Merry Christmas!
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Twenty-Four.
One week ‘til Christmas and everyone seemed jollier. To spread the holiday cheer houses were lit up, stores and restaurants had that hidden mistletoe waiting for the unsuspecting victims. Mother Nature had gladly dropped a foot or so of beautifully white packing snow all over the city. The entire city looked like a snow globe.
Everything seemed at ease. People all over the city wore huge smiles and walked gracefully. But of course there were those last minute shoppers who rushed in and out of stores looking for gifts.
Both Sidney’s and Riley’s family were making the trip up to Pittsburgh to celebrate the holidays. Troy, Trina, and Taylor would be coming up on the 20th and Antoine, Eliza, Ben, Keaton, and Storm would be arriving on the 21st. Riley’s family had decided to stay at a hotel since there was five of them and they would not fit in Riley’s house. There was, however, enough room for Sidney’s family but they ‘didn’t want to be a pain’ so they offered to stay in a hotel as well.
Sidney and Riley would both spend the day with Sidney’s family when they arrived and then Riley would spend time with her family after. There was going to mass confusion and stress throughout this family gathering, but aren’t all holidays stressful?
“What are you thinking about?” Sidney questioned when he noticed that Riley was silent for a while.
“Just about how everything is going go,” she answered as she took a bite of her food.
“Everything is going to be fine,” he assured her. The last time the two family’s spoke with each other was back when Sidney and Riley were teens.
“I hope you’re right,” Riley sighed, Sidney rolled his eyes.
“You’re making things more stressful then they already are… stop.” He said with a smile.
The next day Sidney and Riley headed to Mario’s house to discuss times and such of when they should be arriving. They had all planned to spend Christmas day at the Lemieux house – since it was the only house big enough to hold everyone. There was no way Riley’s little place could hold sixteen people. Sidney and Riley spent the rest of the day lounging around the Lemieux house.
“Hey Rye,” Lauren said during a commercial.
“Hmm?”
“How old exactly are your siblings?” she asked with more than a hint of curiosity.
“Well my brother Ben is a year older then I am, making him twenty-three. Keaton and Storm are both sixteen.” Riley answered with a smile that quickly turned into a frown.
“Oh, are they twins? And why are you upset?” Lauren said as Sidney turned to look at Riley with some concern.
“Yeah they’re twins, and I’m upset because they’re so grown up now. The last time I saw them they were eleven.” Riley said as Sidney put his arm around her.
“Aw, well at least you’ll get to see them again. But what do they look like?” Lauren asked.
“Lauren, stop asking so many questions!” Sidney said, noticing how Riley was still slightly upset.
“No it’s fine. My brother Ben, he’s tall and he’s a blonde,” Riley said with a laugh. “Keaton, the last time I saw him, he was basically a spitting image of Ben. But who knows what he looks like now. And my little sister Storm, ah she was a cutie that’s for sure. Storm has black hair and green eyes. She was always small but who knows, she could’ve grown three feet!” Riley said with a laugh as her mood changed again, only this time she was ecstatic.
Sidney went to go pick his parents up from the airport while Riley finished cleaning up the house. She wanted her house to be spotless, not only for Sidney’s parents but because she knew that her mom was a complete neat freak. She was walking past the front door when she saw the doorknob turn slowly. Riley took a deep breath and put on a huge smile.
“There she is,” Sidney said looking at Riley with a loving expression.
“Hey Troy, Trina, Taylor, and Sid,” she said with a wave.
“Hey sweetie, how are ya?” Trina greeted as she walked over to embrace Riley in a motherly hug.
“I’m good, how are you guys?” Riley asked as Troy wrapped her in a hug.
“We’re good, a little tired from the flight but good.” Troy said with a smile.
“If you want you could always take a nap in the guest room,” Riley offered.
“Ah, we’ll survive. But thank you anyway.” Troy said.
They spent the day touring some of Pittsburgh and then at Riley’s place. They spent the rest of the evening catching up on everything that had gone on in the past few months. Taylor was excited to see Riley’s family again, she had only met them once but she was too young to really remember a lot. After a while Sidney’s family headed over to their hotel for the night.
The next day Riley spent most of the morning on the phone with her mother. They would be arriving in an hour and they wanted to discuss transportation details. The Jacobs’ had assured Riley that it would be better if they rented a few cars while they were staying.
Sidney had taken his parents and sister to go see Mario and his family, all while Riley waited anxiously for her family to pull into the driveway. Every sound made her heart’s speeds increase, car doors slamming, feet trudging through the snow, people talking, and the one sound that made her smile widely – a very impatient knock on her front door. Riley sprinted towards the door to be greeted by bright smiles.
“Mom, Dad!” Riley screeched, pulling both her parents in to warms hugs. “Keaton, Storm!” She pulled them into hugs as well. Her smile turned into a slight frown when she counted only four people standing in her doorway. “Where’s Ben?” She asked disappointment evident in her voice.
“He’s coming, dear. Your brother wanted his own car so they could look around a bit, without having to bring the whole family along,” Eliza, Riley’s mother answered through her thick French-Canadian accent.
“Oh. Wait, they?” Riley asked. She hadn’t heard anyone mention that Ben would be bringing someone with him.
“Yes, they, Ben brought Kimberly with him,” Eliza said with a smile.
Kim was Ben’s long-time girlfriend that everyone loved. She had always been like a sister to Riley. They would go shopping together on weekends back in Rimouski. At first Ben insisted on joining them but after spending the entire day in dressing rooms watching his girlfriend and sister try on clothes he got bored and opted to hang out with his guy friends instead.
Just then there was a knock on the door and Riley ran to answer it. “Slow down,” her father joked, “it could just be Sid.” Riley laughed and answered, “Nah, he just lets himself in.”
“Ben, Kim!” Riley screamed as she pulled them too, in to hugs.
“Jeez Rye, indoor voices,” Ben smiled and rolled his eyes.
“I can’t. I’m too happy,” she said as she led them to the living room where the rest of the family was.
“Ah, Ben, care to tell us what you were up to when we arrived? You just rushed out of the airport with Kimmy,” Antoine, Riley’s dad asked with a brow raised.
“Oh yeah, about that…” Ben trailed off as he wrapped his arm around Kim and pulled her closer to his body. “Well we–” He was cut off by the sound of a group of people talking. Just then Sidney walked in to the all ready crowded living room with his family in tow.
“Trina!” Riley’s mother exclaimed as she jumped up from the couch and bolted to Mrs. Crosby.
“Oh Eliza, you look wonderful,” Trina cooed.
“As do you,” Eliza returned in a tone that wasn’t as gentle as Trina’s.
“Troy,” Antoine greeted, extending his hand outward.
“Ah, Antoine, how are you?” Mr. Crosby said, starting the conversation off politely. Both Sidney’s father and Riley’s father had always got along exceptionally well, even years ago when they met the odd time.
“Hey,” Sidney mumbled as his hot breath caused Riley to slightly shudder.
“Mmm… hey,” she replied in a lingering tone, almost sounding like a low moan. Sidney turned her around in his arms so they stood face to face.
“So, when did everyone arrive?” He asked, gesturing towards the Jacobs’.
“About forty-five minutes ago.”
After being reacquainted with everyone they all decided to go out to eat. They picked a new restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh and then they filed into various vehicles. Taylor, Storm, Riley and Sidney all went in his Range Rover, Troy, Trina, Antoine and Eliza rode in the car that the Jacobs’ rented and Ben and Kim took the BMW that they rented.
The restaurant with people but Sidney – being the current hockey god in Pittsburgh – ended up scoring a private party room. The room was secluded; they had to go down three different hallways and two fairly large wooden doors to get to the expensive looking room.
“So Ben, you never did finish telling us what you were up to before because someone–” Riley paused momentarily to glare jokingly at Sidney, “–interrupted.”
“Oh yeah, all right…” he said sounding nervous. “Kim, do you want to say it?” Ben asked as he directed his attention to his beautifully average looking girlfriend.
“Okay. Ben took me to some quiet park and we sat down on a bench near a massive fountain…” as she described the scenery, Riley remembered the day that she and Sidney spent the afternoon there relaxing together in front of that very same fountain. “Then the next thing I know he’s in front of me, down on one knee, promising to love me forever and ever, and then he asked me to marry him.” Kim finished, her huge smile matching her fiancée’s.
They were now standing next to each other, Ben’s arm wrapped around her waist while she showed off the gorgeous ring on the third finger of her left hand.
“You left out the other half of the story,” Ben reminded.
“I know, I’ll let you mention it.”
“All right, we’ve been talking about this for a while and now it just seems right,” he automatically directed his attention to Riley, who was hanging on his every word. “Kim and I have decided to move out here, to Pittsburgh.”
“Seriously?!” Riley was shocked. “First you’re getting married and now you’re moving out here,” she said quietly.
“Uh, yeah...?” Ben said warily.
“That’s…” she whispered almost to herself. “That’s awesome!” She erupted.
They smiled.
“So Kim will finally be my sister?”
They all laughed.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Chapter Twenty-Three
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Twenty-Three.
“Just be careful,” the doctor warned Riley as she was on her way out the door.
“I’ll try,” she said with a small smile.
Several minutes later Riley stepped out into the cold weather and looked at the ground that now had a slight layer of snow on it. She sauntered over to her car; as soon as she got in she blasted the heat, or tried to anyway. After having cool air shoot her directly in the face for a few minutes Riley accepted the fact that there would be no more heat filling up her car until she got it fixed.
This was a time of year that many people, including Riley hated driving in with a passion. The roads would either be wet from melted snow and slush or covered in snow and ice, adding even more danger to driving. This time around the roads were wet from a thin layer of snow that had fallen in the early morning.
As she pulled into her driveway she noticed Sidney’s Range Rover had some snow on it meaning that he had been there for a while. Riley walked up the steps that led to the large black front door. Walking in she was instantly hit with a sweet aroma that finally allowed her to relax.
“Hey babe,” Sidney greeted as she seated herself next to him on the couch.
“Hey,” she said with a smile.
“Where have you been all day?” Sidney asked as he snaked his left arm around her waist.
“Well first I had to stop into the studio to get some things and such. While I was opening a drawer my thumb got caught in it so I pulled back by instinct and dislocated my thumb, I had to go to the doctor after and that’s where I just was,” Riley said with a nervous laugh.
“Is it okay now?” he asked with great concern in his eyes.
“Yeah, the doctor put it back in its place, turns out it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was,” she said with a shrug.
“Wow, at least you’re okay. So I got some dinner since I figured once you got home you probably wouldn’t want to cook,” Sidney said as he stood up, pulling Riley along with him.
They walked into the kitchen and he pulled out some Greek food. He made sure to get a smaller amount for Riley since she couldn’t eat large amounts of food. They ate the delicious meal in the spacious kitchen with Sachi standing by the table with pleading eyes. “You’re not getting anything you pig,” Riley said to her dog that had now placed his head on her lap. Sidney just shook his head smiled at how adorable his girlfriend was with animals.
After dinner they made their way into the living room to watch TV for the rest of the evening. They cuddled up on the couch; Sidney had his arm around Riley as she rested her head on his shoulder. “So can you pick me up after work tomorrow? I have to take my car in to get the heat fixed,” Riley said as Sidney flicked through channels at a million miles an hour. “Yeah sure, I get out by 2:00 at the latest,” he replied as Riley placed her hand on his, “Slow down… you’re making me dizzy.”
The next morning Riley woke up quite sore after a wild night that she had endured with Sidney. He on the other hand, seemed to be fine, more energetic if anything. She took a hot shower to relax her muscles and got out just before he could intrude. Riley put on some light make-up while Sidney belted out horrible renditions of what used to be considered a good song while he took a shower.
Riley drove to the nearest auto-mechanic on roads that had not yet been cleared of the early morning’s snow. Sidney followed directly behind her. She explained what she wanted done and was told that she would get her car back in a few days since they were booked for the day. After doing so, she climbed in Sidney’s Range Rover and they made their way to the studio.
After kissing her loving boyfriend goodbye Riley walked into the filming section of the studio. She was thankful that she didn’t have to make multiple trips to arenas and other places on this chilly December day. All she had to do was briefly summarize the day’s show and introduce the next person who would talk seriously about football, a sport Riley could not cover in great detail.
For the show she was dressed in a grey long-sleeved V-neck shirt with a dark plum tank top on underneath and possibly the most comfortable black dress pants she had ever worn. Her hair was put in a high ponytail with her side bangs accenting her gorgeous green eyes beautifully.
She inhaled deeply as the countdown started. ‘Three, two, one’ were what she saw just before the red recording light flashed on.
“Good Thursday morning Pittsburgh, I’m Riley Jacobs and I’ll be joining you on this chilly December morning to fill you in on all the latest sports news that you get first on Sports Guide. Grab yourself a fresh cup of coffee and prepare to enjoy the show. Today we’ve got highlights of the Steelers game and everything else that went on in the NFL last night. Just before I pass it on to our football expert I’d like to give you a look at tonight’s hockey schedule. The baby Pens play tonight against the Binghamton Senators and the ‘grown up’ Penguins play the Minnesota Wild. Now off to Derek Reed who is joined by Elijah Thomas and Tyrell Yard…”
Once she saw the red light on the camera shut off she stepped off of the set and instead of changing right away like normal she watched the three guys who claimed to be experts goof around on live TV. She got caught up in a rather pointless conversation when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. She turned around and saw Sidney staring down at her lovingly. They stood there gazing into each other’s eyes as the world around them was passing by. Sidney then leaned down and kissed an awaiting Riley sweetly on the lips with his arms still wrapped around her waist and her arms now linked around his neck. “I have to change then we can leave,” Riley whispered to him. “Let me come with you,” he said as Riley raised her right brow.
As soon as she stepped into the dressing room Sidney pushed her up against the wall, his lips crashing down on hers in a fiery kiss. He then moved from her lips to her neck as she entangled her fingers in his dark curly hair. “You… look… amazing,” he mumbled as he continued to nip at her neck. “So do you,” she moaned back. His hands trailed down to the bottom of her shirt and he proceeded to pull it off. He did the same with her tank top. He then made his way down to her pants and unzipped them in no time at all, letting them fall to her ankles as she kicked them off. Riley now stood pressed up against a wall in a TV studio dressing room in just her radiant red underwear. Sidney then began to snake his right arm around her back to unclasp her bra, “Sid, not here,” Riley breathed. He let out a frustrated sigh. “But why..?” he whined. “Because I work here and I’d like to keep a stable job,” she said as she searched for the pants that she arrived to work in. “Fine, but when we get home I’m having my way with you,” he said in a low voice.
Chapter Twenty-Three.
“Just be careful,” the doctor warned Riley as she was on her way out the door.
“I’ll try,” she said with a small smile.
Several minutes later Riley stepped out into the cold weather and looked at the ground that now had a slight layer of snow on it. She sauntered over to her car; as soon as she got in she blasted the heat, or tried to anyway. After having cool air shoot her directly in the face for a few minutes Riley accepted the fact that there would be no more heat filling up her car until she got it fixed.
This was a time of year that many people, including Riley hated driving in with a passion. The roads would either be wet from melted snow and slush or covered in snow and ice, adding even more danger to driving. This time around the roads were wet from a thin layer of snow that had fallen in the early morning.
As she pulled into her driveway she noticed Sidney’s Range Rover had some snow on it meaning that he had been there for a while. Riley walked up the steps that led to the large black front door. Walking in she was instantly hit with a sweet aroma that finally allowed her to relax.
“Hey babe,” Sidney greeted as she seated herself next to him on the couch.
“Hey,” she said with a smile.
“Where have you been all day?” Sidney asked as he snaked his left arm around her waist.
“Well first I had to stop into the studio to get some things and such. While I was opening a drawer my thumb got caught in it so I pulled back by instinct and dislocated my thumb, I had to go to the doctor after and that’s where I just was,” Riley said with a nervous laugh.
“Is it okay now?” he asked with great concern in his eyes.
“Yeah, the doctor put it back in its place, turns out it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was,” she said with a shrug.
“Wow, at least you’re okay. So I got some dinner since I figured once you got home you probably wouldn’t want to cook,” Sidney said as he stood up, pulling Riley along with him.
They walked into the kitchen and he pulled out some Greek food. He made sure to get a smaller amount for Riley since she couldn’t eat large amounts of food. They ate the delicious meal in the spacious kitchen with Sachi standing by the table with pleading eyes. “You’re not getting anything you pig,” Riley said to her dog that had now placed his head on her lap. Sidney just shook his head smiled at how adorable his girlfriend was with animals.
After dinner they made their way into the living room to watch TV for the rest of the evening. They cuddled up on the couch; Sidney had his arm around Riley as she rested her head on his shoulder. “So can you pick me up after work tomorrow? I have to take my car in to get the heat fixed,” Riley said as Sidney flicked through channels at a million miles an hour. “Yeah sure, I get out by 2:00 at the latest,” he replied as Riley placed her hand on his, “Slow down… you’re making me dizzy.”
The next morning Riley woke up quite sore after a wild night that she had endured with Sidney. He on the other hand, seemed to be fine, more energetic if anything. She took a hot shower to relax her muscles and got out just before he could intrude. Riley put on some light make-up while Sidney belted out horrible renditions of what used to be considered a good song while he took a shower.
Riley drove to the nearest auto-mechanic on roads that had not yet been cleared of the early morning’s snow. Sidney followed directly behind her. She explained what she wanted done and was told that she would get her car back in a few days since they were booked for the day. After doing so, she climbed in Sidney’s Range Rover and they made their way to the studio.
After kissing her loving boyfriend goodbye Riley walked into the filming section of the studio. She was thankful that she didn’t have to make multiple trips to arenas and other places on this chilly December day. All she had to do was briefly summarize the day’s show and introduce the next person who would talk seriously about football, a sport Riley could not cover in great detail.
For the show she was dressed in a grey long-sleeved V-neck shirt with a dark plum tank top on underneath and possibly the most comfortable black dress pants she had ever worn. Her hair was put in a high ponytail with her side bangs accenting her gorgeous green eyes beautifully.
She inhaled deeply as the countdown started. ‘Three, two, one’ were what she saw just before the red recording light flashed on.
