Hopeless Wanderer

"Ah! There he is! We didn't think you'd join us for lunch after last night!" Rob exclaimed as Sidney took a seat across from him for an impromptu team lunch.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Sid said trying to play off his actions from the night before.

"How did the rest of your night go then Sid?" Beau asked, still wanting to tease the captain.

"It went...it was really nice." Sid reached for the complimentary glass of water at his place setting and took a quick sip.

"You didn't fuck her, did you?" Paul Martin asked. He hadn't been with them, but Sid knew that James most likely informed the older defenseman of his late night shenanigans.

"No. I didn't. Carrie was still awake and Missy flipped shit. Probably for the best." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Why would she do that?" Paul asked.

"Who? Missy? She thought Carrie was my girlfriend and I was cheating on her."

"Ah, so she is hot!" Beau declared, making the three guys laugh.

"Wait, you guys have never seen her? She comes to the arena with Sid all the time. She's really nice, but sort of quiet," Paul said.

"She hot?" Beau asked.

"She is very attractive," Paul insisted with a roll of his eyes.

"Who are we talking about?" Marc Andre Fleury asked as he and Kris Letang took up seats at the table.

"Sid's personal assistant," James informed the new members of the table.

"Oh yeah, she is pretty in that ultra conservative, innocent sort of way," Marc provided.

"Why the fuck haven't the three of us met her yet?" James asked.

"I'm shielding her from the insanity that is you three. I actually appreciate her help and it's keeping my mind clear even though it's not been showing on ice." Sidney felt frustrated with his lack of performance on the ice a of late and the underlying causes affecting his play.

"Come on! Can we meet her?" Rob pleaded. Sid was starting to give in.

"She will be coming with me to practice tomorrow. You can meet her then. But I will warn you, she is a tough cookie to crack. I finally got her to open up a bit last night," Sid explained. "She's not looking to be ogled either, you hear me?"

Beau, James, and Rob all nodded simultaneously making the other four chuckle.

*****
"Little sister, it is great to see you!" Kathleen gushed as she embraced Carrie in a hug. She and Jen decided to travel south of the city to meet her older sister for a little lunch and shopping in the south hills.

"You too! Just to get this out of the way, did Jeremy send you the papers he needs me to sign?" Carrie asked as Jen and Kath hugged briefly.

"Yes! And I remembered to bring them too." Carrie smiled knowing it was because of the pregnancy brain her older sister was experiencing.

"Great, let me do that first and we can put all that behind. And I'll treat for lunch since after I sign those papers I'll have more money than both of you and your husbands."

"You don't need to brag, geez!" Jen teased.

"I'm not, just being sarcastic. I'll probably donate it all to somewhere. I don't need this money. I want him to rot in jail."

"Will you tell me who it was? Is this guy famous or something?" Jen never really wanted to press for information about the accident, but as of late Carrie had been more verbal about it so she thought she would try her luck.

"Nope. Just a man loaded from old family money. He inherited millions of dollars and became a doctor. So he has his own money too," Kath explained.

"He's an arrogant, pompous asshole who thinks he did nothing wrong. Let's not talk about it. I have been having a good few weeks." She handed the signed papers back to her sister, who placed them in her tote bag.

"So, third baby. That's exciting!" Jen exclaimed, changing the subject.

"I'm certain Jeremy is just trying I overcompensate for hardly being home. Just fill the house with kids and hope his mother is able to help me out."

"You can't be serious? Are you?" Carrie asked. She never imagined her sister to be so negative.

"No. I'm just being a cranky pregnant lady. It's already hot and I have five more months to go. This summer is going to suck!"

"Well, at least you have your mother-in-law to help you out. Where are the boys right now anyways?" Jen asked referring I Kathleen's two older children.

"They are still in school. It doubles as a daycare through the summer. I only send them half the day on days I'm off. Today, they are staying the full time though. I did not want to miss today!"

The women placed their orders with the waiter at Bonefish Grille then shifted their conversation over towards Carrie.

"How is it working out at Sidney's?" Kathleen asked between sips of water.

"It's not bad. Except I almost saw him having sex last night and that just creeped me out."

"What?" Jen squealed, "Blondie managed to weasel into his house now?"

"You know of her? He mentioned something about her blogging about his penis size or something. No one believes it because any teammate will deny it and she has no proof of knowing him."

"She's been advised to stay away. You're referring to Kimberly right?"

