Confessions from a Ranger's Roommate

A few days had passed and Teodora would soon learn she couldn't dwell on hot hockey players for awhile with the coming events ahead. The boys were playing Pittsburgh at their own turf. Eager to meet Jordan finally along with seeing the famous Stanley Cup winners of 09, she agreed to meet the boys on their last road trip game in the Steel City.

Sticking her tongue out at a firm NO HOMEWORK text from Michael, she packed her Kindle into her bag before hailing a taxi go to the JFK airport. The flight didn't last long and she found her face pressed to the window to observe yet another city she hadn't seen. "Pittsburgh's smaller," she murmured to no one in particular.

"Kid's insulting the city plus she has a Ranger's shirt in her bag!"
Her jaw dropped in mock outrage at the grinning older man sitting across the seat from her. "Nah, you're fine," she laughed when the wife and daughter scolded him. "City's cool. My first time here."
"You going to the game tonight?" The man said and she detected a strong Canadian accent. Where, she had no clue-she was still learning practically everything about the practically foreign country so far north of her own hometowns. "That Lundqvist is quite the goalie."

Without thinking, she said, "Oh sure. Hankie's cool." Swallowing at her mistake, she nodded at their surprised faces. "Know him. Roommate plays defense along with Marc Staal so we thought it'd be cool to meet Jordan finally." Extending out her hand, she said, "My name's Teodora Ansary. Michael Del Zotto's roommate."

"I'm Troy, this is my wife Trina. My daughter Taylor. I'm sure we'll see you later then because our own boy plays for Pittsburgh."

She was about to cry an oh cool when her phone buzzed. "Christ, I just landed," she laughed to herself and waved her fingers at the Pittsburgh boy's family. "Sorry, my roommate. I'll see you later. So nice meeting you."

Teodora picked up her bag again, walking along the much smaller airport of the Steel City and finally made it outside to see a group was waiting for her. "Ansary!" Derek Stephan greeted her happily. "How's the flight?"

"Fine. Met a Pittsburgh player family but I didn't catch their last name. Canadian of course," she said.

"We're going to have a pre-game meal at the hotel. Figured you didn't eat," her roommate said after she said hi to Brandon Dubinsky and Artem.

"Sure," she shrugged and walked with the boys the short distance to the hotel. They chatted as her eyes raked over the architecture.

"Oh. Sorry Ma'am."

Someone had slightly bumped her arm and she waved it off, catching the older African-American in his thirties and she sucked in from the shock. She and her foster brothers had just been talking about the P Stone boys that had considered taking and hiding the three of them from her old foster parents and here in front of her was one of the gang members that had wanted to help her and her brothers.

Blondie? He mouthed and she nodded. They had called her that the day they had discovered her wandering around while her foster dad bought drugs. You safe?

Teodora nodded and wiggled her fingers in farewell. Not only did they need to eat quick, but Michael still didn't know about her bad past. Sadly leaving her old friend, she managed to keep her face neutral as they made it to the hotel. She happily greeted the rest of the boys, the staff and Coach Tortorella before making herself a plate of pasta.

"So," Marc said as he sat to her right. "I'll have you sit with my parents and some family that made the trip down."

"Sure," she shrugged and stirred her sauce in. "So. You guys ready for the Penguins? I saw some of their defense. That Brooks Orpik guy's friggen huge! Plus there's that French Tang guy."

"Kris Letang?" Marc laughed at her and she shrugged while digging into her pasta. "Yeah. Plus we'll have our hands full with Crosby and Malkin." Marc glanced around and then lowered his voice. "Just let anything go in one ear and out the other if Torts gets, uh, in his mood. He's not a big fan of Malkin and Crosby sometimes."

Teodora grinned and made a show of turning off and on her hearing aid. "No, I don't care." Really his outbursts made her laugh and he was proving perfect for scaring hometown friends who didn't know him.

They finished up their pre-game meal and Teodora followed Michael and Marc up to their room so she could drop off her suitcase. Before leaving the room, she made a quick bathroom run and couldn't help but peek in the sink. "Say Marc! These aren't your hairs in the sink, aren't they?" She called, knowing very well, the dark curly strands were from Michael.

