Fantasy Reality

The next few weeks were difficult, the lockout had gone ahead and Sid was miserable. He wanted to play hockey and he wanted to play it now. He and a few other guys practiced at Southpointe where they had rented the ice for 4 days a week.

We didn’t see a lot of each other, he was up early working out and then practicing, when he got home, he just wanted to unwind or had decisions to make regarding his house. There were no team events to go to, no need for us to pretend we were a couple and I spent more time with Nathalie than anyone else. Plus, it gave me time to think and come up with thousands of reasons why I shouldn’t like Sid. Like the fact that he would rearrange my shoes when I took them off or how he would wear the same clothes over and over again. Those were obviously deal breakers, who could live with that? Right?

Sitting at the desk in my room at the Lemieux’s, I was trying to convince my Mom that all was well in an email. I had started physical therapy and my back was feeling somewhat better, I still had issues when sitting or walking for long periods of time, but was slowly coming around.

“Mom and Dad are heading to Minnesota to watch Taylor’s hockey tournament this weekend and this would be a great opportunity for you to meet them”, Sid said as he walked into my room without even bothering to knock.

I looked up from the laptop, “No thank you”. I wasn’t ready to meet his family, let alone tag along on a family weekend.

“No thank you?” Sid sat down on the bed and used his foot to twist the computer chair; I was sitting on, around to face him. “That wasn’t a question Carly, I’m going to Minnesota and you’re going to come along with me”.

“Sid, I don’t think it’s the right time to meet the family. You go and have a great time and I’ll see you when you come back from Vail”.

“This isn’t open for discussion, we’re going”.

“I’m not going”, my eyes found his and I tried to challenge him. But with Sid being who he was, I knew that in the end, he would win and get his way. Happened every time. There were no discussions, if he came home from practice and wanted to go out for dinner and decided that I should do, he told me. There was no such thing as asking, I wasn’t allowed to give input, it was his way or the highway.

“Carly, you’re going. We’re leaving tomorrow at 11”; the conversation was done as he walked out of my room slamming the door behind him. The boy might be 25, but there were days when he acted like he was 5. Groaning, I picked up the new Louis Vuitton carryall that Nathalie had purchased for me and started shoving clothes into it. He might be making me go to Minnesota, but he wasn’t going to make me like it.

*~*

We were strapped into our first class seats and I glanced around at the other people in our area. Most were businessmen who looked like they couldn’t be bothered with the fact that Sid was on their flight. I tried to block out everything as I mentally prepared for meeting his family. What was I even suppose to say to them? “Hey, I’m your son’s fake girlfriend, nice to meet you”. Yeah, I’m sure that’s every parents dream. This weekend was going to be tough, Troy and Trina were well aware of the situation but Taylor, just like the Lemieux kids, was still in the dark and thought that she was really meeting her brothers girlfriend.

As we landed, I tried to stop my hands from shaking. If everything went as planned, their flight would have arrived almost 20 minutes before us and they would be waiting at the baggage claim; that did nothing to help how nervous I was at the prospect of meeting them. I secretly hoped that their plane was delayed so I could get into the airport and go to the washroom to calm down before we greeted them.

Luck wasn’t on my side because as soon as we followed the other passengers off the aircraft and into the airport, the first person I noticed was Troy. I slowed my walk and Sid gave me a little push, the time had come and there was no prolonging it. Troy swiftly walked over to Sid and gave him a giant hug while Trina hung back. Releasing his son, Troy glanced at me as Trina gave Sid a hug.

“You must be Carly, I’m Troy”, he said as he extended his hand. Shaking his hand, I gave him a smile and tried to control my breathing. “Troy, you don’t have to be so formal”, Trina said as she turned to me and gave me a hug. “Carly, it’s so nice to meet you. We are so delighted that you’re doing this for Sid and I can’t wait to get to know you”. Trina’s eyes danced and I instantly felt at ease. Sid and his Dad were deep into conversation about the lockout as Trina and I headed towards the baggage claim. “Don’t mind Troy, he’s one of those strong silent types”, Trina said as we glanced back at the guys. “Taylor is so excited to meet you, don’t be surprised if she talks your ear off”.

Giving a small laugh, I couldn’t help but love Trina. She reminded me of my own Mom and my hands finally stopped shaking. We made small talk as Troy and Sid came to stand with us and wait for our bags to appear.

Once we piled our luggage onto their cart, we made our way out of the airport and to the hotel. Sid and I each had our own suite next to each other and his parents were directly across from us. When Troy deposited my carryall in my room, I was relieved that I had my own space so I could collect my thoughts in private. I was just jumping on the bed when my iPhone started ringing. “Hello?”

“Carly, the first game is tomorrow but we’re going out for dinner with Taylor tonight”, Sid informed me.

