All the Faint Lights
002:
Chapter Two
You know, I remember my sister specifically telling me yesterday not to come through the left door, but there were so many doors, I didn’t know what one was the left door that she told me to avoid. But of course, it’s just my luck that I picked the wrong door. Wolf whistles were being heard in every direction and I found out what she meant by these guys were crazy, they were perverted hockey playing weirdo horn dogs.
“Hey baby, come here often?” the one said and I looked at him a little surprised that he would talk to me like that.
“Wow, that the best pick up line you’ve got?” I asked and he smirked and then leaned against the wall in front of me.
“You give me some time, and I we don’t have to say a wo-“
“Max! Get away from her! Stop being a creep!” an older man yelled as he came down the hallway and shoved the man away.
“Come on Coach, isn’t she a little young for you?” the guy asked with a smirk on his face.
“Talbot, get!” he said and ‘Max’ held up his hands and turned around starting to walk away, but then turned around and sent a kiss in my direction.
“Wow,” I said and then rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“Most of them are like that,” the man said and I gave a small smile, “You must be Caroline, Trisha said that you might get lost and to keep an eye out for you.”
“Ah, big sister comes to the rescue,” I said and he laughed and nodded his head.
“Yeah, I’ll take you to her,” he said and I thanked him and nodded my head, “So do you know what your sister does?”
“Not in the slightest,” I said as he led me over towards an elevator, “She didn’t tell me I needed to go up an elevator.”
“That’s because if you went through the right door, you wouldn’t need to,” he said and I scoffed.
“Well sorry, but there were like fifteen doors, put a sign in front of it next time!” he chuckled and I sighed, “So that guy, ‘Max’, he called you Coach?”
“Yeah, sorry, I’m Dan Bylsma, head coach to the Pittsburgh Penguins,” he said proudly and I smiled and shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Caroline Donnelly, future country star,” I said proudly and he smirked.
“So I’m assuming that a ‘future country star’ like yourself, doesn’t know a think about hockey?” he said and I snorted.
“You would assume correctly. My sister likes it, but I’ve never really got hooked onto it,” I explained, “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a game.”
“Then if you’ve never seen it, how do you know you don’t like it?” he asked and I looked up towards him.
“Touché,” I said and he laughed.
“Well, your sister’s office is three doors down hall on your left,” he said as we walked out of the elevator.
“Ok, thanks,” I said and he nodded his head and walked down a different hallway. I walked down the hallway and found the room that had my sister’s name engraved onto a plate, ‘…Wow, so professional…’
The door opened just when I was about to knock and I fell forward a little bit. My knuckles hit a person’s chest and I looked up to see a guy a few inches taller than me. I blushed and then stood up straight mumbling an apology.
“No it’s all right-“ he started and I heard my sister call my name, “Ah, so you’re the famous Caroline,” the guy said and I looked up gave a nervous smile.
“And you’re the famous,” I paused to think of something to say, “Hockey player person,” I laughed nervously and he smirked.
“Sorry Sid, she doesn’t know a thing about hockey,” Trisha said as she appeared behind this ‘Sid’, “Caroline, meet Sidney Crosby, you’re probably the only girl in Pittsburgh who has no clue who he is.”
“Oh well, uh, that’s nice,” I said and then held out my hand and shook his, “Nice to meet you.”
“Same,” he said, “I’d better get back down to the ice.”
“Yeah, tell Neal that I want to see him after practice,” Trisha said as I moved out of the way so that Sidney could walk through.
“Yeah sure, is this about his little comment?”
“Yeah, tell him he owes me a new bottle of Advil!” Trisha yelled as Sidney walked down the hallway towards the stairs.
“Yeah, all right,” he laughed and then opened the door and disappeared.
“Wow Lin, just wow,” Trisha said and I looked at her confused, “You’re probably the only girl in Pittsburgh who hasn’t freaked out in front of him.”
“Who is he?”
