The next weeks passed in a blur of media events and having cameras follow his every move. Well, at least the moves he told Molly about. He was in contact with her daily, updating her on his daily schedules and planned outings. He also had a sit down with her once a week to discuss what progress they were making and what the future held in regards to their little arrangement.
He dreaded the meetings like the plague, the crass, pull-no-punches business sense the woman possessed nearly drove him up a wall. Most of them consisted of him being difficult and her making some snarky comment about what a primaddona he was which resulted in him stomping out of the room in a fit.
He hated the fact that the press was now privy to his personal life and it was all thanks to her. The day following the media mishap in the club he had barely been able to set foot on the sidewalk without being mobbed by the press. The week following had been the same, his life turned into an already bigger circus than it had been overnight.
His mouth practically produced the words “no comment” automatically when fielded with the fucking ridiculous questions that these trash reporters came up with. It took everything in him not to roll his eyes and tell them where exactly they could shove their questions, but of course he bit his tongue and smoothly deflected the questions with an ease he had been practicing most of his young adult life.
He loathed to admit that as the weeks passed, he could see Molly’s plan working. The first couple of days he was spotted out it made local news, like him buying Wheat Thins at the local grocer was such a huge fucking deal. Then, little by little, his outings lost their charm. He went from front page news to second, then third, then by the time opening day rolled around the fact that he left his house at all wasn’t even noted in the press.
He figured that he should thank her, his life had gotten significantly easier since the first couple of weeks after the incident. That’s how he found himself sitting in her office and attempting to make small talk after one of their weekly meetings.
“So, how does a Flyers,” he almost choked on the word, “fan start working for the Pens?”
Molly smirked and tapped the pen she was holding against her lip.
“Aw, poor Crosby isn’t impressed that I’m not falling at his feet?”
Sidney glared at her causing her to cackle and roll her eyes.
“Well if you must know I used to work for the Jets.”
“Winnipeg?”
Molly rolled her eyes again and pointed to her cork board behind her, which held a picture of her and a now retired Curtis Martin, the best running back in the NFL at his time.
“The New York Jets, as in the football team.”
Sidney blinked, obviously confused.
“You know, football? Big burly guys tackle each other and throw around an inflated pigskin-“
“I know what football is!”
“Well sheesh why didn’t you just say so?”
Sidney glared at her and she chuckled before shaking her head and smiling.
“I got a job for the agency that represented some of the Jets more high profile players right out of college, they were my team growing up so it was like a dream come true.”
“Woah wait a minute. How are you a Jets and Flyers fan?”
Molly chuckled, a slight flush flooding her cheeks as she shrugged.
“I honestly have no idea. I grew up on Long Island in a family full of Islanders fans, my dad said I became a Flyers fan just to be obnoxious, which honestly doesn’t surprise me but I’ve been a Flyers fan since I could remember.”
“An obnoxious Flyers fan, what else is new…”
He thought that he mumbled it low enough not to be heard but when her eyebrows shot up he knew he was in trouble.
“Yeah, well there were all ready too many obnoxious Pens fans so I had to fill in somewhere else.”
Sidney narrowed his gaze at her and felt his jaw clench.
“Oh come on you have two New York teams, three if you count Buffalo, and you decide to root for enemy number one?”
She just tossed him a shit eating grin and shrugged her suit clad shoulders.
“What can I say, Giroux’s a hottie.”
Sidney bristled and clenched his jaw even more causing her to burst out in laughter. Not the kind of laughter that the girls he hung out with had; that fake giggling sort of laughter that tended to grate on his last nerve. No, Molly’s laughter was a full belly laugh, complete with her flushed face thrown back and her eyes closed in mirth, she had no qualms about how she looked expressing herself, but regardless he still stomped out of her office like a child anyways, throwing his last attempt at a comeback over his shoulder as he left.
“That’s not funny.”
He couldn’t help the small smile that twitched his lips as she let out another round of laughter at his expense.

Their next meeting found him attempting to be civil again.
“So why the Burg?”
She shrugged and looked at him through her glasses.
“After working with the Jets the firm I work for offered me this position for a year with an option of an extension at the end of the season. I thought I would be with the Jets forever, but football players get really old, really fast.”
“Oh, and hockey players are better?”
To her mortification Molly actually snorted, before covering her mouth.
“Not by much.”
Sidney pretended to be hurt by her accusation but smiled at her.
“Just do me a favor kid and try to make my job a little easier. No more romps in the VIP section of lounges alright? At least take em home first.”
Sidney had the good graces to blush before they turned to the next week of their schedule.
As the season progressed Sidney found himself looking forward to his visits with Molly. Once he was able to look past the whole Flyer fan nonsense, it was nice to be in the company of a woman that he didn’t have to worry wanted to sleep with him, or get to his money. In fact she was quite the opposite, she was so unimpressed with the fact that he was Sidney Crosby that she was one of the few people that told him exactly how it was, not at all afraid of bruising his superstar ego.
She was just Molly, no sexual attraction, platonic friends, Molly. It was good to get an unbiased woman’s opinion every once in a while and before he knew it the Flyer’s fan and the Captain of the Penguins found themselves in an unlikely companionship.
Molly had never thought of Sidney as a potential sexual partner. I mean he was Sidney fucking Crosby for Christ’s sake. He had been enemy number one when she had accepted the position for the Pens. She had seen him as the whiny little crybaby that she basically had to babysit for the next year. Her sister had even sent her a tumblr account of all pictures of him getting hit when she had accepted the job with the Pens.
It was her ultimate rule, never get involved with who you worked with. She had seen too many women lose their jobs over it and to her, no piece of famous ass was worth that, no matter how hot he was.
