Make It to Me

“Hey Adaline.” Sidney had breathed into the phone. It felt good to look down at his ringing phone and see her name across the screen.

“Hi Sidney.” Adaline greeted him warmly. His named rolled across her lips like velvet, making him want to hear her say it over and over. She sounded relaxed and a bit sleepy, she sounded perfect in all honesty. He could imagine them watching a movie on his couch or sitting out on the deck on a nice day; and her using that soft voice when they talked together.

“How are you and your mom?” Sidney inquired.

‘I’m doing well. My mom isn’t nearly as sick as I thought she was, but my father worries.” Adaline explained.

“I’m glad to hear. Pittsburgh misses you already.” Sidney snickered.

“I miss it already. Although, I did miss the California sun. I got my tan on.” Adaline giggled.

“Do you know how Californian you just sounded?” Sidney wheezed in laughter.

“Nah bro, everyone sounds like this.” Adaline imitated. Sidney shook his head at her. His high-pitched giggle was threatening to make an appearance if she kept it up. He liked her wit and her ability to make him laugh so easily. She was quick on her toes and seemed to be able to keep up with him step for step. Often, he didn’t connect with people that way. He had more of a dry humor and apparently it was hard to find people who had a dry sense of humor of their own these days.

“I can’t believe you just said that.” Sidney said aghast.

“Well, I just roll with the waves.” Adaline lost composure and began laughing at her own joke; a snort making it’s way over the line. Sidney began wheezing all over again.

“You’ve got jokes.” Sidney complimented.

“I try, I try.” Adaline snickered. “How are you doing?” Adaline asked him.

“I’m doing well. I’m just dealing with lockout stuff.” Sidney groaned. He sunk further down into his favorite recliner thinking about all the shit that was going on in the league. A lot of guys were going to be heading over to play in the European league until the season kicked back up again, but he’d have to stay to try to work with negotiations with the NHL and the NHLPA. To say he wasn’t looking forward to it would be an understatement. It was a whole bunch of meetings with suits that didn’t really care about hockey; just how much money they could make with it.

“I’m sorry Sidney. I know you’d rather be playing.” Adaline sympathized.

“It’s alright, it’ll clear up. We’re just going to have to go with a whole bunch of media and political bullshit to get it resolved.” Sidney grumbled slightly.

“I can’t even imagine. As sad as it is to say, at least it’s happening now for James. It will give him time to grieve and decide if he wants to take some time off.” Adaline whispered.

“As much as I want to play, I’ll have to agree with you. How are you doing with everything?” Sidney asked her. He could her throat clogging with emotion as she talked about James. It was clear to anyone that she loved James as if he was a part of her family. Normally, that type of a connection to one of his teammates would make him wary, but he knew how much they both loved Sara. He could also see a lot of his and Taylor’s relationship in James and Adaline. She looked out for him and tried to protect him from the world, despite the cost to herself. Only, he was beginning to care about her and he didn’t want her to always be so selfless because he saw what it did to her.

“I’m holding up. I’m trying not to think about it, which sounds horrible, because it sounds like I’m trying to forget Sara, but it’s too painful for me to think about her. It’s like every time I remember something we’ve done together I just cry and I’m tired of crying. I’m tired of being this crying mess who can’t keep it together.” Adaline admitted. Sidney wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms, hold her and never let go. She sounded like she was breaking into a million pieces and he wanted to help her stop from breaking. At the same time, he admired how well she was handling everything, how strong she was being for James.

“If there is ever anything I can do all you have to do is say the word and I’ll help you.” Sidney promised her. He was sitting comfortably in his couch, watching the time tick by on the clock, knowing he had to get to sleep for the phone interviews in the morning, but he couldn’t seem to tear himself from her. They had just started talking tonight and he didn’t want to stop quite yet.

“Just talking to you is helping, Sidney.” Adaline replied. Now, that made his heart surge. Hearing her say that talking to him was helping her made him feel so incredibly happy. It made him on top of the world. He extended his arm across the armrest of the chair and let if fall to a more comfortable position.

“Hey Adaline? Can I ask you a question?” Sidney asked.

“Sure.” Adaline smiled.