“And she doesn’t even know, my god,” Trisha laughed and then walked into her office. I followed her and then closed the door, looking around her office to see that it was nice, wasn’t too big, wasn’t too small, “Sidney Crosby is the golden boy of Pittsburgh, and probably the nicest person you’ll ever meet too.”
“That’s nice,” I said and then sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk, “Nice place.”
“Thanks,” she said and then walked over towards her desk and pulled her chair in front of the computer, “So dad called me today.”
“Why?”
“To check up on you, wanted to know if you were practicing your songs,” she said and I scoffed, “I know. You should tell him that you want to do country, not this crap music that he wants you to do.”
“You know why the boys and I won’t,” I sighed and then slid lazily down the chair, “Oh, I have your money.”
“You know you don’t have to, Lin.”
“No, we split everything! Remember?!”
“Yeah, yeah, but you need all the money-“
“No, I said we split the food, rent and bills, then we split the food, rent and bills,” I said and Trisha sighed and nodded her head.
“So you know my friend Miley? Trisha asked and I nodded my head, “Well she told me about this bar that’s across town that as an amateur night contest coming up. You should sign up!”
“Naw, I’m good.”
“The winning is a grand,” she said and I sat up in my chair and stared at her wide eyed, “I know.”
“I’ll talk to the guys,” I said and Trisha smiled and nodded her head.
“I’ll find out more of the information from Miley,” she said and I stood up and walked around the room, looking at all of the pictures on the wall.
“So what do you do exactly?” I asked and walked over towards the windows thinking that I would be able to look outside, but was surprised to see that you saw down towards the ice, you saw the boys skating around.
“I’m one of the public relation managers that deal with the left wingers,” she said and I looked at her completely lost. She giggled and then turned in her chair to look at me, and then explained to me about positions that some of the guys play, “There are five left wingers on the team, Tanner Glass, Chris Kunitz, Dustin Jeffrey, James Neal and Matt Cooke.”
“So you don’t manage Sidney?” I asked and Trisha smirked and shook her head, but I eyed her suspiciously and smirked, “What’s going on between you two?”
“Nothing, nothing!” she said quickly and then turned in her chair.
“Whatever,” I laughed and looked back down towards the ice, “So there are other managers?”
“Yeah, one for the two goaltenders, one for the defensemen, one for the centermen and one for the right wingers,” Trisha explained and I nodded my head.
“So what is Max?” I asked and she looked at me surprised.
“How do you know Max?”
“Oh, the creep kind of kit on me in the hall before Dan showed up,” I laughed and Trisha sighed.
“Max is sweet when he wants to be, but he’s mostly a creep, so watch yourself when you’re around him.”
“Be sure to remember that,” I said and then sighed, “But it’s not like I plan on coming down here a lot.”
“You should, I won’t mind have another person in the family liking his sport,” she said and I snorted.
“What about Asher or Gordan?” I asked as I looked over towards the filing cabinet and saw a family picture of the four of us.
“I don’t know, they never really looked like they were into it,” she said and I heard her typing on the computer, “Son of a bitch.”
“What?” I asked and she moved her chair and bent down to grab her purse, pulling out a bottle of Advil, “What’s wrong?”
“Neal made a comment to a rival player at the game two nights ago, and the media is having a blast with it,” she groaned and I walked over towards the computer and looked at the article.
“Looks to me like this ‘Neal’ thinks he’s better than everyone else,” I said and Trisha shook her head.
“Not everyone else,” I heard and looked up towards the door to see a guy leaning against the doorframe, “Just Ference.”
“Yeah, I don’t know who that is,” I said and Trisha sighed.
“Neal.”
“Hey Trish, Sid said you wanted to see me,” the guy said and Trisha nodded her head, “Brought you a present,” he said and then threw her a bottle of Advil.
“Good, I’m going to need it,” she said and then shook her other bottle to see that it’s almost empty, “Neal, meet my sister, Caroline, Lin, meet James Neal.”
