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She could remember clearly the first time she saw him in person. His presence demanded attention even if his personality screamed that he didn’t want any. She had been with the club for a couple weeks, working in the off season to familiarize herself with her new department as well as the arena that held her new office. It was the end of summer and the guys had just started showing up for the start of their preseason workouts. All day she had been reading through contracts, talking with agents and strategizing about how best to play out the next season.

She had been on the phone with the marketing division for Reebok, going over another grueling contract of Crosby’s, and discussing the limits the contract provided when a knock came from her office door. She waved him in and quickly dismissed the rep on the line with a promise for a call back later. Standing up she offered her hand to him.

“Mr. Crosby,” she shook his large hand before introducing herself, “Molly O’Sullivan. Thank you for taking the time to come see me. Please have a seat.”

He nodded and listened half heartedly as she explained the changes that would be taking place in the upcoming season in regards to his public appearances and endorsements. She sighed internally as he nodded along with her words, though not really listening to them. Deciding to cut it short she thanked him again and dismissed him. He mumbled out a thank you and beelined it for the door, causing her to roll her eyes in frustration.

Just another hot shot jock strap with a complex.

She didn’t see him in person until a month after that, workouts had started and the city was a buzz with the promise of the restart of hockey. She had already had to conduct some damage control for some of the more promiscuous players on the team that had taken to being back in the burg like a bad habit. She wasn’t surprised with the appearance of the photos and the rumor mill for players like Talbot and Staal, in fact she had expected it and prepared for it. Mario had given her a heads up on who to look out for, who were the party animals and who stayed as far away from the media as possible. He had basically ensured that his little golden boy Sidney was too dependable for his own good, and that he avoided bad situations like the plague.

Which was why she was surprised when the photos came across her desk and popped up on her morning news feed, although she was not surprised when her phone started ringing off the hook. All morning she fielded calls from his sponsors, his agent (who agreed they all needed to work together on this) as well as anyone else looking for a comment from the Pens rep, which she would not give. A long discussion with Mario decided how they would manage the press and not ten minutes later the man of the hour was sitting down across from her, looking sheepish and blushing underneath a worn Pens hat.

She leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other and bouncing her foot as she stared at him. He looked now, more than ever, like the kid that he was, ready to get a scolding from his parents about his naughty behavior.

Truth be told Molly couldn’t understand how something like this hadn’t come up before hand. Shit, she didn’t very much like the guy but that didn’t mean that she didn’t know his accomplishments. Youngest Captain ever to hoist the Cup, Olympic Gold Medal golden goal scorer, the list went on and on. The kid could have whatever woman in North America that he wanted, he could have been out partying and whoring it up and deserved every second of it. But according to Mario, he had been a bit of a shut in, not wanting to do anything to upset his fans or his sponsors while his teammates went out partied and fucked anything with a pulse.

She sighed and shook her head to clear it, the poor kid looked like he was going to shit himself if she didn’t say something soon.

“Look Mr. Crosby, I know-“

“Sidney.”

She raised an eyebrow at the interruption causing him to flush.

“You can call me Sidney. Or Sid if you want.”

“Like I was saying Sidney, I’m sure you’ve already been read the riot act by Mario and your father so you aren’t going to hear it from me.”

He let out a deep breath and nodded his head. Molly reached for the photos that had started this whole fiasco and placed them in front of him on her desk causing him to wince and avoid looking at them.

“I’m not here to judge you Sidney, I’m here to try to do damage control. I know that I have no idea what it means to be you, the fame, the press, the fans, I can imagine it’s exhausting. But unfortunately being Sidney Crosby comes with the territory and people will follow your every move. Don’t tell Mario this, but I personally don’t blame you for wanting to have a little fun. You’re young, you’re famous and from what I’ve heard you’ve spent most of your career doing nothing but being hockey’s golden child.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that her friends-“

Molly held up a hand, stopping him mid sentence.

“You don’t need to apologize to me Sidney. It’s your life, I think you deserve to let loose once in a while. However that being said, I think that we need to do something about this little problem.”