Marc snickered as she heard a "Shut up Teodora!"
In typical fashion, she finished getting ready first. "C'moooon!" She hollered. "You're getting sweaty in like, thirty minutes! Stop fussing with your looks!" She raised her hand to pound on the door but he whipped it open.
"How'd I know you were going to do that?" He laughed and tried to rope an arm around her neck but she sprinted away.

They made it to the Penguin's rink and she had to stand back to admire it for a moment. "This is that Lemiux guy-however you say his name's work?" She asked.

"Lemieux," Marty the French Canadian goalie teased her. "Think we need to teach you some French. I know you've been teaching Jake some Spanish when he asks for sopa and not on a plato."

Teodora giggled, pleased that her practice buddy was indeed picking up on the Spanish lessons. They chatted some more before the pre game warmups were starting. Marc elbowed her and said, "Let's take you up there quick." They walked upstairs to the box family area and smiled at French speaking parent nodded at her and let her through.

There was a chorus of uh oh's and friendly boos as she came in with her Ranger's shirt on. "HEY NOW!" She yelled. "What's Marc, chopped liver?"

Linda Staal came up first. "Hello," she beamed and she remembered how much the boys took after their parents in looks. All identical. "How did that O Chem test go?"

"Ugh," Teodora gagged. "Passed at least. Sup Mister Staal?" She was introduced to some other family members such as the uncles that co-owned that sod farm.

One uncle joked, "Should we offer the city girl a job so she can learn a bit about the country?"

"Yeah? At least it won't be ice cold!" Teodora shot back playfully.

She settled in a seat, taking a moment to text Alex's sister Ariel when she heard a ma belle directed at her. "What'd you call me?" Teodora asked and set her phone aside to see a scruffy taller guy looking at her with a cocky smile.

"Beautiful," he winked at her.

Thank God Michael wasn't there for this blatent flirting. He'd put this guy through a wall for the slick flirting. "Lociento. Solamente Espanol," she replied back in Spanish.

"I'm Max Talbot," he said. "I like Spanish." Slinging an arm around her shoulders, he said, "Maybe you can teach me some words during the game and I'll give you my number?"

She snorted and noticed his slight lean. "You injured I take it? Leg?"

He blinked in surprise. "I don't think the medical team told the press. Can you really tell?"

"I can tell enough," she shrugged. "I'm destined for Ear, Nose and Throat but my Dad does the more serious ER stuff. Suppose I see Jordan's brother's team enough to recognize particular injuries."

A black haired boy approached them. "You're the one my family met on the plane."

Another injury? "Man, do we need to wrap your team in bubble wrap?" She asked. "He's got a leg issue, you have..."

"Concussion," he scowled.

Teodora cringed with sympathy. "Yeah, I probably couldn't tell a concussion from first look. Seizures-don't ask how."

He smiled and turned to Max. "Wanna get dinner? I'm starving after all those concussion appointments." Teodora stepped to go sit down by the Staal family but he jerked his head at her to follow.

They ordered food from the more private stand. As she waited for her own burger and fries, she peeked to see the boys distracted and used her phone to pull up the Penguins roster. Scanning the list, she saw no cute mystery player and pocketed her phone with a slight pout.

At that moment, two janitors passed and she straightened up. "Hey," she called, heart thumping. It was her old gang member protector again.
Her old acquaintance stopped talking to his friend and approached her. "Much better Blondie," he noted softly. "You were a thin, scrawny thing before."
"I'm okay," she said and held out her hand. "Teodora. I don't remember yours."
"Theo," he said and squeezed her hand. "We always wondered what happened to you. That piece of shit Jarod stopped buying drugs after awhile."

"They're in jail," she nodded. "Glad to know you're fine." A quick glance at his arms saw that his old gang affiliation tattoos had been lasered off. Her order was called and she quickly yanked a paper and pen from her bag. "My cell phone number plus my brothers."

"Nice," he smiled happily. "I'll see you around Blondie."
Heart happy that she had ran into an old friend-one that was out of the gang scene, she rejoined the boys and walked back to the family box area.

Notes