Fantasy Reality

We pulled onto the tarmac and I glanced out the tinted window at the airplane that was waiting for us. Everything seemed so surreal, I mean come on, normal people don’t experience this. I thought first class was amazing and now I’m about to board a private plane with Mr. Hockey Legend Mario Lemieux himself and Sidney Crosby. I couldn’t help but pinch myself and caught Sid, out of the corner of my eye, stifling a giggle as he saw me pinch my arm.

I climbed out of the Escalade and Nathalie stood next to me, “come on sweetie, let’s get the good seats”, she said as she lead me towards the plane. From the moment I met her, which was only about 30 minutes ago, there was just something about her that you couldn’t help but like. As we climbed the stairs, I was picturing what the inside would look like. Couches and tables and maybe even a bed… didn’t Hugh Hefner have a bed on his plane?

To say that I was surprised is the understatement of the year; it was a regular plane…with a regular plane bathroom. The only difference was that the entire plane was like first class with 2 leather seats together. Where were the couches? Sid had climbed aboard and walked to the fifth row on the right side and stood there looking at me.

“What?” I asked. “This is where I always sit”, he said as he motioned to the seat next to him. I wasn’t really sure what the point of his statement was, was he waiting for me to sit next to him or did I have to sit far away from him and he was staking his territory? I stood firmly planted where I was, not knowing what to do.

“Usually Flower sits next to me, but you can take his seat”, Sid finally explained and I quickly moved to take my seat. Sid flopped into his seat and took out the PSP out of his pocket. Looking around, I saw that Mario and Nathalie had taken up residence across the aisle but instead of sitting next to each other, Nathalie was sitting in front of Mario and had the seat next to her filled with magazines while Mario was busy typing away on his laptop.

Not sure what to do, I took out my iPhone and put the ear buds into my ear in an attempt to drown out my thoughts, selecting my Keith Urban playlist, I sat back and closed my eyes listening to his voice and ignoring that feeling in the pit of my stomach that was trying to suggest that I was making a huge mistake.
We were flying for about an hour when Sid got bored of his video game and turned to face me. “I know all about me and you know all about me, but I think it’s time I know about you”, he said with a grin.

“Ya, good idea. It’s always nice to know if your girlfriend works”, I teased him. He just winked and waited for me to provide some tidbits to him. I told him about how my Dad died when I was younger and how it was just me and my Mom. I told him stories of my childhood, why I went into the medical field and why I chose to be a physio assistant; I gave him as much information as I could. He would add in something about himself every now and then and for the first time since I had met him the night before, I felt like I was actually getting my fan experience.

Before I knew it, the 4 and a half hour flight was over and we were descending into Los Angeles. I gathered my things and had my hand on my seat belt getting ready for the signal to undo it. Sid looked over and put his hand over mine, “we’re not getting off the plane”. I thought he was joking, but I noticed that Mario had moved into Nathalie’s row and was now sitting next to his wife. Glancing out the window, I saw various cars on the tarmac and could make out the faces of Jonathan Toews and Alex Ovechkin.

“What’s going on?” I asked Sid as I pointed out the window. “Umm, the captains have discussed getting together this summer to just talk about what we would do during the lockout and other captain stuff. Ron offered his island for us to really get away”. Excuse me? “What about your teammates? Aren’t they going?” Sid shook his head, “Nope, just Mario, Ron and the other captains with their wives or girlfriends”. Great, just great, at least I knew all the names of the guys on the Penguins. Now I had to learn player names along with the names of their wives and girlfriends. Silently I cursed Mike for putting me in this situation, as I watched a group of beautiful women draped in designer clothes talking animatedly on the tarmac.

There was some noise towards the front of the plane and I tore myself away from what was happening on the tarmac and instead looked towards the door as a middle aged man boarded the plane with a blonde woman. He walked towards us and greeted Mario and Nathalie warmly before turning his attention to Sid.

“Sid, how are you doing”, he asked as he shook his hand. “Good, I’m feeling better than ever. How are you doing Ron?”

“I’m about to head to an island to relax and get away, I guess you can see that I’m doing pretty damn good”, Ron said with a laugh. “Who’s this beautiful young lady”, Ron asked as looked my way and leaned over Sid to offer me his hand. “Ron, this is my girlfriend Carly. Carly, this is Ron”. I made sure to give Ron a firm handshake, “Nice to meet you”. Ron than introduced us to his girlfriend, Lisa and she left to take a seat towards the back of the plane as the other players started to board the plane.

Hockey player after hockey player walked past us nodding an acknowledgement or muttering a greeting as they and their significant others found seats. I watched with horror as everyone glanced my way and gave me the once over. It was like I was back in high school again and being judged by the popular kids, it wasn’t a very comfortable feeling.

“I don’t know these people”, I muttered to Sid as the last of the hockey players took their seats on the plane. “You watch hockey don’t you?” he asked as he adjusted his seat belt. “Yeah”, I replied. “Well, you know them”. Rolling my eyes in exasperation, I loudly whispered “that’s not what I meant”.