“Good Thursday morning Pittsburgh, I’m Riley Jacobs and I’ll be joining you on this chilly December morning to fill you in on all the latest sports news that you get first on Sports Guide. Grab yourself a fresh cup of coffee and prepare to enjoy the show. Today we’ve got highlights of the Steelers game and everything else that went on in the NFL last night. Just before I pass it on to our football expert I’d like to give you a look at tonight’s hockey schedule. The baby Pens play tonight against the Binghamton Senators and the ‘grown up’ Penguins play the Minnesota Wild. Now off to Derek Reed who is joined by Elijah Thomas and Tyrell Yard…”
Once she saw the red light on the camera shut off she stepped off of the set and instead of changing right away like normal she watched the three guys who claimed to be experts goof around on live TV. She got caught up in a rather pointless conversation when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. She turned around and saw Sidney staring down at her lovingly. They stood there gazing into each other’s eyes as the world around them was passing by. Sidney then leaned down and kissed an awaiting Riley sweetly on the lips with his arms still wrapped around her waist and her arms now linked around his neck. “I have to change then we can leave,” Riley whispered to him. “Let me come with you,” he said as Riley raised her right brow.
As soon as she stepped into the dressing room Sidney pushed her up against the wall, his lips crashing down on hers in a fiery kiss. He then moved from her lips to her neck as she entangled her fingers in his dark curly hair. “You… look… amazing,” he mumbled as he continued to nip at her neck. “So do you,” she moaned back. His hands trailed down to the bottom of her shirt and he proceeded to pull it off. He did the same with her tank top. He then made his way down to her pants and unzipped them in no time at all, letting them fall to her ankles as she kicked them off. Riley now stood pressed up against a wall in a TV studio dressing room in just her radiant red underwear. Sidney then began to snake his right arm around her back to unclasp her bra, “Sid, not here,” Riley breathed. He let out a frustrated sigh. “But why..?” he whined. “Because I work here and I’d like to keep a stable job,” she said as she searched for the pants that she arrived to work in. “Fine, but when we get home I’m having my way with you,” he said in a low voice.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sorry it took a little while to post, I am currently swamped in assignments, ISU's, homework, and an essay on top of that [I'm taking the academic or 'advanced' courses so that's why I've got so much]. I'm trying to write and post as much as possible but be patient because like I said, I'm swamped in school work. Thank you for your lovely comments, and just so you know I am open to constructive criticism. =]
***
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Twenty-Two.
Sidney had moved back in with Riley and they were trying to work everything out. The guys had begun to win a few more games but they still weren’t where they wanted to be and making the playoffs was their main goal. Generally Riley and Sidney were happy; things were back to where they should be.
“Come to the game tonight, we’re playing Toronto,” Sidney said while Riley was sketching out some more details on the new room design.
“Well that was random.”
“I know, but come, please,” he begged with the puppy eyes.
“I don’t have a ticket stupid!” Riley said in a ‘duh’ tone.
“You’re dating the captain, stupid!” Sidney said mocking her tone.
On the way to the rink Riley turned up the music when one of her favourite songs came on. She started dancing in her seat and singing along with every line, causing Sidney to break out into laughter. They got to the spot where this one guy waits every time. Sidney had told her about it before and she didn’t believe him at all. This was the first time she had actually witnessed it. “Here he is,” Sidney said as he slowed down. “Oh my god, you weren’t kidding.” Riley said as he rolled down the window. “Is this your girlfriend, Sid?” the guy asked loudly. “Yeah,” Sidney said, “Damn she’s hot!” the guy hollered; Riley burst out laughing.
They got to the arena and walked in together, hand in hand. No one was really there yet so Riley walked into the locker room with Sidney. They sat down on the bench in front of Sidney’s stall. Sidney kissed her and pulled her onto his lap. They sat there lost in their own intimate world that they didn’t hear the door open.
“RILEY, OH MY GOD WE THOUGHT YOU DIED! DON’T JUST LEAVE LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!” Marc and Max shouted as they rushed over to her.
The rest of the guys had a similar reaction as Marc and Max did when they walked into the locker room. The room started to fill up quickly so Riley told Sidney that she would make her way to her seat. Sidney followed her out of the room and into the hallway. He pushed her up against the wall and started to kiss his way down her neck, then back up to her lips, his hands roaming. They were interrupted by a man clearing his throat, looking up they saw that it was the one and only Mario Lemieux.
“Sid,” Mario greeted with a smirk.
“Heyyy Mario,” Sidney said. “Riley this is Mario Lemieux, Mario this is my girlfriend Riley.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said extending his hand.
“You too,” Riley said shaking his hand firmly.
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” Mario asked Sidney.
“Yeah I was just telling Rye where her seat is…”
“Oh I’m sure you were.” Mario said with a laugh.
After that Sidney went into the locker room to get dressed and Riley made her way to her seat. She found out that she would be sitting with the rest of the girlfriends/wives. She got along fairly well with them, her favourite though was Vero. She was very welcoming and naturally a genuine person.
The guys got on the ice for their warm ups and Riley continued to talk with the girls. When she would look down at the ice she would catch Sidney’s glance the odd time. Other than that, he was a pretty focused boy. “Predictions?” Vero asked filling the empty silence. “5-2 Pens,” “5-4 Pens,” “6-1 Pens,” were what the ladies shouted out.
The game was a nail biter with the Pens opening the scoring in the first three minutes with a beautiful goal by Max. Then they netted another one courtesy of Geno, and then the Leafs got on the board thanks to Jason Blake, then a few minutes later Alex Steen scored. The Penguins won it 6-4 goals by Max, Geno, Jordan, Sidney, Kris, and Tyler. Once the final buzzer sounded Riley got up and headed down to the locker room with Vero and the other girls. Sidney was, of course, one of the last one’s out of the room.
“Ready to go home?” he asked as he leaned down to kiss Riley’s forehead.
“Didn’t you want to go and celebrate with the guys?” Riley asked confused.
“Nah, I’d rather go home tonight,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her out the door.
“Okay.”
Once they got home Riley decided that it was best to not ask Sidney why he didn’t want to go and celebrate with the guys. She went and sat on the couch while he changed. After a few minutes Sidney joined her in the living room.
“So what did you do while we weren’t speaking to each other?” Sidney asked, bringing up a topic that Riley would prefer to forget about.
“I basically just looked for a job then I found the one that I have now. I’ve mostly been working and hanging out with some friends,” Riley replied. “What about you?”
“I’ve been busy with the team and stuff,” he answered.
“So what are you doing tomorrow?” Riley asked on a brighter note.
“We leave for Ottawa,” Sidney answered simply.
“Okay, kick Heatley’s ass for me.” Riley said with a laugh.
Sidney left the next morning before Riley had even woken up, but he was kind enough to leave her a note of when they would be playing, when they’d be at practice, and when they’d be leaving Ottawa.
She headed out later that day to do some Christmas shopping. The malls were packed with people, creating extra stress for Riley. She was already stumped on what to get the boy that has everything he’ll ever need, plus the fact that when he wants something he can get it almost by the snap of his fingers.
***
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Twenty-Two.
Sidney had moved back in with Riley and they were trying to work everything out. The guys had begun to win a few more games but they still weren’t where they wanted to be and making the playoffs was their main goal. Generally Riley and Sidney were happy; things were back to where they should be.
“Come to the game tonight, we’re playing Toronto,” Sidney said while Riley was sketching out some more details on the new room design.
“Well that was random.”
“I know, but come, please,” he begged with the puppy eyes.
“I don’t have a ticket stupid!” Riley said in a ‘duh’ tone.
“You’re dating the captain, stupid!” Sidney said mocking her tone.
On the way to the rink Riley turned up the music when one of her favourite songs came on. She started dancing in her seat and singing along with every line, causing Sidney to break out into laughter. They got to the spot where this one guy waits every time. Sidney had told her about it before and she didn’t believe him at all. This was the first time she had actually witnessed it. “Here he is,” Sidney said as he slowed down. “Oh my god, you weren’t kidding.” Riley said as he rolled down the window. “Is this your girlfriend, Sid?” the guy asked loudly. “Yeah,” Sidney said, “Damn she’s hot!” the guy hollered; Riley burst out laughing.
They got to the arena and walked in together, hand in hand. No one was really there yet so Riley walked into the locker room with Sidney. They sat down on the bench in front of Sidney’s stall. Sidney kissed her and pulled her onto his lap. They sat there lost in their own intimate world that they didn’t hear the door open.
“RILEY, OH MY GOD WE THOUGHT YOU DIED! DON’T JUST LEAVE LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!” Marc and Max shouted as they rushed over to her.
The rest of the guys had a similar reaction as Marc and Max did when they walked into the locker room. The room started to fill up quickly so Riley told Sidney that she would make her way to her seat. Sidney followed her out of the room and into the hallway. He pushed her up against the wall and started to kiss his way down her neck, then back up to her lips, his hands roaming. They were interrupted by a man clearing his throat, looking up they saw that it was the one and only Mario Lemieux.
“Sid,” Mario greeted with a smirk.
“Heyyy Mario,” Sidney said. “Riley this is Mario Lemieux, Mario this is my girlfriend Riley.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said extending his hand.
“You too,” Riley said shaking his hand firmly.
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” Mario asked Sidney.
“Yeah I was just telling Rye where her seat is…”
“Oh I’m sure you were.” Mario said with a laugh.
After that Sidney went into the locker room to get dressed and Riley made her way to her seat. She found out that she would be sitting with the rest of the girlfriends/wives. She got along fairly well with them, her favourite though was Vero. She was very welcoming and naturally a genuine person.
The guys got on the ice for their warm ups and Riley continued to talk with the girls. When she would look down at the ice she would catch Sidney’s glance the odd time. Other than that, he was a pretty focused boy. “Predictions?” Vero asked filling the empty silence. “5-2 Pens,” “5-4 Pens,” “6-1 Pens,” were what the ladies shouted out.
The game was a nail biter with the Pens opening the scoring in the first three minutes with a beautiful goal by Max. Then they netted another one courtesy of Geno, and then the Leafs got on the board thanks to Jason Blake, then a few minutes later Alex Steen scored. The Penguins won it 6-4 goals by Max, Geno, Jordan, Sidney, Kris, and Tyler. Once the final buzzer sounded Riley got up and headed down to the locker room with Vero and the other girls. Sidney was, of course, one of the last one’s out of the room.
“Ready to go home?” he asked as he leaned down to kiss Riley’s forehead.
“Didn’t you want to go and celebrate with the guys?” Riley asked confused.
“Nah, I’d rather go home tonight,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her out the door.
“Okay.”
Once they got home Riley decided that it was best to not ask Sidney why he didn’t want to go and celebrate with the guys. She went and sat on the couch while he changed. After a few minutes Sidney joined her in the living room.
“So what did you do while we weren’t speaking to each other?” Sidney asked, bringing up a topic that Riley would prefer to forget about.
“I basically just looked for a job then I found the one that I have now. I’ve mostly been working and hanging out with some friends,” Riley replied. “What about you?”
“I’ve been busy with the team and stuff,” he answered.
“So what are you doing tomorrow?” Riley asked on a brighter note.
“We leave for Ottawa,” Sidney answered simply.
“Okay, kick Heatley’s ass for me.” Riley said with a laugh.
Sidney left the next morning before Riley had even woken up, but he was kind enough to leave her a note of when they would be playing, when they’d be at practice, and when they’d be leaving Ottawa.
She headed out later that day to do some Christmas shopping. The malls were packed with people, creating extra stress for Riley. She was already stumped on what to get the boy that has everything he’ll ever need, plus the fact that when he wants something he can get it almost by the snap of his fingers.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Chapter Twenty-One
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Twenty-One.
Riley hosted the show with perfection. She was very poised and professional during the entire show; if you hadn’t known any better than you would’ve thought that she’s been doing it forever. Everyone one praised her on a job well done.
After talking with everyone Riley made her way out to the parking lot that was now emptying out quickly. She walked over to her silver Mustang GT that now looked oh so lonely in the large grey lot. She was grateful that there was no snow yet, saving her a lot of time. Finally she had some peace, in that whole ten or so minutes of bliss. That is until some jerk on his cell but her off. It was then where the aggressiveness kicked in.
Once inside her warm home, Riley took out a pad of paper and began to create design plans for the two spare bedrooms that she currently used for storage. She had taken some courses before on how to design properly. At first she had taken them for fun, now she was happy that she did take them.
She had come up with the idea that the room would have light coloured hardwood floors and dark maroon walls. The room had a good amount of windows so she decided to take advantage of it. All in all, the room design looked like this:
Satisfied with the design, Riley put the pad of paper down on the table just as Kaylan walked in while hollering, “I got pizza!” Riley jumped up from the couch nearly falling because her left leg had fallen asleep. “I love you!” Riley shouted when Kaylan came in with the box of hot pizza. “Oh, only because I have food, right?” she said as she took a pillow off of the couch and sat on it on the floor.
Chapter Twenty-One.
Riley hosted the show with perfection. She was very poised and professional during the entire show; if you hadn’t known any better than you would’ve thought that she’s been doing it forever. Everyone one praised her on a job well done.
After talking with everyone Riley made her way out to the parking lot that was now emptying out quickly. She walked over to her silver Mustang GT that now looked oh so lonely in the large grey lot. She was grateful that there was no snow yet, saving her a lot of time. Finally she had some peace, in that whole ten or so minutes of bliss. That is until some jerk on his cell but her off. It was then where the aggressiveness kicked in.
Once inside her warm home, Riley took out a pad of paper and began to create design plans for the two spare bedrooms that she currently used for storage. She had taken some courses before on how to design properly. At first she had taken them for fun, now she was happy that she did take them.
She had come up with the idea that the room would have light coloured hardwood floors and dark maroon walls. The room had a good amount of windows so she decided to take advantage of it. All in all, the room design looked like this:
Satisfied with the design, Riley put the pad of paper down on the table just as Kaylan walked in while hollering, “I got pizza!” Riley jumped up from the couch nearly falling because her left leg had fallen asleep. “I love you!” Riley shouted when Kaylan came in with the box of hot pizza. “Oh, only because I have food, right?” she said as she took a pillow off of the couch and sat on it on the floor.
“So what’s going with you and Sid?” Kaylan asked out of the blue.
“We’re just going through a rough patch in our relationship,” Riley answered.
“I’m not the media; tell me the truth, what’s going on?” she asked sincerely.
“I don’t know,” Riley said with a sigh. “Everything was going fine, and then everything went wrong, you know?”
“Well, when did it start going wrong?” Kaylan asked.
“It’s nothing, really. We’ll get over it eventually. You don’t need to worry about it,” Riley said shaking her head but avoiding eye contact with Kaylan.
“Rye, just tell me. I’m like your best friend; I worry about you and not seeing Sid come around for a while now really makes me worry,” she said sweetly.
“Thank you. That means a lot to me,” Riley started. “It all started when I lost my job, then Cooper wrote about Sid and me dating, I couldn’t find a job, and then the guys started losing games and Sid…” she said as tears began to well up in her eyes after the last part.
“Sid what…?” Kaylan asked looking quite concerned.
“He… he would get really angry and I’d tell him to calm down and that they’d get better, he would eventually cool down but one time he didn’t,” Riley said as more and more tears formed. Kaylan swallowed hard and motioned for her to continue. “And he pushed me, not too hard or anything but when I approached him again he said hurtful things and when I tried to kick him out he didn’t go so I threw a shoe at him.” Riley choked out as Kaylan got up and pulled her into a comforting hug.
“Was that the last time you two spoke?” Kaylan asked, still holding Riley in a tight hug.
“Yeah,”
“You need to talk to him, pronto.” Kaylan said seriously.
The next day Riley woke up, her eyes still a little red and puffy, her make-up and hair was a complete mess. “Ugh, crying sucks big time,” she groaned as she got up out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. Coming out fresh and clean from her hot shower Riley put on light make-up and plastered a smile on her face.
She got to the TV studio and started talking to some of the cameramen. They always had such a great sense of humour. Once more and more people arrived Riley was met by Cheryl asking her if she had a moment. She did so she walked off with Cheryl to a quieter place.
"You were amazing yesterday,” Cheryl started the conversation off with.
“Thank you, I’ve been observing since I started,” Riley said with a smile.
“I was wondering, would you like to be Kristen’s full time replacement?”
“Oh my God, yes I totally would!” Riley exclaimed joyfully.
“Great, if you do as good as you did yesterday then we might have a similar position for you when Kristen comes back.” Cheryl said, watching the smile on Riley’s face grow even bigger.
"Thank you, so much.” Riley said as she searched for words.
Riley got on with her day, she was in and out of the station all day long but this was her daily routine. She loved the job that she had, she loved the adventures that she got to take [okay they weren’t extreme but she had fun] and most importantly she loved meeting new people and dealing with different people every day.
She was sitting in a comfy executive looking chair walking to some people when she heard some high-pitched squeals. Riley turned around to see Sidney standing there with the most confused and frightened expression she had ever seen. She giggled slightly and then got up and walked over towards him. Some of her female coworkers who were surrounding him looked at her with wide eyes. She motioned for him to follow her to wherever she was heading.
Riley pulled him into an empty office room and closed the door behind them. They stood there awkwardly for a few moments. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind wondering what he was doing her and how he knew she would be at a TV station.
“Hi,” he managed to get out.
“Hey,” Riley replied quietly.
“How’ve you been?” he asked.
“Good, you?” she replied.
“Good. So, you work here?” he asked desperately trying to ease the tension.
“Yep for a couple weeks now,” she replied simply.
“Ah, I see. Uh… I missed you,” he said with sincerity and fear in his eyes.
‘Uh I missed you?!’ Riley screamed in her head. ‘Way to word that properly, buddy.’ She
criticized mentally. “I missed you too,” she replied as a wave of relief flew through Sidney’s eyes.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I should’ve talked about it instead but I didn’t and this is all my fault,” he said, his eyes pleading for forgiveness.
“No it’s not. I’m partially to blame for this as well. I wasn’t exactly been the easiest person to deal with after I lost my job… and I’m sorry for it,” she said as he walked closer to her.
“All’s forgiven?”
