Master of Timing

The rest of Lyndsey’s break off work was spent mostly at home, catching up on her laundry and spending the evenings eating dinner on the couch with her mom and watching a movie. She hadn’t spoken to Sid in nearly two days but she did a little happy dance around her room when she woke up one morning to a photo he had sent her of his skates and the floor of the Penguins training room with a ’back at it! x’ underneath.

’My face hurts from smiling so hard at this picture!!!’

’I’ll call you later :)’

But he hadn’t. She was doing her best to not overthink what that meant. The mantra of ’he’s busy, he’s back to his schedule, he doesn’t have all the time in the world for you’ repeated over and over in her head.

“Oh God, is this on again?”

“Mom,” Lyndsey huffed, moving her legs as Lorraine sat down where they were resting. She settled for digging her toes in under her mom’s leg while she happily dug into the tub of ice cream she had refrained from eating after coming home from the shops following her argument with Claire. They still hadn’t spoken. “Jurassic Park is a classic.”

“A classic piece of poop.”

“What?!”

The doorbell rang just as her mom poked her shin and she scowled at the force of having to move from her comfy seat, wiping the ice cream from the corner of her mouth as she swung the door open.

“Hey.” Claire waved a little, her arms wrapped around her body tightly against the light snow that was falling. Edmonton couldn’t make up it’s mind if it was done with the snowy weather or not. “Can I come in?”

Lyndsey nodded, stepping back before she shut the door quickly, crossing her arms against her chest. Claire started to take off her shoes and jacket before she paused - noticing that her friend didn’t seem all that inviting. “I was hoping we could talk?”

The hesitation in her voice made Lyndsey think and she sighed with a small nod. “We’re just about to watch Jurassic Park.”

“Awesome. Love me some Tim the flying piece of toast.”

Both the girls shared a smile and it seemed all of a sudden that the tension between them melted away. They were never all that good at staying mad at each other, and the two days they had gone without speaking was probably one for the record books.

“Claire, hi sweetheart.”

“Hey Misses J.”

“Come help me try and convince my daughter to not watch this.”

Lyndsey had settled back on the couch, swiping the ice cream off the floor as Claire sat down on the carpet in front of her. “Wish I could, but I’m voting on this one. Jeff Goldblum is a babe.”

They spent the next two hours like that; quoting the same lines at the same time, passing the ice cream and forth between them until it was (regrettably) all gone. Lorraine might’ve judged a little, not that she’d say anything out loud.

“Every god damn time,” Claire bitched, reaching behind her to smack Lyndsey’s leg while trying to calm her heart rate. The raptors in the kitchen was Lyndsey’s favourite scene; she wasn’t sure if it was because of how Claire always jumped or because of the movie itself.

“Don’t hit me, you know it’s going to happen.”

“Lorraine, make her shut up.”

“Shut up Lyndsey.”

“Mother!”

“Daughter!”

“I hate you all,” Lyndsey grumbled, swiping the empty ice cream container from the coffee table and walking out of the room, calling “Anyone want a drink?” over her shoulder.

The both of them answered ‘no’ so Lyndsey took her time making her tea, humming to herself around the kitchen as the kettle boiled, adding the tea bag and sugar to the mug while waiting for the rest. She looked up at the tapping sound, smiling as Claire stood back.

“I’m sorry about the other day,” She started, jumping up on the bench opposite the fridge. “I was a bitch.”

Lyndsey sighed, nodding to herself as the kettle clicked off. “Yeah,” She sighed, like it was to be expecting.

“You’re an ass,” Claire laughed, picking up a unopened bill and throwing it in her best friend’s general direction. Not only did she miss by a mile, but it spun around and the pointy edge of it hit her before falling to the floor. Lyndsey didn’t even try to hide her snicker. “Shut up.”

“That’s karma,” She replied with a shrug, turning back around to fix her tea. It was quiet between the two of them while she put in her sugar and milk, the mug warming Lyndsey’s hands as she blew away the steam to have something to do. Claire’s legs rocked back and forth as they both tried to fill the awkwardly growing silence. It was Lyndsey who decided to take the plunge. “I probably could’ve told you at a better time.”

