You Never Know

35. Flower Power

(Regular POV)

Nicole kept her word and didn’t tell anyone Max’s plan to leave the team after the playoffs. She didn’t tell even Sidney.

They team went on a winning streak through January; that was their western tour and the first look for several of the teams the Pens could potentially face in the Finals; if they made it that far.

The team defeated the Preds 3-2; the Stars in a 5-0 shutout. The Coyotes fell 2-1 in a shootout. All three California teams went down without a battle. The Sharks 4-1; the Kings 5-0; and the Ducks 6-2. Flower was playing the best he ever had, keeping the scoring down as the defense shut down all contenders and the forwards lighting the lamp.

Western Canada didn’t fare much better. Edmonton and Calgary fell in a shootout; Vancouver lost embarrassingly in a 7-0 shutout. Winnipeg, St. Louis, and the Wild were all close games; each losing by one point in overtime.

The last stop for the team before heading home was Chicago.

The team tiredly made their way from the plane to the bus. They had one day to rest before the game. Of course they had practice but that wasn’t until eleven and the short time off would do them all well.

Nicole had been playing the best hockey of her career. She had managed to gain at least one point in each game; in several she saw more than one. Nicole was now in the top standings for defensemen in the league.

The bus ride to the hotel was quiet. Most of the guys were either catching a quick nap or trying not to nod off. Nicole was sitting next to Geno, her normal seat partner, when Jordan leaned over his seat to talk to them both.

“So, some of us want to go out tonight. You two in?”

“Tired. Stay in tonight,” Geno answered, the big guy could barely keep his eyes open. Gronk looked at Nicole.
“Already have plans,” she said, waving her phone in the air.
“You have plans?” Jordan chirped.
“Going out with some friends,” Nicole said without giving it much thought.

“You have friends?” Flower chirped her from his seat next to Sidney. Sidney was trying not to laugh as Nicole gave the Frenchman one of her signature ‘looks’.
“More than you do,” she sassed, “better looking too.”

Flower grabbed at his heart, “OH! You wound me deeply, ma beauté!” he exclaims dramatically.

The bus pulls up to the hotel ultimately ending their fun for the moment. The team filed off the bus and into the warmth. Nicole saw that she would be rooming alone this time. That was unusual but not unwelcomed.

Nicole made her way to her room to change.

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(Several guys POV)

“So when do you think the peanut gallery will arrive to whisk our lady away?” Flower asked Sidney as he entered the conjoined rooms.

Max and Flower were rooming together as always; Sidney and Duper were rooming together which was odd to the older man but he didn’t ask why. Jordan came into the room through the unlocked door. They were waiting for Geno to arrive.

“Not sure. Thirty minutes maybe,” Sidney offered.
“G will find out so we can have a time table ready to go,” Jordan said as he sat on the bed.
“What are you planning?” Duper asked; the oldest of the group loved pranks and had a feeling the younger guys were planning to pull one on Nicole.

“Oh, you know, just a little something to……congratulate, Nicole on her resent success,” Max said with a sly grin. He and Flower were usually the two behind the pranks that happened to the team.

Just then the door opened to reveal the missing Russian.

“Did you get it?” Jordan all but demanded. Geno waved his hand in the air to show the card key he had swiped.
“Oh God,” Sidney breathed out as the others high fived the man.
“She does not suspect, yes?” Max asked.
“No. tell her need phone charge. Lose mine. She let in, no problem,” the big guy said with a smile.

“You sly dog! That was perfect. Now all we have to do is wait for her to leave,” Flower congratulated the man. He then looked at Sidney.

“What?” The captain questioned his goalie.
“You,” Flower pointed, “Need to leave.”
“What?! Why?” Sidney asked in confusion.

“If you are still here then she might suspect something. Jordan already said some of the guys were going out. You need to be one of them,” Flower explained.
“And she won’t suspect you for staying?” Sidney questioned back.

“He has a good point,” Duper chimed in.

Marc shook his head at the two, “I have a skype date with V as far as Nicole would know. Max is going with you too.”