Molly waved her hand over the photos, which contained Sidney and some nameless girl in the back lounge of a club, her legs straddling his wide thighs, his hands up her shirt and down her skirt and their tongues entwined. Sidney felt sick to his stomach at the intimacy that the photos revealed, he thought he had been doing the right thing. They were drunk and they were in the VIP section, away from prying eyes and phone cameras. He wasn’t even sure if he had gotten her name before she was offering up herself to him on a silver platter.

It was something he was used to and normally he just let them down easy and called it a night, but that night was different. He had been so angry, so frustrated with the never ending bullshit that came with his career, that he had let loose, downed more shots of tequila than he could count and had taken the blonde into the back and fucked her on the black vinel couch, not realizing that her friends were not as preoccupied with his friends as they made him believe.

“What do we do? Am I losing any sponsors?”

Molly shook her head and collected the photos from the desk before walking over and putting them through the shredder, as if destroying the copies would make them go away from all the internet sources they were currently dominating.

“We’ve managed to deter the sponsors from any immediate action, however there will be a lot of ass kissing to do in the upcoming weeks.” Sidney managed to crack a smile before she continued.

“I’m talking photoshoots, press junkets, signings, skate days, the works. We want to show everyone that you’re still you, that this will have no effect on the upcoming season.”

Sidney nodded along, figuring as much. Molly waited a minute before letting the other ball drop.

“What you did,” she motioned to the shredder where the incriminating photos now lay in pieces, “Is normal for a guy your age. If you weren’t playing professional hockey you would be out partying with your friends and hooking up with random girls. Hell, what am I saying, most of your teammates still do that!”

Sidney laughed and nodded his head in agreement.

“What I’m saying is, I believe that you’ve been reclusive for far too long. You’re never in the media so when something like this happens they take to it like wildfire to a dry field. My approach, and Mario agrees with this, is to market you not as “Sidney Crosby the hockey god” but “Sidney Crosby the everyday guy”. We figure that once the media gets glimpses of you out and about the wow factor will eventually wear off. But right now, you’re spotted out and about by them just as much as bigfoot is. It’s why they are blowing this story up.”

“So what are you saying?”

“What I’m saying is you just became the hockey player next door.”

Sidney groaned as Mario told him he was expected down the hall in Ms. O’Sullivan’s office. He couldn’t remember if he had met Molly O’Sullivan before, it would have been in the first weeks and he just kind of went through the motions during that time. Her door was open and she was talking on the phone, loud enough to know it was about him and this major fuck up of his. She waved him in and disconnected with whoever she was talking to. He thought he had met her before, something about the blue eyes and all that blonde curly hair screamed familiarity.

The jacket of her pantsuit was draped across the back of her chair and the ill fitting blouse did little for her pale complexion. She took off her glasses to rub her eyes, trying to rub the fatigue of dealing with his bullshit away. He listened as she described what he considered to be his own personal nightmare. There would be public outings, media tips when he was out doing normal “everyday” things like grocery shopping or running. There would also be more charity events than usual, more hospital visits than last year. It was media overload with the idea that eventually Sid could go out to get a cup of coffee without it being plastered all over the front page of the paper. He had lived in seclusion so long that the media devoured anything they could get in regards to the city’s golden boy.

“For the future, if you ever find yourself in a, um, compromisible situation again. Please do me a favor and call me. Damage control is a lot easier if you can get ahead of it.”

“I don’t plan on there being a next time Mrs. O’Sullivan.”

Molly rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

“Please, it’s Miss. and for the love of god call me Molly. Ms. O’Sullivan makes me sound 40.”

Sidney grinned and reached for the card that she extended to him, complete with cell and office numbers, as well as email.

“I’m serious Sidney, if you need anything, no matter the time of day, you can always reach me okay?”

“Thanks Molly,” he nodded his consent.

They discussed the first media day, deciding against a public statement of apology, according to her he didn’t have much to be sorry for. As the boy next door he could go out and party like a normal person.

“Okay, this would be easier if she,” she mentioned to the shredder again, “was there to back you up on this one. Please tell me she’s a girlfriend?”

Sidney shook his head.

“Uh, no.”

“Okay, well what’s her name?”

