We Found Love

“What the FUCK is happening out there tonight? Can somebody please explain this to me before I lose my mind?” Dan screamed as he slammed the door to his office shut after our 7-1 loss to the Senators, our fourth loss in a row. Emily and I sat and stared awkwardly at the floor while Dan stormed around his office, absolutely seething. I had given away over 8 turnovers, and Emily had been ejected from the game after jumping on Erik Karlsson’s back, who had apparently chirped at her the wrong way, and punching him repeatedly.

“Sorry Coach,” I said quietly, but Dan simply slammed his hand against the desk and glared at me.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it Sidney! There is something going on here, and until you tell me what the fucking problem is, neither of you are playing!” he screamed, and Emily paled.

“Coach,” she started, but he waved her off.

“One of our agreements when the management decided we’d let you two date was that it wouldn’t affect your game. Obviously, neither of you are upholding this promise. Sidney, you will be scratched next game, and Emily…well, we’re trying to decide if we’re going to keep you here in Pittsburgh. You’re a phenomenal player, but once you and Sid have a problem, you both tank. We can’t afford to have that happen,” Dan said quietly before waving us out the door.

“Emily,” I said quietly, and she froze, but didn’t look at me.

“Sidney, I’m sorry you got in trouble because of me, but like I said…you deserve more. Don’t try and fix this…I’m not going to change my mind,” she said before running into the locker room.

The next game we played wasn’t any better. I was still struggling to get my head in the game, and Emily was drawing way too many stupid penalties.

“You two are done. Crosby, get in the shower, I need to talk to Vance alone,” Dan growled, and I felt my heart sink. Emily’s eyes were blank as I left Dan’s office. I had a feeling that it would be the last time I saw her in a Penguins’ jersey.

Emily’s Point of View

My hands trembled as I sat in the chair across from Dan. He looked tired and sad, and I bit my lip nervously as he shuffled some papers around.

“Emily, I don’t want to lose you on this team, but you and Sidney obviously haven’t even attempted to fix whatever went wrong, and it is severely affecting your game. And when you two are off, the other guys slowly are thrown off, and when nobody is playing their best, we lose. We’re trading you Emily,” Dan said quietly, and I stared at him for a minute.

“No…Dan, no. I can fix this! I’m sorry! Please, give me another chance!” I squeaked, but Dan shook his head sadly.

“I’m sorry Emily, but my hands are tied. The upper management called for this move, no me. I can’t do anything about it. We’ll make sure that you get sent to a good team, but we’re not going to be able to keep you here in Pittsburgh. It has become increasingly obvious that you and Sidney aren’t able to handle being on the same team,” Dan explained, and I just stood up.

“You’re going to regret this,” I said quietly.

“I know,” Dan sighed, looking away from me. I walked out of his office numbly and headed towards my locker. I grabbed my bag from the Equipment Room, and a few of the guys looked at me strangely as I threw all of my equipment into the bag.

“Emily, what are you doing?” Kris asked.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I snapped, trying to fight off the tears that were forming in my eyes. I was so ashamed of myself.

“It looks like you pack up stuff to leave,” Geno said quietly, and a small sob escaped my lips.

“What’s happening Emily?” James asked quietly.

“I’m being traded…me and Sid…our chemistry flopped on the ice…it was part of the agreement…the upper management is trading me,” I explained, fighting the sobs that were forming in my chest. The locker room grew incredibly silent, and then Geno punched his locker stall.

“That is bullshit! I talk to Dan now, because we not lose you. We can’t,” Geno snarled before storming into Dan’s office. We all heard an explosion of Russian and English mixed before we heard Dan screaming back, and Geno came out a few minutes later with his face blood red and his eyes narrowed into tiny slits.

“We will fix this Emily, not worry,” Geno said, his voice hoarse from screaming. I simply let a tear roll down my cheek as I tucked my jersey into my bag and walked out of the locker room.

Sidney’s Point of View

“The New Jersey Devils acquired forward Emily Vance last night in what was an incredibly surprising move by the flopping Pittsburgh Penguins. The unlucky forward had struck a drought a little over two weeks ago, and began to pull a lot of bad penalties including a game ejection before the Penguins upper management decided to ship her out. The Penguins received a first round draft pick, a second round draft pick, and one of the Albany Devils in return for Emily Vance’s contract. Miss Vance has not released a statement yet, and we were unable to reach her agent at this time,” the reporter on the TV said, and I had to resist the urge to throw my remote through the screen as I turned it off. I hadn’t seen Emily since Dan threw me out of his office, and I wasn’t told that she was being traded, although I had had my suspicions. I had driven to her apartment like a mad man the second Geno called and told me, but she was already gone by the time I had gotten there. Marc told me that Emily had known I would go, so she called Vero, had her help her pack all of her clothes quickly, and had her drive her to a hotel. I was pissed that Vero had done that, but I couldn’t blame her either. It was my fault that Emily was being shipped off to New Jersey, and I regretted every second I hadn’t spent apologizing to Emily over the past few weeks. But worse than the regret was the loneliness. I found one of her sweatshirts under my bed, and the picture of us kissing in Boston was still on my end table. The thought that I had lost the one woman who I could really love, and who loved me in return was unbearable.

Dan had though moving Emily would help get my game back, but he was wrong.