"No. He called this girl Missy. Anyways, she saw me. Freaked out and ran. She is probably making people believe he's a two timer because she was convinced I was his girlfriend. Who is Kimberly?"

"The ex-girlfriend."

"There is something more going on with him than her trying to be with him again though. Is he a manwhore and I was hired to keep the girls at bay?"

"Ha! If only it were that easy, but no. Kim is his old girlfriend. She was around a few years back and bailed when he got knocked out all those months with those concussions. He hasn't dated since and refuses to see a sports psychologist. But the truth is we think he experienced another setback from the concussions because over the last several months he has slipped in several aspects of his life. He was advised to either hire someone to help him or be forced to have his parents move to Pittsburgh. I probably shouldn't be saying this to you."

"No, it's fine. He let me know that you spilled the beans on my situation last night." Carrie winked at Jen who looked slightly ashamed.

"I'm sorry! After you left the interview, Troy was convinced you were too unstable to take on the job responsibilities. Sidney was the one who was convinced you were perfect. So be happy he didn't care, something about you intrigued him."

"Well that's comforting to know," Carrie said as she sat back and took a sip of her iced tea.

"Alright, moving on. What are we doing today? Let's get pedicures! I am finding it difficult to reach my toes already," Kath said as get finished their lunches. "Care's paying for those too!"

*****

Sidney was still feeling the effects of the alcohol he consumed the night before when he arrived back at his house. He recognized Jen's car and realized that she and Carrie were home from doing whatever it was that they went to do.

He walked into the kitchen and followed the sounds of the two women laughing, about what he didn't know. "Hello ladies."

"Hey! I've delivered your assistant in one piece. She is manicured, pedicured, fed and quite well off might I add," Jen said.

"Jen! Stop!" Carrie reprimanded, but Sidney noticed the slight blush creep up on her face.

"Well thank you, none of those are required to fulfill the position, but you smell nice so I'll keep you."

"Anyway, I need to get home. The hubby is excited he gets to see me for a couple days and I want to be there when he comes home from work," Jen explained as she gathered her bag and gave Carrie a brief hug. "See you both at practice tomorrow, and Sid talk Carrie into buying a car. This isn't exactly close to where I live."

Sid threw his hands up in defeat, "I don't control how she spends the money I pay her. But she does have the luxury of using my vehicles."

"Stop talking like I'm not here! I'll look into getting a car, but I don't know why I will need it much."

"So I don't have to come get you on off days in order to hang out!"

"Touché. But I'm still unclear if when he has an off day whether I am off too. I figured personal assistants are just at the person's beckon call."

"Hey! I let you have a girly day today. I think that counts for something." Sid shrugged his shoulders and the two women laughed.

"Alright, see you kids tomorrow!" Jen said as she let herself out. A slightly uncomfortable silence fell in the room and Carrie wasn't sure what Sid's next move would be.

"We should grill out tonight. What do you think? It's nice out. And there are thawed chicken breasts in the fridge."

"Oh, uh I'm not extremely hungry right now."

"Oh me either. I mean later. Like around 6 or 7? What do you say?"

"Are you going to grill?"

"Yes."

"Then sounds good to me. I can fix a salad to go with it."

"Perfect," and Sid flashed Carrie a smile which helped release some tension.

"I'm gonna go do some work, you've got a busy series coming up." Carrie started to rise from the breakfast nook where she had been sitting with Jen and walked past Sidney.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" He asked suddenly, stopping her at the entrance to the kitchen. "I mean, it is our day off."

She turned to look at him and noticed for the first time in the month or so she had been employed by him that he genuinely looked lonely.

"Can I pick it?" She asked after a long pause.

"Absolutely," Sid seemed slightly hesitant. But he didn't want to miss the chance to have company. He was fighting off a headache still and he was nursing a throbbing wrist, unbeknownst to several people. And he really wanted to get to know this woman some more.

"Alright," Carrie said and lead Sidney towards the theater room where she made a beeline to his blu-ray collection. Sid got the projector started and the screen positioned in place as Carrie brought over Supertroopers. Sid quirked an eyebrow at her, not anticipating this choice.

"You don't have Weekend at Bernie's. That is generally my movie of choice when I am slightly down in the dumps." She sat in one of the reclining chairs and kicked off her sandals. He noticed her brightly painted toes before she curled her feet up under her. And he wondered what could be bothering her. He snapped out of his daze and turned to place the disc in the player before settling in the reclining chair next to Carrie.

