No One Told You Life Was Gonna Be This Way

“Please.”

He had listened to the voicemail all night. It acted as a lullaby and eased him into a dreamless sleep. When he woke up, he played the voicemail again to make sure it was real and not a figment of his dreams.

Sidney couldn’t get her voice out of his head as he ate his breakfast, brushed his teeth, got dressed, drove to Pat’s office. It was all he could think about it. It was like a song that was stuck in head and played over and over in repeat.

“By the way, too bad about the stripper. I heard from Geno you guys broke it off,” Pat’s eyes betrayed the sympathy of his tone.

“She broke up with me,” Sidney corrected, “It is what it is.”

“I’m sorry, I know you really cared about her.”

“I loved her,” Sidney croaked, “Don’t say I’m sorry, when you don’t really mean it. If you were really sorry, you would have never referred to her as ‘the stripper.’ If you were really sorry, you would know ‘the stripper’ had a name and it’s Lily. If you were really sorry, you would have never harassed her about how much she was hurting my image. If-”

“Well, then I apologize,” Pat grimaced, “But I’ve got great news, Sid. Reebok’s deal just came through. There were a couple of road bumps but this deal is going to make you a very rich man,” Pat smiled, “9.8 million over 7 years.”

“Wow,” was all Sidney could muster.

“Wow is correct. So I assume I can tell Reebok that we are going to accept the deal?”

“Yeah, of course,” His voice hollow, but Pat was too pink with glee to even bother noticing.

Pat’s phone began to ring, “Excuse me I have to take this,” Pat left the office to go talk in the privacy of the empty conference room next door.

All Sidney could think about was how Lily would react to the deal.

“This calls for a bottle of Israel’s finest!”

He smiled at the thought of her Ross impression. Except, with this deal, he could buy all champagne in the world yet it would still be a hollow celebration.

He shook his head trying to rid himself of her memory and instead busied himself with the décor of Pat’s office. Sidney noted a few subtle changes but the major things stayed the same, the signed hockey memorabilia, the bookshelves lined with books that Pat admitted he had never read, the same heavy, wooden desk that was covered in clutter.

A bright, glossy magazine cover caught his eye. Sidney almost wanted to laugh. Pat, who hadn’t read a word of the philosophy and how-to books on the wall, had a tabloid. Sidney reached over and pulled the magazine from the depths of the pile of paperwork and almost dropped it once he saw it.

Exposed! Sidney Crosby is in Love with a Stripper!

On the cover was a photo of Lily draped around a stripper pole, with her natural blonde hair tumbling down in waves to cover her bare breasts and in the inset was a grainy photo of the two of them from the cornfield maze.

With the large pile of paperwork dislodged, Sidney found other tabloids that featured similar headlines and similar photos of Lily in various states of undress around a stripper pole.

Then he noticed the dates of the tabloids. They were all set to be published a month ago. He definitely would have noticed if these were being sold in the grocery store.

“That was Reebok, they were thrilled!” Pat was bubbling over with excitement, “What do you got there?”

“What are these?” Sidney yelled, “What did you do?” He thrusted the tabloids in Pat's face.

Pat swallowed the lump forming in his throat. This was bad. This was worse than any backhanded thing he’d ever done. Partly because he’d been caught and partly because he’d never seen Sidney like this. His face was red with anger. His eyes seemed to be brimming with fire. His voice betrayed it all. The thinly veiled anger and disappointment, “They’re the drafts for magazines,” Pat’s voice was eerily even.

“Only drafts?” Sidney’s eyes studied the magazine covers. The colors were too bright, the paper too glossy, the headlines too cheesy. Too real.

“Yes. They were never printed.”

“Why?”

“I pulled a few strings,” Pat shrugged.

“No why do you have them?”

“I have friends in high places,” His voice was even and smooth, but Pat had to mentally focus on keeping his hands from shaking.

Sidney could only stare at the tabloids, gripping them so hard the cover started to tear off the spine, “Tell me again how you knew Lily broke up with me.”

“Geno told me.”

“No one on the team knew about my relationship with Lily,” Sidney’s voice was frighteningly calm, “So tell me again how you knew Lily broke up with me.”

Silence. And in his deafening silence, Pat confessed the truth, “She wasn’t good for you. You wouldn’t believe the amount of emails I was getting. Reebok was going to take back the deal. She needed a new start and I needed her gone so-”

“You made her do it.”

“Yes. But I didn’t force her. I asked and she said yes, once I offered to pay her loans, get her a flight out of here and got her an apartment.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying she’s not worth your time! I paid her now let her go. She’s nothing more than a whor-”

“Don’t. I love you Pat like family but if you say what I think you were going to say, so help me God I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“You were always so naïve.”

“Where did she go? Where did she ask to go?”

“Sid-”

“I’m not a Kid, despite what the media says. Where did she go?”

“Iowa. Des Moines, Iowa.”

“You’re lying. Why would she go back there?”

“Maybe because in the end, you think about the beginning.”

“I would fire you right now, but you helped me get me where I am. But dear God, I don’t even want to think about what other underhanded tactics you’ve done for me and your other clients.”

“It was in your best interest. I only want what’s best for you.”

“If you really wanted the best for me, you wouldn’t have made her do what she did. You would’ve let us be. You would’ve let us love each other.”

“If it helps,” Pat paused unsure of the effect his words would have on his star pupil, “I regret it, now.”

Sidney turned and started walking out of the office, the magazines nothing but crumpled, wrinkled paper in his fist, “You only regret it because you got caught.”