The Beginning to the End

"So Ricki, what do we have planned for Columbus, Ohio?"

"Well Bobbi, the Blue Jackets have a game tonight, so we'll be doing our usually thing; networking and going to the game. The next day will consist of Candy Factory tours and a visit to the Columbus Zoo."

"Sounds like a good time to me; chocolate, and wild animals. Okay folks, you heard the woman. For now, we're going to finish up the last leg of our trip to Columbus and get ready for the game. Until then, stay great."

Columbus, Ohio wasn't a city that the girls knew well so when it came time to planning for a day, they had to do some searches. What they found was good enough to keep them busy during their stay, until they had to leave for Chicago.

While their time in Pittsburgh was...interesting, they had to move on. It was sad to have only a couple days to spend with the Penguins but it will defiantly be a couple days they will never forget.

It amazed the girls how they've gained great friends on this journey. Going into the trip, the likelihood of meeting the team was slim but luck seemed to be on their side. They thought that when they had to make the final decision, it would be based off the Organization itself and what it had to offer. Now they had to keep in mind the new friends that they made. The guys were going to affect Ricki and Bobbi's final decision.

"Have you thought about the HBO contract?" Ricki asked looked over at her friend in the passenger seat.

"A little."

"Me too. I can't believe they asked us to use our videos. Do you know what that would do for us?"

"I know but...this trip isn't about that. And some of the footage we have can't exactly get put on air." Bobbi said. She was positive the Captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins wouldn't find it as funny as everyone else if that violating video aired on TV. Not to mention the clips from partying with the Bruins and the Caps.

"Maybe we can edit the video and send it to them. That way we have final say on what get's aired. They need our permission to air any of it anyways." Ricki told Bobbi.

"True. But it would be awesome. We are literally living the dream of any hockey fan right now."

"Hell yeah we are!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

While networking, the girls met with several people and talked to them about the jobs that they do. All of the Blue Jacket employees seemed to be impressed with the girl's plan of the road trip, "That's commitment." They all said.

The girls had finished their tour earlier than usual, since it was schedule at an earlier time, so they sat in their seats near the penalty bench and talked into their Flip, "Hello ladies and germs, we're here in Nationwide Arena waiting to the game to begin."

"But because of an early tour, we're left with a lot of time on our hands. So we will just chill here and watch some warm-ups." Bobbi said, panning the Flip over the ice where a few of the Jacket's players shot pucks in the net. She noticed as she looked over the players, a few of them were glancing at them, sometimes even pointing in the girls direction.

"Hey!" One of the players was sliding his way over to the penalty box and stopping right in front of the girls, "You're Ricki and Bobbi." He said. The girls starred at him slightly dumbstruck. They didn't exactly know every player in the NHL, and both were feeling bad they couldn't put a name with the face, "I saw some of your tweets. You two are famous. I'm Derick." He introduced, "It's so cool to meet you guys. You're trip sounds awesome."

"Hold on a sec," Bobbi turned the camera around to face them, "Alright everyone, we're going to get going. We'll check in later. Be great!"

"Sorry about that. I didn't even realize you were taping." Derick said when the girls put the Flip away.

"That's alright."

"You two have to come meet the team. A lot of them follow you on Twitter." He suggested. Ricki and Bobbi's eyes widened, not really at the thought of them meeting the team, but that the team follows them on Twitter. They hadn't realized just how many people knew about this trip but if this is how it was in Columbus, imagine what it'll be like down the road.

Bobbi and Ricki walked down to the locker room where they met the rest of the Blue Jackets. Derick wasn't lying when he said they were following the girls on their trip. Most of them said they would check out the website the girls uploaded and see their Tweets whenever they updated.

"So, this is like your...eighth stop. Have you two thought about where you want to work?" RJ Umberger asked, obviously knowing the meaning behind the trip.

"We have. Every place has been great but it's only the eighth stop. We won't make a decision until the end." Ricki explained.

"Are there any that are your favorites?" Jared Boll asked.

"That's a hard one. We've met a lot of great people and all the organizations are awesome. I don't think we can choose." Bobbi said.

"I don't know. From what I saw, you've got a couple favorites. Right Bobbi?" Rick Nash teased. Bobbi blushed knowing exactly what the Captain was talking about.

When the girls uploaded their videos to the website, they didn't exactly edit everything. Some of their more embarrassing moments are posted on the Internet and that includes Bobbi's kiss with the Capitals forward and the date question with the shy Penguin defenseman.

Bobbi glared at her friend who was laughing with the team, "Don't be laughing Ricki, I remember Boston pretty well."

The guys laughed harder, all of them remembering the video of the girls partying with Tyler, Brad, and some of the other Bruins. Ricki blushed just as much as Bobbi did at the memory.

"I remember that too! Way to go for the younger man!" Nash commented holding his hand up for a high five, which Ricki denied. "On that note, we need to get ready for the game. See you two after the game." The boys said their goodbyes and the girls went back to their seats.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Good morning everyone! Hope you all slept fantastic because we didn't!"

"After the loss last night, we went with some of the boys to drown our sorrows at the nearest bar. Those videos will be up once we decide if they're appropriate or not. Sorry mom." Bobbi said.

"So today, the boys have the day off until tonight when they fly over to Vancouver for their next game."

"Because of the short amount of time, the boys will be joining us on our adventures to the chocolate tour and the zoo." The bell over the local coffee shopped dinged and in walked half the Columbus Blue Jackets team, all wearing baseball caps and sunglasses; the ultimate hockey player disguise.

