Christine’s POV

After a few months of living in Philly, I was finally settling in and feeling at home. Hockey season was in fully swing, and it was fun living in Philly surrounded by so many other die hard Flyers fans. I had not been to a game yet, but I watched each one on TV and finally felt like my old “fan self” again. It only jolted my heart a little every time #28 appeared on the TV screen.

One Friday afternoon, my coworker and new bestie Jessie, who is also a Flyers fan, asked me to join her for a “surprise adventure” on Sunday. I had no idea what she had planned, I just hoped it wasn’t some sort of blind date set-up. I knew she meant well when she kept telling me that I needed to meet someone, but I wasn’t ready to date and I couldn’t (and wouldn’t) explain to her why not.

As Sunday morning rolled around, I was getting a bit nervous. I don’t like surprises, so everything about this plan was way out of my element. Jessie had given me no clue as to where we were going or what we were doing. She only told me to plan on being gone all day and to dress casually.

“It’s close to Halloween, so wear something black and orange,” Jessie chirped as we were walking out of the office on Friday afternoon.

I returned her smile and said nothing. Ah ha, I thought. We are going to a Halloween parade.

I met Jessie at City Hall and we headed towards the entrance to SEPTA. I was a little surprised because I assumed the parade was in city center, but with all the cool neighborhoods in Philly, I guess it could be anywhere. Soon we were heading south and approaching the subway stop at the stadium complex. Oh no. This can’t be it. Today is the Flyers’ Wives Carnival – the last place in the world I want to be. Before I could blink, we were out of the train station and walking towards Wells Fargo Center.

“What?! You are taking me to the Flyers’ Carnival?” I almost shouted.
“Calm down, diehard fan. This is your dream come true,” beamed Jessie. “Aren’t you excited?”

I had no idea what to do or say, but I knew I had to get it together quick before Jesse realized something was off. I took a deep breath and wracked my brain for any excuse not to go into that building.

“You know, Jess, I don’t think this is such a good idea,” I said with as much defiance as I could muster. “I suddenly don’t feel very well and would rather just head back home.”

“Oh, lighten up Christine. You are just nervous to finally meet the Flyers. This will be a blast! Trust me,” said Jesse, her voice lilting as she literally skipped through the parking lot.

I knew there was no way I was getting out of it. I had to go in because I wasn’t going to tell Jessie why I didn’t want to go in. In fact, I hadn’t told anyone the story about my night with Claude. It wasn’t because I was embarrassed. It was more because part of me wondered if it really happened. In hindsight, it seemed so unlikely and so impossible. And maybe for that reason, I had never been able to fully wrap my head around everything that happened that night and had no desire to try to explain that experience to anyone.

As we headed towards the doors of Wells Fargo Center, I was focused on only one thing: stay as far away from Claude Giroux as possible. I couldn’t face him, and I honestly wasn’t sure I could handle being anywhere near him. It is big place. He will be surrounded by fans. This should be easy enough. At least that is what I was telling myself as we entered a sea of orange and black.

Notes