"So you like mindless comedies?"

"They are my favorite. Please don't judge me if I laugh obnoxiously. I haven't seen this movie in ages, but it never ceased to make me laugh until I cry."

"This is a judgment free zone. Promise you won't make fun of the honking noise I make when I laugh?"

"You just said it's a judgment free zone, did you not?"

"True." The previews started and before long the duo was caught up in the shenanigans playing out on screen.

A couple hours later they found themselves working side by side in a very domesticated manner preparing a salad for dinner.

"Hmm, let's see, favorite band?" Sid asked as he dice the tomatoes.

"Current or all time?"

"Both."

"My all time favorite band is U2. And I got to finally see them in concert when they were at Heinz Field. Oh hell, that was four years now. It was R.J's gift to me for our first wedding anniversary. Your first anniversary is paper and he have me the tickets as my gift." Sid gulped slightly as he heard Carrie speak freely about her dead husband for the first time. He quickly put the focus back on the band for fear of her getting upset.

"Good choice, but that's probably because you're so old," Sid was loving how he could tease Carrie about being thirty and enjoyed watching her blush with slight anger.

Choosing to ignore the jab, Carrie continued, "And it's a toss up for the current band. I love fun. But I loved their music because I loved the band members' previous projects before they got together. Now they are mainstream and everyone knows them. Mumford and Sons is the same. I've been listening to a lot of One Republic and the Fray lately. And I can't get enough of Cold War Kids."

"So, you're really into folksy, alternative rock music."

"Yeah." Carrie looked up at him briefly to see him nodding his head in understanding.

"Cool," was what she got as a response.

"You're turn."

"Country."

"No."

"Yes."

"Ugh! This friendship is just not going to work."

"And rap."

"You're so young. You'll see the error of your ways soon enough."

"Fine, change of subject. I figured you like ridiculous comedies. Any other movies?"

"I mean I'll watch anything but horror. The last horror movie I saw was the remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre with my then boyfriend and I slept with the television and lights on in my dorm room for weeks."

"I like watching scary movies with a girl. When she gets all scared I am there for her protection,," Sid said as Carrie took his project away from him and added it to the salad mix.

"You and every other guy out there but Nick."

"Who is Nick?"

"The ex I saw that movie with. He laughed at my cowering and didn't let me hide in his shoulder."

"The jerk. Good thing it didn't work out."

"Well it didn't work out for plenty of other reasons. That not being one of them. Although he probably prefers cowering into his boyfriend's shoulder these days. Let's eat on the patio!"

Sid was caught of guard by that but followed Carrie again through his house with plates and silverware in his hands while she carried the salad. The chicken was just about done on the grill and she finished making up their place settings while he plated the grilled food. They continued to have pleasant conversation as they sat around in the cool May air. And even found as they chatted that they were getting more and more comfortable with each other.

Sidney really enjoyed Carrie. She was funny, and held conversation that interested him. And she was charmingly beautiful and not nearly as shy as she came across before. She made him forget all the stress he was under. He was becoming more and more at ease with his decision to hire her.

*****
Carrie was walking down the residential street towards the sound of screaming. She didn't know how she got there, but she knew she needed to help the person in distress. Her walk turned into a jog as the sounds got louder, and before she knew it she was running full speed towards the voice. Her heart was racing and her skin was crawling at the fear of what she may discover when she finally gets to the person in distress. But she never gets to him, and she continues to run as panic courses through her veins.

"Carrie!" R.J. called out which made her run faster and thrash at anything that got in her way.

"Carrie! Care! Wake up!" Sidney said frantically as he was trying to avoid Carrie's flailing limbs. "Carrie, it's just a dream! Wake up!" He leaned over her body, tangled around her bed sheets, and tried to still her body. She jerked at his touch and cowered away as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. "It was just a dream, Care. You're okay."

And then the tears started, "No! I'm not!"

Carrie squeezed her eyes shut as she cried harder. Sidney did the only thing he could think of, he climbed into her bed and pulled her close to him as she cried for her lost husband and son. And he stayed there with her resting on his chest as sleep crept back in and the shaking stopped. Only when he knew for certain that she was sound asleep did he move to return to his bed. But he made certain to keep their bedroom doors cracked, just in case she fell into a nightmare again.

Notes

Seriously love all of you readers! What do you think so far?