‹ Prequel: Him and I
Scenes From an Elevator: James and Alex
Edmonton: 2019
They had just gotten the go ahead to turn on their cell phones and James Neal’s phone began to go off incessantly with missed calls and texts. Beside him, his fiancé Alexandra “Alex” Gates rolled her eyes.
“Someone’s popular today,” she teased. “Is everyone okay? Did Johnny get engaged?”
Now it was James’s turn to roll his eyes. “You know as well as I do that if something happened to Tavares you would know before anyone else except maybe his mom.”
“He could need advice on landing the girl of his dreams who is also completely out of his league and who better to give that advice than you?”
“Did you take a sassy pill before this flight today?”
“Puh-lease. I am always this sassy and you know it.” Just then, Alex’s phone began to go off with incoming missed calls and texts and James chuckled.
“Now who's the popular one?”
She stuck her tongue out at him and opened her phone to check the texts and James did the same. After a beat, they both looked up from their phones and to each other.
“Edmonton?” Alex said.
James nodded. “Edmonton.” Sure, his one, and now only, season in Calgary hadn’t been great but being traded was not what he was expecting. “I guess we’re house hunting again this summer.”
“Guess so.”
“We’ll know Mike and his family though.”
“I’ll get to finally meet Danni. Oh my gosh, James!”
“What?”
“Danni and I can work together to find McDavid a girlfriend now.”
He groaned. “Alex....”
“I’m gonna call Danni as soon as we get to the house.”
“Oh lord,” James muttered.
The squeal could be heard over everything else going on in the arena and every eye on the ice turned towards the stands.
Except for the eyes of James Neal and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Those eyes met each other and rolled.
“Was that yours or mine?” Ryan asked.
James shrugged. “Hard to say. Probably it was both melded as one.”
“Probably.”
“Can you imagine what those two are going to be like in an actual game if you two stay paired on the same line?” Sam Gagner said as he skated up to his linemates for the first day of training camp. “I thought Danni and Roni were something but Alex and Danni? Those two are a force of nature.”
“What they are is ridiculous,” James replied.
“They spent two hours last night drinking wine and plotting a scheme to get Connor a girlfriend,” Ryan added.
Sam chuckled. “Ok but think of their track record. Hallsy? Married. Ebs? Engaged. Tavares? Basically engaged. Stamkos? Married and became a step dad. If anyone can find the heir apparent of the NHL a partner, it’s those two. They’ve setup your friends, they’ve locked you two down; what are you worried about?”
James looked at Ryan before answering. “Shenanigans, Gagner. Shenanigans.”
“Can you believe this?” Danni raged as she stormed into Alex and James’s home. “Sam! On waivers! Ugh!” She threw herself dramatically onto the couch.
Alex giggled. “Not happy with those waiver wires, huh?”
“It was bad when they traded Justin Schultz, awful when they traded Taylor Hall and let Benoit Pouilot walk within a week of each other, and suffice to say, I was pissed when it was Jordan Eberle. Now we riot.”
Alex burst out laughing and Danni joined a beat later. “I just wanted Sam and his family to stay here,” she said. “His girls are so cute. And I loved him being paired with James and Ryan during preseason. I was really hoping it’d work out for him.”
“Here’s hoping no one picks him up and he gets recalled soon,” Alex said as she poured two glasses of wine.
“I helped him pick out the ring for Haley on FaceTime,” Danni said as she sat up, taking the glass from Alex when she sat down beside her. She tucked her legs under her and turned towards the other woman, taking a long sip. “He was so nervous but it was so adorable.”
“I helped Steven,” Alex replied. “He was sweating and kept dropping his phone.”
“What would they do without us?” They clinked glasses. “I remember when Connor lived with us; he was nothing like living with Schultzy when Ryan and I first got together.”
“Connor lived with you and Ryan?”
“His rookie season for about four months. Then he rented his own place one floor down from us when he moved out. It was fun.”