“In a sense but we need to work something out. You need to learn that I have my own life that involves my career, I need you to be able to accept that and take it seriously. I have to be independent and I need to learn that your life can be quite stressful.” Riley said seriously.
“We can work this out, I know we can. We belong together and these past three or so weeks have been so hard without you. Riley I use you for strength and most of all my sanity.” Sidney said as he looked deeply into her eyes.
“It’s going to take some work but I’m willing to try,” Riley said as Sidney smiled and pulled her into a hug.
“We’re going to make it work, no matter what.” Sidney said, still holding Riley close.
Riley tilted her head up to look at Sidney while still enveloped in Sidney’s huge hug. He leaned down and their lips collided in a kiss that was filled with fireworks. They didn’t want the moment to end but eventually it had to so Riley pulled away. Instead of walking out of the room she surprised him but hugging him tightly, he wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on hers.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Chapter Twenty
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Twenty.
As the days passed it got closer and closer to saying goodbye to November and hello to December. That meant hearing Christmas songs go from joyful to painful. Riley had been searching for a job since she had lost hers, but unfortunately, was unsuccessful. Sidney and the team had begun to watch their winning streak come to a halt. They had lost five of the last six games. Sidney was not in the greatest of moods because of the slump that they were in. He blamed the losses on inconsistency and selfishness. After practices and games he would be in such a bad mood that Riley would try to find reasons to leave the house. Most of the time she said that she had job interviews when really, she would just drive around in her car. She had found a spot that was peaceful and would usually go there to think things through.
She had tried to tell Sidney numerous times that they team would get better and that this was just a bump in the road but every time he would just start yelling, saying hurtful things to her. When she’d had enough Riley would get in her car and drive for an hour or two, hoping that when she got back Sidney had calmed down. Most of the time that was the case but in one particular scenario he had not cooled down and he had pushed Riley out of the way. He hadn’t used too much of his strength but when Riley approached him again he glared at her and said things that cut her like a knife. She picked up a shoe and told him to leave, when at first he did not do as she said, she proceeded to throw it at him.
They had not spoken since then and neither of them tried to contact each other. On Monday, November 24th Riley had a job interview at a local TV station. The company had been around for eighteen months and was doing quite well. The position that she applied for was to be a journalist, not a TV anchor. Normally the woman who Riley would be writing for would do it herself but she was six months pregnant so the company was willing to hire someone to do it for her. Not many people had applied for this job yet because it was just new to the ‘market’ and most people wanted to be on TV rather than writing for someone who would be.
Riley was fine with those obligations, she just wanted to get back out into the work force. She had nailed the interview and was later offered the job at Sports Guide. This took her mind off of Sidney for the most part but she desperately wanted to share her good news with him. But she figured that they both needed some time apart, Riley needed to clear her head and start over. While Sidney needed to calm down and refocus on his career. Riley was grateful that this position didn’t deal with the Penguins. Well in a sense it did, she would be reporting new about the Baby Penguins. She took advantage of this; she was able to find out news about the ‘adult’ Penguins and mostly Sidney.
Riley had met with mostly everyone at Sports Guide. The TV anchors seemed really welcoming and sweet, instantly making Riley feel a sense of belonging. Kristen, the woman who Riley would be writing for, was very grateful that Riley was willing to do this for her. They talked for a while and instantly clicked. She used this as a learning experience, she observed everyone there, trying to find ways to improve. Mainly she watched the older, more experienced journalists/anchors soaking up all of the information and tips that they gave her. After hours, Riley would get together with her younger coworkers to just unwind.
There were usually five of which that would go out regularly. All within the range of twenty to twenty-six years of age. She had begun to meet more and more people over the course of her time at Sports Guide because another temporary position had opened as well; the company needed someone to fill in for Kristen while she was on maternity leave. Still, Riley and Sidney had not spoken. They were now approaching two and a half weeks of silence.
She figured that he would eventually collect his thoughts and maybe then they could work something out. But until then, they were keeping their distances. Riley no longer tried to follow the Penguins. She didn’t watch the games, she didn’t go to the games, she didn’t read up about them, and she stopped all contact with the guys. She needed to focus on her own life and her own job, without those two things she felt useless. She had been raised to be independent. Both her parents had worked when she was a small child and they had brought her up to think that a life depending on someone was no life at all.
She had begun to think that maybe Sidney being out of her life for now was best. The truth was that she couldn’t handle everything at once. With the loss of her dream job, a good friend, and her privacy all thrown at her in one time sequence she just wasn’t able to handle that heartbreak that came with a relationship.
Riley began to feel like she had stepped outside and watched her life move on without her. She felt like she had no control over what had happened and what would come. She so desperately wanted to start on a clean slate.
Her phone vibrating loudly interrupted the conversation that she was having during her lunch break with her new found friends. She glanced at the screen to see who was calling and noticed that it was Marc. She had been ignoring the team’s calls for a few days because she simply couldn’t handle it. She let it go to her voicemail, closing her eyes and biting her bottom lip while doing so.
“You OK?” Mike, one of the journalists who Riley would hang out with on a daily basis asked.
“Yeah I’m fine,” she replied, wiping a solitary tear away.
It was now December 17th and still Sidney and Riley had not spoken. Riley had pushed all of her thoughts and memories of Sidney into the back of her mind as she walked into the TV studio. She always stayed around to see how the show went. When she walked in she ran into Cheryl, the producer of the show.
“Riley, are you free right now?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Riley replied, some Australian accent slipping out. Living in Pittsburgh for a little while now was slowly eliminating Riley’s accent and replacing it with a Canadian/American one.
“Great. I need you to do me a favour,” Cheryl started, “Could you go and host the show?” she asked as a smile slowly crept on to her face.
“But I thought you guys were hiring someone to do that,” Riley replied, confused out of her mind.
“Yeah, well see… no one really did it for us, you know? I mean they were all good but not good enough. So, we figured that hey, you wrote it so you could very well present it better than anyone. So how about you give it a try?” Cheryl implied just before Riley bounced up and down screeching ‘thank you, thank you!’
Riley was sent to hair and make-up then to wardrobe. It was like her heaven had arrived. She was dressed in an emerald green short-sleeved blouse, complimented with a tight fitting black skirt. Her hair was straightened and left to hang beautifully. She was told to read everything off of the little TV screen beside the camera and to look pretty. After the countdown she live on national television.
“Good evening Pittsburgh. I’m Riley Jacobs, filling in for Kristen Macpherson. Tonight we have an awesome show for you, filled with hockey highlights of both the Baby Pens and the grown up Penguins.” She said with a bright smile. “Your Wilkes-Barre/Scranton guys are off to a phenomenal start in the season…”
Chapter Twenty.
As the days passed it got closer and closer to saying goodbye to November and hello to December. That meant hearing Christmas songs go from joyful to painful. Riley had been searching for a job since she had lost hers, but unfortunately, was unsuccessful. Sidney and the team had begun to watch their winning streak come to a halt. They had lost five of the last six games. Sidney was not in the greatest of moods because of the slump that they were in. He blamed the losses on inconsistency and selfishness. After practices and games he would be in such a bad mood that Riley would try to find reasons to leave the house. Most of the time she said that she had job interviews when really, she would just drive around in her car. She had found a spot that was peaceful and would usually go there to think things through.
She had tried to tell Sidney numerous times that they team would get better and that this was just a bump in the road but every time he would just start yelling, saying hurtful things to her. When she’d had enough Riley would get in her car and drive for an hour or two, hoping that when she got back Sidney had calmed down. Most of the time that was the case but in one particular scenario he had not cooled down and he had pushed Riley out of the way. He hadn’t used too much of his strength but when Riley approached him again he glared at her and said things that cut her like a knife. She picked up a shoe and told him to leave, when at first he did not do as she said, she proceeded to throw it at him.
They had not spoken since then and neither of them tried to contact each other. On Monday, November 24th Riley had a job interview at a local TV station. The company had been around for eighteen months and was doing quite well. The position that she applied for was to be a journalist, not a TV anchor. Normally the woman who Riley would be writing for would do it herself but she was six months pregnant so the company was willing to hire someone to do it for her. Not many people had applied for this job yet because it was just new to the ‘market’ and most people wanted to be on TV rather than writing for someone who would be.
Riley was fine with those obligations, she just wanted to get back out into the work force. She had nailed the interview and was later offered the job at Sports Guide. This took her mind off of Sidney for the most part but she desperately wanted to share her good news with him. But she figured that they both needed some time apart, Riley needed to clear her head and start over. While Sidney needed to calm down and refocus on his career. Riley was grateful that this position didn’t deal with the Penguins. Well in a sense it did, she would be reporting new about the Baby Penguins. She took advantage of this; she was able to find out news about the ‘adult’ Penguins and mostly Sidney.
Riley had met with mostly everyone at Sports Guide. The TV anchors seemed really welcoming and sweet, instantly making Riley feel a sense of belonging. Kristen, the woman who Riley would be writing for, was very grateful that Riley was willing to do this for her. They talked for a while and instantly clicked. She used this as a learning experience, she observed everyone there, trying to find ways to improve. Mainly she watched the older, more experienced journalists/anchors soaking up all of the information and tips that they gave her. After hours, Riley would get together with her younger coworkers to just unwind.
There were usually five of which that would go out regularly. All within the range of twenty to twenty-six years of age. She had begun to meet more and more people over the course of her time at Sports Guide because another temporary position had opened as well; the company needed someone to fill in for Kristen while she was on maternity leave. Still, Riley and Sidney had not spoken. They were now approaching two and a half weeks of silence.
She figured that he would eventually collect his thoughts and maybe then they could work something out. But until then, they were keeping their distances. Riley no longer tried to follow the Penguins. She didn’t watch the games, she didn’t go to the games, she didn’t read up about them, and she stopped all contact with the guys. She needed to focus on her own life and her own job, without those two things she felt useless. She had been raised to be independent. Both her parents had worked when she was a small child and they had brought her up to think that a life depending on someone was no life at all.
She had begun to think that maybe Sidney being out of her life for now was best. The truth was that she couldn’t handle everything at once. With the loss of her dream job, a good friend, and her privacy all thrown at her in one time sequence she just wasn’t able to handle that heartbreak that came with a relationship.
Riley began to feel like she had stepped outside and watched her life move on without her. She felt like she had no control over what had happened and what would come. She so desperately wanted to start on a clean slate.
Her phone vibrating loudly interrupted the conversation that she was having during her lunch break with her new found friends. She glanced at the screen to see who was calling and noticed that it was Marc. She had been ignoring the team’s calls for a few days because she simply couldn’t handle it. She let it go to her voicemail, closing her eyes and biting her bottom lip while doing so.
“You OK?” Mike, one of the journalists who Riley would hang out with on a daily basis asked.
“Yeah I’m fine,” she replied, wiping a solitary tear away.
It was now December 17th and still Sidney and Riley had not spoken. Riley had pushed all of her thoughts and memories of Sidney into the back of her mind as she walked into the TV studio. She always stayed around to see how the show went. When she walked in she ran into Cheryl, the producer of the show.
“Riley, are you free right now?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Riley replied, some Australian accent slipping out. Living in Pittsburgh for a little while now was slowly eliminating Riley’s accent and replacing it with a Canadian/American one.
“Great. I need you to do me a favour,” Cheryl started, “Could you go and host the show?” she asked as a smile slowly crept on to her face.
“But I thought you guys were hiring someone to do that,” Riley replied, confused out of her mind.
“Yeah, well see… no one really did it for us, you know? I mean they were all good but not good enough. So, we figured that hey, you wrote it so you could very well present it better than anyone. So how about you give it a try?” Cheryl implied just before Riley bounced up and down screeching ‘thank you, thank you!’
Riley was sent to hair and make-up then to wardrobe. It was like her heaven had arrived. She was dressed in an emerald green short-sleeved blouse, complimented with a tight fitting black skirt. Her hair was straightened and left to hang beautifully. She was told to read everything off of the little TV screen beside the camera and to look pretty. After the countdown she live on national television.
“Good evening Pittsburgh. I’m Riley Jacobs, filling in for Kristen Macpherson. Tonight we have an awesome show for you, filled with hockey highlights of both the Baby Pens and the grown up Penguins.” She said with a bright smile. “Your Wilkes-Barre/Scranton guys are off to a phenomenal start in the season…”
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Chapter Nineteen
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Nineteen.
The next day the Penguins had a game against the Buffalo Sabres. Sidney was at practice before Riley had even woken up; he had left her a note explaining that he had to get to the arena early for more practice. Riley just shook her head thinking about how crazy and dedicated this boy was to hockey.
She had her breakfast then stepped outside to get the mail and newspaper. Once inside, she opened the newspaper up to the sports section. She always liked to see what her former coworkers had been up to. The title on the front page was written in large black letters. ‘Sidney’s Secret Spilled’ and under it there was a picture of Sidney and Riley looking pretty cozy in the park. As she flipped the pages she saw several more pictures of Sidney and Riley; some of them they were holding hands, some they were hugging, and some they were sharing a kiss. She began to read the article it starting off as, “All you ladies out there who adore Penguins’ Captain Sidney Crosby, you’re not alone. Sid the Kid has a lucky lady in his life and it doesn’t look like she’s going anywhere, anytime soon. So attention to all the bleach blonde barbies step aside, Sidney likes natural, educated women. Riley Jacobs, a former Penguins journalist and ‘The Next One’ have reportedly been dating for the past several months. Maybe that’s why he’s been on an impressive scoring streak…” The article went on to describe all of their public outings and such. Riley was shocked, not only does this man steal her job he portrayed her picture and personal life to everyone.
Riley now felt like this was all one big bad dream. How would she get a job as a sports journalist now? Everyone would now know that she was dating one of the NHL’s star players; and it’s not like she could just deny it – the article had the pictures to prove it. Her head was spinning and her mind was racing. Sidney would be back from the morning skate any minute so she decided to wait and tell him about the article that is if he didn’t already know.
Looking out the window, she saw Sidney pull up in his silver Range Rover. He walked up to the door and opened it. When she was home throughout the day Riley usually kept the door unlocked knowing that friends would pop in and out randomly. He walked into the kitchen to get a drink, saying hello to Riley on his way. After doing so he made his way over to Riley in the living room.
“How are you?” he asked, putting his arm around her.
“I’m alright, but I want to show you something…” she said as she reached over and took the newspaper off of the glass coffee table.
“Alright…” Sidney said with some confusion.
“Here’s Cooper’s first article!” Riley said, purposely acting horrible at being excited.
Sidney sat there reading the article, Riley tried to tell what he thought about it by his facial expressions but he showed none whatsoever. She sat there watching his eyes quickly moving from left to right as he read the article as quick as he could comprehend it. After he finished the article he placed the paper down on the table, still not saying a word and remaining that stone cold, emotionless expression. Riley sat there, staring at him intently. She didn’t want to say anything but the silence was killing her. Sidney then, after a little while of painful silence, spoke up.
“Well…” was all he said. Riley looked at him wanting him to say more. “What do you think of it?” he asked wanting to make sure he knew what she thought before he said anything.
“You really want to know what I think.” Riley said quickly, she was about to explode and Sidney had a look as if he were expecting it to be huge.
“I… I think that…” she stuttered as Sidney looked absolutely horrified for what was about to occur. “I think that you should confirm our relationship.” He sat there for a few seconds looking confused as ever.
“You do?” he asked timidly.
“Yeah, I mean how could we deny it now? That is if you want to tell people.”
“You’re sure that you know what’s going to happen when I say that you’re my girlfriend, right? There will be people that won’t like you and they might give you a hard time and…” he said but Riley cut him off.
“Sid I know. I can stick up for myself you know,” she said.
“I know you can and that’s one of the many reasons of why I love you. It’s just… some people are going to be jealous and I don’t want to cause you any problems,” he said sincerely.
“Sid, you’ve already caused a lot of problems for me,” she paused looking at his expression. It was like he was trying to apologize with his eyes, “I’m sure I can take whatever else your crazy life is going throw at me.” She concluded with a smile.
“Alright, I just hope you’re prepared for what’s to come…”
Soon after Sidney had to head out again to do some interviews, he had three booked for the day, which in the end, took up most of his ‘free time’. In each of them Sidney was his usual boring, lifeless self except when he was asked if he had a girlfriend or not.
“So Sid, do you have a girlfriend?” One of the reporters asked.
“Yes I do actually,” he replied, a little bit of life evolving within him.
“Oh really, care to share some details?” He asked, clearly surprised by Sidney’s previous response.
“Her name is Riley and that is all I am willing to share.” Sidney replied, losing what little life he had gained but remaining that famous smile.
“Alright fair enough, but just answer this, is she pretty?” the guy asked, raising his right brow.
“She’s gorgeous.”
Chapter Nineteen.
The next day the Penguins had a game against the Buffalo Sabres. Sidney was at practice before Riley had even woken up; he had left her a note explaining that he had to get to the arena early for more practice. Riley just shook her head thinking about how crazy and dedicated this boy was to hockey.
She had her breakfast then stepped outside to get the mail and newspaper. Once inside, she opened the newspaper up to the sports section. She always liked to see what her former coworkers had been up to. The title on the front page was written in large black letters. ‘Sidney’s Secret Spilled’ and under it there was a picture of Sidney and Riley looking pretty cozy in the park. As she flipped the pages she saw several more pictures of Sidney and Riley; some of them they were holding hands, some they were hugging, and some they were sharing a kiss. She began to read the article it starting off as, “All you ladies out there who adore Penguins’ Captain Sidney Crosby, you’re not alone. Sid the Kid has a lucky lady in his life and it doesn’t look like she’s going anywhere, anytime soon. So attention to all the bleach blonde barbies step aside, Sidney likes natural, educated women. Riley Jacobs, a former Penguins journalist and ‘The Next One’ have reportedly been dating for the past several months. Maybe that’s why he’s been on an impressive scoring streak…” The article went on to describe all of their public outings and such. Riley was shocked, not only does this man steal her job he portrayed her picture and personal life to everyone.
Riley now felt like this was all one big bad dream. How would she get a job as a sports journalist now? Everyone would now know that she was dating one of the NHL’s star players; and it’s not like she could just deny it – the article had the pictures to prove it. Her head was spinning and her mind was racing. Sidney would be back from the morning skate any minute so she decided to wait and tell him about the article that is if he didn’t already know.
