Sammy Boy

By the time Sidney left the party, it was already eleven fifteen. The streets were empty, but he knew the clubs were full on the Friday night, hopping with workers and singles all looking to shake off the previous week’s woes and have a good time.

He drove on the vacant streets and arrived at the fountain by eleven thirty. Sidney got out of his car and plopped down on an empty bench. He looked at his watch; the plane left at eight. He knew it was stupid to stay up late to talk to a girl – he felt like he was in high school – but he wanted to explain everything to Mackenzie.

“Whoa, bro, you’re Sidney fucking Crosby!” A couple of guys who were clearly intoxicated approached the athlete.

“Heard you were cleared to travel today,” one slurred. “Can’t wait ‘til you’re back on the ice, kicking other teams’ asses!” The friends high fived.

“I’ll be out there as soon as I can,” Sidney replied with a smile.

After a couple more minutes of drunken banter, the group departed with a round of “play good, man” and “you rock.”

“Does that always happen?” Sidney turned around at the sound of Mackenzie’s voice. His breath caught in his throat; seeing her in the glow of the street lights made her look ethereal and mystical.

Unlike Lucy, he thought. Sidney knew girls like Lucy – hell, he’d dated them – but after seeing the way Mackenzie looked tonight, he knew he could never revert back to girls like that…not when there were women like Mackenzie in the world: simple, classic, and breathtakingly stunning.

Her dark hair was done up in soft curls and the simplicity of the black gown made her beauty that much more wonderful; she wasn’t over doing anything, she was only enhancing her features, and she was succeeding like a pro.

“Sometimes,” Sidney said. “Mostly in Pittsburgh…and Canada.”

“Okay, I bought myself thirty minutes away from the party. Explain yourself, Mr. Crosby.”

And with no further prodding, Sidney Crosby delved into “his” story.

He talked about how everyone in Canada played hockey, but by the time he was fourteen, he was garnering a ton of attention because he was playing in a league with seventeen and eighteen year olds.

He mentioned “The Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes” and how the media was stationed outside his house that entire morning and came knocking when Pittsburgh’s ball had been drawn last.

Sidney got into his first season in the NHL and talked about how learning under Mario’s wing – he had to explain to her who Mario Lemieux was – turned out to be the most beneficial thing in the world.

He then got into the Stanley Cup and Olympics. Mackenzie noticed that he didn’t show off or brag – he simply recalled details and stated them matter-of-factly – she could tell he was proud, but wasn’t boastful.

Sidney then began explaining to Mackenzie how he currently had a concussion but was finally cleared to travel with the team and how he thinks that meeting her had a big impact on his health because she made him feel better than he had in a long time.

“…so, basically,” Sid finished, “I didn’t tell you all this on the walk because I didn’t want to ruin it. I’ve been recognized everywhere I go for the past twelve years. You saw Lucy in there – those are the kinds of women I deal with every day – and then you come along…this girl from Chicago who has no idea who I am, what I’ve done or the expectations that have been placed upon my shoulders. We talked about our families and friends, memories and first kisses. I haven’t had anyone to just talk to in a long time – not unless it revolves around hockey. I didn’t tell you all this because I wanted to see if I could still make connections with people who didn’t know my past or wanted to gain something for themselves because of who I am. And I think I proved to myself that I could. So please, when I get back from the Florida trip on Monday, let me take you out to dinner and see if this can go somewhere.”

Sidney was exhausted; rehashing his entire hockey career was draining – there was a lot of material to cover. He hoped more than anything he didn’t scare Mackenzie off, but if he envisioned a future with her, she needed to know everything and now seemed like an ideal time to let all out there.

Mackenzie wasn’t going to lie: she was overwhelmed. She was twenty two, new to Pittsburgh and now she sat on a bench with one of the biggest celebrities in the city and in the National Hockey League.

While Sidney poured his life story to Mac, her party was most likely getting into full swing a few miles down the road.

She didn’t know what she wanted; relationships were always complicated – add in a celebrity and who knew what would happen. But what scared her most was that deep down, Mackenzie knew what could potentially happen with Sidney: this had the capability of being something special, and the thought absolutely terrified her.

He mentioned how easy it was to be around her and she felt the same way about him; their personalities seemed to mesh and the two were able to laugh about the other’s embarrassing moments and smile at the proud ones.

Mackenzie recalled what Sidney had said on the walk and how it was “scary” to be an adult living on your own in a big city, and Mackenzie finally realized the reasoning behind those words.

It was scary because it wasn’t just a city Sidney had on his back; it was Pittsburgh, the National Hockey League and Canada all stacked up on top of his shoulders, weighing them down with every stride his skate made.

Add on the concussion and Mackenzie could almost feel the fear seeping into his body and her own.

Before she came to Pittsburgh, she promised her mother she wouldn’t fall in love.

“I don’t want you in Pittsburgh forever,” her mom had told her. “You’re going to do your PR thing and then come home and meet a nice Italian man.”

Her family was incredibly supportive of everything she did but they were tight knit and Mac knew the distance was hard for her mother – the woman she had come to call her best friend.

And now, in the middle of Pittsburgh, on a deserted bench in front of a beautiful fountain, she sat across from a man who had just opened the door to his world to her and invited her to join him on a roller coaster of what seemed to be a terrifying and exhilarating ride.

After the truth came out tonight at the party, Sidney didn’t have any other choice than to tell Mackenzie what was going on, but she still thought it took an immense amount of courage to let someone inside like that.

And although she was scared and the situation made absolutely no sense – two strangers meeting over a dog and finding themselves on a bench at midnight two weeks later – Mackenzie didn’t care.

So, she leaned in and kissed him.