Public Relations

The game went well. We won two to nothing. Since we don’t have to head home until tomorrow morning a couple of the guys decided to go to a bar near the hotel. James doesn’t feel like going, but I do. I go back to my room to change into a dress that I brought in case we go out somewhere like this. I slip into it. It’s a plain black dress with thick straps. It’s tight and short. I pair it with a pair of bright yellow pumps. I touch up my makeup quickly and leave my hair in a tangle of messy curls from this morning. Once I finish getting ready I go to Sid’s room. I knock on the door three times quickly. After a minute or so the door opens. It’s not Sid standing in the doorway though. It’s Pascal Dupuis.
“Hey Alex.” Pascal says.
“Hey.” I say smiling.
“Come in.” He says taking a step back to let me into the room.
“Where’s Sid?” I ask.
“He’s almost ready.” Pascal says.
“How am I ready before him?” I ask.
“Sid’s worse than a girl.” He says. We both laugh as the bathroom door opens and Sid comes out. He’s wearing plain black suit pants and a button up purple shirt with the top buttons open. I smile at him.
“I am not worse than a girl.” Sid says glaring at Pascal.
“You kind of are.” I say trying not to laugh.
“Let’s go.” Sid says.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” I ask turning toward Pascal.
“I’m sure.” Pascal says. “You young ones have fun.”
“We will.” I say to Pascal. Sid opens the door to the room and holds it for me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Sid says as he follows me out of the room. We walk down the hall to the elevator. Once we get to the lobby we see Brandon, Beau and Marc waiting in the chairs near the door. We walk up to them and the three of them stop talking and look at me. They all stare for a couple seconds. I start to feel a bit uncomfortable.
“Ready to go?” I ask.
“Yeah.” Brandon says. Beau fakes a cough. I roll my eyes. I know they were talking about me. We decide to walk since the bar is just up the street. I hook my arm around Sid’s.
“Feet hurt already?” He asks.
“No.” I say.
“Sure.” He says. He knows my feet don’t ever hurt anymore. I’m so used to heels it doesn’t affect me anymore. We walk ahead of the other guys. I know the three of them are talking about me, but I try to ignore them. Sid and I talk about nothing in particular as we walk up the street. I can already tell tonight is going to be interesting.
When we finally get to the bar Brandon and I go to find a booth while Sid, Beau and Marc go get drinks. We find a booth pretty quickly and sit down.
“You look beautiful tonight.” Brandon says once we’re sitting.
“Thank you.” I say blushing a bit. Neither of us says anything for a minute.
“So how’s the girl?” I ask finally.
“Hannah?” He asks.
“Yeah, the girl from the bar.” I say.
She’s good.” He says. “I think I’m going to ask her out when we get back.”
“Really?” I ask my eyes widening a bit.
“Yeah.” He says. I don’t reply for a long time. Just as I’m about to open my mouth to reply the three guys get to the table. Sid puts my drink down in front of me. I move farther into the booth. Sid sits down next to me.
“What are you guys talking about?” He asks.
“Nothing.” I say smiling. Sid looks at me questioningly.
“Are you sure?” He asks. I shake my head yes.
“You guys played really well tonight.” I say changing the subject.
“Thank you.” They all say in unison. Then we all laugh. I take a sip of my drink.
“I think we should do some shots.” Beau says. A waitress walks by and Beau flags her down.
“Yes.” She asks. She looks around the table and her eyes widen. “Oh my… you guys are on the Penguins.”
“Yes we are.” Marc says.
“Wow.” She says. Her eyes land on Sid. “You’re Sidney Crosby.”
“Yes.” He says flashing her a smile.
“Are you his girlfriend?” She asks me.
“No.” I say politely.
“Oh, one of the papers online reported that you are.” She says. I look at Sid. That’s not good. I sigh.
“She’s dating James Neal.” Beau says. I laugh.
“Really?” The waitress asks looking a bit surprised.
“Yeah, why?” I ask. I start to get this weird feeling in my stomach.
“Maybe we could talk in private?” She asks. I hesitate at first.
“Sure.” I finally agree.