You know, I remember my sister specifically telling me yesterday not to come through the left door, but there were so many doors, I didn’t know what one was the left door that she told me to avoid. But of course, it’s just my luck that I picked the wrong door. Wolf whistles were being heard in every direction and I found out what she meant by these guys were crazy, they were perverted hockey playing weirdo horn dogs.
“Hey baby, come here often?” the one said and I looked at him a little surprised that he would talk to me like that.
“Wow, that the best pick up line you’ve got?” I asked and he smirked and then leaned against the wall in front of me.
“You give me some time, and I we don’t have to say a wo-“
“Max! Get away from her! Stop being a creep!” an older man yelled as he came down the hallway and shoved the man away.
“Come on Coach, isn’t she a little young for you?” the guy asked with a smirk on his face.
“Talbot, get!” he said and ‘Max’ held up his hands and turned around starting to walk away, but then turned around and sent a kiss in my direction.
“Wow,” I said and then rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“Most of them are like that,” the man said and I gave a small smile, “You must be Caroline, Trisha said that you might get lost and to keep an eye out for you.”
“Ah, big sister comes to the rescue,” I said and he laughed and nodded his head.
“Yeah, I’ll take you to her,” he said and I thanked him and nodded my head, “So do you know what your sister does?”
“Not in the slightest,” I said as he led me over towards an elevator, “She didn’t tell me I needed to go up an elevator.”
“That’s because if you went through the right door, you wouldn’t need to,” he said and I scoffed.
“Well sorry, but there were like fifteen doors, put a sign in front of it next time!” he chuckled and I sighed, “So that guy, ‘Max’, he called you Coach?”
“Yeah, sorry, I’m Dan Bylsma, head coach to the Pittsburgh Penguins,” he said proudly and I smiled and shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Caroline Donnelly, future country star,” I said proudly and he smirked.
“So I’m assuming that a ‘future country star’ like yourself, doesn’t know a think about hockey?” he said and I snorted.
“You would assume correctly. My sister likes it, but I’ve never really got hooked onto it,” I explained, “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a game.”
“Then if you’ve never seen it, how do you know you don’t like it?” he asked and I looked up towards him.
“Touché,” I said and he laughed.
“Well, your sister’s office is three doors down hall on your left,” he said as we walked out of the elevator.
“Ok, thanks,” I said and he nodded his head and walked down a different hallway. I walked down the hallway and found the room that had my sister’s name engraved onto a plate, ‘…Wow, so professional…’
The door opened just when I was about to knock and I fell forward a little bit. My knuckles hit a person’s chest and I looked up to see a guy a few inches taller than me. I blushed and then stood up straight mumbling an apology.
“No it’s all right-“ he started and I heard my sister call my name, “Ah, so you’re the famous Caroline,” the guy said and I looked up gave a nervous smile.
“And you’re the famous,” I paused to think of something to say, “Hockey player person,” I laughed nervously and he smirked.
“Sorry Sid, she doesn’t know a thing about hockey,” Trisha said as she appeared behind this ‘Sid’, “Caroline, meet Sidney Crosby, you’re probably the only girl in Pittsburgh who has no clue who he is.”
“Oh well, uh, that’s nice,” I said and then held out my hand and shook his, “Nice to meet you.”
“Same,” he said, “I’d better get back down to the ice.”
“Yeah, tell Neal that I want to see him after practice,” Trisha said as I moved out of the way so that Sidney could walk through.
“Yeah sure, is this about his little comment?”
“Yeah, tell him he owes me a new bottle of Advil!” Trisha yelled as Sidney walked down the hallway towards the stairs.
“Yeah, all right,” he laughed and then opened the door and disappeared.
“Wow Lin, just wow,” Trisha said and I looked at her confused, “You’re probably the only girl in Pittsburgh who hasn’t freaked out in front of him.”
“Who is he?”