“What is your favorite thing to do to relax?” Sidney asked her, playing the “get-to-know-you” game to keep her on the phone a while longer.

“Hmm…I love reading, and watching movies, and going to the beach, and probably just being able to sit with someone and talk.” Adaline answered. “You?”

“I like watching movies too; we’ll have to do that sometime. I like running and playing the occasional board game.” Sidney mused.

“I love board games! Although I get incredibly competitive.” Adaline excitedly said. Sidney smiled at that answer. He could imagine Adaline getting her feathers ruffled when he was winning while they were playing a game.

The two continued to chat back and forth about things they enjoyed and the minutes were ticking by, but Sidney didn’t seem all that aware. Adaline’s voice was warm and kind as she opened up more about herself and got him to talk more as well. He was enjoying simply relaxing and having a conversation, something he didn’t have the freedom of doing all too often.

“Sidney, do you realize how late it’s gotten?” Adaline asked him. He looked up and noticed it was nearing 2:30 on his end. Shit, he hadn’t meant to be on the phone that long.

“I didn’t even notice. I was enjoying just talking you honestly.” Sidney blushed slightly.

“Neither did I, but it’s probably pretty late out there.” Adaline reminded him.

“Yea. I have some phone interviews so I’ll have to get going.” Sidney regretfully said.

“I completely understand. I have to go help my mother in the morning, so I should probably hit the hay too.” Adaline mused through a yawn. He smiled at the sound of her sleepily talking to him.

“You sound like you’re going to drop dead. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Sidney stated more than asked. Adaline smiled at the notion.

“I’m looking forward to it.” Adaline yawned again. “Night Sidney.” Adaline whispered.

“Goodnight Adaline.” Sidney said as he waited for her to hang up, only he just heard her soft breaths into the receiver as she waited for him to do the same thing. So, he pulled his phone away from his ear and ended the call. He allowed his eyes to shut briefly as he thought about Adaline. If he didn’t watch it, he’d be jumping in headfirst before he realized what he was doing.

Slowly, Sidney slipped out of his recliner and walked over to the staircase leading out of his basement/media room and shut the lights off. He walked up stairs and checked all the locks before walking upstairs and walked from the staircase to the master bedroom on the far right hand side of the house.

Sidney had his house professionally decorated when it had been built. It was varying tones of black, grey, and tans. His walls were a cream, with the wall his headboard was up against was black, before the ceiling hit and angled off to the vaulted ceiling.
Off to the left of the room rested a window nook. The entire space was masculine, but tastefully decorated to not scream total bachelor pad.

He walked over to the connected bathroom and ran through his evening ritual and stripped down to a pair of athletic shorts for sleep. The moment his head hit the pillow, he was thinking of Adaline before he fell asleep.

~
The next morning the sound of his alarm caused a string of obscenities to fly out of his mouth. He was dead tired, and he had to be down at Consol to meet up with Mario and join in on the phone interview with the NHL.

He quickly got ready and headed out the door.

~
“Hey Mario.” Sidney greeted as he took a seat in the conference room where most of upper management and ownership sat. He took his seat next to Mario and tried to avoid conversation with the other men sitting in the room.

“Hey kid. How’s James doing?” He asked. Mario had attended the funeral and was planning on paying a visit to James soon; he just wanted to let James have some space for a while.

“He’s hanging in as best as he can.” Sidney mumbled.

“I’m planning on visiting him soon. I can’t believe he’s going through this.” Mario shook his head in disbelief.

The interview went to be as expected, it was all political jargon and answering questions without ever saying anything. Sidney assured everyone they had his complete support and he would be in Pittsburgh to help with all further negotiations, not that he was looking forward to it.

~
He was running on the treadmill, his iPod on shuffle, effectively blocking out the deafening silence of the empty gym at Consol. His teammates were either already in Europe or packing up their houses and heading back home for the summer. So, here he was in an abandoned building running his heart out, training for the season that wasn’t coming.

Sweat was running down his face, curling his hair, and making his shirt stick to his skin. He was pushing himself a bit harder than he should have, but it felt good to run and stretch his legs; feel the burn as it were.

