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Our small town needed the publicity. We had so many amazing talented ice skaters and hockey players, as well as other talented youths, they needed to be seen.
“Right this way, ma'am.”
The flight attendant guided me to my rather large seat, way too large for just little old me and took hold of my overnight bag, putting it up in the overhead compartment. Katelyn sat on the opposite row to me and promptly got out her laptop and began working on whatever she needed to do.
She had suddenly become in charge of me and I wasn’t too sure if I was okay with it. Sending a quick selfie of myself to my girls group chat, Crystal was the first to respond, closely followed by Lacy and Megan as close seconds. They sent many emojis of excitement then a selfie with Crystal, Lacy and my sweet Daisy came through.
I felt awful for leaving her alone again. She had become so used to me being home, I hated being away from her. She was my comfort. But I knew she wouldn’t mind as Crystal would spoil her rotten.
Safe travels baby girl! Let us know when you land and see that sweet hockey ass. ;)
Rolling my eyes at Megan’s text to the group, I locked my phone and got myself comfortable. It was a five-hour flight to Quebec City. I had brought a book along for the flight, knowing full well I’d be able to finish it in the five hours. I hoped I didn’t fall asleep so I could read. Which is what I ended up doing an hour into our journey.
The flight attended woke me up as we began our descent, and this was the only time flying made me nervous. The landing seemed alright, but I was glad when my feet touched normal ground. We headed out the terminal towards the car Katelyn had arranged for us.
“We will be heading to the hotel where Sam and his team are staying. He won’t be there now though, he will be off training. You should be able to see him during half time or after the game.”
Katelyn was a very assertive woman, very proud of her job. She definitely was the envy of most girls in her school just by her looks. Tall, with beautiful long blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a sweet smile to boot. She looked like one of those girls you either dreamt of being or the one you tried to avoid in hopes she didn’t bully you.
I hated judging a person by the way they looked, especially as I was now slowly getting to know her. She was sweet, happy to answer my questions and reassure me at any moment. I thought we would perhaps become friends, should Sam and I stay in each other’s lives, maybe.
Arriving at the hotel and using the underground carpark entrance to avoid the crowds of media presence. Most of them had stationed themselves outside, most likely hoping to get that shot they needed. We headed up to my room, Katelyn deciding she should come with me just to help me get settled in, even if I was only going to be here for two nights.
“You have my number if you need anything. I’ve had one of the girls bring up some clothes for you for tonight.”
“I, eh, I already have clothes.”
“Yeah, I know, but you need to be seen wearing Sam’s number, to show support and stuff. You can pair it with a pair of jeans. Oh, and stick a long-sleeved top underneath, you and I both know the rinks are freezing,” she answered, smiling as she headed towards the door. Before reaching the door, she spun on her heel and turned to look at me, pausing as if to stop herself from saying what she wanted. “I will see you at seven. Get some sleep, order room service, shower, do whatever you want, but please stay in this room. We can’t have the media catching wind you’re here.”
“I didn’t know I was a secret.”
“Not a secret, just eh, a surprise.”
Winking and smiling at me, she left me alone, standing in the middle of the rather large, family sized hotel room. Way too big for just me, I would have been happy with just a nice bed and a television. Deciding a bath would be the nicest option, I ordered room service first as I was starving as well as a bottle of red wine, to calm my nerves.
Why was I even worried? It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen Sam before. We had our hands all over each other last time.
Shortly after eating the most beautiful chicken dinner I have had in a long time, I ran a bubble bath and poured myself a glass.
If I was going to be here for a few hours, I might as well indulge myself. Hearing my phone buzz, I assumed it was the group chat as I had sent many selfies of my room, my food, the bathtub, and that instagrammable photograph of holding my glass of wine with the bubbles, but it was Sam.
My fingers hovered over the keypad, wondering how I was meant to respond. If Katelyn had said I was a surprise, would it have been a good idea to reply? She said he would be busy. Looking at the time, it had just gone midday. It wouldn’t do harm if I did reply though, I could just make out I was out walking Daisy or on my way to work.
As I began to type my message, I stopped. I wasn’t sure if Katelyn or Paula would be annoyed with me if I did reply. No, I will leave it, keep the suspense there.
* * *
Arriving at the arena made my nerves really amp themselves up. My one leg bounced up and down on the spot as I took my seat in the row with Katelyn and Matthew. Paula was nowhere to be seen, but the seat next to me was left open for her. The row in front of us housed the other teammates' girlfriends or wives, I wasn’t sure. It seemed everyone had a person.
There was so much nervous energy going through me, causing me to adjust the number three black with red and yellow stripes hockey jersey. It had bunched itself up on my back and made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. I felt grateful that Katelyn reminded me to wear another layer underneath as this rink was in fact ice cold, worse than the rink back home.
As the lights went down low and music began blaring out through the speakers, the first team was announced. The Montreal Canadiens, four-time world champions and the opponent for today’s match. This wasn’t a competitive match, a purely friendly one to announce Sam’s return.
They came out almost guns blazing in their blue and red jerseys and the crowd went wild. Ice hockey was such an amazing sport and huge in Canada, it even beat out the NFL sometimes by the amount of people that watched the games. The team waved and blew kisses at the crowd clearly enjoying the sudden popularity. Then the music changed again and out came The Vancouver Devils and first on the ice was Samuel.
He had his jersey with a large C on the front, stating he was captain again. His alternate, Jason, followed closely behind. I thought the crowd had been pleased to see the other team, but nothing prepared me for the screaming and shouting. I swore some fans were crying as they saw Sam and his team join the others on the ice.
Trying to keep my head low, I didn’t really want him spotting me just yet, I could feel my nerves growing again. I was just there to watch, I didn’t want to throw him off his game. Luckily, he didn’t spot me as he just went to huddle with his team and manager before the bell sounded off.