Looking out the window, she saw Sidney pull up in his silver Range Rover. He walked up to the door and opened it. When she was home throughout the day Riley usually kept the door unlocked knowing that friends would pop in and out randomly. He walked into the kitchen to get a drink, saying hello to Riley on his way. After doing so he made his way over to Riley in the living room.
“How are you?” he asked, putting his arm around her.
“I’m alright, but I want to show you something…” she said as she reached over and took the newspaper off of the glass coffee table.
“Alright…” Sidney said with some confusion.
“Here’s Cooper’s first article!” Riley said, purposely acting horrible at being excited.
Sidney sat there reading the article, Riley tried to tell what he thought about it by his facial expressions but he showed none whatsoever. She sat there watching his eyes quickly moving from left to right as he read the article as quick as he could comprehend it. After he finished the article he placed the paper down on the table, still not saying a word and remaining that stone cold, emotionless expression. Riley sat there, staring at him intently. She didn’t want to say anything but the silence was killing her. Sidney then, after a little while of painful silence, spoke up.
“Well…” was all he said. Riley looked at him wanting him to say more. “What do you think of it?” he asked wanting to make sure he knew what she thought before he said anything.
“You really want to know what I think.” Riley said quickly, she was about to explode and Sidney had a look as if he were expecting it to be huge.
“I… I think that…” she stuttered as Sidney looked absolutely horrified for what was about to occur. “I think that you should confirm our relationship.” He sat there for a few seconds looking confused as ever.
“You do?” he asked timidly.
“Yeah, I mean how could we deny it now? That is if you want to tell people.”
“You’re sure that you know what’s going to happen when I say that you’re my girlfriend, right? There will be people that won’t like you and they might give you a hard time and…” he said but Riley cut him off.
“Sid I know. I can stick up for myself you know,” she said.
“I know you can and that’s one of the many reasons of why I love you. It’s just… some people are going to be jealous and I don’t want to cause you any problems,” he said sincerely.
“Sid, you’ve already caused a lot of problems for me,” she paused looking at his expression. It was like he was trying to apologize with his eyes, “I’m sure I can take whatever else your crazy life is going throw at me.” She concluded with a smile.
“Alright, I just hope you’re prepared for what’s to come…”
Soon after Sidney had to head out again to do some interviews, he had three booked for the day, which in the end, took up most of his ‘free time’. In each of them Sidney was his usual boring, lifeless self except when he was asked if he had a girlfriend or not.
“So Sid, do you have a girlfriend?” One of the reporters asked.
“Yes I do actually,” he replied, a little bit of life evolving within him.
“Oh really, care to share some details?” He asked, clearly surprised by Sidney’s previous response.
“Her name is Riley and that is all I am willing to share.” Sidney replied, losing what little life he had gained but remaining that famous smile.
“Alright fair enough, but just answer this, is she pretty?” the guy asked, raising his right brow.
“She’s gorgeous.”
Friday, October 31, 2008
Chapter Eighteen
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Eighteen.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m replacing you,” he said coldly.
“Miss Jacobs, you should go.” Paul said before Riley could say anything.
Riley walked out to her car in the cold November weather, trying to hold back hot tears that were forming quickly in her eyes. Once she got inside her car and blasted the heat the tears began to fall freely. She was upset that she had just lost her job and infuriated at why Paul wouldn’t give her any details on how he knew these untrue things.
As she was walking out of Paul’s office for the last time she overheard a bit of what Cooper and Paul were saying. Things like, ‘…Copied my work? Horrible… I’m sickened… today?’
She drove home to quickly redo her make-up and to change her clothes before heading back out to the arena. She couldn’t believe that she spent four years in university working her rear off just to keep her dream job for only several months.
It was now past two, meaning that the boys would be off of the ice by the time Riley got to the rink. There hadn’t been any snow yet but the forecasters had predicted that there would be by the end of the week. The temperature throughout the week had been in the low positives, Celsius that is, and quickly approaching the zero mark and below.
Before stepping out into the cold weather Riley looked in the mirror in her car and plastered a fake smile on her face. She decided that around the guys she would pretend that everything was ok.
Walking into the arena she spotted a group of girls sitting in the stands giggling and gossiping. When Riley got closer she noticed that someone was still on the ice, even though practice had ended half an hour ago. Knowing it was Sidney; Riley decided to sit a few rows back from the glass. The giddy girls looked back at Riley a few times and whispered a few things to each other, all of which Riley rolled her eyes.
Soon after Sidney glanced into the stands and saw Riley sitting there, he winked and smiled, causing the gossip group to break out into a bunch of ‘Oh my God’s’ and ‘He so wants me’. Riley had to put her hand over her mouth to contain her laughter. Sidney collected everything and made his way to the gate. The clan of barbies jumped out of their seats and screeched ‘Here he comes!’ Riley remained in her seat and enjoyed the show.
After being brutally rejected by Sidney the girls looked at Riley and started a ‘diss’ conversation. “I wonder what she’s waiting for,” the leader said idiotically. “It doesn’t matter, if Sid won’t go for us there’s no way he’ll go for her,” another one said coldly. “Well duh, she’s so plain why would he ever want her?” The bleach blonde one said, cocking her head to the right. Riley decided that they weren’t worth her time or energy, so she sat there and listened to their insults.
Once they left a song popped into Riley’s head; one that she hadn’t heard in ages. She began to sing it quietly while she sat in the stands staring at the sheet of ice.
When I was 7
They said I was strange
I noticed that my eyes and hair weren't the same
I asked my parents if I was OK
They said you're more beautiful
And that's the way they show that they wish
That they had your smile
So my confidence was up for a while
I got real comfortable with my own style
I knew that they were only jealous ‘cause
People are all the same
And we only get judged by what we do
Personality reflects name
And if I'm ugly then
So are you
So are you
There was a time when I felt like I cared
That I was shorter than everyone there
People made me feel like life was unfair
And I did things that made me ashamed
‘Cause I didn't know my body would change
I grew taller than them in more ways
But there will always be the one who will say
Something bad to make them feel great
People are all the same
And we only get judged by what we do
Personality reflects name
And if I'm ugly then
So are you
So are you
Her phone vibrating interrupted her song. She flipped it open to see a text from Sidney. ‘Come to the locker room’ she smiled to herself and headed to the locker room. Normally she would wait outside but since nobody was there but Sidney she decided to go in and wait. When she walked in she saw Sidney putting on his jacket, Riley stood there quietly watching him.
He looked up and saw her standing there in dark jeans and her grey pea coat, leaning up against the doorway. “So how’d the meeting go?” he asked casually as he approached her. “Uh, well I lost my job.” Riley replied, anger rushing through her again. “What, how?” he asked quickly. “Cooper.” His expression changed from confusion to anger, “What did he do?” he asked in a low, pissed off voice. “Apparently he told Paul and others that I copied his work and used it as my own…” she said as tears began to form again. “Son of a bitch!” he exclaimed, his own anger coming to a boil. “So he’s replacing me and I’m left to find a new career. The only problem is that now I have a reputation as a plagiarizer,” she said as her lower lip began to quiver. He pulled her into a huge comforting hug. “So he’ll be here every day interviewing us?” he asked as she rested her head on his chest. “Pretty much, why?” she asked looking up at him with watery eyes. “Just wondering,” Sidney said.
The rest of the day went by slowly and uneventful. The next day Kaylan returned from her month long European vacation. Her boyfriend, Spencer had brought her along with him on his business trip. While Sidney was at practice Kaylan decided to pop over and get caught up on everything.
“Hey girly!” she said, enveloping Riley in a huge hug.
“Hey Kay! I missed you so much,” Riley said once they let go of each other.
“Ditto girl, ditto.” Kaylan said being her same old goofy self.
“How was the trip?” Riley asked, anxious for some good news.
“It was awesome. He’s awesome. Everything was friggen awesome!” Kaylan said with a huge smile. “So what did I miss, anything juicy?”
Riley began to tell Kaylan about the whole ordeal involving Cooper and getting fired. She didn’t want to bore or bring down Kaylan so she kept it short. Riley also filled her in on other random things that had happened. Kaylan showed Riley all of the pictures she had taken on her amazing trip and recalling everything that had happened in each picture. Sidney arrived home an hour later and Kaylan was still there. “Oh you’re back…” he sighed, pretending to be quite disappointed. “Damn straight! But you know you missed me,” she said, standing up to walk over to him. “Uhh… yeah,” he said unconvincingly. She playfully hit him on the shoulder. “So how was the trip?” he asked laughing. “Good, good.”
Kaylan stayed for a little while longer then decided to go home and rest. The jet lag had been catching up with her. Once she left Sidney came and sat next to Riley, placing his left arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. “So, how was practice?” Riley asked as she rested her head on his shoulder. “Good, so I kind of told the guys about Cooper and all so then when he came in to interview us everyone refused to answer his questions, gave him a hard time and best of all, they booed him.” Sidney said laughing. Riley started to laugh not only because it was hilarious but also because the guys would do something like that for her, that and they were just having fun.
Chapter Eighteen.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m replacing you,” he said coldly.
“Miss Jacobs, you should go.” Paul said before Riley could say anything.
Riley walked out to her car in the cold November weather, trying to hold back hot tears that were forming quickly in her eyes. Once she got inside her car and blasted the heat the tears began to fall freely. She was upset that she had just lost her job and infuriated at why Paul wouldn’t give her any details on how he knew these untrue things.
As she was walking out of Paul’s office for the last time she overheard a bit of what Cooper and Paul were saying. Things like, ‘…Copied my work? Horrible… I’m sickened… today?’
She drove home to quickly redo her make-up and to change her clothes before heading back out to the arena. She couldn’t believe that she spent four years in university working her rear off just to keep her dream job for only several months.
It was now past two, meaning that the boys would be off of the ice by the time Riley got to the rink. There hadn’t been any snow yet but the forecasters had predicted that there would be by the end of the week. The temperature throughout the week had been in the low positives, Celsius that is, and quickly approaching the zero mark and below.
Before stepping out into the cold weather Riley looked in the mirror in her car and plastered a fake smile on her face. She decided that around the guys she would pretend that everything was ok.
Walking into the arena she spotted a group of girls sitting in the stands giggling and gossiping. When Riley got closer she noticed that someone was still on the ice, even though practice had ended half an hour ago. Knowing it was Sidney; Riley decided to sit a few rows back from the glass. The giddy girls looked back at Riley a few times and whispered a few things to each other, all of which Riley rolled her eyes.
Soon after Sidney glanced into the stands and saw Riley sitting there, he winked and smiled, causing the gossip group to break out into a bunch of ‘Oh my God’s’ and ‘He so wants me’. Riley had to put her hand over her mouth to contain her laughter. Sidney collected everything and made his way to the gate. The clan of barbies jumped out of their seats and screeched ‘Here he comes!’ Riley remained in her seat and enjoyed the show.
After being brutally rejected by Sidney the girls looked at Riley and started a ‘diss’ conversation. “I wonder what she’s waiting for,” the leader said idiotically. “It doesn’t matter, if Sid won’t go for us there’s no way he’ll go for her,” another one said coldly. “Well duh, she’s so plain why would he ever want her?” The bleach blonde one said, cocking her head to the right. Riley decided that they weren’t worth her time or energy, so she sat there and listened to their insults.
Once they left a song popped into Riley’s head; one that she hadn’t heard in ages. She began to sing it quietly while she sat in the stands staring at the sheet of ice.
When I was 7
They said I was strange
I noticed that my eyes and hair weren't the same
I asked my parents if I was OK
They said you're more beautiful
And that's the way they show that they wish
That they had your smile
So my confidence was up for a while
I got real comfortable with my own style
I knew that they were only jealous ‘cause
People are all the same
And we only get judged by what we do
Personality reflects name
And if I'm ugly then
So are you
So are you
There was a time when I felt like I cared
That I was shorter than everyone there
People made me feel like life was unfair
And I did things that made me ashamed
‘Cause I didn't know my body would change
I grew taller than them in more ways
But there will always be the one who will say
Something bad to make them feel great
People are all the same
And we only get judged by what we do
Personality reflects name
And if I'm ugly then
So are you
So are you
Her phone vibrating interrupted her song. She flipped it open to see a text from Sidney. ‘Come to the locker room’ she smiled to herself and headed to the locker room. Normally she would wait outside but since nobody was there but Sidney she decided to go in and wait. When she walked in she saw Sidney putting on his jacket, Riley stood there quietly watching him.
He looked up and saw her standing there in dark jeans and her grey pea coat, leaning up against the doorway. “So how’d the meeting go?” he asked casually as he approached her. “Uh, well I lost my job.” Riley replied, anger rushing through her again. “What, how?” he asked quickly. “Cooper.” His expression changed from confusion to anger, “What did he do?” he asked in a low, pissed off voice. “Apparently he told Paul and others that I copied his work and used it as my own…” she said as tears began to form again. “Son of a bitch!” he exclaimed, his own anger coming to a boil. “So he’s replacing me and I’m left to find a new career. The only problem is that now I have a reputation as a plagiarizer,” she said as her lower lip began to quiver. He pulled her into a huge comforting hug. “So he’ll be here every day interviewing us?” he asked as she rested her head on his chest. “Pretty much, why?” she asked looking up at him with watery eyes. “Just wondering,” Sidney said.
The rest of the day went by slowly and uneventful. The next day Kaylan returned from her month long European vacation. Her boyfriend, Spencer had brought her along with him on his business trip. While Sidney was at practice Kaylan decided to pop over and get caught up on everything.
“Hey girly!” she said, enveloping Riley in a huge hug.
“Hey Kay! I missed you so much,” Riley said once they let go of each other.
“Ditto girl, ditto.” Kaylan said being her same old goofy self.
“How was the trip?” Riley asked, anxious for some good news.
“It was awesome. He’s awesome. Everything was friggen awesome!” Kaylan said with a huge smile. “So what did I miss, anything juicy?”
Riley began to tell Kaylan about the whole ordeal involving Cooper and getting fired. She didn’t want to bore or bring down Kaylan so she kept it short. Riley also filled her in on other random things that had happened. Kaylan showed Riley all of the pictures she had taken on her amazing trip and recalling everything that had happened in each picture. Sidney arrived home an hour later and Kaylan was still there. “Oh you’re back…” he sighed, pretending to be quite disappointed. “Damn straight! But you know you missed me,” she said, standing up to walk over to him. “Uhh… yeah,” he said unconvincingly. She playfully hit him on the shoulder. “So how was the trip?” he asked laughing. “Good, good.”
Kaylan stayed for a little while longer then decided to go home and rest. The jet lag had been catching up with her. Once she left Sidney came and sat next to Riley, placing his left arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. “So, how was practice?” Riley asked as she rested her head on his shoulder. “Good, so I kind of told the guys about Cooper and all so then when he came in to interview us everyone refused to answer his questions, gave him a hard time and best of all, they booed him.” Sidney said laughing. Riley started to laugh not only because it was hilarious but also because the guys would do something like that for her, that and they were just having fun.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Chapter Seventeen
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Seventeen.
Riley woke up the next morning wrapped up in Sidney’s protective grasp. They had a few minutes to spare before getting up and starting a busy day so she just laid there in his arms, feeling completely safe and happy.
“Morning beautiful,” he said as he kissed the top of her head.
“Morning,” she said as he pulled her on top of him.
“What time is it?” he asked after a couple of minutes had gone by.
“Eight forty-five,” Riley replied, rolling off of Sidney so she could get ready.
“I hate mornings…” she heard Sidney mumble just before she closed the bathroom room door to take a shower.
They sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast completely silent. It was a content silence though. Mornings like this were normally quiet, for many reasons. Sidney was usually preparing for practice, Riley was planning out her day, and they were still half asleep. The only conversation that was really made was when Sidney asked Riley if she was going to practice and she replied with a simple, “Yup.”
As they were cleaning up the phone rang and Sidney ran to it, picking it up like if it got to the third ring it would explode.
“Apparently I am going into the office today instead of going to watch you guys practice.” Riley said as she hung up the phone.
“But you were just there…” Sidney said with a confused tone evident in his voice.
“I know, but Paul obviously has other plans instead.”
They made plans that instead of carpooling together to the arena like they had planned, they would take their own cars and when Riley could leave the office she would head over to the Mellon. They both had to be at there at 11:00am and no later. “Seriously we need to leave now…” Riley whined as Sidney pinned her up against his silver Range Rover. He refused to do what Riley had said and continued to press himself up against her and kiss her hungrily. “People are going to start staring,” Riley said as she tried to push Sidney off of her. “So?” he smirked. “So, I don’t want my picture plastered all over the news for macking on Sidney ‘The Next One’ Crosby.” He pulled away and stared at her. “Would it be such a problem if people knew about us?” he asked seriously. “You know how I feel about that Sid…” Riley said as she walked towards her car. “No I don’t. I don’t understand why it would be such a problem if people knew.” He said looking slightly hurt. “Your teammates know, Mario knows, close friends know. People know, just not everybody.” Riley said as she put her bag in her car. Sidney just looked at her with an expression like he was expecting more of a reason. “Look, we’ll talk about it later. But for now, we’re both going to be late if we don’t leave.” She said as she got into her car.
Riley walked into the tall office building with a great deal of butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Paul usually never called anyone in for a brief meeting; he wasn’t that kind of boss. But as soon as the elevator doors opened to the fourth floor she wiped her nervous expression right off her face and replaced it with a happy, confident one.
“Miss Jacobs,” Paul said in a strictly business tone.
“Good morning, Mr. Patterson.” Riley replied, trying her best to sound confident.
“Please, have a seat.” He said motioning towards the empty chair. Riley sat down as nervousness overtook all of her emotions.
“Now,” Paul started in a stern tone, “I am going to keep this short and sweet,” he said looking directly into Riley’s eyes. “I have heard from some people that all of your work that I thought was spectacular isn’t as great as I was led to believe,” he finished off in the same strict tone.
“What do you mean?” Riley asked, trying to cover her nervousness.
