The Compromise

Sidney walked through the tunnel of the Consol Energy Center and stepped on the ice in his full gear. He wasn’t wearing a special helmet or jersey indicating no contact. He gripped his stick tighter and looked around the empty seats. In nine short hours the black and gold seats will be filled with fans cheering on their hometown team. And each one will be waving a ‘Welcome Back Sid’ sign courtesy of Consol Energy. They had over 35,000 signs made much to Sid’s protests. He just wanted to play, he didn’t care about the inevitable attention the night would bring. He finally had the chance to play. Ten months of waiting and finally he was back on the ice.

He noticed one of his teammates beat him to the rink before him, which surprised him because he was so early. Slumped in the penalty box was James dressed and ready for morning skate. He looked like hell.

Sid warily skated over to him. He knew Jess’ side of the story having stayed up late trying to calm her down. She now slept in one of his spare bedrooms. He was relieved when his date understood and slipped away quietly when she noticed how distraught Jess was over the mess. And Sid felt completely responsible for everything that was happening between his new teammate and his girl. He should have kept his distance, he hadn’t intended on falling for her, but she was so understand, kind, patient, and beautiful. He didn’t understand why she was so self-conscious, but he never pushed her to talk about it. She had no reason to be, he knew this because she unknowingly held the attention of a crowded room when she entered. Sid thought she would fit in well with the WAGs because she was easy to get along with.

Now she was a broken shell of a woman, trying to piece together a failing relationship and he seemed to always get in the way anymore. He studied his teammate, he was far worse than Jess. No way had he slept considering the deep purple circles under his eyes. Sid skated towards him, hoping he wouldn’t cause some sort of backlash.

“Hey, how you doin’ man?” Sid asked as he leaned against the open door. James continued to stare at the ice. He didn’t seem to register that Sid just spoke to him. “Nealer, dude, have you slept at all?”

“No.”

“Maybe you should go home and take a nap. I can make sure you are awake to make it here on time for the game tonight.”

“Fuck you,” James said. It seemed that he knew who was talking to him. Sid felt his heart start to race. He didn’t want a confrontation, but he was prepared to hear James scream at him. He would take it, skate off his frustrations and go home for his pregame nap.

“I am prepared for whatever you want to say to me,” Sid said. He looked down at his gloves and gripped his stick that much harder.

“I was excited to be traded here for two reasons: the first being the opportunity to play with you and Geno. The second was that Jess and I would be so close to home. She would get so homesick sometimes when I would be gone on long road trips. I would come back and immediately go to her because her roommates wouldn’t be able to console her. It was strange, because we met in Dallas but she got comfort in knowing I was there, and I was safe. I figured being closer to her parents would provide her some relief when I am gone on road trips in the future.” Sid kept his mouth shut. He could recall how Jess behaved during the first road trip of the season. He hadn’t gone with the team for the start of the season so he spent time with her in West Virginia. He was so wrapped up in his anger that he wasn’t allowed to travel with the team that he didn’t realize how she was so sad. She cried herself to sleep one night. Another night she slept at her parents’ house.

“But you came along and fucked with her mind and made her think that you were better for her than me.” That pissed Sidney off.

“I never tried to do anything!”

“Oh yeah? You didn’t help her try to forget me over the summer when I was with her family getting her an engagement ring?”

“I didn’t know you were that serious.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? She moved across the country because of me! She was set to attend grad school in Texas! She signed a lease on a loft with three of her friends. When I got traded she didn’t hesitate. She searched for a roommate to take her place, sold her furniture and packed her car up. We drove cross country together because I refused to let her do it alone. And then you welcomed us in because my closing kept getting pushed back. I thought you were a nice guy. And you are a great player but you are meddling bastard that doesn’t deserve the girl.”

“But you are the one who broke it off this time,” Sid reminded him. She came running to him as a friend. And he listened to her go on about how hurt she felt by James. That she wouldn’t let him come crawling back to her.

“BECAUSE OF YOU!” Sid pushed back from the wall. He wasn’t expecting James to snap like that. James stood up and threw his stick to the floor of the box. Sid skated back away from James as he stepped onto the ice. James made towards him like he was going to fight; rather he skated past Sid, pushed on his shoulder and proceeded to exit the ice. Sid didn’t know how to react. He knew better than to go after James. He didn’t need to get into an actual fight before the game. He took a deep breath to settle his nerves and went back for James’ stick before the rest of the guys showed up for the morning skate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“As a thank you for letting me ruin the first date you’ve had in months, I made you your traditional spaghetti lunch,” Jess explained as Sidney walked into the kitchen after morning skate. He smiled at his friend who stood in the middle of his massive kitchen stirring the sauce for the spaghetti.

