Starting Over

28. All Star Day Five

Soft light filters through the curtains as Nicole slowly wakes. Snow had fallen during the night, blanketing the grounds outside. Nic could hear movement outside the door as she slowly dressed for the day. Nicole grabs her phone and checks her messages; she smiles as a new one appears, grabs her boots, and makes her way down stairs.

Eddie is sitting in the family room with Gabriel as the news filters on the T.V.

“Morning boys,” Nic calls out. The two stop and switch to English, greeting the young woman.
“Where are you off too?” Gabe asks, fallowing Nic into the kitchen.

She grabs a mug, fills it with hot chocolate, and jumps on the counter to nibble on a piece of toast, “Just getting ready for the day; I have a friend coming to visit.”

Eddie quirks an eyebrow, “They said no visitors though.”
Nicole gives the Swedes a smile, “A Personal photographer is coming to take some photos of the guys and me for the Hawks.”

The two men crack a smile, “That is not a half bad excuse,” Gabe says as the doorbell sounds.
Nicole hops off the bar, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

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(Regular POV)

Nicole skips down the steps and wraps the waiting woman in a warm hug. Max claims the woman next as Kaner, Gabe, and Eddie step out into the cold.

Nicole turns to the trio, “Guys this is Breeze; Breeze this is Eddie, Gabriel, and Patrick.”
“Nice to meet you,” Breeze waves before tugging on her camera case, “This place is gorgeous.”
Max smiles, “I told you.”

The two women share a glance before Nicole loops their arms, “Let me give you the tour, then we can grab the guys.”

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(Patrick’s POV)

We watch the two women disappear into the mansion before three sets of eyes turn back to the Frenchman.

“So Max, who was that?” I ask.
Gabe chimes in, “Yeah she seems friendly for a photographer.”
Max shrugs, “She’s Nics’ friend.”

“I didn’t know Collie had a friend coming to the game,” I state; giving Max a pointed look.
Eddie adds, “Nic said a personal photographer was coming over; but wasn’t that the woman that works for the Flyers?”

Max blushes, “Well, yeah, but…”
The three of us laugh at the flustered Canadian, “Don’t worry Talbot; your girlfriend is more than welcomed here.”

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(Nicole’s POV)

Pat, Max, Breeze, and I trudge through the snow to the other house to retrieve the rest of the Hawks’. Regardless of the jokes I make to the Swedes – Breeze really was here for a shoot with us – a sacrifice the guys were willing to make in order to have her here.

“Hello!” I call out as we remove our boots at the entrance.
“Hey guys, ladies – what’s going on?” Shea steps out of the study and greets us.

Pat steps up, “Looking for Johnny and the guys. You know where they are?”
Shea scratches his chin, “Crow and Duncs were in the media room last I saw; I think Johnny was going to the solarium – something about Hibiscus needing water.”

“Of course,” Pat snorts while Breeze and Max look on in confusion.
“Thanks Shea,” I say, giving the defenseman a smile.

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(Johnny’s POV)

I placed the water pale down and gently touched the delicate petals of the vibrant purple flower.

“You know you’re not supposed to touch that part of a flower, right?”

I smile and snap the bloom from the stem and turn, “The point is to nurture the seed until it blossoms into a beautiful flower for everyone to enjoy.”

“How poetic,” Nicole says with a smile and takes the Hibiscus from me. The quiet snap of a camera catches my attention and I turn to see that we weren’t alone.

“Sorry,” Breeze says, “But the lighting was perfect.”

I give the small woman a smile and a hug before pulling Nicole back to my side, “It’s fine – I’m used to it with this one.” Nicole gives me a cheeky smile and snuggles into my side.

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(Regular POV)

Breeze and Nicole quickly round up the guys and pick out the appropriate clothes for the shoot. They had decided to shoot both inside and out. Each of the group were getting single shoots in select areas of the house and then group shots outside.

Duncan was first. He was dressed in dark slacks and a light tan cashmere sweater. Breeze styled his dark curls to her liking before she walked him into the study and went over what she was looking for. A fire had been lit from earlier and Nicole had rounded up a couple of guys off other teams to act as muscle to move furniture as needed.

