Got It Bad

“This is a big step, you know,” Shannon said, watching from the doorway as Clara put in a pair of gold earrings, which almost blended in with her hair.

“Already took a giant step. This is nothing compared to that,” Clara stated, reaching for and unclasping the next Sid gave her last week. She smiled at it, and put it into her clutch before standing up. Shannon wolf-whistled and Clara blushed. She didn’t dress up often, but when she did she really felt like a princess. Her hair was curled and some was pulled back into a clip. She had just a little bit of make-up on, and her gold nails matched her dress.

Clara stood in front of her full length mirror and observed. Her gold and black dress clung to her chest and torso, feeling very loose from her waist down; it swished when she walked. Her pumps were a little unusual, which made the outfit really. She didn’t put on a necklace, but she was wearing some of her finest jewelry.

“He’s not going to know what to do with himself,” Shannon said, and Clara looked at her grinning image in the mirror.

“I just hope he doesn’t expect this all the time.”

“He won’t,” Shannon said, and they could both hear a buzzer for the apartment building. Shannon hurried away to answer it while Clara did some last minute doubting, like she always did when she dressed up for formal occasions. Even though it was only a dinner date with Sid, in probably one of the best restaurants in Pittsburgh, it was in front of the public eye. They were going to be photographed and she was going to be ridiculed. She stared at the bracelet her mother had given to her for her twenty-first birthday. She debated wearing something that meant so much to her when she heard a long, low whistle from behind her.

Clara rolled her eyes. “I got it, Non, he’s gonna go crazy. You can stop whistling at me now,” Clara said, turning and placing her hand on his hips. Instead of seeing her best friend’s shit-eating grin, she saw her boyfriend’s appreciative face. Her heart sped up and she smiled at him, smoothing the front of her dress down.

“You look stunning,” Sid said honestly, still standing in the doorway of her room. He hadn’t moved since her first saw her in the mirror. She was always beautiful to him, but he had never seen her so dressed up. It didn’t hurt that she was wearing black and gold; however conscious, she was still wearing his colors. And damn if that made him caveman-like, but there was just something so damned arousing about her wearing his colors.

“Damn, the way he’s looking at you, I don’t even think you’ll make it to the restaurant,” Shannon said as she breezed by Clara’s room. Both Clara and Sid blushed, though Clara had to admit she was thinking the same thing. She just couldn’t seem to control herself when Sid was in a suit; there was just something that made her want to jump him like she had never jumped anyone ever before.

“Are you ready?” Sid asked quietly, his eyes trained at her face and nothing else. Clara gave a gentle smile but hesitated. Sid took the first step and held out his hand to her. She grabbed it, making sure she had her clutch, and followed her out of her room.

“Non, don’t wait up for me,” Clara said into the small apartment, wanting to make sure her best friend heard her. She shrugged into the coat that Sid was holding for her, giving him a megawatt smile.

“After seeing him look at you like that, I damned well hope not. If you do come back tonight, I’ll slap you.” Clara looked at Sid and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Love you too, Non. Have fun tonight.” Clara and Sid didn’t wait for a response, and they were in his car less than a minute later.

“Now that we’re no longer near your roommate,” Sid started, leaning over and kissing Clara gently. The kiss was enough to send her heart into overdrive. She wondered if she would ever get used to his breath-taking kisses. She assumed not, because they had been dating for months now and she still wasn’t used to them. It just was never going to happen. She just gave him a grin when he pulled back, settling into her seat and waiting to get to the restaurant.

Sid parked in a parking garage in downtown Pittsburgh and grabbed Clara’s hand, pulling her closer to his body. Clara wasn’t too surprised when they walked to the front of the restaurant Eleven. “Why’d you have me dress up if we were only going to Eleven?” she asked, glancing up at Sid through her eyelashes.

“You’ll see,” he said, and that’s when the nervousness settled in. He just gave her hand a squeeze.

“Oh, Mr. Crosby, how delightful,” the hostess said, coming forward. “Would you like to lead me back to—”

“That won’t be necessary, thank you,” Sid said very formally, and instead continued to walk into the restaurant. It was pretty crowded for a Saturday night and Clara watched as people stared at Sid. Sid didn’t seem to notice and just continued to move, heading to an area that seemed separated from the large dining room. Clara couldn’t help but notice all the attention and clung to Sid’s hand tighter.

