Counting Stars

Sidney spends the night with me and we pass the time talking, kissing and loving each other. When I wake up to an empty bed the next morning my body is tired and I’m sure that Sidney feels the same way. Today I have a full schedule that involves stops at morning shows and the Late Show with Letterman. By the time I get back to my suite that evening I’m exhausted. My phone beeps and I see that Sidney has texted me, Hope you had a great day, see you tonight?

“Oh shit,” I remember that I have tickets to tonight’s game against the Rangers. Richard Madden my costar from Game of Thrones found out that I was going to be in town and invited me. Basically, I need to go. I don’t want to blow off my boyfriend and one of my best friends in the business. I sigh and send Sidney a quick text back confirming that I will be there and wishing him good luck. By the time six rolls around I decide that I need to get dressed. Since it is New York I grab a heather gray jersey dress and some sheer black tights. Near the door I spy my black high leather boots and slide them on. Richard is waiting for me down in the lobby and when I step off the elevator I can’t help but smile. We hug and I inhale his familiar scent. The man looks like a movie star as usual. His five o’clock shadow matches his leather jacket perfectly, “How are you love?”

“Pretty good, today has been rough. I’m so glad you invited me the game tonight. It worked out well with Sidney and everything.”

“Ah, yes the new boyfriend, do I get to meet him tonight?”

I laugh, “I don’t see why not. They are leaving right after the game though so it will be quick.”

“So I have you to myself tonight?” I nod. “God help New York City.”

We exit the hotel and slide into his town car and make our way to Madison Square Garden. As we walk to our seats a few people recognize us and demand pictures. Our characters were married in the show and were killed off pretty graphically so the fan base is strong in regards to us. We settle down for the game though and both of us have a great time. Catching up with Richard is always fun and naturally we end up on the jumbotron every once and a while. Overall the game is great fun and the good guys walk away with a win. After the game we make our way down to the Visitor’s locker room.

“You get the VIP treatment with this team don’t you?” Richard asks me as we wait for the all clear sign.

I shrug, “There are some benefits to being the captain’s girlfriend.” Finally we go in and the guys acknowledge me, but I make my way to Sidney who is dressed in his suit for travelling and looks great. We quickly kiss, “Thanks for coming babe.”

“Anytime. Great game, by the way,” I motion to Richard and bring him to the front. “Sidney this is my good friend and former costar, Richard Madden.”

The two men size each other up. Sidney watches Game of Thrones so I know that he knows that Richard and I had some intimate scenes. Richard on the other hand is extremely protective of me, I matured a lot with him and we shared moments that will always connect us. After a few tense moments I see both men relax and give a slight head nod. Sidney sticks his hand out, “Sidney Crosby.”

Richard follows suit and soon the two of them are chatting like they are close friends. Eventually it’s time for the guys to leave and we walk Sidney towards the exit. “I’ll be back in Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon. I really need to talk to you about Christmas.”

Sidney smiles and pulls me close, “I know. It will be great.” I nod and then Sidney joins the rest of his team.

Richard and I walk back to my hotel room, deciding that I’m too tired to experience New York City night life. Like a true English gentlemen he drops me off at my door. We hug, “That man is in love with you Brooklyn.”

“You can’t know that Richard.”

He simply chuckles, “It’s obvious Brooklyn. Besides, would it be a bad thing? He seems like a really good guy.”

“So he has your stamp of approval?”

“As your former TV husband, yes I approve,” we laugh and then Richard is on his way. I try not to overthink what he said. The idea is too tempting and especially after last night.

******
I take a seat next to Fleury on the plane, “It was nice that Brooklyn came to the game tonight.”

Nodding I take out my iPad, “Yeah it was. The past two days were a nice surprise, but it will be nice to have her back in Pittsburgh you know.”

“I’m sure,” He pauses. “And the guy that was with her?”

“They were married in Game of Thrones,” When I say that I try to not focus on the scenes they filmed together. They were tame as far as Game of Thrones went, but not exactly how I want to think of my girlfriend.

“They had sex scenes on the show didn’t they?”

“Yeah they did, it’s not a big deal though,” Maybe if I say it enough it will be true.