“How though? Did he show up in town and Ryan like offered him the spare bedroom? Because that’s what I did when PK’s younger brother Malcolm came to Vegas.”
Danni laughed. “And how did James feel about that?”
“He wasn’t thrilled with me but baby Subby also wasn’t thrilled with the idea of living with friends of his brother so he chose to live with one of the guys who was more his age.”
“Well Ryan got a call from management who asked him if he would consider having Connor live with us. He was hesitant because we had just gotten engaged and we’re starting to plan our wedding. But I was full tilt on board. I mean, I grew up a Flyers fan and taught to hate everything Pittsburgh so having the new messiah of the nhl come live with us and have a hand in his mentoring to smash ever Crosby record ever was a dream come true.”
Alex squealed, ear piercing and loud in Nassau Coliseum one week after the season had started. “Oh my god, four goals! He’s never scored four in a game!”
Danni laughed at her friends enthusiasm as she bounced up and down in her Oilers jersey. “Maybe you’re good luck.”
“I am never going to live down bringing the enemy to this hockey game,” Eve Eberle said, shaking her head.
“Sorry, girl,” Danni replied, giving her friend a side hug.
“Maybe you’ll get a pass since I’m the girl Johnny saved,” Alex added.
“Oh you mean the most hated man in Islanders country? Yeah, I don’t think so,” Eve replied causing them all to laugh. "It's all good though. This is the most fun I've had at a game in a long time."
"Same girl, same," Alex smiled.
“Someone’s popular today,” she teased. “Is everyone okay? Did Johnny get engaged?”
Now it was James’s turn to roll his eyes. “You know as well as I do that if something happened to Tavares you would know before anyone else except maybe his mom.”
“He could need advice on landing the girl of his dreams who is also completely out of his league and who better to give that advice than you?”
“Did you take a sassy pill before this flight today?”
“Puh-lease. I am always this sassy and you know it.” Just then, Alex’s phone began to go off with incoming missed calls and texts and James chuckled.
“Now who's the popular one?”
She stuck her tongue out at him and opened her phone to check the texts and James did the same. After a beat, they both looked up from their phones and to each other.
“Edmonton?” Alex said.
James nodded. “Edmonton.” Sure, his one, and now only, season in Calgary hadn’t been great but being traded was not what he was expecting. “I guess we’re house hunting again this summer.”
“Guess so.”
“We’ll know Mike and his family though.”
“I’ll get to finally meet Danni. Oh my gosh, James!”
“What?”
“Danni and I can work together to find McDavid a girlfriend now.”
He groaned. “Alex....”
“I’m gonna call Danni as soon as we get to the house.”
“Oh lord,” James muttered.
~*~*~
The squeal could be heard over everything else going on in the arena and every eye on the ice turned towards the stands.
Except for the eyes of James Neal and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Those eyes met each other and rolled.
“Was that yours or mine?” Ryan asked.
James shrugged. “Hard to say. Probably it was both melded as one.”
“Probably.”
“Can you imagine what those two are going to be like in an actual game if you two stay paired on the same line?” Sam Gagner said as he skated up to his linemates for the first day of training camp. “I thought Danni and Roni were something but Alex and Danni? Those two are a force of nature.”
“What they are is ridiculous,” James replied.
“They spent two hours last night drinking wine and plotting a scheme to get Connor a girlfriend,” Ryan added.
Sam chuckled. “Ok but think of their track record. Hallsy? Married. Ebs? Engaged. Tavares? Basically engaged. Stamkos? Married and became a step dad. If anyone can find the heir apparent of the NHL a partner, it’s those two. They’ve setup your friends, they’ve locked you two down; what are you worried about?”
James looked at Ryan before answering. “Shenanigans, Gagner. Shenanigans.”
~*~*~
“Can you believe this?” Danni raged as she stormed into Alex and James’s home. “Sam! On waivers! Ugh!” She threw herself dramatically onto the couch.
Alex giggled. “Not happy with those waiver wires, huh?”