“Did you guys need anything?” She asks Beau.
“Round of shots.” He says.
“I’ll send it with one of the other girls.” She says smiling at Beau.
“Thanks.” Beau says. Sid lets me out of the booth, but before I leave he grabs my arm. I turn back to him.
“Are you sure you want to go alone?” He asks. I put on a brave face.
“I’ll be fine.” I say. He doesn’t look convinced. “I’ll text you if I need you.”
“Fine.” He says. He seems nervous. That doesn’t help my nerves. I follow the waitress to through the bar. She stops to tell another waitress to send a round of shots to our table. Then she leads me into a back office where it’s quiet. By now my stomach is doing flips.
“Have a seat.” She says.
“Thanks.” I say sitting down.
“I’m not sure how long you’ve known James and how long you’ve been dating, but he’s not a good person.” She says.
“Why do you say this?” I ask.
“Do you know where he is tonight?” She asks.
“At the hotel.” I say. By now I’m just confused.
“No he isn’t.” She says.
“How would you know?” I ask.
“He’s with my sister.” She says.
“I think you’re confused.” I say.
“He got my sister pregnant, he’s with her now.” She says. I mouth drops open. I don’t say anything for a while.
“You’re wrong.” I say.
“I’m not.” She says. I take a deep breath.
“Thank you for letting me know, but I’ll talk to him.” I say.
“I’m sorry.” She says. I don’t say anything else. I just stand up and leave the office. I go back to the booth. Sid stands before I even get there.
“Are you okay?” He asks.
“I’m not sure.” I say. “Can we talk?”
“Sure.” He says. We excuse ourselves and find an empty table away from people.
“What’s happening?” Sid asks. I don’t say anything for a long time and Sid doesn’t force it out of me.
“He got a girl pregnant.” I say finally. “And he lied about staying at the hotel tonight.”
“Wow.” Sid says. I put my head in my hand and sigh. “Are you sure?”
“No.” I say looking at Sid.
“Do you want to go back to the hotel?” He asks.
“No.” I say. “I want to get seriously drunk and deal with this when I get home.”
Sid just laughs.
“Keep this between us.” I say.
“Of course.” He says. We go back to the booth and sit down. The three guys stare at me.
“Let’s drink.” I say putting a smile on my face. They all look at Sid questioningly.
“Let’s drink.” He says repeating what I said. I see one shot on the table. I pick it up and down in.
“Girl can drink.” Marc says. We all laugh. We order a couple more rounds of shots. After the fifth shot we’re all laughing having a great time. James is in the back of my mind, but I don’t dare open that part up. I want to have a good night, not a crappy one. We have a couple more drinks and do some more shots. I dance with Sid for a couple songs and then with Brandon for a couple songs. By no time its last call and we order one last drink. Once we all finish we decide its time to head back to the hotel. I think I had more drinks than the guys because I’m clearly very drunk. The four guys aren’t as drunk. I’ve got Sid’s arm as we walk toward the hotel.
“Carry me?” I pout at Sid.
“Nice try.” He says laughing. I start laughing uncontrollably.
“What’s so funny?” Brandon asks turning around.
“Sid carrying me.” I say.
“I’ll carry you.” Brandon says. He leans forward and I shrug. I climb on his back. He starts walking. “You’re very light.”
“That’s not true at all.” I say laughing.
“No you are light.” He says. He carries me up the street.
“I’ll walk now.” I say feeling a bit sick. He lets me down.
“You okay?” Sid asks.
“Yeah, the sidewalk is spinning.” I say.
“I think you drank to much.” Sid says.
“Maybe.” I say. I lean against Sid and put my arm through his again. We get back to the hotel and up to our floor.
“Come in my room.” I say to Sid.
“Sure.” Sid says. I say goodnight to the three guys with hugs that last just a bit to long. They all go to their rooms and I lead Sid to my room. The whole rest of the night I spend crying on Sid’s shoulder. I just break down and can’t seem to stop. At some point I’m lying with my head on Sid’s lap and I fall into a deep drunken sleep. I know the hangover tomorrow is going to be killer, but at least for tonight the pain isn’t to bad.

Notes

Interesting update. What do you guys think?????

Enjoy xoxo;