“Think of him like an ex. Whatever they did it was before you and it was part of her job.”

I groan and realize that Flower makes perfect sense. It sucks of course, but it didn’t mean anything, “You’re right. Besides they are good friends and I’m not going to be that boyfriend.”

“You don’t like to share Sidney.”

By the time Saturday rolls around I’m excited to see Brooklyn again. Unfortunately, I can’t pick up Brooklyn from the airport because the guys are going to the Children’s hospital this afternoon. We get to the floor dressed in our jersey and Santa hats. As much as I would love to be with Brooklyn I know that this is more important, not to mention fun. First we go around in small groups and then our PR person comes up to me, “Ready for a solo round?”

I nod remembering that this used to be nerve-wracking for me. Still I am a little afraid that I will say or do the wrong thing, but usually all the families are so sweet. The young girl that I’m going to visit has a rare disorder that attacks her immune system. Apparently she has been in the hospital for most of her life and it will continue that way. It’s important though to not focus on her illness when I’m there tough. A nurse leads me to the room and I take a deep breath as she opens the door. Inside are a mom and dad and a young boy. My eyes shift to the bed where a girl who is probably around thirteen lies. She doesn’t look ill, but the IVs in her arm betray that she isn’t one hundred percent healthy. I introduce myself to the family and then walk over to the bed. I hand her the plush Iceberg and she smiles, “Hi, my name is Sidney.”

“I know who you are. I’m Laura,” She fiddles with the toy for a second. “Thank you for bringing me this and visiting. Usually only my family comes to see me.”

“Well, I’m glad that you let me visit you.”

She is quiet for a second, “Do you want to see my drawings?”

I nod and we spend the next few minutes looking at her drawings. They are really good and mostly revolve around clothes, “So you like clothes?”

“I want to be a fashion designer,” She flips through her notebook and a clipping falls out. I pick it up and notice that Brooklyn is on the page. “Brooklyn is one of my favorite actresses; she always wears the best clothes.” Laura bites her lip and sends a quick look to her mom, “What is she like?”

“Laura, that is very personal,” Her mom interjects from across the room.

I hold a hand out gently, “It’s fine really.” I focus on Laura again. “Believe it or not she is even more beautiful in person. And her closet is huge; I’ve never seen so many clothes in my life.”

Laura sighs, “I bet, some of my friends saw her walking around in Pittsburgh, but I never got a chance. It would be amazing if she wore one of my designs someday.”

“You know I could show her one of your designs and maybe she might wear it. I like to think I have some pull.”

Her face brightens instantly, “Could you really do that?” I nod and her jaw drops. “I have the perfect one.” Laura flips through the notebook frantically and then rips out a page. “Do you think she would like this one?”

I look at the paper that Laura gave me. It’s a rose colored skirt that hits around the knees with a black halter crop top with cut outs. The outfit looks good, if not a little mature for a girl of her age. “Yes, I think she would. Do you mind if I take it to her?”

“Oh my god, yes! Just let me write some notes first. I want them to use a certain fabric and she should wear shoes like this.”

Laura is busy writing these notes and I can’t help but smile. Once she is done she hands it to me, “Make sure you sign it.” She does and then I take the note. We hug and she says thank you one last time. I make my way over to the parents and shake hands. Her mother hugs me close and continues to thank me profusely. “Really, I am more than happy to do it.”

I leave the room and see the other guys out in the lobby. As much fun as this visit is I know that the guys with kids are always a little shaken afterwards. Everyone is really lucky to have healthy children on the team. We leave the hospital and I practically speed home, Brooklyn should already be there. I open the garage door and walk into the house, “Brooklyn are you here?”

“Over here babe.” Her disembodied voice leads me toward the stairs and what I see stops me dead in my tracks. Standing on the stairs is Brooklyn wearing my jersey and I’m pretty sure only my jersey. My eyes run down her body and notice the sky high heels that accentuate her already perfect legs. When I finally focus back on her beautiful face she slowly smiles. “Welcome home babe.”

Every thought flies out of my head, “Um, thanks.” Brooklyn walks down the steps and saunters towards me and my mouth waters. “What did I do to deserve this?”