“So it’s Max, Jordan, myself and a few others going out?” Sidney asked, trying to clarify the situation.
“Just to dinner. Duper can come too so he’s in the clear. Unless you were going to call home,” Jordan said.

“When does Nicole leave, G?” Max asked.
“Um, five minutes maybe.”
“Good. You get a move on. Make sure she sees you leave so she won’t suspect. But be back before she is!” Flower rushed the men out the door.

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(The group plus Nicole POV)

The guys headed to the elevator just as Nicole was stepping out of her door. Her room was at the end of the hall close to the elevators; something that didn’t happen often. Nicole was hoping to escape without the guys seeing her. The last thing she wanted to deal with was the guys chirping her about going out with several of the Hawks.

The hockey gods were against her.

“Well, well, well! Look who’s trying to sneak out!” Jordan called out, Nicole turned to face the group.
“It’s not sneaking. You all knew I was leaving,” She sassed as Sidney pulled her close. She wrapped her arms around his midsection.

“He’s just messing with you,” Sidney said before planting a kiss against her head.
“Ignore the giant. We all do,” Duper chirped as he patted Jordan on the arm.
“If I remember right, his brother gave you permission to kick his ass whenever he needed it,” Cookie had joined the group for the outing said as they entered the elevator.

It was a tight squeeze with ten professional hockey players on board. No one wanted to wait for a second lift and miss out on Nicole and Jordan chirping each other. The two provided entertainment for the whole team and sometimes for the general public too. They were like siblings. Nicole was the adopted Staal as far as Jordan and Eric were concerned. She had yet to meet the other two brothers.

Nicole scoffed, “Like I needed Eric’s permission.”
“Whatever! You couldn’t take this!” Jordan tried to flex in the tight space but ended up knocking James in the face.

“Dude!” James grabbed his nose.
“Sorry,” Jordan said chagrinned. The elevator thankfully landed and the group stepped off.

“Let me see,” Nicole pushed her way past the others to where Neal was standing just to make sure nothing was broken.

“I’m fine,” He pulled away but lowered his hands. His nose was slightly red but that would go away quickly; nothing was broken thankfully.

“We can’t have Gronk breaking that pretty face. What would the ladies think?” Nicole said giving Nealer a horrified look before cracking up.

Nicole heard her name called from across the room. She and the guys looked over to see Sharpie, Kaner, and Toews walking toward them.

“Do you always need an entourage, Miss Green?” Sharpie asked with his megawatt smile. Kaner laughed outright at his fellow Hawk while JT could only shake his head.

“Of course she does,” Duper answered for her, “Our girl has been on a hot streak. You never know who might be waiting to steal her away from us.”

The two groups exchanged handshakes and chatted for a few moments before Toews cleared his throat.

“I hate to be the one to end this gathering, but we do have a reservation to keep.”

Patrick Kane let out a chuckle, “Captain Serious mode strikes again. I swear he doesn’t know how to turn it off sometimes.” The group laugh at the joke much to JT’s embarrassment. Nicole and the Hawks said goodbye to the gaggle of Penguins and make for the waiting car.

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(Hawk Dinner)

JT helped Nicole into the back of the SUV before he slid in next to her. Sharpie was driving and Kaner had shotgun. The small group chatted all the way to their destination. Of course, the guys hadn’t told Nicole where they were going; just to dress ‘nice’. For Nicole that was a form fitting black dress with a gold wrap belt, matching heals, and minimal jewelry. She had to show her team colors somehow.

The SUV pulled to the valet and Sharpie handed the keys off. Toews helped Nicole out of the car and offered his arm. She accepted gentlemanly gesture. The group entered the building and were pointed to the correct elevator that would take them to their destination.

The doors opened to a small but cozy restaurant. The ceilings were high and had skylights that gave the small space a more open feeling. The tables were set in an informal way that offered a more relaxed dining experience while keeping the necessary privacy for those who required it. The view wasn’t have bad either. Two opposite walls were fully glass, one looking out at the beautiful skyline of Chicago, the other overlooking lake. Both were breath taking.

