Stockholm Syndrome

His parents picked us up from the airport and we drove the half hour from Halifax to Cole Harbour. I really liked the feel of Cole Harbour and I was excited for Sidney to show me around.

“Have you been to Canada before?” Troy asks me from the front seat.

“I have but only the west coast. Whistler is a great place to snowboard,” I reply. His parents drop us off at Sidney’s house and I was surprised at the house. It’s a nice house for sure but it wasn’t a giant mansion you’d think a hockey superstar would have. It was very modest, just like Sidney.

“You like it?” he asks, following my gaze.

“I do actually.” I reply smiling. We walk inside and Sidney puts his stuff upstairs. I look around and the place has a nice homey feel to it. I go downstairs where I find Sidney’s man cave. He had a flat screen, bubble hockey and a pool table and shuffleboard table. There’s lot’s of hockey stuff lining the walls. I walk by each picture and pick Sidney out in each of them. I hear him come downstairs and I walk over to the bubble hockey table.

“Quite the man cave you have here,” I tell him, playing with the hockey handles. He comes and stands on the other side of the table.

“First to ten?” he asks. I nod, determined and we start playing. Sidney absolutely dominates me and I lose 10-1. I walk away, peeved over the loss.

“Babe don’t be like that,” he laughs.

“Did I actually score one or did you let me have that?” I ask. He stays quiet and I shove him.

“I see someone isn’t being a very good loser,” he says trying to hug me.

“I hate losing.” I look at my watch I realize it’s almost suppertime. “Your parents are expecting us, we better go.” We leave his place and drive the short distance to Trina and Troy’s. Sidney brings my stuff in and I follow him. Natalia had the idea that I should stay with Sidney’s parents and I ended up giving in. She would be arriving tomorrow and would also be staying here as well. We have a barbecue and enjoy the warm weather out on the deck.

“A few days left, are you guys stressed at all?” Trina asks me.

“I know I should feel more stressed but I know Natalia has everything under control and she’s probably doing the stressing for the both of us.” I laugh. We eat our meal and play some board games before Sidney heads back to his house. I lie on his bed in his old room and call Carl.

“Hey Nix, how’s Cole Harbour?” he asks in Swedish.

“I love it here. I never want to leave,” I reply.

“Well that’s a good sign. Natalia is already stressed out and she’s not even there yet,” he laughs.

“She’s going to be a nightmare when she’s here.”

“Our flight gets there at ten by the way.”

“Okay, Sidney and I will be there to pick you guys up.” I tell him I’ll see him in the morning and hang up. Tomorrow our families and friends all start flying in and I know this is the last peaceful day I’ll have.

Sidney’s groomsmen, my bridesmaids, my parents and many of Sidney’s extended family arrive the next day. The Crosby household is bustling with activity and Natalia has been on her phone all day making arrangements. I hear that the guys are going swimming behind Sidney’s house so I sneak away on a bike to join them. I get to the dock and see Sidney, Jack Johnson, Carl, Bobbie, Marc Andre, Geno, Kris and a couple of his childhood friends in the water. I take off my tank top and shorts revealing my black bikini and walk up the dock.

“What are you doing here?” Sidney asks laughing.

“It’s so nice out I wanted to go swimming,” I reply. I feel several pairs of eyes staring at me so I jump into the cool lake water and surface to the top.

“Don’t you have important bride duties to do?” Carl asks.

“Probably. They probably won’t even realize I’m gone.” I say shrugging.

“You have lots of tattoos,” Kris notices.

“I think I have 6 or 7,” I reply. I had writing on both sides of my ribs and on my shoulder blade. I had smaller symbols on my wrist and ankle. I also had a portrait of Marilyn Monroe on my forearm.

“Phoenix this is Jack Johnson, you probably know of him,” Sidney says introducing me to the blue jackets player. I shake his hand and smile. “And this is Ryan and Brody, I grew up with them.

“Nice to meet you guys,” I say smiling. We play volleyball for a while until we hear high heels on the dock.

“Phoenix Isabel Hagelin soon to be Crosby, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Natalia asks angrily

“Playing volleyball?” I say tentatively.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you. You don’t have time for volleyball. Let’s go.” She says sternly.

“Well fellas, it’s been a slice.” I kiss Sidney then climb up the ladder and wring my hair out. I wave good-bye to the guys and walk off the dock with Natalia.

“Okay so you’re rehearsal dinner is at the Bicycle Thief. It’s supposed to be really nice and it’s located at the waterfront in Halifax.”