“What I mean is that I found out that you plagiarized the information about the Penguins, therefore, your services as Montgomery-Review are no longer needed.” He said with a stone cold expression to match his monotone voice.
“Wh- what? I- I never copied it, I wrote it all. What?” Riley stuttered. She couldn’t believe what this man had just said.
“Don’t argue with me Miss Jacobs. I saw with my own eyes someone with the exact same work as you and I hired him myself before I hired you,” he said, his patience decreasing at a rapid pace.
“But I thought no one else worked with the Penguins but me,” she said as tears began to cloud her vision. She would not cry though, she had to show her strength.
Just then there was a knock on the door but Riley just looked straight and ignored it. Paul on the other hand instantly changed his tone from stone cold to joyful. “Ah, Mr. Orson, how are you?” The other man, Mr. Orson, replied but Riley was too lost in her own thoughts to pay much attention. “You’re free to leave Miss Jacobs. But on your way out please hand over the materials the company supplied you with to Leslie at the front desk will you, your replacement will need it.” Paul said suddenly sweetly from the door. Riley mumbled a ‘yeah’ from her seat.
It took Riley a minute or two to recollect her thoughts before she got up. As she turned around her jaw dropped when she saw who was standing in the doorway with a huge smile on his face. “Cooper?”
Chapter Seventeen.
Riley woke up the next morning wrapped up in Sidney’s protective grasp. They had a few minutes to spare before getting up and starting a busy day so she just laid there in his arms, feeling completely safe and happy.
“Morning beautiful,” he said as he kissed the top of her head.
“Morning,” she said as he pulled her on top of him.
“What time is it?” he asked after a couple of minutes had gone by.
“Eight forty-five,” Riley replied, rolling off of Sidney so she could get ready.
“I hate mornings…” she heard Sidney mumble just before she closed the bathroom room door to take a shower.
They sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast completely silent. It was a content silence though. Mornings like this were normally quiet, for many reasons. Sidney was usually preparing for practice, Riley was planning out her day, and they were still half asleep. The only conversation that was really made was when Sidney asked Riley if she was going to practice and she replied with a simple, “Yup.”
As they were cleaning up the phone rang and Sidney ran to it, picking it up like if it got to the third ring it would explode.
“Apparently I am going into the office today instead of going to watch you guys practice.” Riley said as she hung up the phone.
“But you were just there…” Sidney said with a confused tone evident in his voice.
“I know, but Paul obviously has other plans instead.”
They made plans that instead of carpooling together to the arena like they had planned, they would take their own cars and when Riley could leave the office she would head over to the Mellon. They both had to be at there at 11:00am and no later. “Seriously we need to leave now…” Riley whined as Sidney pinned her up against his silver Range Rover. He refused to do what Riley had said and continued to press himself up against her and kiss her hungrily. “People are going to start staring,” Riley said as she tried to push Sidney off of her. “So?” he smirked. “So, I don’t want my picture plastered all over the news for macking on Sidney ‘The Next One’ Crosby.” He pulled away and stared at her. “Would it be such a problem if people knew about us?” he asked seriously. “You know how I feel about that Sid…” Riley said as she walked towards her car. “No I don’t. I don’t understand why it would be such a problem if people knew.” He said looking slightly hurt. “Your teammates know, Mario knows, close friends know. People know, just not everybody.” Riley said as she put her bag in her car. Sidney just looked at her with an expression like he was expecting more of a reason. “Look, we’ll talk about it later. But for now, we’re both going to be late if we don’t leave.” She said as she got into her car.
Riley walked into the tall office building with a great deal of butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Paul usually never called anyone in for a brief meeting; he wasn’t that kind of boss. But as soon as the elevator doors opened to the fourth floor she wiped her nervous expression right off her face and replaced it with a happy, confident one.
“Miss Jacobs,” Paul said in a strictly business tone.
“Good morning, Mr. Patterson.” Riley replied, trying her best to sound confident.
“Please, have a seat.” He said motioning towards the empty chair. Riley sat down as nervousness overtook all of her emotions.
“Now,” Paul started in a stern tone, “I am going to keep this short and sweet,” he said looking directly into Riley’s eyes. “I have heard from some people that all of your work that I thought was spectacular isn’t as great as I was led to believe,” he finished off in the same strict tone.
“What do you mean?” Riley asked, trying to cover her nervousness.
“What I mean is that I found out that you plagiarized the information about the Penguins, therefore, your services as Montgomery-Review are no longer needed.” He said with a stone cold expression to match his monotone voice.
“Wh- what? I- I never copied it, I wrote it all. What?” Riley stuttered. She couldn’t believe what this man had just said.
“Don’t argue with me Miss Jacobs. I saw with my own eyes someone with the exact same work as you and I hired him myself before I hired you,” he said, his patience decreasing at a rapid pace.
“But I thought no one else worked with the Penguins but me,” she said as tears began to cloud her vision. She would not cry though, she had to show her strength.
Just then there was a knock on the door but Riley just looked straight and ignored it. Paul on the other hand instantly changed his tone from stone cold to joyful. “Ah, Mr. Orson, how are you?” The other man, Mr. Orson, replied but Riley was too lost in her own thoughts to pay much attention. “You’re free to leave Miss Jacobs. But on your way out please hand over the materials the company supplied you with to Leslie at the front desk will you, your replacement will need it.” Paul said suddenly sweetly from the door. Riley mumbled a ‘yeah’ from her seat.
It took Riley a minute or two to recollect her thoughts before she got up. As she turned around her jaw dropped when she saw who was standing in the doorway with a huge smile on his face. “Cooper?”
Monday, October 20, 2008
Chapter Sixteen
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Sixteen.
“So I have practice, I’ll be back around two,” Sidney said as he put his black trench coat on.
“Alright, I have to head into the office today anyway,” Riley said as she walked over to kiss him goodbye.
She had already stopped in a few times seeing as it was now early November. The hockey season had already begun and the Penguins were off to a great start. Riley had to go in to talk to Paul since she had missed it last time due to illness. Thankfully though, someone who applied for a position at MR Sports gladly filled in for her.
“Ah Miss Jacobs, feeling better?” Paul asked as Riley walked into Paul’s office.
“Yes, much, but the good news is that I got a lot of work done,” she replied as she sat down.
“Oh I’m sure you did.”
She continued to show him what she had written, but he seemed quite unimpressed with her writing. He didn’t say anything about not liking it but Riley could sense it by his facial expression.
As she walked out of the building and to her car all she could think about was why Paul had looked bored during her mini presentation. She had thought that she had done a good job on it.
“Hey Rye!” Cooper called as Riley walked up to her door.
“Oh hey,”
“So uh, what are you doing for the rest of the day?” he asked coming a little too close for Riley’s comfort.
“I don’t really have anything planned at the moment…” she said as she opened the door.
“Well do you mind if I hang around with you for a bit?” he asked, inviting himself in.
“No, not at all…” she replied somewhat unsure about her decision.
“Great.”
Sidney would be home in an hour, so Riley could use some company. As much as she would rather sit on the couch alone and watch TV in her sweats, she did enjoy his company. “Could I have something to drink?” Cooper asked when they got in the living room. “Yeah sure, what would you like?” Riley asked as she stood up to walk into the kitchen. “Uh, water’s fine.”
While Riley was in the kitchen getting Cooper a drink he flipped open her laptop that she had placed on the coffee table and opened the document titled ‘A Year with the Penguins!’ He then copied it onto an email document and sent himself a copy of Riley’s work.
“Hey babe,” Sidney said as he sat down next to Riley on the couch.
“Hey, how was practice?” she asked as he pulled her close to him.
“It was good, you know the usual, skating, passing, and shooting drills.” He concluded.
They sat there talking about their morning festivities as they were cuddled up with each other. This is what Riley had missed, Sidney going on and on about certain plays and all of his hockey talk - even though she didn’t understand a thing about hockey. She enjoyed the time she spent with him.
As Sidney rambled on and on Riley felt a feeling that she had never experienced before, contentment. She felt like everything was in its place and that everyone was where they belonged. She would never admit to Sidney that in Australia, before the surfing incident, she had second thoughts about leaving Rimouski and Sidney. When she was with him as a teen, they were forever having an enjoyable time. Laughing, joking around, and goofing off were what they did most of the time. One thought had been bouncing around in her mind for a little while, had playing in the NHL for three full seasons changed Sidney?
Another question that her self-debate had touched on a few times before was did she love, like actually love him? When they were sixteen and seventeen they had said to each other – like many teenaged couples – ‘I love you’, being in Australia for four years had changed Riley’s opinion on just about everything, including her take on love. Did she really love Sidney Crosby?
“Were you even listening to me?” Sidney asked, sucking Riley out of her thoughts.
“Huh… oh yeah, totally,” she said as she re-entered reality.
"No you weren’t, you were thinking about something… something important,” he said, looking deeply in to her eyes.
“What do you think love is?” Riley asked bluntly.
“What?”
"What do you consider to be love?” She asked completely serious. He noticed this and his grip around her waist tightened.
“Well, I think that love is when you meet someone and you can only think about them, when you put them before yourself, when nothing else in the world matters but them, when everything goes wrong and you feel like throwing your hands in the air and giving up… until you see them… when you see them everything seems to brighten, when no matter which way life takes you… you seem to run into them again and you’re just amazed by them…” Sidney said the last part as he looked directly into Riley’s peridot-coloured eyes. Riley was silent as she thought about every single word that had just come out of Sidney’s mouth.
“I love you Riley, I always have… and I always will,” he whispered in her ear.
“I love you too, Sid. I never stopped,” she said, barely audible.
Chapter Sixteen.
“So I have practice, I’ll be back around two,” Sidney said as he put his black trench coat on.
“Alright, I have to head into the office today anyway,” Riley said as she walked over to kiss him goodbye.
She had already stopped in a few times seeing as it was now early November. The hockey season had already begun and the Penguins were off to a great start. Riley had to go in to talk to Paul since she had missed it last time due to illness. Thankfully though, someone who applied for a position at MR Sports gladly filled in for her.
“Ah Miss Jacobs, feeling better?” Paul asked as Riley walked into Paul’s office.
“Yes, much, but the good news is that I got a lot of work done,” she replied as she sat down.
“Oh I’m sure you did.”
She continued to show him what she had written, but he seemed quite unimpressed with her writing. He didn’t say anything about not liking it but Riley could sense it by his facial expression.
As she walked out of the building and to her car all she could think about was why Paul had looked bored during her mini presentation. She had thought that she had done a good job on it.
“Hey Rye!” Cooper called as Riley walked up to her door.
“Oh hey,”
“So uh, what are you doing for the rest of the day?” he asked coming a little too close for Riley’s comfort.
“I don’t really have anything planned at the moment…” she said as she opened the door.
“Well do you mind if I hang around with you for a bit?” he asked, inviting himself in.
“No, not at all…” she replied somewhat unsure about her decision.
“Great.”
Sidney would be home in an hour, so Riley could use some company. As much as she would rather sit on the couch alone and watch TV in her sweats, she did enjoy his company. “Could I have something to drink?” Cooper asked when they got in the living room. “Yeah sure, what would you like?” Riley asked as she stood up to walk into the kitchen. “Uh, water’s fine.”
While Riley was in the kitchen getting Cooper a drink he flipped open her laptop that she had placed on the coffee table and opened the document titled ‘A Year with the Penguins!’ He then copied it onto an email document and sent himself a copy of Riley’s work.
“Hey babe,” Sidney said as he sat down next to Riley on the couch.
“Hey, how was practice?” she asked as he pulled her close to him.
“It was good, you know the usual, skating, passing, and shooting drills.” He concluded.
They sat there talking about their morning festivities as they were cuddled up with each other. This is what Riley had missed, Sidney going on and on about certain plays and all of his hockey talk - even though she didn’t understand a thing about hockey. She enjoyed the time she spent with him.
As Sidney rambled on and on Riley felt a feeling that she had never experienced before, contentment. She felt like everything was in its place and that everyone was where they belonged. She would never admit to Sidney that in Australia, before the surfing incident, she had second thoughts about leaving Rimouski and Sidney. When she was with him as a teen, they were forever having an enjoyable time. Laughing, joking around, and goofing off were what they did most of the time. One thought had been bouncing around in her mind for a little while, had playing in the NHL for three full seasons changed Sidney?
Another question that her self-debate had touched on a few times before was did she love, like actually love him? When they were sixteen and seventeen they had said to each other – like many teenaged couples – ‘I love you’, being in Australia for four years had changed Riley’s opinion on just about everything, including her take on love. Did she really love Sidney Crosby?
“Were you even listening to me?” Sidney asked, sucking Riley out of her thoughts.
“Huh… oh yeah, totally,” she said as she re-entered reality.
"No you weren’t, you were thinking about something… something important,” he said, looking deeply in to her eyes.
“What do you think love is?” Riley asked bluntly.
“What?”
"What do you consider to be love?” She asked completely serious. He noticed this and his grip around her waist tightened.
“Well, I think that love is when you meet someone and you can only think about them, when you put them before yourself, when nothing else in the world matters but them, when everything goes wrong and you feel like throwing your hands in the air and giving up… until you see them… when you see them everything seems to brighten, when no matter which way life takes you… you seem to run into them again and you’re just amazed by them…” Sidney said the last part as he looked directly into Riley’s peridot-coloured eyes. Riley was silent as she thought about every single word that had just come out of Sidney’s mouth.
“I love you Riley, I always have… and I always will,” he whispered in her ear.
“I love you too, Sid. I never stopped,” she said, barely audible.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Chapter Fifteen
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Fifteen.
As they sat there talking and cuddling Riley had closed her eyes. When she opened them again she saw a man in the distance sitting on a bench watching them intently. When Riley saw this she stared for a few seconds then looked away.
“What time is it?”
“Five o’clock,” Sidney answered, looking at his watch.
“I’m getting tired, let’s go,” Riley said as she stood up.
“Alright,” Sidney said as he stood up beside her and grabbing her hand.
They walked back to Riley’s house hand in hand again. They continued to talk on the way home; surprisingly they still had things to talk about after talking for a few hours straight. When Riley and Sidney arrived at her house they were instantly greeted by Sachi. “Why didn’t we take him with us?” Sidney asked shaking his head while laughing.
“So for dinner, what do you want?” Riley asked as they walked into the light orange kitchen.
“Depends, are we ordering or actually cooking it?” Sidney asked as he wrapped his arms around Riley.
“Either one is fine. What do you want to do, cook or order in?” They both thought about it for a moment then answered at the same time, “Order in.”
“Chinese? Greek? Pizza? What do you want?” Riley asked using her hands as a weigh-scale.
“Hmm, I haven’t had pizza in a while,” Sidney said.
They ordered a Hawaiian pizza and it arrived half an hour later. They sat on the couch watching TV. After they finished their dinner they cleaned up and cuddled back up with each other on the couch. They got caught up in a random movie that was on and once it was over it was 11:45pm.
“Jeez, it’s late,” Sidney said looking at his watch.
“Yeah…” Riley started, “We better get to bed.”
“Alright,” Sidney said as a slow, sly grin spread across his lips.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her up off of the couch and easily lifted her up into his arms, bridal style. “Uh Sid,” Riley said as she grabbed onto him for dear life. He responded by letting his lips crash down onto hers in a fiery kiss. He carried her to her room where he dropped her down on the bed. He climbed onto her kissing every inch of skin all the way up to her lips. They met in yet another fiery kiss. They slowly started to undress each other; tugging off her pants Sidney broke the kiss and said, “You just had to wear skinny jeans, didn’t you?”
Once they had stripped each other down into their underwear Sidney looked deep into Riley’s eyes and asked with complete seriousness, “Are you sure you want to do this?” Riley looked at him and responded with a smirk, “I was ready the first time, wasn’t I?” He looked at her and said, “Yeah, but it’s been four years. Are you sure you want to just jump back into… everything?” Riley looked at him and raised her right eyebrow, “Yeah, why do you think we’re going to fast?” When he didn’t respond for a few seconds Riley was just about ready to climb out from under him and put her clothes back on. He sensed this and a slow smile crept onto his face, “Are you kidding? I’ve wanted to do this for weeks now!” And so they continued on with their… activities.
The next morning they woke up and freshened up. As Riley walked out of shower she wrapped herself in a towel and walked into her bedroom to see Sidney already fully clothed and watching TV. “You’re not ready yet?” he whined seeing her in a yellow fluffy towel. “No because I had to wait for you to take your shower first,” she answered as she looked through her closet for something to wear. “Well you could’ve taken one with me,” he said as he walked up behind her. “Oh yeah, because that would save time,” Riley responded sarcastically. “Well hurry up then, because we’re going out for breakfast.”
They went to an IHOP that was nearby. The place was near empty so they took a table near a window. They ordered when the waitress came by and then started up a conversation.
“Why didn’t we just go to a Tim Horton’s?” Riley asked as the waitress brought over their breakfast.
“Because there aren’t many around,” Sidney said with a laugh.
“So you haven’t done anything about that yet, huh?”
“I’ve tried, believe me.” Sidney said as they ate their breakfast.
A few people had walked by the table and said hello to Sidney and some asked for autographs. Some of them looked at Riley strangely but she just smiled in return. She thought that she saw a man in the background writing something down but Sidney caught her attention when he squeezed her hand lightly.
Chapter Fifteen.
As they sat there talking and cuddling Riley had closed her eyes. When she opened them again she saw a man in the distance sitting on a bench watching them intently. When Riley saw this she stared for a few seconds then looked away.
“What time is it?”
“Five o’clock,” Sidney answered, looking at his watch.
“I’m getting tired, let’s go,” Riley said as she stood up.
“Alright,” Sidney said as he stood up beside her and grabbing her hand.
They walked back to Riley’s house hand in hand again. They continued to talk on the way home; surprisingly they still had things to talk about after talking for a few hours straight. When Riley and Sidney arrived at her house they were instantly greeted by Sachi. “Why didn’t we take him with us?” Sidney asked shaking his head while laughing.
“So for dinner, what do you want?” Riley asked as they walked into the light orange kitchen.
“Depends, are we ordering or actually cooking it?” Sidney asked as he wrapped his arms around Riley.
“Either one is fine. What do you want to do, cook or order in?” They both thought about it for a moment then answered at the same time, “Order in.”