Finally they were outside the curtained area. Sid stopped and turned to her, gently and quickly kissing her. “I want you to stay right out here. I’ll be back in just a minute, I promise.” He kissed her again and then disappeared into the curtain. Clara swallowed hard, playing with the sleeve of her coat. She decided to take it off because she was getting warm. All of a sudden the noise behind the curtain stopped and Sid peaked his head out. He smiled at her.

“No need to be nervous, Belle,” Sid said, holding out his hand for her. She looked at it for a moment, before stepping forward and taking it. He gently tugged her through the curtain and when she was on his side, she was bombarded by noise.

“Happy birthday, Clara,” was all she heard in her ear as she took in what seemed like hundreds of people in the small area, but knew it couldn’t be more than fifty, if that. But really got to her was seeing her parents and little sister. Her father was smiling at her proudly and her mother was beaming. Her sister was bouncing up and down excitedly until she couldn’t contain herself and bounded over, wrapping her arms around Clara.

“Lara, I’ve missed you so much!” the seventeen-year-old bumbled into Clara’s shoulder, and Clara laughed.

“Wow, I’m surprised, Nolie. I figured you would be happy to have me out of your hair,” Clara responded with a grin, pulling her sister back and giving her a once over. “Beautiful as ever,” Clara stated with a smile. “I’m sure Dad has to bat down boys left and right.”

“Apparently she’s not the one I have to worry about,” her father said, coming over and giving Clara a big hug. Her mother followed. “I have to say, you have quite the young man here, Belle.”

Clara blushed. “I know he’s the enemy, but…”

Her father just held up a hand. “Does he make you happy and treat you right?”

Clara grinned widely. “He does,” she said, looking over her shoulder to see Sid talking to one of his teammates. He smiled at her and she waved. “Very much so.”

“Good. Otherwise… well, otherwise I would have to end his career.”

Magnolia’s eyes went wide, her mouth gaping in shock of what her father just said. Clara, on the other hand, just laughed. “Did you sit down and talk to Sid yet? I mean, he’s kept my attention all these months. You have to realize how interesting he is,” Clara stated, leading her family over to Sid. Kris Letang excused himself from Sid’s presence and gave a little smile and wave towards Clara. Clara waved back; Kris was easy to get along with.

“So you are the famous Sidney Crosby I keep hearing about,” her father started, moving forward. Clara’s father and Sid were the same height, but her father had more weigh on Sid by a long shot. He had the decency to look the slightest bit scared. Clara had to bit her lip to keep the smile off her face.

“Uh…” Sid trailed off, looking at Clara for help. He cleared his throat before just standing the slightest bit taller. “Yes, I am.” They had a stare off for a quick moment before her father threw out his hand and Sid took it, completing the manly handshake. Clara couldn’t keep the smile off her face and she practically floated over to Sid’s side, grabbing his hand.

“Sidney, why did you do this? I told you I didn’t want to do anything big for my birthday. Or anything at all,” Clara added quickly. Sid just smiled.

“I just couldn’t help you not have a birthday party. After all, you are on break this week, and I figured you’d love to see your parents and some of your friends in the same place. Shannon helped. She should be coming by soon.”

“Shannon knew about this too?” Clara asked, looking around the room. She could see Mario and Nathalie with their kids, Marc-Andre and Vero, Max and Jordan looking uncomfortable with the lack of half-nudity and girls throwing themselves at them. She kept smiling, even though it really hurt to do so.

“It was mostly her working. She contacted your family and friends from school. I just added in a few of my friends to make it interesting.” Clara cut him off with a quick kiss. She was beaming when she pulled back.

“This is the most thoughtful thing a boyfriend has ever done for me. Thank you,” she said quietly, wrapping her arms around Sid. They held each other for a moment before they heard someone clearing their throat.

“Not that the lovely display of love wasn’t touching, mon ami,” Max started, tugging on his collar lightly, “but I’m sure we much rather deal with it on a full stomach, oui?”

Clara and Sid, along with most of the other guests, which now included a completely dolled up Shannon, laughed and they all found seats with whoever they wanted to, really. Clara sat across from Sid and gently tapped his leg. When he looked up, her smile was all he could see. And that was enough for him.