“Sounds great!” I exclaim. She puts her finger up and answers the phone. I see she has a small ear pierce in her ear so I stay quiet. She says good-bye and looks very pleased with herself.

“I just got one of Halifax’s best hair and make-up artist to come and do our hair and make-up for the wedding.”

“Look at you go,” I say impressed.

“It’s not very hard. I just have to say Sidney’s Crosby’s bride and people come running,” she laughs. I forgot that this is Sidney’s hometown and people adored him here. The whole town knew about the wedding. Natalia gets another phone call and we head back to the Crosby house. She hangs up the phone and starts putting information in her phone.

“All your snowboarding friends have arrived in Halifax and will be meeting us at the restaurant. All we have to do is get you cleaned up because you reek of seaweed.” She says scrunching her nose.

An hour later I’m showered and wearing a light seafoam green satin dress that hugged my body. My hair was in thick curls and my eyes were lined with black eyeliner. I wore 6 inch nude pumps and wondered how long I would last in these. Natalia comes in and tells me Sidney is here. She looked amazing. She wore a blue studded R & R dress and her usually curly hair was straight. We go downstairs and Sidney turns to look at me and I can read his thoughts.

“Not before the wedding,” I warn.

“You don’t know what I’m thinking,” he says defensively.

“Babe you’re as transparent as glass.”

“You look incredible though I must say,” he pulls me towards him and kisses me. I get lost in the kiss until Natalia pulls us apart.

“Not before the wedding,” she says irritated. “We’re going to be late.” We get into Sid’s vehicle and Bobby and Carl were already in the back. We drive into Halifax and get to the restaurant in record time. We get out and walk inside and everyone is already here. I drag Sidney over to the table where all my friends are sitting.

“Sidney this is Danny, Jack, Scotty, Kevin, Luke, Mark and Craig. Guys this Sidney,” I say, introducing everyone.

“Nice to meet a fellow Canadian there eh? We’re big fans.” Craig says with his accent.
“Where are you guys from?” Sidney asks.

“Oh good ol’ Regina.”

“It’s nice to finally meet the guy that’s got Nix smiling all the time.” Jack interjects.

“Seriously, she’s like a different person.” Scotty adds. Sidney smiles and shakes their hands. We make our way around the restaurant introducing each other to people. We get to the table where Elliott, Bud and Sidney’s agent are sitting and I introduce Sidney to both of them.

“Finally I get to meet you. I was starting to think Phoenix was hiding you from me,” Bud says shaking Sidney’s hand.

“What? Why on earth would I ever want to do that?” I say sarcastically.

“You should have introduced me to Pat earlier,” Elliott says wrapping his arm around Pat.

“I’m glad you two can be best friends and talk about agent stuff together,” I laugh. We leave them and find our parents at another table.

“Mother, I see you’ve met Trina and Troy.” I say, my voice strained. I was scared for them to meet my mother. They were such nice people and my mother wasn’t.

“Yeah you’re mom was just telling us about how you used to wear her veil around the house,” Trina says smiling. I look at my mother and I’m shocked. I didn’t even remember that so I’m surprised that she did. I awkwardly retreat from the table and head to our table with our bridesmaids and groomsmen.

“I’m starving. It’s so much work being a bride,” I whine and everyone laughs. Sidney sits down and our meal is served. I look around and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and I feel relieved. I see Natalia typing furiously on her phone and I nudge her.

“Nat, relax. Enjoy yourself.” I tell her.

“I don’t relax until everything is perfect. Confirmation emails must be sent,” she says seriously. I roll my eyes and I drink my wine. The evening winds down and everyone heads to their hotel. Sidney drives us back to Cole Harbour and stops in front of his parents house. He gets out and helps me out. Natalia head inside and we stand there waiting on the porch.

“What if you sneak out and bike over, Natalia would never know,” he says wrapping his arms around me.

“She’s the lightest sleeper ever. She’ll know,” I reply. We stand there quiet for a while and I look up at him. He’s looking at me but I can’t read his expression.

“What?” I ask him.

“Tomorrow’s the big day, you ready?”

“You keep asking me that. Do you think I’m not ready?” I say, carefully.

“I guess I’m just surprised we’ve made it this far.”

“Well we’re going all the way tomorrow. I’m not running anywhere.” I assure him. He kisses me chastely and pulls away.

“I’ll see you at the alter,” he says smiling.

“See you at the alter.”

Notes

I posted two chapters because the last one was a filler.