“Chinese? Greek? Pizza? What do you want?” Riley asked using her hands as a weigh-scale.
“Hmm, I haven’t had pizza in a while,” Sidney said.
They ordered a Hawaiian pizza and it arrived half an hour later. They sat on the couch watching TV. After they finished their dinner they cleaned up and cuddled back up with each other on the couch. They got caught up in a random movie that was on and once it was over it was 11:45pm.
“Jeez, it’s late,” Sidney said looking at his watch.
“Yeah…” Riley started, “We better get to bed.”
“Alright,” Sidney said as a slow, sly grin spread across his lips.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her up off of the couch and easily lifted her up into his arms, bridal style. “Uh Sid,” Riley said as she grabbed onto him for dear life. He responded by letting his lips crash down onto hers in a fiery kiss. He carried her to her room where he dropped her down on the bed. He climbed onto her kissing every inch of skin all the way up to her lips. They met in yet another fiery kiss. They slowly started to undress each other; tugging off her pants Sidney broke the kiss and said, “You just had to wear skinny jeans, didn’t you?”
Once they had stripped each other down into their underwear Sidney looked deep into Riley’s eyes and asked with complete seriousness, “Are you sure you want to do this?” Riley looked at him and responded with a smirk, “I was ready the first time, wasn’t I?” He looked at her and said, “Yeah, but it’s been four years. Are you sure you want to just jump back into… everything?” Riley looked at him and raised her right eyebrow, “Yeah, why do you think we’re going to fast?” When he didn’t respond for a few seconds Riley was just about ready to climb out from under him and put her clothes back on. He sensed this and a slow smile crept onto his face, “Are you kidding? I’ve wanted to do this for weeks now!” And so they continued on with their… activities.
The next morning they woke up and freshened up. As Riley walked out of shower she wrapped herself in a towel and walked into her bedroom to see Sidney already fully clothed and watching TV. “You’re not ready yet?” he whined seeing her in a yellow fluffy towel. “No because I had to wait for you to take your shower first,” she answered as she looked through her closet for something to wear. “Well you could’ve taken one with me,” he said as he walked up behind her. “Oh yeah, because that would save time,” Riley responded sarcastically. “Well hurry up then, because we’re going out for breakfast.”
They went to an IHOP that was nearby. The place was near empty so they took a table near a window. They ordered when the waitress came by and then started up a conversation.
“Why didn’t we just go to a Tim Horton’s?” Riley asked as the waitress brought over their breakfast.
“Because there aren’t many around,” Sidney said with a laugh.
“So you haven’t done anything about that yet, huh?”
“I’ve tried, believe me.” Sidney said as they ate their breakfast.
A few people had walked by the table and said hello to Sidney and some asked for autographs. Some of them looked at Riley strangely but she just smiled in return. She thought that she saw a man in the background writing something down but Sidney caught her attention when he squeezed her hand lightly.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Chapter Fourteen
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Fourteen.
Riley awoke to a loud barking. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she heard Sidney trying to hush Sachi. Riley rolled out of bed and quickly glanced at the clock to see that it was 10:30am. She had clearly slept in.
“Morning,” Sidney said as he grimaced in pain.
“What’s wrong babe?” Riley asked, and then panicked. Babe? I did not just call him that... A goofy grin appeared on Sidney’s face then was quickly replaced with a look of pain.
“I kind of injured myself at practice…” he trailed off.
“How?” Riley asked with a loud sigh.
“Well, I was trying to nail a scoring move when my foot slipped and I pulled my groin,” he said
sheepishly. Riley burst out laughing.
“It’s not funny…” he whined.
“Sorry,” she muttered. She tried to contain her laughing but when she saw Sidney trying to sit down she cracked up again.
“Stop it!” he hollered from the living room. “What are we doing today?”
“I don’t know what do you want to do?” Riley asked as she made herself some breakfast.
“Staying here would be nice,”
Later Riley went to go get dressed, even though staying in her pyjamas was tempting she had to get dressed. As she was looking through her closet her cell phone went off. Spencer, Paul Patterson’s assistant was calling to tell her that she had to go in for a brief meeting about the assignment she was working on about the Penguins. She was told to be there in forty-five minutes, which was cutting it close but was possible. She was told to bring everything that she had written with her so she could present it to them.
Dressed in medium blue cowl-neck tunic, dark blue skinny jeans, 2 ½ inch heels, her lime green medium-sized purse, and her plaid trench coat, Riley headed out into the cool October weather. As she headed out the door she informed Sidney that she would be leaving for a short period of time, again. While she was walking down the steps to the driveway she ran into Cooper.
“Where are you headed?” he asked as he looked at her up and down.
“Oh I have to step into the office for a brief meeting,” she said quickly, trying to point out that she was in a hurry.
“Oh, well I don’t want to keep you then. But we should hang out again,” he said as he moved closer to Riley. Sidney was watching from the living room window and did not like what he saw.
“Yeah, sometime. But I really have to go now,” Riley said as she got into her car.
“Alright, I’ll see you later then.” Cooper said as Riley pulled out of the driveway.
She checked her reflection in the mirror in her car one more time before heading in to meet her boss. Her hair was looking good, down and curly. Her makeup done to perfection; deep purple eye shadow, black eyeliner, and a touch of lipstick to complete the look.
She walked into the seven story office building and made her way to the fourth floor. The building was new and everything in it was close to top of the line quality. Nice black granite tile floors and a sleek grey colour for the tall walls. There were modern yet elegant couches and chairs in the lobby. The elevators were a shiny gold colour, almost matching the colour of a gold wedding band perfectly.
As she walked to Paul’s office she said hello to several of the people who actually acknowledged her. When she knocked on the already open door she saw Spencer and Paul talking then turning to look at the young woman at the door.
“Ah, Miss Jacobs, you’re here.” The man, Paul, who was probably in his early forties said from his oh so comfortable office chair that only he was allowed to sit in.
“Mr. Patterson… Spencer.” Riley nodded towards both men.
“Why does he get called ‘Mr. Patterson’ and I just get Spencer?” The younger man, Spencer who was roughly in his mid twenties asked jokingly.
“Because I am the boss,” Mr. Patterson implied with a cocky grin.
Riley presented all of her information that she had gathered over the past three weeks and the two men seemed to be really impressed with how everything was going. The three of them went over the expectations of this special project of Riley’s until they were all on the same page. It was set that once every two weeks Riley would pop into the office to update everyone on everything and to receive news and/or updates on anything.
After being in the office for an hour and twenty minutes, Riley was finally able to leave. She packed up her things, said goodbye to her coworkers, and left. On the drive home she remembered about the fairly long dream that she had, but she pushed all of the thoughts about Australia and Toby out of her mind when she pulled in to her driveway parking beside Sidney’s silver Range Rover.
“Hey, I’m back,” she said as she took off her coat and hung it in the milk chocolate coloured closet.
“Hello, so who was that slug you were talking to when you were leaving?” he asked as he placed his arms gently around her waist.
“Who?” Riley asked as she turned around in his arms.
“That guy, he’s like your neighbour or something,” he said as he leaned down to kiss her sweetly on the lips.
“Oh, you mean Cooper?”
“Yeah that slug,” he said in a jealous tone.
“Oh don’t! He’s a nice guy,” Riley protested.
“He’s a slug.”
“Oh stop it, don’t call him that!” Riley said as she rolled her eyes and playfully hit Sidney on the arm.
“He is! I see the way he looks at you, complete and utter lust,” he said as he pulled her closer to
him.
Riley let out a loud sigh and shook her head. She knew that Sidney would not give it up so she did. Deep down she did have an odd feeling about Cooper but let it slide. He was her neighbour and that would not be changing anytime soon. Just then Sachi came running in from the back door, taking Riley out of her thoughts. He came running at her holding his favourite toy, a white teddy bear. Riley would throw the toy in the air and Sachi would jump three feet to catch it. At first he would fall but he perfected it after multiple attempts.
After a while Riley was getting bored, she was desperate to get outside and relax. She asked Sidney if he wanted to go outside to a park nearby for the afternoon and at first he groaned but eventually agreed. He was dressed in blue jeans fit to perfection, a white tee with a black zip-up sweater overtop, running shoes, and over course the ever so popular black Reebok hat.
The park wasn't too far away so they decided to walk to it. As they walked hand in hand, they admired the developing neighbourhood that Riley resided in. The moment was almost perfect, minus the chilly breeze that would come by every now and then. Riley had a feeling, a feeling that someone was following them.
Sidney and Riley spotted a bench a little bit down the path in the beautiful park. The bench was across from a beautiful, large, circular fountain. For a small suburb it was a pretty big park. The grass was exceptionally green, the trees were healthy, the bicycle paths were clear and wide, and overall the park was definitely a relaxing spot.
Sidney pulled Riley close to him on the bench and put his arm around her waist as she rested her head on his shoulder.
Chapter Fourteen.
Riley awoke to a loud barking. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she heard Sidney trying to hush Sachi. Riley rolled out of bed and quickly glanced at the clock to see that it was 10:30am. She had clearly slept in.
“Morning,” Sidney said as he grimaced in pain.
“What’s wrong babe?” Riley asked, and then panicked. Babe? I did not just call him that... A goofy grin appeared on Sidney’s face then was quickly replaced with a look of pain.
“I kind of injured myself at practice…” he trailed off.
“How?” Riley asked with a loud sigh.
“Well, I was trying to nail a scoring move when my foot slipped and I pulled my groin,” he said
sheepishly. Riley burst out laughing.
“It’s not funny…” he whined.
“Sorry,” she muttered. She tried to contain her laughing but when she saw Sidney trying to sit down she cracked up again.
“Stop it!” he hollered from the living room. “What are we doing today?”
“I don’t know what do you want to do?” Riley asked as she made herself some breakfast.
“Staying here would be nice,”
Later Riley went to go get dressed, even though staying in her pyjamas was tempting she had to get dressed. As she was looking through her closet her cell phone went off. Spencer, Paul Patterson’s assistant was calling to tell her that she had to go in for a brief meeting about the assignment she was working on about the Penguins. She was told to be there in forty-five minutes, which was cutting it close but was possible. She was told to bring everything that she had written with her so she could present it to them.
Dressed in medium blue cowl-neck tunic, dark blue skinny jeans, 2 ½ inch heels, her lime green medium-sized purse, and her plaid trench coat, Riley headed out into the cool October weather. As she headed out the door she informed Sidney that she would be leaving for a short period of time, again. While she was walking down the steps to the driveway she ran into Cooper.
“Where are you headed?” he asked as he looked at her up and down.
“Oh I have to step into the office for a brief meeting,” she said quickly, trying to point out that she was in a hurry.
“Oh, well I don’t want to keep you then. But we should hang out again,” he said as he moved closer to Riley. Sidney was watching from the living room window and did not like what he saw.
“Yeah, sometime. But I really have to go now,” Riley said as she got into her car.
“Alright, I’ll see you later then.” Cooper said as Riley pulled out of the driveway.
She checked her reflection in the mirror in her car one more time before heading in to meet her boss. Her hair was looking good, down and curly. Her makeup done to perfection; deep purple eye shadow, black eyeliner, and a touch of lipstick to complete the look.
She walked into the seven story office building and made her way to the fourth floor. The building was new and everything in it was close to top of the line quality. Nice black granite tile floors and a sleek grey colour for the tall walls. There were modern yet elegant couches and chairs in the lobby. The elevators were a shiny gold colour, almost matching the colour of a gold wedding band perfectly.
As she walked to Paul’s office she said hello to several of the people who actually acknowledged her. When she knocked on the already open door she saw Spencer and Paul talking then turning to look at the young woman at the door.
“Ah, Miss Jacobs, you’re here.” The man, Paul, who was probably in his early forties said from his oh so comfortable office chair that only he was allowed to sit in.
“Mr. Patterson… Spencer.” Riley nodded towards both men.
“Why does he get called ‘Mr. Patterson’ and I just get Spencer?” The younger man, Spencer who was roughly in his mid twenties asked jokingly.
“Because I am the boss,” Mr. Patterson implied with a cocky grin.
Riley presented all of her information that she had gathered over the past three weeks and the two men seemed to be really impressed with how everything was going. The three of them went over the expectations of this special project of Riley’s until they were all on the same page. It was set that once every two weeks Riley would pop into the office to update everyone on everything and to receive news and/or updates on anything.
After being in the office for an hour and twenty minutes, Riley was finally able to leave. She packed up her things, said goodbye to her coworkers, and left. On the drive home she remembered about the fairly long dream that she had, but she pushed all of the thoughts about Australia and Toby out of her mind when she pulled in to her driveway parking beside Sidney’s silver Range Rover.
“Hey, I’m back,” she said as she took off her coat and hung it in the milk chocolate coloured closet.
“Hello, so who was that slug you were talking to when you were leaving?” he asked as he placed his arms gently around her waist.
“Who?” Riley asked as she turned around in his arms.
“That guy, he’s like your neighbour or something,” he said as he leaned down to kiss her sweetly on the lips.
“Oh, you mean Cooper?”
“Yeah that slug,” he said in a jealous tone.
“Oh don’t! He’s a nice guy,” Riley protested.
“He’s a slug.”
“Oh stop it, don’t call him that!” Riley said as she rolled her eyes and playfully hit Sidney on the arm.
“He is! I see the way he looks at you, complete and utter lust,” he said as he pulled her closer to
him.
Riley let out a loud sigh and shook her head. She knew that Sidney would not give it up so she did. Deep down she did have an odd feeling about Cooper but let it slide. He was her neighbour and that would not be changing anytime soon. Just then Sachi came running in from the back door, taking Riley out of her thoughts. He came running at her holding his favourite toy, a white teddy bear. Riley would throw the toy in the air and Sachi would jump three feet to catch it. At first he would fall but he perfected it after multiple attempts.
After a while Riley was getting bored, she was desperate to get outside and relax. She asked Sidney if he wanted to go outside to a park nearby for the afternoon and at first he groaned but eventually agreed. He was dressed in blue jeans fit to perfection, a white tee with a black zip-up sweater overtop, running shoes, and over course the ever so popular black Reebok hat.
The park wasn't too far away so they decided to walk to it. As they walked hand in hand, they admired the developing neighbourhood that Riley resided in. The moment was almost perfect, minus the chilly breeze that would come by every now and then. Riley had a feeling, a feeling that someone was following them.
Sidney and Riley spotted a bench a little bit down the path in the beautiful park. The bench was across from a beautiful, large, circular fountain. For a small suburb it was a pretty big park. The grass was exceptionally green, the trees were healthy, the bicycle paths were clear and wide, and overall the park was definitely a relaxing spot.
Sidney pulled Riley close to him on the bench and put his arm around her waist as she rested her head on his shoulder.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Chapter Thirteen
Sorry for the wait, I have been absolutely swamped in homework, projects, and tests that I haven't had time to even write! I am trying my best to post at least once every week, I cannot tell you the exact day, it may be a Saturday or it may be a Tuesday I'm not sure. One thing is for sure though, my hockey season has started up again meaning that Saturday mornings and Monday evenings there will be no posts. Anyway, sorry for the rant, please comment and enjoy!
***
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Thirteen.
On July twenty-second Riley arrived in Sydney, Australia. Once she stepped outside she was in complete awe. It was so beautiful, it truly was paradise. She saw the nice, sandy beaches and then the water, oh the water. So blue, so clean, she couldn’t wait to swim in the water. But first she had to find her apartment. When she found the apartment she went up to the front desk to ask for her keys.
“Hello,” a woman who was in her mid 30’s said through a thick accent.
“Hi, I just got here and I was told that this is the place where I will be living.
“Alright, I’ll just need your name and some ID.” She said politely.
“Riley Jacobs,” she said as she pulled out her ID.
“Alright Miss Jacobs, just take the elevator on the left up to the eighth floor then you should find your room easily. Your room is room 885 it should be on your left when you exit the elevator.” The woman said. “Oh and don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to your neighbours!” she said cheerfully.
Riley spent the next few weeks unpacking and getting settled in. She had met her neighbours the first week and they were all around her age and there was this guy who she already had a tiny crush on. His name was Toby and he was originally from Sydney, Australia. He was tall, about 6’1, short blonde hair, icy blue eyes, nice build, basically the one person who could take Riley’s mind off of Sidney.
“So uh, I was wondering…” Toby said in his amazingly sexy accent. “Would you like to go out on a date with me?”
“Yes! I mean uh, sure.” Riley answered a little too excited.
“Great! So I’ll call you later, alright?” he said as he nodded his head towards her.
“Uh-huh.” Was all Riley could spit out.
They dated for a while and then eventually became boyfriend and girlfriend. They seemed to get along really well; they both had a love for water. Toby loved, absolutely loved to surf, while Riley loved to just swim. She had taken surfing lessons one summer in Rimouski so she was able to kind of keep up with her boyfriend.
People were heading up to the shore line while Riley and Toby were a ways from it. They were in their own world and just having fun. They saw a wave coming in and decided that they were going to surf on that one, since it didn’t look too bad. As it came closer it got bigger and Riley had an uneasy feeling about it as she saw it gain in height. She looked at Toby for reassurance and he nodded, signalling that it was going to be fine. They stood up on their boards as the wave came towards them. Just then the wave split in two, Toby, being the one who grew up surfing knew how to handle the situation, where Riley, who didn’t have the slightest idea of what to do panicked. Before she could say anything the wave had gained even more strength and she lost her balance. The wave forced her under and her board up ahead of her. The waves came rushing back at a rapid speed from the shore – bringing her board along with it. The surfboard hit Riley right in the head, instantly knocking her out of consciousness.
She awoke a few hours later in a hospital room, alone. She didn’t understand why she was there and why her head hurt so much. She sat there pondering over her thoughts for fifteen minutes until a doctor came in.
“Hello, Miss Jacobs,” he said brightly.
“Hi…”
“How are you?” he asked as he picked up her chart.
“Oh… I’ve been better,” she replied.
“I bet. Do you know why you’re sitting here, in a hospital bed?” he asked, seeing if her memory had been suffered during her little incident.
“Not really,” she said as her head started to hurt more than before.