The hostess quickly seated the group on the more private, upper level. They could still see the ground floor but would not be bothered by any unwanted guest, and the view was even better; it was unobstructed by the other dinners. The waiter came and took drink orders before quickly scurrying away.

“So, Sharpie, where is the Misses tonight?” Nicole enquired.
“The girls had a meeting for an upcoming fund raiser that she couldn’t miss,” He answered not looking away from the menu.

“What about you?” Kaner was trying to turn the question around on Nicole.
“What about me?” She questioned back.
“Where was lover boy off to without you tonight?” Kane asked with a smile.
“Out I guess.”

“You guess? You mean you don’t know.”

“Pat,” Toews gave what sounded like a warning to the younger player.

“Yeah, I guess. I don’t keep tabs on him. Unlike you, he doesn’t feel the need to sleep with everything that walks on two legs,” Nicole shot back.

“Not my fault the ladies throw themselves at me,” Patrick gave Nicole a cheeky grin; He knew she didn’t mean anything by her comment. His reputation wasn’t the best and he knew that too.

“Kaner!” The Blackhawk captain barked at him.
“What?”
“That’s enough,” JT said giving him a stern look. Patrick didn’t know about Max like Johnny did; he also knew that Sidney wasn’t the type.

“Awe, come on Johnny! I’m only playing,” the younger man gave the group his signature smile.
“You need to house train you puppy some more before you bring him out in public, Johnny,” Nicole razzed the Captain.

“Don’t make me separate you two,” Johnny threatened.
“Yes, Dad,” the two said at the same time. The table dissolved into laughter as Johnny turned bright red.

“I bet you two would be fun to have on the same team,” Sharpie said as he caught his breathe.
“God help us,” Johnny said, lowering his head to his hands. Nicole and Kaner looked at each other across the table, effectively breaking into laughter once again at the frazzled Hawk.

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(Penguin’s Dinner)

The Penguin group made their way down the street to a small steak house that the liked to visit when they were in the area. It was a Mom and Pop type place that offered privacy and great food. The staff was always welcoming and did a great job preventing any unwelcomed additions to the party. They also kept the fact that nine NHLer’s were at the establishment a secret so no paparazzi ever showed up unexpectedly.

“So, Nicole looked nice. Wonder where they were taking her,” Kuni was the first to break the uncomfortable topic.

They didn’t like talking about Nicole when she wasn’t present but every one of the guys had a fear that she would find another team that she liked better and would leave them. Or that something bad would happen and they wouldn’t be there to protect her. This caused a lot of unwanted anxiety until she was safely back at the hotel with everyone.

“Probably some five star place that serves small portions and high bills,” Jordan chimed in.
“I’ll get her a To Go order just in case,” Sidney offers.

It had happened before, Nicole going out with some friend from the other team and coming back hungry. Nicole was more comfortable at a smaller venue anyway and the high end places never offered enough food for hockey players. The guys could order more and not be judged but Nicole wasn’t so lucky; many times she would order more and then not eat because of such looks.

“Why are we all out anyway?” Cookie asks the group.
“Food, dude,” Jordan answers. Cookie eyes him; Jordan looks away.

“You boys are planning a prank aren’t you?” He says, breaking into a smile. James looks up horrified; he’s one of the newer guys still and was often picked on.

“Chill Nealer. It’s not on you or else we wouldn’t have brought you with us,” Duper tries to calm the man sitting next to him down.

“Nic’s going to kill you guys,” He manages to say.
“Not us, Flower is the mastermind this time,” Max says with a sinister smirk.
“What is he planning?” Kuni asks.

The Max and Jordan share a smile as Duper chuckles; Sidney simply shakes his head, something he had been doing often lately.

“Just wait and see.”