"Speak of the devils, here they are. We'll everyone, we're off on the adventure. We promise to have plenty of pictures and to sign on before we go our separate ways. Be Great!"

"So what's on the agenda first?" Derick asked, much more awake than he should be after what the girls saw him drink last night.

"First is the chocolate factory." The girls told them. Some groaned, others smiled as they walked out of the coffee shop to their respective vehicles and followed the girls to the Anthony Thomas Factory. There, the large group toured for an hour the factory and finishing up with buying some of the chocolate sold.

The girls took a picture of all of their chocolate and posted it to Twitter,

Tweet from Ricki Martin:
Sweets for some sweet people @BobbiHull9 #chocolatewasted #mmm #lifewithoutchocolate

Tweet from Tyler Seguin:
@RickiMartin7 @BobbiHull9 don't you think you've been chocolate wasted enough? #notagain #stomachaches

Tweet from Ricki Martin:
You're just jealous you're not getting chocolate wasted #jealouspants @TylerSeguin92 @BobbiHull9

Tweet from Tyler Seguin
@RickiMartin7 I am jealous. You should come back to Boston and I'll take you to the chocolate factory #goodtimes #pickyouupat8

Tweet from Ricki Martin
@TylerSeguin92 Only in your dreams #tooyoung

"Quit tweeting Seguin so we can go to the zoo!" Derick yelled at Ricki as she stood outside her car. Ricki rolled her eyes and got in her car with Bobbi.

"Every thing okay?" Bobbi asked.

"Yeah...I'm fine. Just Tyler being...Tyler."

"Well my dear, we've got a caravan of good looking hockey players waiting to go to the zoo with you. Everything will work out for the best. Now let's go. I want to lock Jared in the monkey cage."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hello internet world! We are here at the Columbus Zoo with the Columbus Blue Jackets. As you can see behind me," Bobbi looked over her shoulder at the monkey cage, "I'm standing in front of the monkey cage and am trying to talk Brad over there," The Flip pans to a young man dressed in the required zoo uniform, "To let me lock Jared Boll in the monkey cage. Right now, Ricki is flirting with him to see if we can do it as a joke. From the shaking of Brad's head, we won't be able too. But do not fear fellow viewers, if we can't lock a Blue Jacket in the monkey cage, we'll find something else to do."

"He said something about it being dangerous. Obviously this guy hasn't watched a hockey game. I'm sure Jared can handle a cage of monkeys." Ricki said coming over to Bobbi.

"At least we tried."

"Tried what?" Jared and the other guys came over from a different exhibit.

"Nothing. Hey! Let's go see the Penguins!"

"And as we make our way there, let's have our traditional Q&A sessions with the boys, starting with Jared Boll. Now Jared...Mulberry bush aside, would a monkey really chase a weasel?"

"I think so, I mean...wasn't it all in fun?"

"You make a valid point. Thank you." Bobbi handed off the camera to Ricki who was walking with Rick Nash.

"Okay Rick, your turn. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"How come there are never father-in-law jokes?"

"Because the son-in-law is too afraid to make one up." He laughed.

"Wow, you guys are good at this. Everyone else couldn't or wouldn't give us an answer. I'm very proud."

When the large group made it to the Penguin exhibit, Ricki and Bobbi started to notice characteristics in these flightless birds that only true hockey fans would point out, "Oh my god...these penguins resemble the real Penguins. Look," The camera zoomed up to one penguin standing on the highest cliff, over looking the rest of them, "There's Sidney! And Geno!" Another penguin looked confused, his head twisting in different directions. Two other penguins stood off to the side, one taller than the other, and were fighting, "That's so Jordan and Marc! And the shy one in the corner is Kris! Even his feathers look amazing!"

From the penguins exhibit to the boas, everyone in the group laughed and joked around. The girls got to know the guys a little more and could see them in their natural state.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Ricki and Bobbi crashed back at the hotel after a dinner with the guys, they knew they were going to miss these guys. But after the eighth stop, the girls have gotten use to it.

"Crosby didn't like our penguin picture." Ricki said when her phone buzzed as she received a text for the Captain. The girls sent him a special picture of the Sidney Penguin pointing out the similar characteristics he had with the flightless bird.

"Tell him he did that with all of them. We don't just make fun of him." Bobbi told her, pulling out her own phone when she got a text.

Text from Kris Letang:
Hey Bobbi

Reply from Bobbi:
Hey Kris

Text from Kris Letang:
How's Columbus?"

Reply from Bobbi:
Not like Pittsburgh, but it's nice. It sucks to only have a couple days here. How's New York, right?

Text from Kris Letang:
It's good. It would be better if you were here. I miss you

Reply from Bobbi:
I miss you too Bobbi sighed.

"Is Kris professing his love to you?" Ricki asked when she came into the room from changing into her pajamas.

"No, he is not."

"But you wish he was."

"And so do all of the other women in North America."

"He understands the situation just like the others." Ricki shrugged, climbing under the covers of her bed.

"I know but there's something different about him. I mean, they're all different but Kris...he was so sweet. That date with him...you know."

"I do know. I haven't not heard about it since it happened." Teased Ricki, "But maybe Pittsburgh is where you want to be."

"Ricki, we're only eight places into a thirty stop road trip. I can't know that now."

"When it all comes to an end, just remember what's going to make you happy. If it's Kris or something else...that'll be your future and I want you to pick whatever is going to make you happy. That's why we're doing this. Now go to bed. We've got a long trip tomorrow."