She runs her hands up and down my arms, “I’ve been fantasizing about this for a while honestly.”

I gulp, “Fantasizing?” My hands are itching to slide the jersey up along her legs to see if she really has nothing on underneath.

“Yes, ever since you first told me it turned you on. Do you like it?”

I can’t believe that she just asked that. Like it? I fucking love it. “I love it babe, but I’m very interested in what is beneath my jersey though.”

She leans up to my ear and whispers, “Absolutely nothing.”

“Fuck,” my hands grasp the edge of the jersey and I run my hands along her beautiful legs and ass before discovering that she was telling the truth. No barrier stops my fingers from playing with her beautiful body. I groan, “Babe, let me take you upstairs.”

“I thought you would never ask,” I gently smack her butt, and she simply smiles. As she walks up the stairs I can’t help but admire the way my last name looks on her back.

*******
I take a deep breath and lay my head on Sidney’s chest, “This shouldn’t be this fun right?”

Sidney laughs and runs his fingers through my hair, “I don’t know, but I’m not going to question it. How was your flight?”

“Fine, and the hospital?”

“Actually, I met this one girl who is a huge fan of yours. Her name is Laura and she draws clothes in her spare time,” Sidney looks really excited about this for some reason. “And she asked if you would wear something she drew. And I said yes.”

I’m surprised that Sidney would think to do something like this. It’s sweet yes, but could be a little problematic as well. I sit up in bed and lean against the head board, “You really should have asked me Sid. I mean I pay people good money to pick out clothes for events. It sounds dumb I know. What does it look like?”

Sidney looks a little taken aback, “I just thought it would be a nice thing for you to do. Really it shouldn’t be a big deal.” He gets out of bed and walks down stairs loudly. When he returns he has a piece of paper in his hand. I try not to look at Sidney’s impressive and still naked body when he hands me the paper.

Surprisingly the sketch is really cute and I could see myself wearing the ensemble to one of the red carpet events or luncheons that will be coming up in the next few months. “How old is she again?”

“Thirteen.”

I place the sketch on the bedside table and turn to Sidney who has now rejoined me in bed. Leaning over I quickly kiss him on the lips, “It’s gorgeous I would love to wear it.” He smiles and brushes some hair behind my ear. “But you really can’t make promises for me like that to fans. It’s dangerous Sid. Especially since you don’t know my schedule or anything like that.”

“I didn’t know this was going to be such a big deal. Should I just not talk about you in public? I mean you were fine telling the world I couldn’t teach you how to skate. It’s a bit of a double standard isn’t it?” Sidney pulls away from me and gets out of bed to grab some clothes.

“Not even comparable Sid.”

“Whatever you say,” He is fully dressed now. “What do you want for dinner?”

“Sidney, seriously I don’t want you to be upset.”

He looks up to the ceiling for a moment and then walks to me. “I’m not mad.”

“If you say so.”

Sidney kisses me on the forehead, “I do. Get dressed I’ll make steak can you do the vegetables?”

The rest of the night Sidney and I relax and have dinner, but I can’t shake the feeling that something is off. I chose to not bother Sidney with it though and instead pretend that everything is fine. The next morning I get up and have to run out and buy a gift for the dumb WAG gift exchange today. We are having brunch at an upscale tea room downtown. When I get back to Sidney’s house to change he is watching the NHL network on the TV. I run upstairs and throw on a cream colored tulle skirt that comes to about my knees and a knit sweater. By the time I’m ready to go I know that I will be late and I sigh. Sidney is still on the couch when I’m about to leave, “Do you think this is appropriate?”

He doesn’t even bother to pretend to look at my outfit, “Looks fine to me babe.”

“Really, Sidney?”

“Well, I’m confused am I allowed to have an opinion on what you wear or not?” Sidney shrugs and turns to me.

I roll my eyes, “So you are still upset about that? Don’t be, it doesn’t mean a thing.”

“Whatever.”

“Ugh, I’ll be back in a few hours, see you then.” I walk out the door in a huff and hop in one of Sidney’s cars to drive to the restaurant. For the entire ride there I fume about how Sidney is acting and wonder if he might have a point. By the time I get there I realize that he is probably coming from a significant place. I’m stubborn though and I refuse to apologize just yet.