He wondered what Adaline was up to. How pathetic was he? He’d gone out on one date and a brunch with this girl and she was seemingly always creeping back into his mind. He thought of talking to her last night, how he’d been able to relax, how he’d been able to forget about the league even if it was momentary. Sidney didn’t think about the lockout or all of the questions that were going to be asked by the media, or how much he was going to miss playing until the league kicked up again.

Adaline made him feel so…normal, normal in the best way possible. He talked about his interests off the ice; something he didn’t get asked about often. She asked him about his favorite movies and they debated ice cream flavors. With Adaline Spencer, Sidney Crosby was a normal guy. He ceased to be the face of a league or the name of the sport, he was just a guy who had met a girl and had no plans of letting go too soon. But…he still had to remind himself of who he was. The fact was, he was Sidney Crosby and just because he was able to forget that with her, nobody else would. His lifestyle wasn’t going anywhere. He was still going to be leaving every few days to week to go across the country to play the game he loved, leaving her wherever she would be; Pittsburgh or Los Angeles.

Sidney still faced the most media attention out of anyone and a relationship may not break headlines on the NHL network, but it certainly would all over social media. Adaline would be badgered by people who didn’t like him, she’d be called vulgar names simply because she was dating him, and most concerning, she’d be recognized wherever she went; she’d become a spectacle when she went to the grocery store or going out to a restaurant.

Sure, he could protect her, try to keep their relationship out of the prowling eyes of the media and fans…but did she deserve that? Did she deserve to not be able to wear anything Penguins related in fear that if they were seen together dots would be connected? Did she deserve to be kept at an arms length in public so nobody would suspect anything more than a platonic relationship between the two? Did she deserve to have to come to functions with other people so they weren’t seen arriving or leaving together?

That’s how Sidney handled all of his previous dates and relationships, and so far it was a big question mark as to his relationship status. He didn’t want to treat Adaline that way. Everyone in his past had expressed that they felt he was embarrassed of them. Sidney never wanted to Adaline to feel that way, she was so extraordinary that he couldn’t imagine her ever feeling like she was an embarrassment.

~
“Hi Jamie.” Adaline smiled into the receiver. She had called James after she finished with her mother forcing her into attending a charity event her club was hosting.

“Hi Addys. How is LA?” James asked her. For the most part he sounded okay. He seemed to be positive and his voice only sounded slightly hoarse.

“It’s okay. My mother has already roped me into one of her functions. How’s the burgh?” Adaline teased lightly.

“It’s okay…quiet.” James settled on.

“I’m sorry Jamie. I’ll be back soon. Is your brother keeping you company?” She asked him.

“Yea. He’s flying out the day you fly back. It helps, ya’ know? Having people here. It helps me to not focus on Sara…well, her not being here.” James said.

“I know, Jamie.” Adaline murmured.

“Anyway, I was thinking maybe we could go to the Warhol museum when you get back? I know Sara loved it and I’m sure you would too.” James said. Adaline immediately got excited about going back to Pittsburgh. She absolutely loved Warhol and Sara would often talk about how much she loved going there with James. It was a happy place of sorts for James and Sara, and Adaline wanted to help James preserve those memories.

“Of course. I’ll be looking forward to it.” Adaline assured him. James and Adaline talked for a bit more, him discussing preparations for her upcoming visit as well as gushing about how much he was loving her cooking. One thing about Sara, she was a great baker and a questionable cook. She could knock any pastry out of the park, but Adaline feared for her safety when Sara had a frying pan in her hands.

~
“Adaline, I don’t know why you’re fussing so much!” Adaline’s mother chastised.

“You didn’t bother to tell me you found a date to attend this event. I didn’t want a date…you never mentioned one.” Adaline snapped. She was furious with her mother. She didn’t want to spend time with someone her mother deemed fit for her, he was likely some life-sucking socialite. Plus, she had just talked to Sidney last night! She really liked Sidney, and going on a date with some tool was not something she had any interest in.

“You’re just having dinner with him Adaline! It’s not like I arranged a marriage!” Her mother scoffed, irritated with her daughter’s behavior.

