like there’s a soul on this planet who doesn’t know who you are,” she smiled and rose to shake his hand, since apparently Alyssa was paralyzed. Aimee discreetly kicked the younger woman with her heeled boot, jolting Alyssa to rise. “I’m Aimee,” she continued, pulling her hand away. “This is Alyssa.”

Sidney shook Alyssa’s hand as well, and then stepped aside so that the other newcomer could introduce himself. “Hi. I’m Patrice,” he informed, his accent making both girls’ knees buckle.

“Oh, hell,” Aimee murmured, her words echoing Alyssa’s thoughts exactly.

“Nice to meet you both,” Lyss said politely. “If you guys are really hungry though, you should go ahead. We have to wait for some friends.”

“No we don’t,” Aimee corrected, waving Alyssa off.

“Yes, we- ouch!” She hissed, feeling the stiletto heel of Aimee’s boot press into her foot.

“We know actually,” Patrice said, turning the girls’ legs to jelly once more. “You’re waiting for Hossa and Kopecky. We can wait.”

“Oh, we don’t have to, they’re big boys and can find us when they’re done,” Aimee sent the boys a devastating smile, dazing them all a little. Patrice said something in French to Jonathan, who replied with a smirk. They turned back to the group and didn’t expand on the topic in English, so everyone let it pass. “I’m starving,” Aimee went back to the issue at hand. “The sooner we can eat, the better.”

“I’ll take you out,” Patrice offered, stepping toward her. “Whoever wants to go now can, and then the rest can wait with Alyssa for the other two.”

“Why don’t you two just go ahead,” Jonathan cut off Alyssa, who was about to protest. “Find us a good place and we’ll meet you there soon.” Before any more could be said, Patrice offered his arm to Aimee and led her out of the aisle.

“Well then,” Alyssa muttered, sitting down with the rest of the guys.

“Sorry,” Jonathan said, settling next to her. “He’s had his eye on her since she screamed out my name.” She went to argue and say that Tomas had his eye on her first, but then remembered that he had his eye on her since he had basically insulted her.

Patrice Bergeron: One, Tomas Kopecky: Zero.

“What was that little conversation you guys had in French?” Alyssa asked him instead.

“He asked me to get them a head start alone,” Jonathan told her with a grin. “Which is exactly what I did.”

“Well then you’re just going to have to answer to Tomas,” Alyssa stated, ignoring the apprehension that took over his expression.

***

Aimee sat down in the chair that Patrice held out for her before he took his own seat. The wait staff set up a row of tables and chairs next to theirs, Patrice having informed the hostess of the large group that was meeting them there later. “So Aimee,” he started, pushing his menu aside. “Is it you or Alyssa that works for the Hawks?”

Aimee looked up from her own menu, and saw that Patrice hadn’t even opened his. “Alyssa,” she answered. “Are you not hungry?”

“I can wait,” he replied with a shrug. “I figure the rest of them will get here within thirty to forty minutes. I’d rather use the time to talk to you.”

Aimee felt her cheeks get hot and she closed her menu, setting it aside as well. “Sure,” she nodded, smiling a bit. “Yeah, Alyssa, my best friend and roommate, is the one who works for the Hawks. I’m just a-” Aimee hesitated, never having been self-conscious about her line of work before Tomas. “A waitress,” she finished, judging his reaction.

Their own waitress, having sensed that the couple was going to wait for the rest of their party, had brought over a basket of bread along with the drinks they had ordered. If Patrice had any ill feelings toward the occupation of food server, he didn’t show it as he buttered his roll.

“Oh yeah? Anywhere I know?” He asked harmlessly, having been to Chicago several times.

Aimee hesitated again, only for a moment before brazenly announcing the word “Hooters.”

Patrice choked on his bread and coughed a few times, automatically and reflexively shifting his gaze to her chest. His eyes snapped back up almost immediately, an apology forming on his face. Patrice opened and closed his mouth a few times, deciding the best way to respond. “Uh…”

“Why don’t we skip over the female empowerment crap about how I’m demeaning myself and could do better, okay? I hear it enough. I make good money and I actually enjoy what I do,” Aimee ranted, taking her frustrations against Tomas out on poor Patrice.

“Actually, I was trying to think of the best way to say how lucky I was to be having lunch with a Hooter’s girl. I figured there’s no polite way to go about it,” he gave Aimee a boyish grin that punched her in the gut. Suddenly his phone vibrated on the table, and he glanced at the screen. “It’s Tazer,” he informed, checking the message quickly. He glanced up at Aimee quickly, briefly considering ignoring the text that asked for the name of the restaurant they were at.