She had noticed just about everyone else in the locker room, she was a woman after all. She noticed Kris Letang and that fucking gorgeous hair of his, and Talbot and his never failing charm, who was even so kind as to hit on her once or twice, even if it was just for fun.
But Sid? No, Sid was just that awkward kid who didn’t go out much, had a weird laugh and a huge boner for everything hockey. To her, he was merely another face in the locker room. Another part of the job who just happened to befriend her.
Molly had never entered Sid’s mind as anything other than a coworker and an unlikely friend and confidant. He had never really seen her outside of an ill-fitting pantsuit. She wasn’t one of those women who craved attention, in fact she seemed to shy away from it.
Her looks were average, curly blonde hair and blue eyes sat in an average face and on top of an average sized body from what he could tell. She was tallish for a girl, around 5’8” and from what he could tell was built somewhat big all around. She certainly wasn’t stopping traffic, and nowhere near the build of the girls that he normally went for, although it was difficult to tell what exactly was underneath those frumpy pantsuits.
Their friendship wasn’t questioned in the locker room since she wasn’t a show stopper so obviously their Captain wouldn’t be sleeping with her. Plus she had stepped up to the plate with most of the guys on the team and had succeeded in either bailing them out of a mess they had created for themselves or making their overall lives generally easier, so she had earned an honorary star in their books. Even though she was a Flyers fan.
Since “The Incident” as he had dubbed it in his mind, Sidney had been avoiding the bar and club scene even more so than usual. Therefore his weekends usually found him inviting Molly over for take out and, occasionally, some beers. Sometimes they played Call of Duty and others they vegged out and watched movies. One weekend they had tried minigolfing but he had ended up being recognized and the day had to be cut short due to the small mob scene his mere presence had created at the course.

A week before their first game against the Flyers found Sidney sitting in her office watching her finish up her work so they could go watch the third installment of The Lord of the Rings. He played a game of tetris on his phone as she typed away on her keyboard, the silence between them comfortable and familiar, neither feeling the need to fill the empty space with even emptier words.
“Let’s do something else tonight.”
He looked up from his phone to see her shutting down her computer and getting up out of her chair to stretch.
“Like what?”
“I heard about that incline thing why don’t we do that?”
Sidney hesitated, most of the time they went out in public it ended badly. His hesitation was followed by guilt, he had been the reason why Molly spent her weekends cooped up indoors.
“Sure.”
“Don’t worry Crosby I can call ahead and reserve a private car so you wont be stuck with a screaming fangirl all the way up. Although that would make for one hell of a video.”
Sidney shuddered at the thought and threw on his jacket before following her out of the office.
They took his car since she had walked to the office that morning and Molly immediately commandeered his ipod jack, pressing a few buttons before the sound of cymbles and drums filled the car speakers with a song he had never heard before. He watched from his perefereal as Molly lipsynced to the song.
My body tells me no
But I wont quit cause I want more
Cause I want more
The song was catchy and not like anything he normally listened to but he found himself nodding his head to the beat.
“Who is this?”
“Young the Giant. They are going to be huge one day.”
“They’re pretty good eh?”
Molly snorted and let out a very unladylike cackle.
“Oh my god did you actually just say eh?”
Sidney couldn’t help the flush of his cheeks nor the scowl pointed in her direction, which had about as much effect as a mouse would up against a lion.
“Shut up.”
“Don’t you mean shut up eh?”
Sidney continued to scowl as he turned down the road that would eventually lead them to the Incline.
“Hey eh, I’m from Canada eh.”
“I do NOT sound like that!”
“Can I get you some maple syrup with your snow eh?”
“Oh my god can you stop being an asshole New Yorker for like two seconds? I don’t talk like that!”
Sidney glanced over to see her sitting perfectly still in her seat, a wide grin stretched across her face which looked like she was trying her best to suppress it.
“You don’t even know anything aboot Canada.”
It was the straw that broke the camels back and Molly let out a guffaw so loud that she had to double over.
“Oh. Oh my god!” Her words were interrupted by loud laughs and deep breaths in between as Sidney fumed in the drivers seat, parking the Rover in a spot outside the Incline office. "You...Ha! You said aboot!!" He sat in silence as she laughed herself calm, taking deep breaths and wiping away joyful tears that had accumulated in her eyes.
“Oh my god. You Canadians are so funny.”
“Well at least people actually like us. Everyone hates Americans.”
“Well of course they do. They hate us cause we’re the best!”
Sidney rolled his eyes before pushing open his door.
“My point exactly.”
Sidney waited outside as Molly bought tickets and then pulled his hood over his head and quickly handed his ticket to the clerk before boarding the little wooden car. The door shut behind them and the car started at a climb up the hill, Molly glued to the window as they ascended.
“I changed my mind. I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“What’d you mean. You were all about this like five minutes ago.”
“Look how steep this thing is! Do you hear it creaking? We are going to cascade to our death!”
Sidney couldn’t help but laugh at her expense before pulling her to him and resting his head on her shoulder, turning her head into his chest to block her from the view.
“Aw is little Molly afraid of heights?”
He grunted as her fist made contact with his abdomen, her face still buried in his shoulder.
“I’m not afraid of heights you jackass. I just don’t trust human engineering. People mess up all the time.”
“Oh come on you have to at least look at the city. It’s all lit up.”
“Ugh fine. But when we die and they have to scrape my body off the bottom of this hill I’m blaming you and then haunting your loved ones.”
She turned in his arms and he smiled when he saw her lips turn up.
They stared at the twinkling lights of his city for a few minutes in silence before she spoke up.
“Alright. It is kind of cool.”
Sidney grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“Told you so.”
Molly rolled her eyes and took in the lit up skyline.
“Still has nothing on New York though.”
Sidney couldn’t help it as his eyes rolled up and into his head.