“It was bad when they traded Justin Schultz, awful when they traded Taylor Hall and let Benoit Pouilot walk within a week of each other, and suffice to say, I was pissed when it was Jordan Eberle. Now we riot.”
Alex burst out laughing and Danni joined a beat later. “I just wanted Sam and his family to stay here,” she said. “His girls are so cute. And I loved him being paired with James and Ryan during preseason. I was really hoping it’d work out for him.”
“Here’s hoping no one picks him up and he gets recalled soon,” Alex said as she poured two glasses of wine.
“I helped him pick out the ring for Haley on FaceTime,” Danni said as she sat up, taking the glass from Alex when she sat down beside her. She tucked her legs under her and turned towards the other woman, taking a long sip. “He was so nervous but it was so adorable.”
“I helped Steven,” Alex replied. “He was sweating and kept dropping his phone.”
“What would they do without us?” They clinked glasses. “I remember when Connor lived with us; he was nothing like living with Schultzy when Ryan and I first got together.”
“Connor lived with you and Ryan?”
“His rookie season for about four months. Then he rented his own place one floor down from us when he moved out. It was fun.”
“How though? Did he show up in town and Ryan like offered him the spare bedroom? Because that’s what I did when PK’s younger brother Malcolm came to Vegas.”
Danni laughed. “And how did James feel about that?”
“He wasn’t thrilled with me but baby Subby also wasn’t thrilled with the idea of living with friends of his brother so he chose to live with one of the guys who was more his age.”
“Well Ryan got a call from management who asked him if he would consider having Connor live with us. He was hesitant because we had just gotten engaged and we’re starting to plan our wedding. But I was full tilt on board. I mean, I grew up a Flyers fan and taught to hate everything Pittsburgh so having the new messiah of the nhl come live with us and have a hand in his mentoring to smash ever Crosby record ever was a dream come true.”
~*~*~
Alex squealed, ear piercing and loud in Nassau Coliseum one week after the season had started. “Oh my god, four goals! He’s never scored four in a game!”
Danni laughed at her friends enthusiasm as she bounced up and down in her Oilers jersey. “Maybe you’re good luck.”
“I am never going to live down bringing the enemy to this hockey game,” Eve Eberle said, shaking her head.
“Sorry, girl,” Danni replied, giving her friend a side hug.
“Maybe you’ll get a pass since I’m the girl Johnny saved,” Alex added.
“Oh you mean the most hated man in Islanders country? Yeah, I don’t think so,” Eve replied causing them all to laugh. "It's all good though. This is the most fun I've had at a game in a long time."
"Same girl, same," Alex smiled.
♠ ♠ ♠
A little background on my idea's here.....James getting traded to Edmonton was great for me because of my stories, James & Alex and Ryan & Danni are two of my favorite pairs to write. I had every intention of this being a Danni and Alex driven story where they got into a lot of shenanigan's as James suggests here and just ultimately drove Ryan and James crazy with their ideas and plans. I also wanted to get Alex back in a bakery and planned on her and Danni doing it together since Danni has dual citizenship and the path would have been easier for her to do and be a silent partner in the business. They also definitely would have found McDavid the perfect girlfriend all while planning James and Alex's wedding too. There's also hints of a future scene I'll share when I start posting what I have for Danni and Ryan.One other note I'll make is that you'll see two references to stories I either never wrote or didn't finish. The first is for John Tavares. I setup the idea for this in James and Alex's second story and I did start working on this one. I might share it as a scene here but the basic gist is that John falls for a woman who worked for his team and although she does like him, she can't and won't go down that road as an employee of the same team. Then he signs in Toronto and guess who we meet again? ;)
The second was Steven Stamkos. This one I never started writing but the idea was planted also in James and Alex's second story when Alex and Steven go to the birthday party of one of Stammer's teammates kids. Basically it would have been the nanny and Steven would have started showing up unannounced for a plethora of reasons to his teammates home that would have gotten amusingly dumber as time went on just to see her and then trying to figure out how to date a woman with a kid.