When Something Wrong Feels So Right

John had forgotten all about Susanne coming to the game that night. Warm-ups had just started and he was concentrated on his boys getting the right amount of pep in their step, as Mike came to a stop next to him at the boards.

“Did you know Suzy was coming tonight?”

He stared at his player as he waved his gloved hand towards the glass behind the bench, causing him to turn. There she was: wearing a comfy wool poncho, jeans and a beanie over what looked like two braids of her long dirty blond hair. He had never seen her wearing glasses, but she looked absolutely adorable with them.

“I wasn’t sure what her plans were, so I asked if she wanted to come along. When was she here last?”

Mike made big eyes at him before tapping his helmet with his stick in thought.

“Can’t remember anyone ever having invited her, never taken her for a hockey nut. Guess we gotta win the game for her inaugural game, eh?”

He grinned and waved at Susanne again before skating back to centre ice and continuing with the warm-up. John turned around to the glass again and caught her lift a large piece of neon pink cardboard just above the bottom line of the glass, giving him a thumbs up before letting hit drop to the floor again. He couldn’t help but mirror her excited smile and hoped that she had kept it somewhat clean.

Once the National Anthem was sung and the puck had dropped, his mind was solely on the game. The Flyers had started off with a physical game right off the bat and he was carefully observing how their lines matched his. He got frustrated son enough when an obvious penalty was waved off by one of the refs and he took to stand on the bench to give said ref a piece of his mind.
After a bad turnover by the visitors, the arena’s noise level rose as one of his men went on a breakaway towards the Flyers’ goal and he clung on to the boards as Richardson sent the puck flying towards Mason’s glove hand, burying it in the back of the net.

A satisfied smile gracing his thin lips, he turned from the boards to take his usual place again, he caught a neon sign plastered against the glass. Reading the writing he couldn’t help but laugh and turn onto the ice to try & spot Mike. Lucky enough, Mike was in the line to skate towards the line to bump fists and the sheer shock was all over his face.

“She’s in so much trouble!”

He shouted over the noise as he pointed his hand towards her followed by a “you’re dead” gesture.

“Grow a beard Santorelli and you may score!”

The game went on and they managed to pull a clean 5-2 win over the visiting team. As the players cleared the ice and bench, John stopped to look back at Susanne but her seat was already empty. He tried to fight the sudden feeling of disappointment as he made his way down the tunnel. He had hoped to get her to join them in the lounge later, but she obviously had somewhere else to be.

Talking with the boys in the dressing room before the media was let in, emotions were on a high after the win. John made sure to point out some of the short comings he had observed but let them off somewhat easy, especially after hearing some people giving Mike lip about Susanne’s sign. Leaving the room and skirting the media before he’d have to go to his own post-game media conference, he was astonished to see Susanne sitting next to some of the players’ wives, holding a small child on her lap with a big smile on her face.

Intrigued, he walked towards her, immediately catching her eye.

“Thank you so much for inviting me John, it was amazing!”

She had stood up and perched the child on her right hip, reaching out her left arm to pull him closer and press a kiss to his cheek. He smiled, but was very aware of the people around them, worried that they would read things into this move. But the women around them copied her happy smile; easy with the way she was acting.

“No problem. I didn’t know that no one had ever asked if you wanted to come to a game, Mike only told me earlier. I hope I didn’t overstep some…boundaries.”

Susanne had sat back down and one of the wives spoke up.

“She’s been a godsend to many of us, but leave it to the boys to never think of the smallest thing to suggest to her, like going to a game. She’s so hard to get presents for, too! She’s always around our house looking after Brayden when she babysits, but never gives away what she’s into. Now that we know she likes going to games, we’ll try and get her to the suite with us more often, she deserves to have a good time away from looking after dogs and kids.”

John raised his brows: he hadn’t been aware that she didn’t only dog-sit but was obviously also babysitting. He looked at her interacting with the child on her lap, blissfully unaware of the people around her.

“She has no personal life at all! We have tried setting her up so many times, but she never makes time between dog walks and baby sitting!”

Richardson’s fiancée piped up, her hands raised into the air in obvious horror.
John only smiled. He was glad that Susanne obviously had a strong support network of people if she ever needed one.

“I’ll leave you ladies be, I got to get ready for the post game press conference. Good seeing you enjoyed yourself Suzy.”

Her head shot up at the mention of her name and she smiled.

“I gotta get going anyways, have an early morning engagement tomorrow. These hallways are confusing, can you point me in the right direction on your way?”

Nerves were pulling at the pit of his stomach as she handed Brayden off to his mother, got up from her seat and hugged some of the women around goodbye. Still, none were giving them odd looks. They obviously knew her as a genuine person.

“Sure. Have a good night ladies. Remind your other halves that we’re leaving 9pm on the dot tomorrow.”

He tried to pull a serious face but failed when one of the kids laughed at him.
Susanne got her bag from the floor and followed him out the door.
As they walked, he could hear her yawn and he chuckled, looking at the snug dressed woman next to him.

“I am sorry if I kept you up passed your bedtime, I wasn’t aware you were this busy.”

John looked over at her and could see her smile, He loved her genuine smiles, he had never seen else from her.

“It was well worth it. Believe it or not, I’m usually in bed by 9 o’ clock.”

He wanted to ask for the reasons, but a security guard at the door they had reached made him rethink.

“Where are you parked?”

John asked as the man opened the heavy door towards the common area of the arena. She shrugged her shoulders as she looked up at him.

“I took a cab, I’ll just catch one outside.”

That just wasn’t good enough. He grabbed her hand as she was walking out of the door.

“That’s crazy, there’s going to be way too many people lining up for cabs. Wait another half hour and I’ll drive you home after my press conference. Your place is on the way anyways.”

She followed him with a nod. She only realised that they were still holding hands when they reached a door that he opened and she slowly pulled it out of his grasp.

“How about I go back to the players’ lounge and you get me from there when you’re done? I am sure that Mike is just waiting for an opportunity to give me shit anyways.”

John’s hand felt the sudden coldness after she had retreated, but he agreed. She offered a one of her big smiles before turning on her heel and walking back towards the dressing rooms.
Standing outside the small pressroom, he finally pulled himself together after he heard cheers of welcome once she had opened the door of the dressing room.

What the hell, he was in bad need to pull himself together!