“How about you go and I stay and order room service?” There was silence on the other end and I heard a beeping noise. Looking down I saw that the call had ended. “He hung up on me”, I said out loud as I tossed the phone onto the bed. Who did he think he was?

Making sure I had my room card, I walked out of my room and went to Sid’s door. Banging on it, he opened the door and a look of surprise crossed his face. “You hung up on me”, I said as he stood in the doorway.

“That’s because you were being difficult, we’re going out for dinner, end of story”. Sid leaned against the door frame and gave me a cocky smile. “You really annoy the hell out of me at times, did you know that? You’re an ass.” I said as I turned to walk back to my room. The only sound I heard was his door closing.

“Asshole”, I muttered under my breath as I unlocked my door and walked in. There was nothing I hated more than being told what to do, whatever happened to being asked to do something. The more time that passed, the more I was being told what to do and what to wear and where to go. No one asked me if I wanted to do something anymore, they’d just tell me and assume I wanted to do it. And there was no saying no.

I scowled and sat on the couch, this arrangement was suppose to be easy or so I had been told many times. Truthfully, I was getting tired of feeling like I was a kid and being told what to do. I was the type of person who would take things for so long and then snap and I think that time had come. I was bending over backwards to make life easier for Sid but I was getting nothing in return, any respect he had for me was long gone… or so it seemed. As I called Sid names in my head, there was a knock on my door.

Ignoring it, I silently called him a bastard and picked up the remote and turned the TV up to drown out the knocking.

“Carly, open up”, he shouted as I continued making up names to call him. He knocked again. “Leave me alone”, I yelled as I got out my phone and put my ear buds in. I turned my iPhone up and was singing along to Katy Perry when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and fell off the couch, falling onto the floor and banging my elbow off the coffee table in the process. I looked up and into Sid’s eyes. “What the fuck are you doing in my room?”

“You wouldn’t answer the door”, he said simply as he held out a hand to help me up. Ignoring his outstretched hand, I hauled myself up and tried to take a look at my elbow.

“What is wrong with you? You’ve been acting like a bitch since yesterday”. I glared at him. “Did you just call me a bitch?”

“No, I said you were acting like one. What the hell is wrong with you?” He asked as he sat on the couch.

“You. You’re what’s wrong with me”, I spat at him as I sat on the loveseat and cautiously pushed in on my elbow to determine if it was more than just a bruise.

“Me? What the fuck did I do?” Sid’s eyes were on mine and I scowled at him. “Umm… lets see. How about the fact that you treat me like a fucking 2 year old? Have you noticed that nobody asks me if I want to do something anymore? It’s all ‘Carly, you’re doing this’ or ‘we’re here going’ and I never get a say. I agreed to help you out, but I certainly didn’t agree to have you boss me around.”

Sid’s mouth dropped open. “You think that I’m bossing you around? You can’t be serious”.

“Ya Sid, I’m serious. Whatever happened to asking me if I wanted to join you and your family for dinner tonight? No, you just tell me and then hang up in case I decide to say something that you don’t want to hear. You are nothing but a spoiled brat and I’ve had enough”. There, finally it was off my chest. I had tossed and turned last night with those thoughts running through my mind and it felt fantastic to say it to his face.

“Carly, I didn’t even realize that. You had to meet my family; we needed to get the ball rolling on that before I could bring you to events. You’re the first girl that I’ve ever introduced to my family and I’ve been nervous about it all week. I’m sorry that I didn’t think of you and your feelings”. I glared at him out of the corner of my eye, he did look sorry, I’d give him that much.

I sighed, “Sid, all you had to do was tell me that it was important that I meet your family this weekend and then ask me to come, but you just tell me what to do. It’s like you expect me to ask you how high if you tell me to jump. I’m not a dog, I’m not a slave, and I’m certainly not a doormat that you can just continue to walk all over”.

Sid stood and walked over the loveseat, he dropped to his knees in front of me. “Carly, I am so sorry. The last thing I’d ever want you to feel like is a doormat. I promise that from now on I’ll ask you, I’ll make sure that everyone asks you. I promise you that”. Looking into his eyes, I knew he was telling the truth. “Okay”, I muttered as he lowered his head and laid it on top of my knees. I raked my fingers through his curls and leaned against the back of the loveseat, enjoying the closeness of him and knowing that he was probably only staying like that because we were just friends, it was his ringtone brought us out of our trance.

“Ya, sure, we’ll be ready by then”. Sid leaned back onto his heels. “That was Dad, he said that we have reservations for 7, we have an hour before we leave. Is that okay?”

I grinned. “Ya, that’s prefect”, I told him as he stood up and walked towards the door. “I am sorry and I’m going to make this up to you”, he said as walked out the door and slowly closed it behind him. ‘Hell ya, you are’, I thought as I stood up and walked into the bathroom to start to get ready.