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(Regular POV)

The guys arrived back to the hotel just as Nicole was being dropped off. Johnny had offered to walk her in but when they saw the nine Penguins approaching, he simply let her out of the car. The group saw her and waited as she made her way over. Once she was securely surrounded, they waved the SUV off. Nicole was positive she saw Kaner laughing as the Dark vehicle pulled away.

“How was your evening?” Duper asked Nicole as he held the door for her.
“Nice,” Nicole answered, “Kaner and I may have driven Tazer insane but it was fun,” She said giving the group a smile.

“And why would you do that?” Sidney asks his girlfriend.
“Because Patrick is annoyingly like Jordan,” She jabbed. The Blonde giant was preoccupied with his phone and didn’t respond.

“Hey! Gronk, you okay?” Nicole asked when he didn’t answer.
The man in question looked up, “Yeah, just answering a text.” He waved his phone and smiled the Staal smile.

Nicole was instantly put on red alert. She only received that smile if he was up to something. Nicole quickly opened her clutch and dug around. She let out a sign of relief when she found her card key safely tucked where it should have been.

“Something wrong?” Sidney questioned when he felt her tense up.
“Just thought I lost my key,” she said giving him a smile.

The group entered the awaiting elevator and ascended to their floor.

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(Regular POV)

The group stepped off the lift onto their floor. The guys were lagging, stalling for time to see what Flower and the others had done to Nicole’s room. They rounded the corner just as man in a ‘Scream’ mask jumped out from the other side.

Nicole let out a shriek that would rival any they had heard in horror films. She jumped back into the group of men behind her, nearly falling in her heals. Of course the noise attacked the attention of the rest of the players and coaches on the floor.

Flower lifted the mask off of his head. He was laughing hard enough for tears to stream from his eyes.

“Marc! You know how terrified I am of that damn movie!” Nicole exclaimed as she saw who it was.

The coaching staff went back to their rooms once they saw that Nicole was not being attacked.

“What’s wrong Nic? You’re not afraid of a little ole mask are you?” Flower asked as he walked towards Nicole.

Nicole tried to hide behind Sidney and James, “Keep that thing away from me!”
“That’s not nice to call your goalie a ‘Thing’,” Kuni said laughing at the two. Nicole was moving further away from Marc as he moved closer to her.

“I’m serious, Marc! Don’t come near me with that,” Nicole tried to warn the approaching man away.

“Come on Flower. Leave her alone,” Sidney stepped in, stopping the fun; he knew how terrified
Nicole was of the ‘Scream’ movies.

He had tried to get her to watch them at Halloween but she had refused, threatening to leave if they were put in the player. Of course she later explained to the guys who were over why.

Her two older brothers had scared her silly as a child with the masks. They had both gotten one for Halloween when they were younger. At first it was just to scare the neighborhood kids but the two quickly found out that their younger sister didn’t like the mask.

One boy would hide while the other chased Nicole around the house. Then, when she thought she had lost him, the other would pop out of hiding and chase her the other way. It was all in good fun but Nicole was only four at the time. Needless to say she hadn’t recovered from the fright yet and still refused, at twenty two, to watch the movies.

“Okay. Okay. I am sorry, Nicole. I will put it away,” Marc backed off.

Nicole made her way around the group; she wanted to be as far away from the mask as possible. The other men looked at their goalie with questions in every pair of eyes. That was a weak prank, Marc was known for better ones. They all knew it wasn’t over yet though when they saw the humorous glint in the Frenchman’s eyes. They turned back to Nicole.

She placed her card key in the slot. The light turned green. She turned the handle down and pushed on the door. Nothing happened. The door didn’t budge. Nicole pushed harder. On the third try the door swung open.

An avalanche of confetti and balloons rained down and around Nicole. There were hundreds of balloons in all shapes, sizes and color scattered throughout the room. Nicole, now a sparkling mess, turned and found the Frenchman laughing hard at his latest masterpiece. The others joined in; glad it wasn’t their rooms.

“Marc-Andre Fleury! You are so gonna pay for that!”

Nicole didn’t know how, but she would get him back if it were the last thing she ever did as a Penguin.