“And she doesn’t even know, my god,” Trisha laughed and then walked into her office. I followed her and then closed the door, looking around her office to see that it was nice, wasn’t too big, wasn’t too small, “Sidney Crosby is the golden boy of Pittsburgh, and probably the nicest person you’ll ever meet too.”
“That’s nice,” I said and then sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk, “Nice place.”
“Thanks,” she said and then walked over towards her desk and pulled her chair in front of the computer, “So dad called me today.”
“Why?”
“To check up on you, wanted to know if you were practicing your songs,” she said and I scoffed, “I know. You should tell him that you want to do country, not this crap music that he wants you to do.”
“You know why the boys and I won’t,” I sighed and then slid lazily down the chair, “Oh, I have your money.”
“You know you don’t have to, Lin.”
“No, we split everything! Remember?!”
“Yeah, yeah, but you need all the money-“
“No, I said we split the food, rent and bills, then we split the food, rent and bills,” I said and Trisha sighed and nodded her head.
“So you know my friend Miley? Trisha asked and I nodded my head, “Well she told me about this bar that’s across town that as an amateur night contest coming up. You should sign up!”
“Naw, I’m good.”
“The winning is a grand,” she said and I sat up in my chair and stared at her wide eyed, “I know.”
“I’ll talk to the guys,” I said and Trisha smiled and nodded her head.
“I’ll find out more of the information from Miley,” she said and I stood up and walked around the room, looking at all of the pictures on the wall.
“So what do you do exactly?” I asked and walked over towards the windows thinking that I would be able to look outside, but was surprised to see that you saw down towards the ice, you saw the boys skating around.
“I’m one of the public relation managers that deal with the left wingers,” she said and I looked at her completely lost. She giggled and then turned in her chair to look at me, and then explained to me about positions that some of the guys play, “There are five left wingers on the team, Tanner Glass, Chris Kunitz, Dustin Jeffrey, James Neal and Matt Cooke.”
“So you don’t manage Sidney?” I asked and Trisha smirked and shook her head, but I eyed her suspiciously and smirked, “What’s going on between you two?”
“Nothing, nothing!” she said quickly and then turned in her chair.
“Whatever,” I laughed and looked back down towards the ice, “So there are other managers?”
“Yeah, one for the two goaltenders, one for the defensemen, one for the centermen and one for the right wingers,” Trisha explained and I nodded my head.
“So what is Max?” I asked and she looked at me surprised.
“How do you know Max?”
“Oh, the creep kind of kit on me in the hall before Dan showed up,” I laughed and Trisha sighed.
“Max is sweet when he wants to be, but he’s mostly a creep, so watch yourself when you’re around him.”
“Be sure to remember that,” I said and then sighed, “But it’s not like I plan on coming down here a lot.”
“You should, I won’t mind have another person in the family liking his sport,” she said and I snorted.
“What about Asher or Gordan?” I asked as I looked over towards the filing cabinet and saw a family picture of the four of us.
“I don’t know, they never really looked like they were into it,” she said and I heard her typing on the computer, “Son of a bitch.”
“What?” I asked and she moved her chair and bent down to grab her purse, pulling out a bottle of Advil, “What’s wrong?”
“Neal made a comment to a rival player at the game two nights ago, and the media is having a blast with it,” she groaned and I walked over towards the computer and looked at the article.
“Looks to me like this ‘Neal’ thinks he’s better than everyone else,” I said and Trisha shook her head.
“Not everyone else,” I heard and looked up towards the door to see a guy leaning against the doorframe, “Just Ference.”
“Yeah, I don’t know who that is,” I said and Trisha sighed.
“Neal.”
“Hey Trish, Sid said you wanted to see me,” the guy said and Trisha nodded her head, “Brought you a present,” he said and then threw her a bottle of Advil.
“Good, I’m going to need it,” she said and then shook her other bottle to see that it’s almost empty, “Neal, meet my sister, Caroline, Lin, meet James Neal.”