Sidney blushed to the tips of his ears and mumbled that he didn’t know causing Molly to burst out laughing. He scowled at her and she chuckled and apologized.

“Okay here’s what we are going to do. Tomorrow after practice you, LeTang, and Geno are going to head over to UPMC to the pediatric ward and make some kids very happy. After that you are going to meet Mario and Nathalie at Cole Hill Steakhouse for dinner where there will be an “impromptu” photo op. We’ll start from there and then we will drop more hints to the press about your whereabouts. Because of this you and I will need to be in cahoots daily so make sure your phone is on. I also understand that you’ll want your privacy which is why we’ll schedule a few things a day and the rest can be spent doing what you want. Sound good?”

“I don’t really have a choice do I?”

“Ah, you’re finally understanding that now? Took you long enough!”

Sidney giggled and then quickly stopped as the girlish sound left his lips, causing Molly to bite back a smile at the outrageous sound.

“Listen, I’m not going to lie, the next few months are going to suck but I’m going to try to make it as easy as possible for you. Besides sending me your daily schedule and putting up with a few more pictures and charity events nothing else should really change. If you do have a girlfriend you might want to give her a heads up.”

Molly was being polite for his sake, thinking that maybe he had been cheating on someone with that slut from the bar, and that maybe whoever his mystery girlfriend was would stay with him regardless.

“No girlfriend for me.”

She smiled a little and then nodded before clicking on something on her computer causing her printer to shoot out some pages. She stapled them together and handed the package over to him.

“Here is a list of events by week. You need to choose two every week that you want to attend and let me know a week in advanced. Think you can do that?”

Sidney’s eyes bugged out of his head as he read through all of the events.

“Two a week! That’s crazy. I have practice and training and therapy I cant do two things a week!” He threw the papers back onto her desk and crossed his broad arms across his muscular chest.

Molly simply stared at him, one blonde eyebrow raised as he pouted.

“You know, Giroux was just photographed helping to rebuild houses along the coast and then the next day at a children’s hospital visiting with terminally ill kids.”

Molly grinned as Sidney’s gaze tightened and his gaze burnt holes into her. She got up, grabbing the packet and walked around her desk. Sidney watched her warily until she was standing in front of him. She dropped the papers into his lap and looked him dead in the eye.

“And I bet he doesn’t have any incriminating pictures of him on the internet either.”

Mario tried not to smile as Sidney paced back and forth in his office, ranting about what a bitch the woman down the hall was. How dare she bring up Claude fucking Giroux, the nerve that she had, blah blah blah. Mario was severely tempted to roll his eyes at his almost adoptive son as he ranted and raved about the situation he had gotten himself into. Finally when Sidney realized that Mario hadn’t said a word he looked at his mentor, and got rewarded with that look. The one that told him he was being petulant and needed to sit down and shut up before he said something he regretted.

“Are you done?”

Sidney nodded and huffed, feeling much younger then the early twenties that he was in.

“This wasn’t just her idea Sid. I approved everything, and I hate to point it out again, but you got yourself into this situation kid.”

Sidney knew that, he did, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.

“But she brought up Giroux! Fucking Giroux! Seriously Mario you’re just going to let her say things like that? It’s the Flyers!”

Mario laughed and shook his head.

“It’s about time someone who worked here said No to you. You know I love you like my own but a lot of people around here get too starstruck with you to do anything productive. It’s one of the main reasons why I hired her, she’s not a Pens fan.”

This caught Sidney’s attention and he scrutinized his mentor, shaking his head in denial. There was no way. No fucking way that Mario would hire…

“No.”

Mario smiled and folded his hands in front of his face at the utterly horrified look on the young captain’s face.

“You didn’t…”

“Every damn woman that has held her position has either been too flexible with you guys, or has slept her way through the team. How else was I supposed to get someone in there who didn’t take shit from the team, and didn’t want to sleep with them?”

“But she’s…”

“Yes, she is.”

“I can’t fucking believe you hired a Flyers fan.”

Mario simply smiled and waved his hand, dismissing him from his office.

“See you for dinner tomorrow night. Don’t be late.”