Hall of Fame

“Hey Tyler,” I asked Tyler as he sat at the island in my kitchen and I stood on the opposite side, both trying to catch our breath and re - hydrate after our mile jog, which is turning into more of a sprint, especially when I run with him. Today was Sunday, so Tyler took that as his opportunity to go jogging with me. “Can I ask you a favor?” There was no talk of what happened yesterday, with Gabe, and if he wasn’t going to bring it up then neither was I.
He nodded before he brought the black under amour bottle to his lip and I leaned with my hip against the counter. “Depends on what this favor is.”
“Well you see, my parents and sister are flying in Tuesday afternoon for the game against the Hawks that night and well I know my sister would love to meet you, and possibly my mom so would it be okay if I brought them down before the game or maybe after so that they can meet you.”
He shrugged, “I guess we could work something out.”
“You guess we could work something out.” I mocked.
He nodded, “yea, I mean I’m a very busy person though so I can’t make any promises.”
“I’m sure you can’t,” I stuck out my tongue before taking another sip of my water, “the life of an athlete.”
* * *
So I guess Tyler made time in his busy schedule to meet with my family because we made plans to meet up after the game, but I guess Tyler couldn’t wait that long because before the game when I was giving my parents and sister the tour of the building I now worked at, we ran into none other than Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.
“So do you guys have anything better to do then stalk me?” I asked the two men as they sauntered to us, looking both offended and a little confused.
“Stalking you, no,” Tyler shook his head, “we were just taking are pre game walk around the building, you just happened to be here.”
“Is that so,” I questioned receiving a nod from Tyler and a laugh from Jamie, which was all the answer that I needed. “Whatever,” I smiled to myself with a roll of my eyes.
Tyler ignored my comment though as he turned to Breanna, “That sweater’s a lot nice then the one your sister had when she first got here.”
“I know,” Breanna bit her lip, “she weird.”
“But what else can you expect from an Avalanche fan?” Tyler chuckled along with my dad and sister, and I think Jamie even cracked a smile. They are going to get along just fine.
“That’s true.” Breanna had a slight smile on her lips as Tyler extended his hand to her.
“Tyler,” he winked.
“Breanna,” she blushed.
“And you must be Brittany’s parents?” Tyler greeted both my parents after he dropped Breanna’s hand.
“Can’t return her now so I guess we still are.” My dad smiled, as he extended his hand to the two boys. “I’m Jim, and this is my wife Mary.”
Tyler nodded as he took my dad’s hand, then my mom’s, and Jamie followed.
“Well it was nice meeting all of you, but Jamie and I should get going, we have to make it back to the locker room in about 5 minutes.”
“So you can do your real pre game routines.” I smiled and Tyler just stuck his tongue out at before Breanna spoke up.
“Wait, um, Tyler,” she stuttered, “can you sign my sweater.”
* * *
“This is awesome,” Breanna squealed as the lights went down and the intro video began.
Unlike Vanessa, Breanna wanted to sit by the player’s bench, my dad didn’t care where we sat, and my mom was just happy to see me. That is how I ended up being the only green sweater in the middle of red, because of course we had to sit on the Blackhawks side. It was worth it thought, seeing Breanna freak out every time Shaw skated back to the bench.
It was also kind of fun to get all the disapproving looks from the Blackhawk fan whenever I stood up and cheered for the Stars, especially after Benn scored and he bumped the boards in front of us.
* * *
The locker room was bumming with excitement after the game, a win against the Hawks was always good, even if half the crowd almost had a heart attack. You see the Stars had the lead the whole game, but with less than two minutes left in the third period the hawks tied the game at 3, and because 60 minutes wasn’t enough, an extra 5 was added, as well as an 8 round shoot out.
So it was actually surprising to see the guys so chipper, must be adrenaline, I thought to myself.
“Hey Tyler,” I greeted as he caught me just as I stepped out of my office. My family was waiting for me outside the locker room.
“So I, um, have something else for you sister.” Tyler stammered as he ran a hand though his dark hair.
“You do?” I asked, curious as to what surprise he could possibly have for my sister, she already had his sweater and now his autograph, I hope he wasn’t planning on giving her some picture of him, she already had enough of those.
“I do,” he smirked, more relaxed now that he had my approval. “Are they outside?”
“Yes.”
“Well then do you mind if I walk out with you.”
“Of course not,” I told him as I locked up my office and he followed me out.
As I pushed through the door, Tyler right behind me, Breanna looked up from her phone and a huge smile spread across her face.
“So I hope you guys don’t mind, but Tyler has one more surprise for Breanna.”
“Well I hope that involves taking his shirt off.”
“Well that wasn’t what I was talking about, but if you insist.” He smirked as he lifted up the hem of his shirt. It got just as far as his belly button before I swatted his hand away.
“Don’t encourage him.” I shook my head, this kid would use any excuse to take his shirt off. “Now come on, your surprise is waiting,” I told Breanna before I turned back to Tyler with a sigh. “Where are we going?”
“This way,” he pointed down the hallway, away from the Stars’ locker room as he started to walk that way.
“So where are we going?” Breanna asked as she matched her stride with mine.
“I don’t know,” I told her truthfully, even though I might have had a slight idea as we approached the two medal doors leading to the away team’s locker room.
“Is that Shaw,” Breanna squealed as she noticed the figure leaning against the wall, next to an equally short figure and I am sure my mouth was hanging open. Did Tyler really remember that Shaw was my sister’s favorite player? I’m not going to lie, that fact that Tyler actually remembered that did quite impress me.
“Pat,” Tyler greeted as we got closer, and the second figure pushed himself off the wall.
“Segs, my man,” Kane smiled extending his hand to Tyler. “It’s been awhile. So I brought this one,” he tilted his hand in Shaw’s direction, “like you asked.”
“Well thanks man,” Tyler said as they dropped their hands and Tyler introduced us first to Kane, and then Shaw.
“Nice jersey,” Shaw complained as he dropped her hand. “You know what would make it even better thought, an autograph,” he winked, causing her to blush a million shades of red.

Notes