“Alright, that’s expected. You did hit your head pretty hard,” he said slowly, letting it seep into her mind.
“I did?” Riley questioned.
“Yeah, do you want to know what happened?” he asked in a soft tone.
“Sure,”
“Well, I take it as you went surfing with a young man by the name of Toby Lander?” he half asked.
“Alright,” Riley replied, wanting to know what else had happened.
“Well, you were surfing on this huge wave and it split into two waves, causing you to fall in between the two. Your board flew out from under you and then came rushing back at quite a forceful pace and basically hit you square in the head. You were knocked unconscious for three and a half hours.” He concluded, leaving Riley puzzled.
“Oh,” she said quietly.
“Do you remember any of this?”
“Honestly, I don’t really remember who Toby Lander is,” she said with a sigh.
“You should regain most of your memory back over the next week or two.” Dr. Thomas replied with a genuine smile.
Just as Riley was about to ask Dr. Thomas another question there was a knock on the door. There stood a young man and a young woman. The man being tall and quite good looking, Riley was mesmerized by his gorgeous blue eyes. The woman was shorter than he was; she was about 5’8. She had light brown hair with green eyes. Riley looked at them, completely confused. Dr. Thomas welcomed them in the room as he told Riley that he would check up on her later. The two young strangers took the seats near the bed.
“Hey Rye,” the woman said in a soft tone.
“Hi,” Riley replied with a shaky voice. She was on the verge of tears because she had no idea who anyone was or even who she really was.
“Do you remember us?” the young man said quietly.
Riley shook her head from side to side with a frown evident on her face. “I’m really sorry that I don’t know who you are…” Riley said, barely above a whisper.
“It’s alright, well then we might as well introduce ourselves. I’m Brooke and this is Toby,” she answered with a small smile.
“Oh hi,” Riley said with a smile. “So how exactly do I know you guys?”
“Well, we’re like best friends and Toby is… your boyfriend,” Brooke said as she hesitated at the end.
***
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Thirteen.
On July twenty-second Riley arrived in Sydney, Australia. Once she stepped outside she was in complete awe. It was so beautiful, it truly was paradise. She saw the nice, sandy beaches and then the water, oh the water. So blue, so clean, she couldn’t wait to swim in the water. But first she had to find her apartment. When she found the apartment she went up to the front desk to ask for her keys.
“Hello,” a woman who was in her mid 30’s said through a thick accent.
“Hi, I just got here and I was told that this is the place where I will be living.
“Alright, I’ll just need your name and some ID.” She said politely.
“Riley Jacobs,” she said as she pulled out her ID.
“Alright Miss Jacobs, just take the elevator on the left up to the eighth floor then you should find your room easily. Your room is room 885 it should be on your left when you exit the elevator.” The woman said. “Oh and don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to your neighbours!” she said cheerfully.
Riley spent the next few weeks unpacking and getting settled in. She had met her neighbours the first week and they were all around her age and there was this guy who she already had a tiny crush on. His name was Toby and he was originally from Sydney, Australia. He was tall, about 6’1, short blonde hair, icy blue eyes, nice build, basically the one person who could take Riley’s mind off of Sidney.
“So uh, I was wondering…” Toby said in his amazingly sexy accent. “Would you like to go out on a date with me?”
“Yes! I mean uh, sure.” Riley answered a little too excited.
“Great! So I’ll call you later, alright?” he said as he nodded his head towards her.
“Uh-huh.” Was all Riley could spit out.
They dated for a while and then eventually became boyfriend and girlfriend. They seemed to get along really well; they both had a love for water. Toby loved, absolutely loved to surf, while Riley loved to just swim. She had taken surfing lessons one summer in Rimouski so she was able to kind of keep up with her boyfriend.
People were heading up to the shore line while Riley and Toby were a ways from it. They were in their own world and just having fun. They saw a wave coming in and decided that they were going to surf on that one, since it didn’t look too bad. As it came closer it got bigger and Riley had an uneasy feeling about it as she saw it gain in height. She looked at Toby for reassurance and he nodded, signalling that it was going to be fine. They stood up on their boards as the wave came towards them. Just then the wave split in two, Toby, being the one who grew up surfing knew how to handle the situation, where Riley, who didn’t have the slightest idea of what to do panicked. Before she could say anything the wave had gained even more strength and she lost her balance. The wave forced her under and her board up ahead of her. The waves came rushing back at a rapid speed from the shore – bringing her board along with it. The surfboard hit Riley right in the head, instantly knocking her out of consciousness.
She awoke a few hours later in a hospital room, alone. She didn’t understand why she was there and why her head hurt so much. She sat there pondering over her thoughts for fifteen minutes until a doctor came in.
“Hello, Miss Jacobs,” he said brightly.
“Hi…”
“How are you?” he asked as he picked up her chart.
“Oh… I’ve been better,” she replied.
“I bet. Do you know why you’re sitting here, in a hospital bed?” he asked, seeing if her memory had been suffered during her little incident.
“Not really,” she said as her head started to hurt more than before.
“Alright, that’s expected. You did hit your head pretty hard,” he said slowly, letting it seep into her mind.
“I did?” Riley questioned.
“Yeah, do you want to know what happened?” he asked in a soft tone.
“Sure,”
“Well, I take it as you went surfing with a young man by the name of Toby Lander?” he half asked.
“Alright,” Riley replied, wanting to know what else had happened.
“Well, you were surfing on this huge wave and it split into two waves, causing you to fall in between the two. Your board flew out from under you and then came rushing back at quite a forceful pace and basically hit you square in the head. You were knocked unconscious for three and a half hours.” He concluded, leaving Riley puzzled.
“Oh,” she said quietly.
“Do you remember any of this?”
“Honestly, I don’t really remember who Toby Lander is,” she said with a sigh.
“You should regain most of your memory back over the next week or two.” Dr. Thomas replied with a genuine smile.
Just as Riley was about to ask Dr. Thomas another question there was a knock on the door. There stood a young man and a young woman. The man being tall and quite good looking, Riley was mesmerized by his gorgeous blue eyes. The woman was shorter than he was; she was about 5’8. She had light brown hair with green eyes. Riley looked at them, completely confused. Dr. Thomas welcomed them in the room as he told Riley that he would check up on her later. The two young strangers took the seats near the bed.
“Hey Rye,” the woman said in a soft tone.
“Hi,” Riley replied with a shaky voice. She was on the verge of tears because she had no idea who anyone was or even who she really was.
“Do you remember us?” the young man said quietly.
Riley shook her head from side to side with a frown evident on her face. “I’m really sorry that I don’t know who you are…” Riley said, barely above a whisper.
“It’s alright, well then we might as well introduce ourselves. I’m Brooke and this is Toby,” she answered with a small smile.
“Oh hi,” Riley said with a smile. “So how exactly do I know you guys?”
“Well, we’re like best friends and Toby is… your boyfriend,” Brooke said as she hesitated at the end.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Chapter Twelve
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Twelve.
“Sidney, we missed you,” Trina, Sidney’s mom said as she gave him a big motherly hug. “I missed you too mum.” Sidney replied as he introduced Riley to the family. They all seemed nice and welcomed her into their home for a few days. Sidney showed her around the house and made sure to save the best part for last – the “rink” that his dad had made in the basement.
“This is where it all started,” Sidney said as he walked over to the area.
“It’s cute,” Riley said as Sidney gave her a strange look.
Riley spent four days with Sidney and his family before heading back to Rimouski. She liked it a lot in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia and considered one day going back. Sidney would be spending a few more days with his family in Nova Scotia and would return to Rimouski on February twentieth.
On May seventeenth Sidney came back from a hockey tournament in which they placed second. “Hey you know what?” Sidney said as they walked to a park. “What?” Riley questioned back as she grabbed Sidney’s hand. “We’ve been dating for three months and two days,” he said with a smile. “I see you’ve been keeping track,” Riley said with a smile, she too had been keeping track but would not admit that to Sidney. “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t?” he asked with an eyebrow raised. “A normal one…”
On May twenty-second Sidney took Riley out to see a movie that had just come out, she didn’t find it interesting at all but made sure not to say anything because Sidney loved it. When Sidney was walking Riley to her door he leaned down and kissed her sweetly on the lips. Just as he was about to turn and leave Riley grabbed his arm and stopped him. “No one’s home,” she said seductively. “Wh-what?” Sidney stuttered. “I have the house to myself,” Riley said as she opened the door. Sidney had a confused expression plastered on his face. But before he could say anything Riley whispered in his ear, “Stay with me tonight,” his jaw dropped instantly. It took him a few seconds but he finally caught on to what Riley was implying. Then his lips crashed onto Riley’s in a rough kiss. He pushed her up against the front door and kissed along her jaw and then down her neck.
Riley led Sidney to her room as he pushed her lightly down on her bed. Riley tugged off Sidney’s shirt, as Sidney unbuttoned her black blouse. He threw it on the floor and climbed on top of her. He then pulled off her dark jeans, leaving her in only her underwear. Riley soon pulled off Sidney’s pants, not once breaking the passionate kiss. Just as Sidney was about to unclasp her bra he stopped and Riley looked up at him with confusion. “Are you sure?” he asked her, looking deep into her eyes. “Yeah, are you?” she replied with a smirk. He nodded and they continued with their passionate, memorable night.
On July seventh Riley received a letter from the University of Sydney in Australia. As soon as she saw who it was from her heart started to race, her mind was also racing at the thought of being accepted or at being rejected. “What are you holding, sweetie?” her mother Eliza asked. “A letter from the University of Sydney,” Riley replied. “Well open it!” her dad, Antoine said. “Alright,” Riley’s eyes moved from side to side at the speed of light as she read what the letter said. “Oh my gosh! I got it!” she screeched. “Congratulations!” her parents both said at the same time as they got up to hug her. “What’s going on?” Ben asked as he walked into the kitchen. “I got in to the University of Sydney!” Riley said, jumping up and down.
On July tenth Riley was sitting on her bed typing away a storm on her laptop when Sidney stormed in her room. Her parents were gone for the day with the rest of the family so she was home alone.
“Uh hi,” Riley said, surprised that Sidney was standing in front of her.
“When were you going to tell me?” he asked just below a shout.
“Tell you what?”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, you know exactly what I’m talking about,” he said in a rude tone. This made Riley’s temper flare.
“Excuse me? Don’t you come into my house and demand that I tell you something when I don’t even know what you’re talking about!” Riley said sternly. She was never afraid to have her voice heard.
“When were you going to tell me that you were leaving, huh? When were you going to break it off with me? Why did I have to hear about you going to Australia from my teammates!” he shouted, obviously hurt but this was no way to confront her about it.
“I was going to tell you tomorrow, and hope to god that you would understand!” Riley exclaimed as she stood up.
“Sure you were…” he said sarcastically. Riley hated it when people used sarcasm with her when she was trying to be serious.
“What you don’t believe me?” she asked quickly.
“Oh no, I believe that you’re leaving. You want to know why?”
“Sure, why not.” she replied as she sat down.
“Because it’s for you, you get to move somewhere where you’ve always dreamed of leaving. You can start over and be who you want to be. You can forget about everything here and everyone here,” he said, his eyes burning into hers.
“You’re right it is for me. I am the one who got accepted and I don’t know why you are in such a bad mood about it! I thought you, of all people would be happy for me. Its university Sid, this is opening doors for me, why aren’t you happy for me?” Riley questioned, calming down slightly.
Sidney just shook his head, mumbled a few things, got up and left without saying goodbye. “It’s sad that it has to end this way!” Riley shouted from her room when she heard him walking down the stairs. He didn’t reply.
Chapter Twelve.
“Sidney, we missed you,” Trina, Sidney’s mom said as she gave him a big motherly hug. “I missed you too mum.” Sidney replied as he introduced Riley to the family. They all seemed nice and welcomed her into their home for a few days. Sidney showed her around the house and made sure to save the best part for last – the “rink” that his dad had made in the basement.
“This is where it all started,” Sidney said as he walked over to the area.
“It’s cute,” Riley said as Sidney gave her a strange look.
Riley spent four days with Sidney and his family before heading back to Rimouski. She liked it a lot in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia and considered one day going back. Sidney would be spending a few more days with his family in Nova Scotia and would return to Rimouski on February twentieth.
On May seventeenth Sidney came back from a hockey tournament in which they placed second. “Hey you know what?” Sidney said as they walked to a park. “What?” Riley questioned back as she grabbed Sidney’s hand. “We’ve been dating for three months and two days,” he said with a smile. “I see you’ve been keeping track,” Riley said with a smile, she too had been keeping track but would not admit that to Sidney. “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t?” he asked with an eyebrow raised. “A normal one…”
On May twenty-second Sidney took Riley out to see a movie that had just come out, she didn’t find it interesting at all but made sure not to say anything because Sidney loved it. When Sidney was walking Riley to her door he leaned down and kissed her sweetly on the lips. Just as he was about to turn and leave Riley grabbed his arm and stopped him. “No one’s home,” she said seductively. “Wh-what?” Sidney stuttered. “I have the house to myself,” Riley said as she opened the door. Sidney had a confused expression plastered on his face. But before he could say anything Riley whispered in his ear, “Stay with me tonight,” his jaw dropped instantly. It took him a few seconds but he finally caught on to what Riley was implying. Then his lips crashed onto Riley’s in a rough kiss. He pushed her up against the front door and kissed along her jaw and then down her neck.
Riley led Sidney to her room as he pushed her lightly down on her bed. Riley tugged off Sidney’s shirt, as Sidney unbuttoned her black blouse. He threw it on the floor and climbed on top of her. He then pulled off her dark jeans, leaving her in only her underwear. Riley soon pulled off Sidney’s pants, not once breaking the passionate kiss. Just as Sidney was about to unclasp her bra he stopped and Riley looked up at him with confusion. “Are you sure?” he asked her, looking deep into her eyes. “Yeah, are you?” she replied with a smirk. He nodded and they continued with their passionate, memorable night.
On July seventh Riley received a letter from the University of Sydney in Australia. As soon as she saw who it was from her heart started to race, her mind was also racing at the thought of being accepted or at being rejected. “What are you holding, sweetie?” her mother Eliza asked. “A letter from the University of Sydney,” Riley replied. “Well open it!” her dad, Antoine said. “Alright,” Riley’s eyes moved from side to side at the speed of light as she read what the letter said. “Oh my gosh! I got it!” she screeched. “Congratulations!” her parents both said at the same time as they got up to hug her. “What’s going on?” Ben asked as he walked into the kitchen. “I got in to the University of Sydney!” Riley said, jumping up and down.
On July tenth Riley was sitting on her bed typing away a storm on her laptop when Sidney stormed in her room. Her parents were gone for the day with the rest of the family so she was home alone.
“Uh hi,” Riley said, surprised that Sidney was standing in front of her.
“When were you going to tell me?” he asked just below a shout.
“Tell you what?”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, you know exactly what I’m talking about,” he said in a rude tone. This made Riley’s temper flare.
“Excuse me? Don’t you come into my house and demand that I tell you something when I don’t even know what you’re talking about!” Riley said sternly. She was never afraid to have her voice heard.
“When were you going to tell me that you were leaving, huh? When were you going to break it off with me? Why did I have to hear about you going to Australia from my teammates!” he shouted, obviously hurt but this was no way to confront her about it.
“I was going to tell you tomorrow, and hope to god that you would understand!” Riley exclaimed as she stood up.
“Sure you were…” he said sarcastically. Riley hated it when people used sarcasm with her when she was trying to be serious.
“What you don’t believe me?” she asked quickly.
“Oh no, I believe that you’re leaving. You want to know why?”
“Sure, why not.” she replied as she sat down.
“Because it’s for you, you get to move somewhere where you’ve always dreamed of leaving. You can start over and be who you want to be. You can forget about everything here and everyone here,” he said, his eyes burning into hers.
“You’re right it is for me. I am the one who got accepted and I don’t know why you are in such a bad mood about it! I thought you, of all people would be happy for me. Its university Sid, this is opening doors for me, why aren’t you happy for me?” Riley questioned, calming down slightly.
Sidney just shook his head, mumbled a few things, got up and left without saying goodbye. “It’s sad that it has to end this way!” Riley shouted from her room when she heard him walking down the stairs. He didn’t reply.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Chapter Eleven
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Eleven.
“Alright everyone out of the pool,” a seventeen year old Riley shouted as she blew her whistle. It was mid March so everyone decided to go to the local indoor pool for some fun. Riley worked as a lifeguard at the pool because she loved swimming as a kid and always wanted to be a dolphin when she was younger. Her parents had put her through swimming lessons at a young age – for safety precautions, they always said that it would come in handy if she ever skated over thin ice on a pond. Yeah, they wanted her to play hockey, like most of the children in the area. Riley never really had an interest in skating, so she stuck to swimming.
“Guys seriously, get out of the pool now,” she said as she walked over to the edge of the pool so she could get a closer look at the five young guys in the pool who refused to follow her directions. They all looked around her age, some a little younger and some a little older. They finally noticed her standing there, taping her foot on the cold, wet tiles. “Alright, alright,” one of them said as they all climbed out.
A few of the guys were checking her out on their way to the changing rooms. Riley was too tired to notice anything, she had just spent four hours at the local pool. Riley walked around the pool making sure that no one was still there or that no one left anything behind. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a male figure on the other side of the pool area staring at her. Her eyes widened as she looked up and walked towards him.
“Hi,” he said with a smile.
“Uh, hi,” Riley stuttered as she tried to find the right words. She had only been learning English for a few months and was able to carry on a small conversation.
“I’m Sidney,” he said, flashing her that famous toothy grin.
“I’m Riley,”
“You’re beautiful,” Sidney blurted out.
“Uh… thank you,” Riley said as she blushed.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked bluntly.
“Uh, no.”
“Well then, would you like to go out some time?” he asked, now shyly.
“Will it get you to leave me alone?” Riley joked.
“For today,”
“Then yeah, sure,” Riley replied as she smirked and rolled her eyes.
Riley went home after that conversation. She parked her car on the driveway of a nice home. It was a nice four bedroom home. It fit her and her family’s lifestyle perfectly. The house was in a nice and quiet neighbourhood. “Bonjour Rye,” Ben, Riley’s older brother said as Riley walked in the door. “Bonjour Benny,” Riley teased.