Breeze had Duncan sit in the high backed chair with a glass of wine sitting on a mahogany table and book in his lap. She gave directions that he fallowed flawlessly. She then moved him to lean on the mantle, sit on the hearth, and finally next to the window.

Corey was next. Breeze had him dress in his grey game day suit and a simple white dress shirt. He had put a tie on but, after some deliberation, it was decided that the tie was to be removed and the top buttons unsnapped. Breeze had him pose in the library, holding books, sitting behind the desk, leaning off the desk and holding a globe – after Kaner figured out how to get the orb out of its holder.

Patrick went third. Breeze and Nicole had chosen a royal blue short sleeved polo that would make his eyes pop before setting him up in the kitchen. The chef on call was kind enough to show Pat how to properly hold a knife and offered an extra apron, black with white pinstripes, for the shoot. He ‘cut’ various veggies before Breeze moved him into the family room for a more relaxed setting.

Breeze put Johnny back in the solarium, but now he had on jeans and a red, plaid, long-sleeved button up shirt. Nicole rolled the sleeves before Breeze approved the look and then started directing the captain. She had him water a couple of plants, pose near the floor length windows, and against the wall that had exposed brick. After Nicole left to change, Breeze handed Johnny the purple Hibiscus. He took the flower in his hand and put it under his nose as if he were smelling the bloom.

He looked right at the camera and smirked.
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(Regular POV)

Nicole was last and would be in the ballroom. She had disappeared into Johnny’s room upstairs to change into the dress that Cath had sent. Breeze was setting up and had several of the guys move the baby grand piano near the center of the room. She had already told Nicole that, when she was ready, she was to enter from the balcony that ran the end of the room and descend the stairs.

Breeze was scanning the rest of the room when she heard a small gasp. She turned and saw the gaggle of men that had gathered staring and turned again.

Nicole was standing at the top of the stairs in a full length lace dress. The dress was Russian violet, the front ran across her collar in an off-shoulder fashion, long sleeves, a low swoop back, and a long train. The dress had been paired with black heels and jewelry with purple sapphires surrounded by classic diamonds.

“I suddenly feel way under dressed,” one of the young guys – Tyler – says as Nicole takes directions and starts her slow decent on the stairs.

“Dude, she looks better than you on her bad days,” Jamie Benn chirps the Bruin – causing him to pout and several of the guys to laugh.

“She’s a beauty, Johnny,” Mike Green said, giving the Hawk’ a nudge.

Breeze smirks as she hears the chatter in the background but continues to give directions. She has Nicole to pause at the bottom of the stairs and makes Henrik Lundqvist fix her train around the bottom of the stairs. Henrik had been the only one to understand her vision and had volunteered to help with this part of the shoot. He whispers something to Nicole that causes her to blush and Breeze captures it as he moves out of the shot.

After, she has Nicole move to the piano. She tells Nic to play whatever she wants and to just go with the feeling. Nicole concentrates and soon the soothing feel of the nocturne over takes her. Breeze moves around the woman, capturing the moment from different angles. The guys had been fully enraptured in the moment and the room quiets as the last note fades. Someone claps, causing the men to follow suit.

Breeze then moves Nicole to the floor length windows. They are framed by full satin blue drapes, gauze white curtains hang beneath the drapes and with the light filtering, cast Nicole in an angelic glow. Breeze captures the scene up close, before moving across the room in order to get Nicole’s full silhouette as she moved through the gauzy white curtails.

Max stands at Breeze’s elbow with Henrik on her other side. He nudges his girlfriend and she looks up, “What do you think?”

She gives the man a gentle smile, “I think we got it.”

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(Regular POV)

The group changes into warmer clothes and moves outside to get some snow shots. It starts simply with just the Blackhawks walking in a loose group, chirping each other and being chirped by the audience. Breeze has Nicole hop onto Johnny’s back for a couple shot before he sets her down, pulls her around and tucks her close; he cups her face and gently kisses her – gaining cat calls in the process.

Duncan steals her away and throws her over his shoulder before tossing her into a snow drift. Patrick plops next to her and makes snow angels. Corey, Johnny, and Duncan can be seen in the background forming snowballs. As the two younger hawks’ stand, they suddenly find themselves being bombarded by a flurry of snow. The group watching take their cue, make their own snowballs, and join the fray. Breeze captures the candid moments as players from across the league join the game.