Claire rolled her eyes. “I’m just glad you waited until I was done eating. No way was I going to be forgiving if you’d made me storm out on my lobster roll.” But it was all said in jest, the grin across her face giving her away. She hopped off the counter and walked around the kitchen island, wrapping Lyndsey up in a hug she barely managed to put her mug down for. “I was really rude. I’m sorry.”

The two girls smiled into each others shoulders, squeezing tightly before letting go and erupting into a fit of giggles. Lorraine watched the two of them with amusement as they made their way back into the living room to say goodnight before racing the stairs to Lyndsey’s bedroom.

She hadn’t even managed to shut the door before the interrogation began.

“So… did you do more than just kiss him?”

Lyndsey cursed the blush that followed.



“Wait, so he flew out here for one day to take you to dinner and you didn’t give the guy anything?” Claire dodged the pillow that Lyndsey aimed at her face. “You have to be kidding me!”

“Would you shut up? Jesus,” Lyndsey sighed, getting up to check to see no one walking down the hallway. Claire didn’t really understand the concept of ‘inside voice’. Lyndsey was afraid that all her secrets were about to be blown out of the water by her friends’ lack of indiscretion.

“Dude.” Lyndsey leant back against the door and looked Claire in the eye. “It’s Sidney. Crosby. Wiz kid extraordinaire. Haven’t you at least imagined what those thighs can do?”

To be fair, she had. There were times when she was aimlessly searching the internet for things that she’d come across a recent article about him, usually with pictures attached or a link to a video promo. It was no longer a secret that he was back at training and that a return to the ice was possible before the season was out - so the media probably hounded him more than they usually did when he was healthy because he had so much more spare time now to talk to them instead of being involved in practice.

“It’s…” She trailed off with a shrug, shutting down the web page. “I mean, I’m sure if we were closer we would’ve by now but it’s only been one date, technically.”

Claire rolled her eyes. “You just told me this friendship, or whatever it is you want to call it, has been going on since October… Did he try anything?” She knew the blush was going to give her away, so Lyndsey turned away from the door and walked slowly over to the bed, falling face first into her pillows. The poking of a foot into her hip started almost immediately. “No hiding missy. I want to know what action you’ve been getting. Fess up.”

Lyndsey groaned. “There hasn’t been any. Trust me. If he does anything else half as good as he can make out, I’m screwed.”

“Literally.”

They both burst out into giggles.



Lyndsey sighed as she checked her phone screen, frowning at Sid’s message.

’I forget - are you working tonight?’

‘Yes’ she typed back quickly, putting her phone under her keyboard as she heard the sounds of her supervisor’s voice coming through the hallway. Annette was part of the administration side of the hospital aka, not one single person with medical training could stand her because she a) had no idea how the ER was supposed to run because she never spent more than ten minutes at a time in the area and b) like all admin people at a hospital, assumed she knew more about the medical profession than those who had studied and completed their medical degree at a university.

She wasn’t high on Lyndsey’s ‘people I can tolerate’ list.

“So it’s up to you, really.”

Lyndsey spun around in her chair in time to switch patient files to see Sam nod his head quickly, shaking her hand and offering a good bye before he sighed, leaning back against the wall nearest to her desk. Annette’s heels clicked softly into the distance, replaced by the chaos of the emergency room as per usual.

“Everything okay?”

Sam stared at the wall for a few more seconds before he snapped out of it, offering Lyndsey a small smile and a nod. “Nothing more than usual. How’s our friend in trauma three going?”

Eric Wolfson. He had decided to drink his body weight in alcohol and then attempt to clear out his gutters. Which of course resulted in his ladder slipping on the wet pavement and his head colliding with the ground - hours before his wife checked the backyard to find him, in the middle of January with no clothes suitable for the snow that had begun to fall on him. He had been woken up enough to have his stomach pumped but was still waiting for test results to come back before they could move him to the right department upstairs.