A few hours later the family sat down for dinner. At the dinner table sat Riley’s mother Eliza, her father Antoine, her older brother Ben, her younger brother Keaton, and her younger sister Storm. Ben was a year older than Riley and Keaton and Storm were six years younger than her. Ben was tall, about six foot, blonde hair, blue eyes, muscular. Keaton was taller than his fraternal twin sister, Storm, he had blonde hair, blue eyes, basically he was a spitting image of his older brother Ben, just without the muscles. Storm and Riley had similar facial attributes, the medium-sized lips, slightly slanted eyes, and the same nose. But Storm had jet black hair and piercing green eyes. She was a small little girl who was too cute.
They had a nice dinner and then went their separate ways after. Riley was lying on her bed doing homework when Ben knocked on the door. They tried to speak as much English as they could, since they both were learning for future career requirements. “Hey,” Riley said as she looked up. “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked as he walked into her room and sat down on her over-sized purple chair. “Uh-oh, girl problems?” Riley teased. The two had always been close, mainly because they were practically inseparable when they were toddlers. “No, but what’s up with you?” he asked as Riley closed her books. “What do you mean?” she asked as she lay back on her pillows. “You seemed… quiet at dinner, almost as if something or someone was on your mind,” he implied with an eyebrow raised. Riley ended up “spilling the beans” and telling him all she could about her day at the pool and gushed over how cute she thought Sidney was.
On March fifteenth Riley spent a longer time in the bathroom getting ready for her date with Sidney. He had previously asked her out a few days before but they were both busy on the days in between. She did light make-up and wore a black skirt with a bright purple short-sleeved blouse.
Sidney soon arrived at her door, looking absolutely stunning for a sixteen-year old that is. On their date they talked a lot. Mostly about: family, dreams, interests, likes and dislikes, and much, much more.
“I had a great time,” Riley said as Sidney walked her to her door.
“I did too…” Sidney said trailing off, almost as if he wanted to say something more but decided against it.
“We should do this again sometime,” Riley said as Sidney’s face lit up.
“Totally, so I’ll uh call you,”
“Okay, goodnight,” Riley said with a smile, and then lightly kissed him on the cheek.
“Alright, goodnight,” Sidney said as Riley walked inside.
They went out a few more times over the course of the month of January. The two got along really well and were slowly becoming inseparable. They were now officially boyfriend and girlfriend, even though everyone already considered them that.
On April fourteenth, Sidney brought Riley back to Nova Scotia with him. She was super excited to meet his family for the first time. She also was nervous of what they would think of her, especially about her being a year older than Sidney.
“Hello,” Sidney hollered when they walked into his parents’ house.
“Sid?” a woman called back from another room.
“Yup, we’re here!” he said in a kiddie voice.
“SID!” a little voice screamed, then soon after a little girl came running over to Sidney.
“Hey Tay, how are you?” Sidney asked as he picked her up.
“I’m good,” she replied as he put her down.
“Riley this is my little sister, Taylor. Taylor this is Riley, my girlfriend.” Sidney said with a smile.
“Hi Taylor, how old are you?” Riley asked as she bent down to Taylor’s level.
“I’m seven, how old are you?” she asked with a curious expression.
“I’m seventeen,” Riley replied to the adorable little girl.
Chapter Eleven.
“Alright everyone out of the pool,” a seventeen year old Riley shouted as she blew her whistle. It was mid March so everyone decided to go to the local indoor pool for some fun. Riley worked as a lifeguard at the pool because she loved swimming as a kid and always wanted to be a dolphin when she was younger. Her parents had put her through swimming lessons at a young age – for safety precautions, they always said that it would come in handy if she ever skated over thin ice on a pond. Yeah, they wanted her to play hockey, like most of the children in the area. Riley never really had an interest in skating, so she stuck to swimming.
“Guys seriously, get out of the pool now,” she said as she walked over to the edge of the pool so she could get a closer look at the five young guys in the pool who refused to follow her directions. They all looked around her age, some a little younger and some a little older. They finally noticed her standing there, taping her foot on the cold, wet tiles. “Alright, alright,” one of them said as they all climbed out.
A few of the guys were checking her out on their way to the changing rooms. Riley was too tired to notice anything, she had just spent four hours at the local pool. Riley walked around the pool making sure that no one was still there or that no one left anything behind. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a male figure on the other side of the pool area staring at her. Her eyes widened as she looked up and walked towards him.
“Hi,” he said with a smile.
“Uh, hi,” Riley stuttered as she tried to find the right words. She had only been learning English for a few months and was able to carry on a small conversation.
“I’m Sidney,” he said, flashing her that famous toothy grin.
“I’m Riley,”
“You’re beautiful,” Sidney blurted out.
“Uh… thank you,” Riley said as she blushed.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked bluntly.
“Uh, no.”
“Well then, would you like to go out some time?” he asked, now shyly.
“Will it get you to leave me alone?” Riley joked.
“For today,”
“Then yeah, sure,” Riley replied as she smirked and rolled her eyes.
Riley went home after that conversation. She parked her car on the driveway of a nice home. It was a nice four bedroom home. It fit her and her family’s lifestyle perfectly. The house was in a nice and quiet neighbourhood. “Bonjour Rye,” Ben, Riley’s older brother said as Riley walked in the door. “Bonjour Benny,” Riley teased.
A few hours later the family sat down for dinner. At the dinner table sat Riley’s mother Eliza, her father Antoine, her older brother Ben, her younger brother Keaton, and her younger sister Storm. Ben was a year older than Riley and Keaton and Storm were six years younger than her. Ben was tall, about six foot, blonde hair, blue eyes, muscular. Keaton was taller than his fraternal twin sister, Storm, he had blonde hair, blue eyes, basically he was a spitting image of his older brother Ben, just without the muscles. Storm and Riley had similar facial attributes, the medium-sized lips, slightly slanted eyes, and the same nose. But Storm had jet black hair and piercing green eyes. She was a small little girl who was too cute.
They had a nice dinner and then went their separate ways after. Riley was lying on her bed doing homework when Ben knocked on the door. They tried to speak as much English as they could, since they both were learning for future career requirements. “Hey,” Riley said as she looked up. “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked as he walked into her room and sat down on her over-sized purple chair. “Uh-oh, girl problems?” Riley teased. The two had always been close, mainly because they were practically inseparable when they were toddlers. “No, but what’s up with you?” he asked as Riley closed her books. “What do you mean?” she asked as she lay back on her pillows. “You seemed… quiet at dinner, almost as if something or someone was on your mind,” he implied with an eyebrow raised. Riley ended up “spilling the beans” and telling him all she could about her day at the pool and gushed over how cute she thought Sidney was.
On March fifteenth Riley spent a longer time in the bathroom getting ready for her date with Sidney. He had previously asked her out a few days before but they were both busy on the days in between. She did light make-up and wore a black skirt with a bright purple short-sleeved blouse.
Sidney soon arrived at her door, looking absolutely stunning for a sixteen-year old that is. On their date they talked a lot. Mostly about: family, dreams, interests, likes and dislikes, and much, much more.
“I had a great time,” Riley said as Sidney walked her to her door.
“I did too…” Sidney said trailing off, almost as if he wanted to say something more but decided against it.
“We should do this again sometime,” Riley said as Sidney’s face lit up.
“Totally, so I’ll uh call you,”
“Okay, goodnight,” Riley said with a smile, and then lightly kissed him on the cheek.
“Alright, goodnight,” Sidney said as Riley walked inside.
They went out a few more times over the course of the month of January. The two got along really well and were slowly becoming inseparable. They were now officially boyfriend and girlfriend, even though everyone already considered them that.
On April fourteenth, Sidney brought Riley back to Nova Scotia with him. She was super excited to meet his family for the first time. She also was nervous of what they would think of her, especially about her being a year older than Sidney.
“Hello,” Sidney hollered when they walked into his parents’ house.
“Sid?” a woman called back from another room.
“Yup, we’re here!” he said in a kiddie voice.
“SID!” a little voice screamed, then soon after a little girl came running over to Sidney.
“Hey Tay, how are you?” Sidney asked as he picked her up.
“I’m good,” she replied as he put her down.
“Riley this is my little sister, Taylor. Taylor this is Riley, my girlfriend.” Sidney said with a smile.
“Hi Taylor, how old are you?” Riley asked as she bent down to Taylor’s level.
“I’m seven, how old are you?” she asked with a curious expression.
“I’m seventeen,” Riley replied to the adorable little girl.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Chapter Ten
Coasting Down Memory Lane;
Chapter Ten.
They sat there on the couch for hours, at some points talking nonstop and at others sitting in complete silence. Everything had finally been put out there in the open and they both felt like two huge weights were lifted off of their shoulders. During one of their silent moments Riley leaned back, wrapped in Sidney’s arms and she closed her eyes. Then she asked, “So now that we’ve cleared the air... what exactly are we?” Sidney tightened his grip on her and said in a calm voice, “Whatever you want us to be,” Riley looked at him with a huge a smile and gently kissed his lips. She then said, “How about we give the whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing another shot,” Sidney smiled and pulled her in for another sweet kiss. “I’d like that,”
Sidney spent another hour or two at Riley’s house before heading back to the Lemieux’s house. Yes, Sidney still hadn’t found his own place, but he swore that this was the year. Riley went to bed shortly after.
The next day Riley woke up to her phone buzzing ridiculously loud. She stumbled over to it and saw that she had a new text from Sidney, ‘Up for our coffee ritual?’ Riley smiled then frowned when she saw the time. ‘Yeah sure, but can I ask you something, why are you up so damn early?’ she put her phone down and walked to her closet to pick something to wear. She raced over to her phone when it started to buzz off the table again. She flipped it open and the message from Sidney read: ‘Great! I had to do some early media stuff…’ Riley continued to message Sidney as she got ready.
When Riley walked into the coffee shop she was immediately met by Sidney as he embraced her in a massive hug. They then made their way to a table. The whole time they talked Riley and Sidney both had huge smiles on, happy that they had made up and finally - after four years - had cleared the air.
“So what are you doing after work today?” Sidney asked as he took a sip of his coffee.
“Well I have a few errands to run, but other than that, nothing really,”
“Alright, do you want to do something then?” Sidney asked.
“How about you come over to my place after,” Riley suggested.
“Alright,”
The work day flew by for Riley, which was obviously a good thing. After the practice she got into her car and made her way to the animal shelter. She had previously bought a dog who was a only a year old and was badly abused. Riley fell in love with this beautiful Doberman when she first saw him a week ago. His name was originally Burger but Riley decided to name him Sachiko. The name is originally a female Japanese name but he wouldn’t know the difference.
Riley brought him home, along with some toys and all the other dog necessities. Sachi didn’t trust many people because of his past, which was understandable. He mainly didn’t trust men, so that would be a challenge for Riley. He was an aggressive dog at times which turned a lot of people off him, but Riley saw the softer side of him. The side that could be affectionate, when Riley first saw him she asked if he could be let out of the cage so she could get a better look at him. The two simultaneously had some sort of bond that Sachi had only had with her.
“What is that?” Sidney asked instantly as he entered Riley’s house.
“This is Sachi, I adopted him,” Riley replied with a proud smile.
“Why?” Sidney asked cautiously.
“Because I felt bad for the poor thing, and we have a special bond.”
“Alright, you do know that dogs are a lot of work, right?” Sidney asked as he walked over to the couch where Sachi was laying down.
“Yup. And that’s why you are going to help me take care of him,” Riley replied as she sat down next to Sidney. Sachi instantly came and sat next to her.
“I’m what?” Sidney asked looking at Riley, completely shocked.
“Well you are always over here and he could be like our baby,” Riley said. At the sound of ‘our baby’ Sidney’s eyes widened.
Things were a little awkward after that but Riley didn’t notice – she always referred to animals as her ‘babies’ but Sidney on the other hand was a little shocked at the term. They spent the rest of the evening talking and playing with Sachi. Sidney soon saw the nice, affectionate side of Sachi and for once in a very long time, Sachi trusted a man.
It was getting late, around one am or so when they noticed the time. “I better go…” Sidney said as he stood up and stretched. “You don’t have to…” Riley said quietly but loud enough that it was audible. Sidney gave her a questioning look but Riley responded with a reassuring smile. “Are you sure?” Sidney asked slowly. “Yeah, it’s late and I’d feel bad making you drive home at this hour,” Riley said as she stood up alongside Sidney. “Oh so it’s not because of your infatuation with me?” Sidney questioned playfully. “No,” Riley replied sternly, waiting for Sidney’s surprised reaction, and then she cracked a smile.
Riley grabbed Sidney’s hand and led him to her bedroom as Sachi followed behind. Sidney stripped down into his boxers, causing Riley to stare at his amazing body. Riley changed into a pair of red short-shorts and a graphic t-shirt that said ‘I’m a tough cookie’ she then made her way over to her bed. “Tough cookie, eh?” Sidney said with a smirk. “Yup,” Riley replied with a smile as she lay down next to Sidney. Riley cuddled up with Sidney and rested her head on his chest. Just as they were ready to turn out the lights Sachi jumped up on the bed and rested his head on Riley’s legs.
All three of them quickly drifted off to sleep and Riley had a dream about her past. Her dream consisted of her time before Sidney, with Sidney as a teen and her time in Australia, and all the events that occurred.
Chapter Ten.
They sat there on the couch for hours, at some points talking nonstop and at others sitting in complete silence. Everything had finally been put out there in the open and they both felt like two huge weights were lifted off of their shoulders. During one of their silent moments Riley leaned back, wrapped in Sidney’s arms and she closed her eyes. Then she asked, “So now that we’ve cleared the air... what exactly are we?” Sidney tightened his grip on her and said in a calm voice, “Whatever you want us to be,” Riley looked at him with a huge a smile and gently kissed his lips. She then said, “How about we give the whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing another shot,” Sidney smiled and pulled her in for another sweet kiss. “I’d like that,”
Sidney spent another hour or two at Riley’s house before heading back to the Lemieux’s house. Yes, Sidney still hadn’t found his own place, but he swore that this was the year. Riley went to bed shortly after.
The next day Riley woke up to her phone buzzing ridiculously loud. She stumbled over to it and saw that she had a new text from Sidney, ‘Up for our coffee ritual?’ Riley smiled then frowned when she saw the time. ‘Yeah sure, but can I ask you something, why are you up so damn early?’ she put her phone down and walked to her closet to pick something to wear. She raced over to her phone when it started to buzz off the table again. She flipped it open and the message from Sidney read: ‘Great! I had to do some early media stuff…’ Riley continued to message Sidney as she got ready.
When Riley walked into the coffee shop she was immediately met by Sidney as he embraced her in a massive hug. They then made their way to a table. The whole time they talked Riley and Sidney both had huge smiles on, happy that they had made up and finally - after four years - had cleared the air.
“So what are you doing after work today?” Sidney asked as he took a sip of his coffee.
“Well I have a few errands to run, but other than that, nothing really,”
“Alright, do you want to do something then?” Sidney asked.
“How about you come over to my place after,” Riley suggested.
“Alright,”
The work day flew by for Riley, which was obviously a good thing. After the practice she got into her car and made her way to the animal shelter. She had previously bought a dog who was a only a year old and was badly abused. Riley fell in love with this beautiful Doberman when she first saw him a week ago. His name was originally Burger but Riley decided to name him Sachiko. The name is originally a female Japanese name but he wouldn’t know the difference.
Riley brought him home, along with some toys and all the other dog necessities. Sachi didn’t trust many people because of his past, which was understandable. He mainly didn’t trust men, so that would be a challenge for Riley. He was an aggressive dog at times which turned a lot of people off him, but Riley saw the softer side of him. The side that could be affectionate, when Riley first saw him she asked if he could be let out of the cage so she could get a better look at him. The two simultaneously had some sort of bond that Sachi had only had with her.
“What is that?” Sidney asked instantly as he entered Riley’s house.
“This is Sachi, I adopted him,” Riley replied with a proud smile.
“Why?” Sidney asked cautiously.
“Because I felt bad for the poor thing, and we have a special bond.”
“Alright, you do know that dogs are a lot of work, right?” Sidney asked as he walked over to the couch where Sachi was laying down.
“Yup. And that’s why you are going to help me take care of him,” Riley replied as she sat down next to Sidney. Sachi instantly came and sat next to her.
“I’m what?” Sidney asked looking at Riley, completely shocked.
“Well you are always over here and he could be like our baby,” Riley said. At the sound of ‘our baby’ Sidney’s eyes widened.
Things were a little awkward after that but Riley didn’t notice – she always referred to animals as her ‘babies’ but Sidney on the other hand was a little shocked at the term. They spent the rest of the evening talking and playing with Sachi. Sidney soon saw the nice, affectionate side of Sachi and for once in a very long time, Sachi trusted a man.
It was getting late, around one am or so when they noticed the time. “I better go…” Sidney said as he stood up and stretched. “You don’t have to…” Riley said quietly but loud enough that it was audible. Sidney gave her a questioning look but Riley responded with a reassuring smile. “Are you sure?” Sidney asked slowly. “Yeah, it’s late and I’d feel bad making you drive home at this hour,” Riley said as she stood up alongside Sidney. “Oh so it’s not because of your infatuation with me?” Sidney questioned playfully. “No,” Riley replied sternly, waiting for Sidney’s surprised reaction, and then she cracked a smile.
Riley grabbed Sidney’s hand and led him to her bedroom as Sachi followed behind. Sidney stripped down into his boxers, causing Riley to stare at his amazing body. Riley changed into a pair of red short-shorts and a graphic t-shirt that said ‘I’m a tough cookie’ she then made her way over to her bed. “Tough cookie, eh?” Sidney said with a smirk. “Yup,” Riley replied with a smile as she lay down next to Sidney. Riley cuddled up with Sidney and rested her head on his chest. Just as they were ready to turn out the lights Sachi jumped up on the bed and rested his head on Riley’s legs.
All three of them quickly drifted off to sleep and Riley had a dream about her past. Her dream consisted of her time before Sidney, with Sidney as a teen and her time in Australia, and all the events that occurred.
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