“You didn’t even bother to ask if I was alright with it! That’s why I’m angry. It was wrong and you know it!” Adaline huffed. Her mother looked at her with an exasperated nature before shaking her head and walking from the room. Adaline let out a frustrated groan. This was so typical of her mother. She always did what she thought would be best for Adaline, never once considering if Adaline was okay with it or not. She arranged dates, cancelled plans, tried to influence who she was friends with, and most irritating she tried to interfere with her work.

Adaline’s mother felt it necessary to interject her opinion on where Adaline worked and what she did, going so far to try to bad mouth her profession to her relatives so they’d discourage her from keeping her job. It was frustrating and what made Adaline choose to go to Emerson in Boston, just recently coming back home for work. It’s not that Adaline didn’t love her mother; she just felt she was a bit too pretentious and a bit too overbearing.

Sighing, she walked over to the dress her mother had laid out for her. Adaline was wearing a mid length navy dress with a tapered shoulder neckline. On one side of the dress, covering from just above her breasts to slightly below her hipbone was a pink flower detail, intricately weaving together. Her hair was swept up into a low bun resting at the base of her skull. Two tendrils of her bangs fell down on either side of her face, delicately framing her hazel eyes. She had light pink gloss over her lips and precisely placed mascara resting on her eyelashes. Adaline also had a pair of pink heels matching the rose detail of her dress on her feet, raising her only about two and a half inches.

Adaline walked downstairs and saw her date standing with her mother. It took every bit of manners to not roll her eyes at her mother’s choice. From all the way back here, she could tell he has far beyond arrogant and someone she wouldn’t get along with well.

“Adaline, I’d like you to meet Damien.” Her mother smiled and introduced the blue-eyes charmer that would not doubt try his best moves on her.

“I am beyond delighted to meet you.” This Damien dramatically bowed and kissed her hand. Good lord, who was she? Queen Victoria? He literally just kissed her hand after doing a courtly bow.

“Yea. Nice to meet you too Damien.” Adaline cordially greeted him.

“Allow me.” Damien said as he produced his elbow, insinuating for her to take it. Adaline accepted, holding a chuckle in her throat.

“Thanks.” Adaline said. Her mother shot a disapproving frown at her use of improper language, but Adaline wasn’t about to pull out all the stops for the romantic novel cliché that was currently leading her to their car.

“My lady.” Mr. Romeo presented as he opened the car door. Adaline once again rolled her eyes as she climbed in, hoping to get away from the pretentious fruitcake soon enough.
The ride to the house the benefit was being held at was short and painful. The faux Romeo talked her ear off, rather cordially, about his interests and how well a match they were based off their family’s standing and relations. God, skip Romeo this guy had gone full on Mr. Collins on her.

‘Save me.’ Adaline discreetly texted Sidney when Damien had turned away to schmooze her mother.

Once they were in the house milling about the crowd, Adaline allowed herself to pull away from him slightly as he talked to the people he knew.

‘Why? What’s up?’ Sidney had texted back.

‘My mother has drug me to a fundraiser at one of her friend’s houses AND stuck me with a date, who is a fruitcake.’ Adaline typed back, glancing over at Damien to see he was engulfed in his conversation, that he didn’t notice her slip away and go sit down in the corner of the main room.

‘Want me to beat him up?’ Sidney had texted back immediately.

‘You’d be my knight in shining armor.’ Adaline smiled foolishly to herself as she looked down at the screen.

‘How much competition does he pose?’ Sidney had replied.

‘He poses no competition whatsoever. He wishes he was you.’ Adaline replied laughing hysterically. For whatever reason, Sidney brought out the brave, flirty side in her. She often felt she did the same thing to him.

‘If he saw us a couple nights ago out at dinner, I think he’d agree.’ Sidney flirted back.

‘You sure know how to make a girl blush.’ Adaline’s fingers typed back furiously, and indeed, she was blushing at what he’d said.

‘I hope to do it a whole lot more…in many more situations (;’ Sidney texted back. If Adaline’s face wasn’t flaming before, it certainly was now. She couldn’t believe he’d said that, but in a way, she really liked how bold it was.

‘Bad boy.’ Adaline had texted back before she got up to go back and talk to Damien. Adaline returned and listened to Damien brag about how his boat was bigger than his friend’s. Adaline didn’t mind people money; she just didn’t like pretentious assholes that felt it necessary to show it off to everyone.

