Public Relations

My life in Vancouver was more complicated than I ever want to tell anyone. I was happy to leave that city for more reasons than my family. While I was in school and interning with the Vancouver Canucks, I had a relationship with one of the players. We weren't exactly dating, we were just sleeping together. We kept it a secret for a very long time, and it probably would have stayed a secret forever if I hadn't got pregnant. Things went well for a long time. Brad Richardson. At first I thought he was perfect. He's only four years older than me and he is a wonderful father to our son, but he isn't the best person for me. We fought constantly and just couldn't make things work. That doesn't take away the fact that he is the best father I could ask for, for my son. I never wanted to take my son this far away from his father, but Brad thinks its best for him to be with me and only visit him when he has a couple home games in a row. Luckily we have a nanny and she agreed to move with us to Pittsburgh and take Reid back when it's time to see his father. Lily is a god sent. Since I am always on the road with the team, she takes care of Reid while I'm gone. Reid and Lily have a flight to Pittsburgh the second week of September. I decided on coming to Pittsburgh by myself and getting settled in our new house. Brad was paying for the house so I didn't have to worry about that. All I had to do was finish getting furniture. I knew I was going to love it here and I was excited to start a new chapter in my life.

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I was just finishing up some paperwork when Sidney knocked on my door. I was so focused I didn't even notice he was there. He was leaning against the door frame. He knocked softly and I looked up. He smirked at me obviously he had been there for a couple minutes. I blushed a bit and shook my head.
"Ready to go?" He asked stepping into my office.
"Almost. Give me two minutes." I said holding up two fingers.
"Sure." He said walking farther into my office and sitting down in one of the chairs in front of my desk. I smiled before looking back down at the papers I was working on. He was silent for a couple minutes playing with a pen from my pen holder on the corner of my desk.
"What are you working on?" He asked suddenly. I looked up at him.
"Just some paper work I need to do. Boring PR stuff." I said winking at him.
"Oh." He said. "I'm sure its not boring."
"Well it isn't to me, but to a superstar athlete like you its probably boring." I said waving my hand in the air.
"I'll be the judge of that." Sidney said tapping his pen on the desk. I shook my head.
"Honestly, its paper work about you and some of the other guys." I said blushing slightly.
"What?" He asked moving closer so he could see.
"Its just some stuff about interviews people want you guys to do and I have to fill out some paper work and then talk to you guys about it." I said shrugging my shoulders.
"Interesting." He said sitting back in his chair. I stood up and walked over to the filing cabinet, putting the papers in their proper spots.
"Ready?" I asked turning back to him.
"Sure." He said standing up. I got my bag from the bottom drawer of my desk. We walked to the door and I locked it before we started walking down the hallway toward the elevator.
"So where are we going?" I asked once we were in the elevator.
"This pub across the street." Sidney says. "We can walk if you want."
"Thats a good idea." I said smiling. We were silent for a little while until I finally looked up at Sidney.
"Who's going to be here today?" I asked looking a little nervous, but trying not too.
"A couple guys from the team." He said. "Neal, Malkin, Sutter, Bennett and us."
"Alright." I said taking a deep breath.
"Are you okay?" He asked looking down at me trying not to smile.
"Yeah, I'm great." I said looking anywhere, but at him.
"You're nervous." He says eyeing me.
"No." I said trying to sound calm.
"Don't be, the guys are great." He said putting his hand on my shoulder. I blushed.
"They aren't happy I'm here." I said.
"They haven't met you yet. I promise they will love you." He said smiling at me. His smile is beautiful. I ended up smiling as well. I take a deep breath as we walk out of Consol Energy Centre. I'm sure they will like me, but I'm nervous that they won't.

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We got to the pub down the street from Consol and the guys were already sitting talking. As we walked up to the table they all stared at me. I tried to put on a brave face, but I was really nervous. I have to see the guys sitting at this table every single day at work. I have to travel with them. If they don't like me its not going to be a good season. Sidney and I sat down. I had Evgeni Malkin on my right side, Sidney on my left and James Neal across from me. James was the first to speak.
"Alex right?" He asked. He had his elbows on the table and his hands folded in front of him. I looked at him and smiled.
"Yes, and you are?" I asked, even though I knew who he was. He faked being shocked.
"You don't know who I am?" He asked. I tried to keep a straight face, but I couldn't. After a couple seconds I burst out laughing.
"Of course I know who you are. You're the Real Deal, James Neal." I said still laughing and shaking my head. James blushed and looked away. Beau pushed James a bit. We were silent for a bit before Brandon looked at me.
"So how are you liking Pittsburgh?" Brandon asked.
"I like it here. Its different than Vancouver. It seems like everything is spread out though." I said.
"Have you been out of the city?" Beau asked.
"Yeah I live outside the city." I said taking a sip of water.
"Where?" James asked looking extremely interested.
"Collier." I said simply. All the guys including James seemed to look at me funny. I looked around at all the guys. They seemed to be all sharing a moment that I wasn't really understanding.
"What?" I said.
"Nealsy live in Collier." Malkin said from next to me in his thick Russian accent.
"Oh." I said. A waitress seemed to appear just at that moment to take our orders. After we all ordered the subject of where I'm living didn't come back up. Nothing else really eventful happened at the Pub, other than some fans asking for autographs and pictures. I was used to it from being in Vancouver so it really didn't bother me. The guys seemed to be warming up to me. I was happy, because I didn't want the team to hate me. Though this is only a small portion of the team. I still haven't talked to all of them yet, and that worried me.

Notes

once I fill up a page I feel so accomplished. Anyways I need to get back to work on Captain Clutch, so this story might get put on the shelf while its not that exciting.