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Harbour Lights and Lonely Nights

Mapping it Out

Sidney seemed quite fond of the idea of a Nova Scotia Christmas and by mid day Christmas Eve they were welcomed to the familiar air. It was the first time they had both been back to Nova Scotia at the same time. It was an oddly sobering feeling for Emily. But where they first went was only vaguely familiar. When the car stopped and Sidney killed the engine they were in front of a house, much like any house, but it seemed completely void of life, like a small abandoned summer home perched between the pines and leafless maples. Everything was only dusted with snow.

“What is this place?” Emily asked as she emerged from the car. She stepped out into the cool air and instinctively pulled her open coat tighter.

Sidney smiled as he easily lifted the bags out of the trunk. “This is my summer home.”

“Wow, it’s very different from Pittsburgh, why’s that?”

The word that popped into Emily’s mind was perfect. This was more what she had expected to see when she drove down to the States. This was a place that screamed Sidney, her Sidney.

“Well, my life here is very different than in Pittsburgh,” He unlocked the door and let Emily in first as he picked up the bags again. Inside everything seemed made of wood. From the wooden wainscoting on the living room walls where she walked in, gazing through the open concept house, to the large wooden table in the kitchen at the opposite end. The walls were a similar cream colour to his house in Pittsburgh but this place was so different. Fishing equipment was huddled in the corner where you came in, obviously just placed there the summer before after the last fishing trip. Pictures in swimsuits, and on ski-doos, warm woolly throw blankets folded on the couch. The large windows let endless amounts of the winter light into the rooms. The silence was the truest silence she had heard since leaving Nova Scotia.

“So what do you think?”

The hockey player watched his girlfriend in the living room, gazing back and forth over the pictures on his wall. She loved looking at his pictures, seeing the Sidney that she was not there for, to fill in all the blanks between then and now. On this wall, in Halifax, all the pictures were taken here, all related to summer and none related to hockey, except one. Marc and Sidney in the closest thing to a hug men seem to get to with one another, blue ribbons around their necks and gold medals hanging. This one seemed so much more emotional than the one in his room. They weren’t on the ice, they weren’t in team Canada jerseys, this photo was not taken by a professional but a friend. It fit in perfectly with the rest of the wall.

Emily accepted Sidney’s arms with relaxation as they encompassed her from behind. “I absolutely love it.”

“Good,” the word came warmly beside her ear, a kiss then softly planted on her shoulder. From this angle Sidney could look at her profile, he could really notice the fading of her freckles that the winter brought, or her dark lower lashes. There was something, especially in the last few months, he had grown to love about her lower lashes. Not to say he didn’t love the long thick lashes above her eyes but there was something beautiful and unique about her lower ones. They were more prominent than others and they made her sapphire, indigo, blueberry spectrum eyes pop even more.

“Sidney?” her small frame turned around in his muscular arms, she brought his hands infront of them, fingers entwining.
“Yeah Em…”
Blue eyes looked up through dark lashes, his amber eyes staring back peacefully.
“I love you”
Sidney let go of her hands and pulled her up so her legs wrapped around his waist. He held her like the day he pulled her off the counter but with so much more entitlement. “I love you too Em…” A smirk, perfectly placed on his swollen lips, “Now, would you like to see upstairs?”
Emily nodded, kisses raining down on her lips, cheek, neck before he started caring her upstairs.

The upstairs floor wasn’t like a regular floor, it only covered about have the first floor. You could stand at a railing and look down into the living room, She noticed this when he reached the top From her spot Emily could not see where Sidney was walking, only what he had passed. She watched two doors come into view after he had walked by them. Then finally he walked through a third one, slowly putting her down and turning her around.

This room was suddenly and undoubtedly her favourite room of them all. On the opposite wall to where they stood was a low wide bed on a thick greyed wooden frame, to the right a large window out to the skeletons of oaks, deep green pines, and the fractured white plates of the frozen lake. The cold light brought out the vividness of the grey-blue paint on the walls, brought out the softness of the white and navy plaid quilt.

There was much more to this room than his one in Pittsburgh.

There was a large chair with red based Navajo print on it and beside it a table with a pile of magazines and a couple of books. A closed double door closet. Tall black speakers hidden in the corners near the window, a stack of DVDs on one of the wooden night stands but no TV to play them on. It wasn’t extravagant, it wasn’t fancy, it was cozy.

“This would be my room… our room… the room.”

The girl moved on the tips of her socks as she rushed over to the bed and lowered herself onto the mattress. She ran her hands along the design, enjoying the cool material against her finger tips. This would be her side, the left side, so that when she woke up and turned to him she could see the vast window behind him. She was staring at it, trying to picture it, when Sidney slid into view, coming into place like her thoughts were materializing in front of her.

Emily sighed, a sigh of pleasure, of having found a perfect moment. It was the most positive sounding sigh Sidney had ever heard. The hockey player couldn’t help himself from climbing on top of her, kissing her neck with such tenderness. When he pulled away she looked at him. She saw particles dance in the rays of light that fell upon him, enjoyed the vibrancy of his eyes in this unique light.

He watched her smile and next thing he knew he was on his back, slow soft kisses trailing down his neck, hands tugging at his grey sweater. Both his white shirt and the sweater peeled away in one layer, his skin radiating heat against the cold room. The feeling of the winter air against his skin was interrupted by hot kisses down his torso, trailing his chest, abdomen and reaching the top of his jeans. Her lips and his skin both lost heat as she pulled away. Rust red sweater pulled over her head, fed up of the annoyance. Cool fingers fiddled with cold buttons, both pairs of jeans then being flung towards the red chair, socks pushed to the floor. Beneath her Sidney’s skin had lost most of its summer tan, her shadow fell across his right side, imposing her shape on his.

