Bay Boy

On Saturday morning I woke up at seven, I wanted to make the most of my time in DC. I crept to the kitchen, careful not to wake Jana or Ben. I made myself some scrambled eggs and toast, and enjoyed my breakfast, looking out the window at DC. It was so goddamn beautiful. Montreal just couldn't compare. It was Saturday morning, the drew time would have practice soon. I decided to surprise my old coach.

I arrived at the crew shed at Georgetown where all the oars and other small pieces of equipment were kept. I zipped my windbreaker up, combating the mid-November chill. Soon, Coach Douglas arrived, whistling happily. "Coach D!" I yelled before rushing to hug him. "Mila! How are you? How's McGill? Are you staying for practice?" I answered all of Coach's questions and helped him haul some equipment out. Half an hour later, sixty guys and girls were doing ERG sprints, using the rowing machines. Coach D and I gave them pointers and soon it was time to hit the water. The Potomac River was serene and brown, just as I remembered it.

At the end of practice, Coach D's number was in my phone and I was sweaty, having rowed for a while. Coach Douglas insisted I call or text him whenever and to keep in touch. I grabbed lunch at the Georgetown cafeteria before heading back to Jana's. I showered and toweled off my hair before sending Jordan a good luck text. I knew he was taking his pre-game nap but he'd see it when he woke up. I went for a long walk through DC, visiting all my favorite spots, before heading back to get ready for the game.

I stepped into Verizon Center, Jana by my side, and we quickly went through security before we found our seats. Holy shit. We really were right behind the box. I had no idea how Jordan had gotten our tickets and I absolutely did not want to know how much it had cost him, especially on short notice. I would probably faint at the number.

Jana was practically hyperventilating. She started banging on the glass of the player's box and Alex Ovechkin turned around and smirked. I quickly apologized for Jana's craziness in Russian, telling Ovie
"Sorry, she's an insane idiot."
My comment in his mother tongue went over well and he laughed, exposing his missing teeth. Jana full on stared at him and kept yelling "go caps go," even though it was intermission after the second period. I elbowed her lightly.
"Can you get her to shut up?" Alexander asked in Russian.
"She might if you give her an autograph, no promises though," I replied, also in Russian.
Ovie smiled and grabbed two pucks and scrawled something on both of them. "What your name and what hers?" I told him our names and he nodded quickly, the period was starting soon. He handed me the pucks and I handed one to Jana. She squealed and yelled thank you to Alex. She whipped out her phone, probably texting Ben about the puck. I glanced at my puck. "Milena, it was great meeting you. Yours, Alex Ovechkin." The message was scrawled in his messy Russian script and I turned it over, feeling the rubber before my eyes widened. Alex had written his number on the back. Holy fuck. Last year I would have given Alex a call but now there was no way in hell I'd be calling, I had Jordan.
The game went into overtime, the Caps winning in a shootout and I smiled. I had passes to the visitor's locker room and I was excited to see how Jana reacted to a room full of hockey players. She probably would have jumped a couple of them had it not been for Ben.

I wandered to the locker room with Jana after a couple minutes. As we were heading in the direction of the visitor's locker room we bumped into Ovechkin and a bunch of Caps. I nearly squealed. These men were my favorite hockey players. Jana looked like she was about to pass out. Finally Alex spoke. "How you got down here pretty girl?" He gave me a gap toothed smile. I flashed him our passes and he nodded. "If you Pens girlfriend why you wear our shirt?" I smirked. "I'm from DC, I'm a Caps fan, regardless of who I'm dating."
"Sorry for leaving number, I didn't know you not single." I waved my hand, indicating it was no big deal. "Please, I was flattered." Ovie grinned again. The missing teeth thing kind of worked on him.
"Tell me you not dating Crosby. If you are leave him for me. You too nice Russian girl for Cindy." I laughed at that. "Nope, not Crosby. Um, this is super awkward but hi there Mr. Green would it be okay if I got an autograph? You too, Mr. Laich." Mike and Brooks both laughed. "I'm Mike, not Mr. Green. But you can call Brooks Mr. Laich, he's old. But sure." They both signed my shirt and then posed for a picture with me, which Alex photo bombed. Jana got her autographs too and then I told them how much I loved the team and how I expected them to win the Cup this year before they hugged me goodbye.

I walked into the locker room. A couple guys where in just boxers but it didn't bother me. Jana was red faced though and decided to go home, giving me a hug and leaving. Jordan spotted me and told everyone to cover up. "Hey guys, this is Milena, my girlfriend." A bunch of guys hooted and hollered and I gave a freshly showered Jordan a hug. "Good game, you played well." Jordan nodded. Suddenly, Kris Letang noticed I was wearing a Caps shirt. "Hey, you can't be dating the enemy Gronk! Bros before hoes." I giggled at that. I play smacked Jordan. "Yeah Jordo, way to break the bro code."