He wasn’t all too happy.

Handing over his file, Lyndsey shrugged. “He’ll live. Not sure if he’s happy about that or not, right now.”

Sam answered with a sigh, signing off on the paperwork and handing it back, scrubbing at his eyes behind his glasses after throwing the pen down as well. It had been a draining couple of days for the both of them - Sam was still at work even though he had been on duty since well before Lyndsey had signed off the night before. She made sure to keep supplying him with coffee and biting her tongue every time he snapped, putting all the blame on exhaustion and a unreliable doctor who decided to call in “sick” at the last minute. No one at the hospital believed them for a second.

“Okay well let me know if his status changes. His drip?”

“Just changed, that’s his third,” She nodded towards the curtain, spotting Mister Wolfson’s wife heading their way. “She’s actually no trouble to deal with. You sure everything’s alright?” She motioned to the hallway that Annette had walked back through and raised her eyebrows. “Management never want to talk business at 10 o’clock at night.”

“Hey, if I need a soundboard, I’ll come to you. Don’t stress.” He smiled in a thanks for the heads up and turned around. Lyndsey went to reply but was distracted as her phone screen showed another text.

’We need to figure out when you’re coming out here so I can book the flight, call me when you’re home. Miss you x’



“Hey,” She answered through a yawn, closing her eyes as she rested comfortably against her pillow. It had been a long night at work.
 
“You okay?”
 
Lyndsey took a deep breath and smiled to herself, wishing nothing more that the voice in her ear was actually right next to her instead of on a phone call. Making a non-committal noise, she peaked one eye open to put Sidney’s call on speaker, just so that she wouldn’t have to do anything with her hands, resting her phone on her chest.
 
“So tired. Many sleeps.” He laughed back at her, the faint sound of a keyboard clicking in the background. “I feel weird about this.” The typing stopped, her statement hanging in the air. “About you paying for my flight.”

She didn’t miss the sigh that came through the receiver, adding to her anxiousness. She wasn’t the type to be waited on hand and foot and she had repeatedly told him she could fly out herself, it wasn’t a big deal.

He didn’t listen.

“Why? I’m already on Expedia.”[i/]

“Sid…”

“Lyndsey. No arguments. If you wanted to pay for it, I’m sure you would’ve booked it already.”

She frowned at the ceiling. “That is so high handed, Crosby. And rude.”

She heard him huff. “Okay, you can spend all your millions on me, then.”

The was a pause between the both of them, and Lyndsey wasn’t sure if she should try to make a joke or not. He sounded kind of annoyed, but also like he was taking the mickey. And she still felt like she didn’t know him well enough to call him out over the phone.

“Are you seri-”

“That was pretty douchey. Sorry,” He laughed heartily, snapping the tension between them instantly. Lyndsey felt like a breeze had just come by her, calming her down. Sometimes she just couldn’t tell what kind of mood he was in and it drove her crazy. It had been months. How did she not know him well enough by now since all they ever did was talk on the phone?

“So should we make permanent plans now while you’re half asleep or should I call you back later?”
 
Lyndsey groaned, forcing her eyes open so that she could open the calendar app on her phone, swiping left once to bring the month to February. She smiled to herself. “You’re a comedian. Anyone ever tell you that?”
 
“Duper has, once or twice.”
 
“Yeah, well.” She stretched her neck out. “Don’t quit your day job.”
 
He chuckled. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
 
Good, she thought, biting her lip at the thought of Sidney Crosby doing anything other than hockey. She couldn’t imagine it.
 
“So you said you got the weekend off?”

By some miraculous chance, Rosie had worked it out so that Lyndsey could get an extra day off so that she had a full four days to spend in Pittsburgh with him without using any extra vacation time. She had already decided to put in a request for leave for the month of July, and was checking flights to Nova Scotia weekly to see if there were any deals to there from Edmonton. Regardless of how the playoffs went, she wanted to fly out to surprise him. So the less time she took off between now and then, the better.
 
“Yeah. I can fly out the Thursday night to be there Friday morning. What time do you get back in from California?”
 