Adaline smiled when it was necessary and even danced with Damien once, but excused herself early from the evening, much to her mother’s disapproval, and had the car take her back to her home.

‘I broke free. I’m almost home, we can talk if you’d like.’ Adaline texted Sidney as they tuned down her street. Quickly, she entered her apartment and slipped out of her heels as she heard her phone ring…only with a different ringtone. She flipped her phone number ad noticed it was Sidney trying to face time her. Her hear jumped into her throat. Talking to him and texting him was one thing, but face timing him was a whole new thing. Hesitantly, she hit the accept button and sat down on her couch.

Sidney’s face popped up on the screen going still as soon as he saw her.

“What’s wrong?” Adaline asked self-consciously as she looked down at her dress and smoothed her hair.

“Absolutely nothing. You look stunning.” Sidney complimented. His words sent her face aflame as she struggled to make eye contact with him. “You do Adaline. You’re gorgeous.” He complimented.

“Thank you. You’re not too hard to look at either.” Adaline smiled back at him through the screen. Sidney was kicked back in a comfy chair and Adaline was sitting on her couch, both relaxing while talking to one another.

“How was you day?” Sidney asked her warmly.

“It was well, up until the point I was enslaved into this evening.” Adaline chuckled. “How was your day?” Adaline asked through a sigh.

“It went well. I had a meeting to talk about the lock out. From what I’m hearing there definitely won’t be any games in October. Most of the guys have gone to Europe.” Sidney updated her.

“That sucks, you guys were one of my favorite teams.” Adaline blushed slightly. This admission peaked his interest, as he leaned forward to get a better handle on what she’d said.

“Hold up. Did you just say the Penguins were one of you favorite teams?” Sidney tried to confirm.

“Maybe….” Adaline trailed off.

“This is too good.” Sidney let out a honking laugh.

“At least I have good taste in teams.” Adaline tried to reason through a blush. She was embarrassed that Sidney found out this way, but it wasn’t like she was some crazy fan girl.

“That you do. I mean you could have been a Flyers fan, then we’d probably never talk again.” Sidney honked again. Adaline loved the way his eyes lit up when he was teasing her or when she was making him laugh was enough of a high to keep her going for a while.

“Never!” Adaline protested in mock offence.

Meow. An impatient Austen complained and pawed at her mother.

“What’s that?” Sid asked her. Adaline tilted the phone down slightly so Sidney could see Austen now curling in her lap.

“This is Austen, my cat.” Adaline smiled, scratching Austen’s head.

“Normally I don’t like cats, but that cat is the best cat I’ve ever seen.” Sidney was on the line of gushing. Adaline’s heart swelled at the thought of Sidney holding Austen or dare she say it, snuggle her?

“She’s a munchkin cat, she’s really tiny.” Adaline gushed.

“Sort of like her mother.” Sidney jabbed playfully.

“Hey now!” Adaline called out in mock protest. Adaline’s eyes were dropping as Sidney continued to talk about his day. She groggily got up and walked down the hallway to her bedroom. Her fluffy, white comforter wrapped around her body as she snuggled into her plethora of pillows.

“Comfy there?” Sidney taunted. From where he was sitting, his heartstrings were tugging slightly as he watched her settle into her bed. Adaline’s room was so fitting for how Sidney had pictured it…and he had thought about what it would look like many times. It was clean and neutral, but maintained this flare of style while looking completely inviting and comfortable. He looked at a sleepy Adaline as she talked about her day some more and smiled happily. He imagined what Adaline would look like tangled up in his sheets giving him that sleepy smile and vice versa. He thought about joining Adaline in that small space that was uniquely her and couldn’t help but let his mind wander. He felt a wash of happiness and elation and excitement rush over him as he thought of walking up to her in the morning, catching her disoriented and perfectly happy.

“Mhm.” Adaline confirmed as her eyes shut and her breath began to even out. Sidney smiled at her as she fell asleep.

“Goodnight Adaline. I don’t know what’s going on…all I know is I don’t want to let go.” Sidney whispered as he looked at her delicate face one last time before ending the Facebook call.