She retraced her trail to where the jeans had previously stopped her, she did not hesitate at this invisible barrier, letting her tongue slowly travel along his eager length before taking him inside her mouth. The sudden pleasure caused Sidney’s breath to hitch in his throat, the reaction she so easily drew from him bringing her immense satisfaction. Most of his body she could map with her eyes closed. Sometimes she felt she knew his image better than her own. Every contour, spot, scar she knew as precisely as a co-ordinate on a map. She knew the softest bits of his skin, the places he was most sensitive.

But the heat of her tongue was driving him craziest in the best possible way, until he couldn’t take the feeling any longer. He pulled her face up towards him, kissing that heat of her lips.The heat of burning heartbeats, rushed movements. The hockey player’s large hands raced down her beautifully curved figure to her waist, pulling them wantonly, positioning her perfectly so that as she pulled her lips away, his eyes still closed, he only knew her movement by the feeling of his length being submerged in her warm insides. The body heat between them versus the cold air made sweat quickly form on their skin. Emily moved in perfect rhythm, a circular motion that let him feel every wall, every angle. His secure grip stayed on the perfect curve of her hips, moving with her. Her hands found his cool chest, the silence of the room taken over with their breathing, their mutterings. They breathed in dead air and breathed out life. It wasn’t long before they both reached that moment of perfect release and Emily’s damp body collapsed into his.

After a while of rest the heat began to leave and the cold air made its presence known. They had fought it off for a while but it was still there and the quilt wasn’t enough retreat.

Sidney felt Emily shiver slightly against him even after he had pulled the blanket over them. The bed wasn’t really equipped for winter weather but he had to have a warmer blanket somewhere.

“Cold?” He asked her. She replied with an eager nod.
“I’ll go find us a better blanket.”

He got out of the bed, slipping boxers on and disappearing from the room. Emily huddled in the quilt, the sight of the grey sky and leafless trees beyond the window only managing to make her cooler. Yet, she couldn’t really complain. The affects of adrenaline and pleasure still moved through her, she had just about melted into the bed, the smell of Sidney clinging to the pillow beside her.

She waited and she thought of things. She thought of spending a few nights living under the same roof again. She thought of this room in the summer. How she’d be going to school in a couple of weeks.

When Sidney returned she was so lost in thought she didn’t notice until a warm wool blanket was placed on top of the quilt and a familiar body crawled underneath.

“It’s Christmas eve,” She stated once he settled.
“Yeah..”
“and we don’t have a Christmas tree.”
“We’ll figure something out, I don’t really want to get up again right now.”

---

Sidney had driven around in search of any place with trees left while Emily stayed back at the house unpacking. He had seen numerous empty lots before he found one with a few smaller trees left. The man on the lot recognized Crosby and had started conversation with him, wondering why he was buying a tree so late. But he wasn't treating him differently than any other customer, this was just maritime life. When the man had heard how Sidney completely forgot his summer house had none of the items necessary for Christmas , he sold him—for the price of a regular tree—the decorated company tree. An act of goodwill on Christmas. He loved the sense of community unique to his home.

When he got the tree positioned in the living room, Emily’s footsteps rushed from the kitchen.

“How did you manage to find that?” he could tell she was obviously pleased.

“Christmas miracle.”

The girl’s figure skates moved gracefully around the outdoor rink. It was pretty late and there was barely anyone on the ice still but Emily and Sidney didn’t want to get off. His hockey skates moved in rhythm beside her, the lights of the decorated pine tree reflecting blurs of colour on the ice.

“So, Em, What’s the good news you were dying to tell me?”
“Well,” She spun around and skated backwards so she could look at him, “You know how next year you’re going to get drafted first overall and you’re going to be a huge hockey star?”
He laughed at her limitless confidence in him, “Sure.”
“I got some news about where I’m going to be next year.”
“What do you mean?”
They moved effortlessly around the ice, she knew how to move without looking where she was going, all she had to do was watch him and she could navigate backwards. Looking for signs of hazards behind her or any sign of the end of the ice by the look in his eyes.
“I got a letter today…”
She paused letting Sidney get to the conclusion for himself before confirming, “I got into Cambridge!”
The boy pushed back harder, moved towards her faster and picked her up in his arms, gliding onto the mat that ran seamlessly around the edges of the ice with her tight in his arms.
“That’s amazing news!”
“Yeah, I got accepted pretty early, a Christmas miracle.”
The hug he wrapped her in was the second longest hug she had ever felt, enjoying his arms around her as the colourful Christmas lights shone behind their teenage figures. Perhaps a miracle, or perhaps not.


---

While Sidney perfected the tree Emily came out of the kitchen with two hot bowls of soup. They sat on the couch, watching the glow of the tree, drinking beer, eating soup.
Their legs were weaved together, Emily resting hers across him.

“I’m glad we came here.” Sidney said before enjoying a hot spoonful of soup.
“Me too. No magazines, no reporters, not dealing with anything. Just you and me.”
“And tomorrow the families.”

Emily nodded and worked away on her bowl of soup, the two of them enjoying the peace and the prospect of family. Nova Scotia always brought clarity to them, reminded them what was important, reminded them how deeply their lives were entwined still.
♠ ♠ ♠
This is probably my longest chapter in a while thanks to everyone who commented and is still reading this story. I just finished Michael Ondaatje's In The Skin of a Lion and am totally in love with it. If my writing style had some weird quirks in it this chapter, it's possibly because I have that novel in my mind.

As always though, comments are really really appreciated.