He hummed before letting her know that he’d be back in the Burgh the night before. “There’s a flight that leaves Edmonton at one AM, with a layover in Chicago.”
 
She was instantly hit with memories of when she went to Lollapalooza with her friends when she was in college, and smiled at all the trouble she managed to not get caught getting into. It had been a very messy weekend. She was surprised all of them made it back to Canada alive. “Oh goodie. I can go say hi to my favourite Canadian captain.”
 
She bit her lip to stop herself from giggling. The silence on the other side of the phone was almost deafening.
 
“What did you just say?”

“Nothing. Please continue.”
 
“You’d pick Toews over me?”

“Well,” She giggled. “He does have more Stanley Cup rings than you.”
 
“…And here’s me thinking you didn’t give a shit about what I do for a living,” He muttered, the keyboard sounds clicking louder than they had before. She could hear in his tone that he was joking, but it didn’t stop the smallest 1% of her feeling just the tiniest bit guilty.
 
“Awwwh, don’t feel bad. You know you’re my favourite, Captain Canada.”
 
“Hilarious. Absolutely to die for.”[i/] He hummed for a second, then “Aha!”
 
“What?” He didn’t answer straight away, just chuckled lowly through the receiver. It made Lyndsey nervous straight away. “What’s funny?”
 
When he didn’t answer, she clicked back to the phone call to check that they were still connected. He was just being eerily quiet. “Sidney!”
 
“I just found a flight that takes you all the way through JFK then back to me. Maybe I’ll book that one instead.”
 
She made a sound of protest and sat up in bed, shoving one of her pillows against the headboard. “That’s not fair!”

“Take it back, then.”

“Take what back?”

“What you said about Tazer. I’m supposed to be the only hockey player in your life.”
 
“Oh my god,” She muttered, rolling her eyes. “You’re not going to book it.”
 
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

She smirked, catching a glimpse of her face in the mirror attached to the side of her dresser. She looked smug as hell.
 
“Well, I’m guessing that flight is longer. Which just means that you’ll have to wait even more to see me.” She let it hang in the air for a few seconds, enjoying his lack of rebuttal. “But, whatever. If that’s what you want, then I guess you can book it. I’ll be busy on the plane while you can sit and wait and twiddle your thumbs-”
 
“Okay, shut up. I get it.”[i/]
 
She laughed again. “Thought so.”
 
She couldn’t help but love the sound of his sigh. They both knew that it meant he had given in, grumbling that at least the flight got him double points since he was booking it with his American Express. Lyndsey couldn’t stop the butterflies in her stomach if she tried; it was actually happening. She was flying to Pittsburgh in a little over three weeks to finally spend some time with the man who had somehow managed to work his way into her life without either of them even realizing it. She gulped when she thought briefly what it would mean to their… friendship, her being in his house. For three days.
 
And nights.
 
Not that she was trying to be a hussy but she hoped that something might happen between them. The kiss he had given her after New Year’s was almost too much to handle, yet she wanted more. It made her face flush thinking about it, how tightly he had held her against him, how amazing it felt to feel his tongue caressing her own. How desperate he held onto her before he forced himself out of her car at the hotel. She didn’t miss the way he had clenched his hands into fists before he purposely walked away from her.
 
“I can’t wait to see you,” She said softly, the words out of her mouth before she even registered what she was saying. Sidney stopped in the middle of telling her the itinerary was on its way to her inbox, letting her speak. “I already know that three days isn’t going to be enough.” She tried to make it sound like she was joking, but her heart was pounding in her ears, her throat going dry. Lyndsey didn’t have the most amount of experience in relationships, but she always believed that honesty was the best policy. She just hoped it didn’t deter him in any way. She’d be crushed if that was the case.
 
“Why do you think I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this trip ever since we started talking about you coming out here? It’s driving me crazy.”
 
She welcomed the relief of his voice as it washed over her, her body sagging into the pillows. “I drive you crazy?” She gambled, biting her lip.
 
She heard him clear his throat. “In the best way.”