I walk into the extremely nice restaurant and the hostess, who is dressed immaculately, greets me, “Miss Donahue, welcome. Let me escort you to your party.” The restaurant is sparsely filled for a Sunday morning, but the hostess leads me back to a private room. “Enjoy.”

The door opens and I walk in to see about twenty women sitting around a large circular table. When I enter Anne Adams makes eye contact with me and smiles brightly, “Oh, Brooklyn good! We were waiting on you.” She stands and walks towards me. Her hair is pulled back in a low bun with a brown skirt and a long-sleeved blouse. “I’ll take your gift and there is open seat next to Vero right there.”

I sit down next to Vero and the waiter instantly appears to provide me with a mimosa. “Hey girl, how have you been?”

She smiles, “Good, good. We’ve missed you at the games.” I notice that Carol-Lynn isn’t here and am a little disappointed. “She couldn’t make it, Pascal’s family came in early.”

Nodding, I take a rather large sip of my mimosa and look at the menu. Chatter fills the room and I finally start to feel comfortable after a little bit. Vero is helping me get the lay of the land a little and giving me the details about the women who I haven’t met before. “Who is that girl on the end?”

Vero winces, “That’s Lydia. She is Beau’s on and off again fling.”

The girl looks trashy and is on her phone. She keeps looking at Vero and I trying to be subtle about taking photos. “She looks,” I search for a word. “Interesting.”

“Trust me, I know that Emma wasn’t around long, but she was so much sweeter than this girl. Everyone knows that she is after Beau’s money.”

I take another sip of my mimosa and try to pretend that this woman isn’t there. Our first course arrives and I’m actually in a conversation with Brianna Vitale next to me. I finally feel like I’m expanding my friends in the group. While they are clearing our plates a woman, who Vero has informed is Catherine, Kris Letang’s wife, speaks up, “You have to tell us what Brad Pitt is like.”

The entire table turns to me awaiting my response and I realize that all the girls have been waiting to breach this subject today. I set my glass down and hopefully smile, “Um I really don’t know what to say. He is obviously gorgeous and actually very sweet.” For a moment we are all silent and I decide that I need to live up to what these girls are expecting of me. “Okay, so his character in the movie and I have some intense, violent scenes. The first day we met he apologized and promised to take me to dinner after each one.” Around the table all the girls coo and I continue. “And for the record he is a great kisser.”

Now all the girls are in stitches and it dawns on me that we have finally broken the barrier. It doesn’t matter than I’m famous any more. Catherine is fanning herself, “Brad Pitt is definitely my one freebie.”

Anne interjects, “Freebie?”

Catherine waves her hand dismissively and takes a sip of her mimosa, “You know, the one guy that your husband would let you have sex with.”

The girls all start to share their freebie while Ann looks horrified. It gets to Simon Depres’ girlfriend who is about two people from me. “If I had to choose, it would probably be Zac Efron. Even with the whole drug problem.” Everyone is silent and my heart drops to my stomach. I can tell by the way she said it that she doesn’t realize what she actually said. Finally though she glances at me and gasps, “Oh my god. I’m sorry.”

I force myself to shake my head and appear unfazed, “No, no really it’s fine. I don’t own the man or anything and besides he is attractive.” The table is still tense so I decide to say one last thing to smooth it over. “And, the man knows how to use his tongue.” With that comment we all break out into laughter again. More mimosas flow and I have to slow down or I won’t be able to drive back to Sidney’s house.

Back at Sidney’s house I immediately find Sidney and give him a hug, “I’m sorry about yesterday. It was really sweet what you did for that girl and I should have understood.”

Sidney laughs, “Babe, I was going to apologize to you. I completely over reacted.”

“So you forgive me?”

“Babe, I could never be mad at you.”

I bite my lip, remembering that we still have to talk about holiday plans. There is no way that Sidney is going to be thrilled about our possible plans. Taking a deep breath I lean slightly away from him. “Hold on to those happy feelings when I tell you this.”

Notes

If you don't know who Richard Madden is do yourself a favor and look him up, it will make your day, promise. Hope you like the new chapter!