“It smells delicious, thank you,” Sid said. He checked his phone to see a message from his dad saying that they had landed in Pittsburgh and that they would see him after the game. He chuckled. He was glad his dad was just as superstitious as he could be.

“What are you smiling at? Get a sexy text?”

“Yes, from my dad. He says that he and my mom are in the city,” he laughed when he noticed Jess’ look of disgust. “Jess, that date was going nowhere. I am kinda relieved I had an excuse to get her out of her. Granted, it wasn’t the best reason.”

“Why? She was pretty!” Jess exclaimed as she plated some noodles and poured some sauce on top. She handed the plate to Sid as he spoke.

“Yes, but beyond that there was nothing. She was a dud.” Sid shrugged his shoulders and sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top.

“I have a friend you may like.” Sid looked up from his plate, fork in mid air. He looked at Jess curiously.

“Oh yeah? Why haven’t you brought her up before?” He wanted to call her on a bluff, but thought better of it. He dug into his plate. He took a bite and watched as Jess fixed herself a bowl for herself.

“Well, she wasn’t really available before.” Sid’s heart sped up. Was she talking about herself?

“Jess…” He felt himself getting ready to turn her down, much to his heart’s protests.

“Not me! I know how ironic it seems, but I promise you. It’s not me.” Sid felt a pang of defeat. He was slightly hopeful that it was her, but he knew there was no way for either of them to ever work. He gave that up at the start of the season when he got a good glimpse into how completely in love she was with James. He knew he needed to do something. They were in some weird way absolutely perfect for each other. They were complete opposites, Jess being level headed and James being a big goof ball. He needed to figure out how to make James see that he was the center of Jess’ world.

“Alright, what is her name?”

“Natalie, she is a speech therapy student, she and her boyfriend broke up awhile ago. But she and I were talking and she is finally ready to start dating,” Jess rambled on.

“What does she look like?” Sid asked. Jess rolled her eyes.

“Is that all that matters to you?” She asked.

“No! You know I am not that shallow,” Sid tried to recover.

“She is shorter than me and blonde. She is an avid runner. She travels all over to run marathons for fun. She doesn’t go to win. She lives with her parents and drives out to Cal U for classes every day. She is trying to convince me to get an apartment with her in Washington to cut her commute in half.”

"I don't know Jess. What if it doesn't work out? I'll feel bad and then be all awkward around you."

Jess rolled her eyes at him. "Sid, she is an athlete! She runs. For fun. You're the only other person I know who does that. Hell, James never ran for fun! Seriously, that is only one of like millions of things you two have in common!"

“Alright, when can I meet her?” He asked between bites of food.

“How does Wednesday night sound?” Jess looked at him expectantly. He knew he had to respond. She was waiting.

“It sounds perfect.” Sid smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He was looking forward to meeting this girl; he only hoped she was as amazing as Jessica to help him forget about her.

"So did James come to the skate this morning?" Jess asked as she twirled her noodles around her fork. He noticed she never took a bite.

"Uh, yeah. He did," Sid said. He want sure how much he wanted to tell her about their confrontation. "I went expecting him to yell at me."

"Oh Sid..." Jess started.

"No, no I deserved it. I wasn't really good with the comebacks and probably dug myself a deeper hole with him. But I'm glad he was able to vent. That's good, right?"

"He is so angry Sid. I think while you nap I am gonna go see if he will talk to me," Jess dumped her uneaten spaghetti into the garbage and proceeded to clean up the messy kitchen.

"He looked like he hasn't slept in days," Sid said his focus on his now empty plate.

"Considering he traveled for several days then came to my place immediately after landing Saturday night, he probably hasn't. I was trying to get him to nap when you called yesterday," Jess revealed. Sid didn't press her yesterday to talk since she was so worked up. Hearing her now be so verbal about how the events transpired was good.

"Well, go see him. I'm gonna go nap. The train leaves the station at 3 pm sharp. You hitching a ride?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure I am back by then. I can walk over to Barnes and Noble and hang until I can get into the stadium." Sid nodded, hugged Jess and thanked her for the lunch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sid was jostled awake when he felt his bed dip and an head nestle into his neck. He cracked an eye and saw the top of Jess' head and her arm snake around his chest. Her cuddling with him wasn't a good sign.

"Didn't go well?" Sid whispered as he wrapped her in his embrace.

"Wouldn't talk to me, barely cracked the door for me," Jess said.

"What time is it?"

"1:30ish, you can sleep for another hour or so," Jess said as she tried to move from the bed.

"Stay, it will be okay, he needs time," Sid said. He held her tighter when she nodded her head in agreement.

"I'm getting drunk tonight," Jess said.

Sid laughed, "No you're not."

"Go back to sleep!" Jess hissed.

Notes