***

Back at the arena, everyone was waiting by their cars for Tomas and Marian to meet them outside. Tazer had gotten a short, albeit delayed response from Patrice, and they were all ready to get to lunch. Ten minutes later, the two Slovaks approached the large group of people.

“Sidney!” Marian greeted, pulling the younger man into a hug. “Good to see you.”

“You too,” Sidney replied, a huge smile on his face. The two men had played together on the Penguins a few years ago, the team almost winning the Stanley Cup before losing to the Red Wings in Game Six.

“Well,” Tomas began, looking at everyone. “This is an interesting group. Where’s Aimee?”

“That’s your cue, Jonny,” Alyssa smirked. He sent her a glare before turning to Tomas.

“She uh, went ahead to lunch. She was too hungry to wait,” Jon explained vaguely.

“Alone?” Marian questioned.

“No, of course not. She wasn’t alone,” Jonny assured, still dodging the specifics. When all he got in response was blank stares from the Slovaks and snickers from his Canadian teammates and Kaner, he relented. “It’s just, Kaner invited us to lunch, and a couple guys overheard, so we invited them too. We waited for you guys to finish, but Aimee went on ahead. With uh, Patrice…Bergeron.”

Patrice Bergeron? Well that’s just fucking great, Tomas thought to himself. He could handle oafs like Burish, Seabrook and Eager. Brad Pitt and George Clooney? Bring them on. But Patrice fucking Bergeron? Fuck.

Tomas turned to Marian and started rambling in Slovakian, while the rest of the group remained quiet and observed. “Is he her boyfriend or something?” Sidney whispered to Alyssa.

“God no,” Alyssa snorted. “They hate each other.”

“Ah, ex-boyfriend?”

Alyssa let out a loud laugh, stunning the quieted group and causing Tomas to stop talking. “Can we just get to the restaurant please?” After some grumbling, everyone was on their way to the restaurant in their respective cars. This left Alyssa alone with Tomas, much to her chagrin. He was behind the wheel, muttering (probably cursing) in his native language, and ignoring her. “Come on Tomas,” she reasoned. “Don’t pout.”

“I’m not pouting. Why would I pout?”

“Yes, why would you? I mean, it’s not like you have a thing for Aimee. You have no reason to be jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” Tomas scowled.

“That’s what I just said,” Alyssa agreed slyly. Tomas sat for a moment, trying to relax. Alyssa was right. He had no reason to be jealous. Aimee wasn’t his, nor did he want her to be. “There it is,” Alyssa pointed out the restaurant that her friend was already at.

Minutes later, Patrice waved in the large group that had entered the restaurant, rising to greet them all. Once everyone had said their hellos and moved to take a seat, Patrice took the seat next to Aimee instead of his old seat that had been across from her. Kaner snorted at this, turning it into a fake cough after Tomas glared at him.

Alyssa sat across from Aimee and felt giddy when Sidney took his spot next to her to sit across from Patrice. Marian sat on her other side and Tomas sat next to him, sizing up Patrice with his eyes. “You guys didn’t even order yet?” Jonathan asked from Aimee’s other side, seeing the dismissed menus.

“We decided to wait for you guys after all,” Aimee smiled, pinching Tazer’s cheek.

Lunch wasn’t as tense as Alyssa thought it was going to be, mostly because Tomas ignored their half of the table and was joyously conversing with Seabrook, Keith, and Kane. Alyssa enjoyed Sidney and Marian’s stories about the Penguins, as well as the heat that spread throughout her body when Marian rested his arm against the back of her chair.

She watched as Patrice too leaned back in his seat after a good laugh with Sidney, and he unconsciously put his arm on the back of Aimee’s chair. Alyssa was barely able to catch Tomas rolling his eyes before he turned back to the other men at his end of the table. She smirked to herself and relaxed back into her chair, Marian’s fingers brushing her shoulders.

Alyssa couldn’t believe that she was sitting next to Sidney Crosby, the Sidney Crosby, but somehow all she could think about were Marian Hossa’s hands. She turned her head and looked up at him with a smile, and Marian instantly smiled back at her sweetly.

Suddenly the reality of the situation and how lucky she was sunk in for her. Here she was, enjoying a great lunch with an amazing group of people. Chicago Blackhawks, a Boston Bruin, a Pittsburgh Penguin (and arguably the most famous one at that), and two average girls, enjoying one of the most celebrated sports events of all time, The Olympic Games. The best part though, was that the fact that these guys were famous hockey players didn’t matter. The part that mattered was that they were genuinely nice guys, and were becoming some of her greatest friends.