Sid didn’t have a chance to respond before Ron stood at the front of the plane and gathered everyone’s attention. “I just wanted to thank you all for coming and spending a few days with us, I think after all your hard work this off season and with the possibility of a lockout, we can all do with a little R and R. The flight to Burkson Island is less than 2 hours, sit back and enjoy the flight”. Everyone started to clap and I joined in, even though I thought it was a little dramatic to applaud a 2 second greeting, but who was I to judge?

‘Just 2 more hours and then you go to the villa and relax’ I told myself over and over again as the plane thundered down the runway for takeoff. Sid had turned his attention back to his video game and I stared out the window trying to figure out how I would survive the next few days when the captain turned off the seatbelt sign. Before long, players were roaming around the plane and everyone made their way to where we were sitting. Over and over again, Sid introduced me to people that I had only seen in the Hockey News or on television during a game and their significant others. Each time he called me his girlfriend, a look of surprise was visible on their faces. Few joked with Sid saying things like “So you’re not gay? I always thought you were” or “About time, thought you’d never find anyone”. I began to catch a glimpse into what it was like to be Sidney Crosby.

I glanced over at him and just stared for a moment, “don’t look at me like that”, he said. “Like what?” I asked him. “Like you feel sorry for me, I don’t need your pity”.

“Believe it or not, I don’t pity you nor do I feel sorry for you. I’m just trying to understand why someone so young and so unbelievably talented feels that they need a girlfriend to fit in. Don’t tell me it’s not true, we both know it is or I wouldn’t be here”. His silence was all I needed to secure confirmation that what I said was the truth and in that instant, unknown to him, I did feel sorry for him. I began to realize that underneath the public persona of Sidney Crosby, the hockey player that you see on the ice; was just a normal 25 year old who was insecure and wanted to be accepted by his peers.

Our landing on Burkson Island was rough, it was a bumpy gravel runway and each time we bumped along I would grab the armrest a little tighter. Sid must have felt bad for me because he patted my hand and when I looked at him he mouthed the words “thank you”. For a moment everything stood still and for the first time since I agreed to this arrangement, I felt like I made the right choice.

Getting everyone off the plane and loading all the luggage onto what looked like over sized jeeps took forever. Finally Sid, Mario, Nathalie and I were loaded onto a vehicle and headed down a gravel road that would take us to the main house. The Island was beautiful; it had been compared to Richard Branson’s Island with the tropical feeling and the gorgeous beaches with the clear aqua marine water surrounding it. There was a huge main house and the tops of the Villas were slightly visible through the tall foliage and trees. We arrived at the main house and joined everyone who was standing around. There were dozens of golf carts and 4 wheelers and Ron was standing handing out keys to Villas and the transportation to get there.

Everyone started climbing into golf carts or onto 4 wheelers, loading up luggage and heading to their Villas to get settled in before we all had dinner together. Finally, everyone had left and it was just the Lemieux’s, Ron, Lisa and Sid and I standing with our luggage. “Okay guys, come on, I’ll show you to your room”, Ron said as he grabbed a suitcase and led the way into the main house.

Sid and I looked at each other but we picked up our luggage and followed Mario and Nathalie past the huge foyer. Ron pointed out the gorgeous family room with stone fireplace and led us down a long hallway. “You guys are getting the special treatment, these rooms have beautiful views of the beaches and North side of the island”, he said as he stopped and opened a door. “Mario, Nathalie, this is your room. Lisa will show you around. Sid, Carly, follow me”. We walked towards the end of the hall; Ron swung open the mahogany door and stepped inside, depositing my suitcase on the hardwood floor.

“So this is your room, right through here is the bathroom” he said as he pushed open a door. Pointing to a sliding door on the other side of the room, he added “through there you can follow the path down to a secluded beach and this closet here is filled with towels and blankets if you need anything. I’ll let you guys get settled and see you at dinner”. Ron walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Sid and I were motionless as we looked around the room, it was a beautiful room, don’t get me wrong, but the only thing I could focus on was the bed. A four poster canopy bed draped with silk and lace; it looked it like should be in the honeymoon suite at a 5 star hotel. Along with the bed that was obviously the centerpiece of the room, there was a fireplace and two wing backed chairs that were separated with a table topped with a vase of fresh flowers.

Still standing in the exact same spot I was in when Ron left us, I looked at Sid, “I thought you said we would have a Villa all to ourselves.”

“We were, this wasn’t in the plan. There’s no couch!” Sid exclaimed as he dropped the suitcase he was carrying.

“No shit, captain obvious. But lucky for you, I saw the Proposal, so you can do like Ryan Reynolds and sleep on the floor”, I said as I walked over to the sliding doors and opened them to allow the ocean breeze to blow through.

“I’m not even going to pretend that I know what you’re talking about”, Sid muttered as he walked into the bathroom to freshen up for dinner.