Tread This Fantasy

She helped him finish the first bottle of win before their food came. Eddie had brought a second bottle when he delivered the lasagna. Mel drained her glass and watched with hazy eyes as Sid refilled it from the new bottle. She was buzzed and feeling irresistibly attracted to him and his easy smile and broad shoulders.

She watched his fingers, wrapped around the bottle, as he poured more into his own glass. Those fingers would feel nice on her skin. She knew they would without any doubt. I need a cold shower, she thought, taking another drink.

“It smells wonderful,” Mel said, looking down at the lasagna.

“It tastes even better,” he replied, picking up his fork. “You better eat before you get a little too tipsy.”

Mel smiled lazily. “Such a gentleman, watching out for little old me.” But she did as he had suggested and picked up her fork to dig into the meal.

“My mom raised me right,” he said with a grin.

She was feeling playful and relaxed after so much wine on an empty stomach. Lifting a forkful of pasta up to her lips, she looked at Sid as she lightly blew on it. He brazenly watched her innuendo-ladened act, licking his lips and forgetting the food on his plate. “It’s hot,” she said by way of explanation before sliding the fork in her mouth. The act felt naughty and fun, something she normally didn’t do, especially with a man she hardly knew.

“Mmm, it is,” he replied, taking a bite of his lasagna.

“Oh, wow, this is delicious.” Mel took another bite and moaned deep in her throat. “This is the best lasagna I’ve ever had.”

He grinned at her. “I told you. Orgasmic.”

“You weren’t kidding.” She took a few more bites, groaning in pleasure, her wine forgotten. “I owe you big for showing me this place.”

“I’ll have to think of a way you can repay me,” he said.

She swallowed the food in her mouth, hoping she wouldn’t choke after hearing the soft tones in his voice saying something with such insinuation. The man was sex on legs and he had no idea. Or maybe he was just playing it cool with her, trying to put her off her guard before he swept her off her feet and then dropped her flat when he found the next best thing.

Stifling a frown by shoving another bite of lasagna in her mouth, Mel resolved to just go with the flow and enjoy her time with Sid. He was easy to talk to, playful and fun, and didn’t have an ego the size of Texas, which came as a complete surprise to her.

They finished eating without much more conversation. The second bottle of wine was still half full and the large helping of lasagna was working its magic, dampening her buzz and sobering both of them up enough to drive. She turned down dessert because her jeans were already tight enough against her stomach.

Sid escorted her out to his Rang Rover and drove her in companionable silence back to the practice facility and her car.

“Are you okay to drive home?” he asked as they sat in his vehicle, his headlights illuminating her light blue sedan. “I think you had as much wine as I did.”

She nodded. “I’m fine. Just sleepy now that I’m stuffed.” A moment passed before he opened his door and stepped outside. She turned around and watched him walk behind the car, wondering what was going on before she realized he was still playing the gentleman.

Sid opened her door and she almost swooned right into his arms. What guy actually opened car doors nowadays? She took his offered hand and stepped down onto the pavement.

“Thank you for dinner,” she said, softly, suddenly shy now that they were alone in a dark parking lot. The light above them cast a halo around his hair. He really was gorgeous. A lock of hair had fallen over his right eye and she watched him absently push it back, following his strong hand to his wrist. Unfortunately, his arm was covered by a long-sleeve shirt and coat, but she knew it was probably just as delicious as the rest of him.

“You’re welcome. I’d, uh, well, I’d love to do it again sometime. You didn’t get to try their tiramisu.”

“Sidney Crosby has let tiramisu pass across his perfect lips?” she teased.

Sid grinned at her. “I can be a bad boy now and then.”

She giggled. “Be still my heart. I can’t wait to see the day.”

“So, that’s a yes?”

“A yes?”

He shifted closer to her, less than two feet away now. His car was behind her and she had nowhere to go. His body seemed so much more intimidating when he used it to block her in like this. And she loved it, the blood surging right to the apex of her thighs. “A yes to dinner again,” he clarified.

“Oh, sure. I’d... I’d love to.”

“Good.”

They stood in silence, his head tilted slightly, as if he intended on going in for a kiss. Mel was hardly breathing, thinking about how his generous lips would feel pressed against hers and whether she would be able to taste the tart cherry of the Chianti on his tongue still.

He didn’t make a move. Time started again, and she cleared her throat before stepping to the side. “I’ll save room for tiramisu next time.”

Sid nodded, his face unreadable. She desperately wanted to take two steps back toward him and bury her fingers in his hair while he kissed her to the edge of reason, but she knew that was just a fantasy.

“I’ll call you,” he said as she opened her car door.

*****************************************

Mel and Sophie rolled their eyes at Lisa.

“I kid you not!” Lisa said. “Don and I have a freebie list. If Evgeni Malkin ever tried to pick me up, then I’m totally allowed to have a wild night of hot sex with Mr. Russia. And Don can’t say shit.”

They were all sitting in Primanti’s sharing a huge plate of cheese fries and drinking beers. The Penguins game was on TV. The guys were playing in Boston and were two points ahead thanks to the power and skill of the first line. Sid had already scored a short-handed goal early in the first period.

“Who is on Don’s list?” Sophie asked Lisa.

Now it was Lisa’s turn to roll her eyes. “Reese Witherspoon. Can you believe that? She’s just... bland.”

“I think she’s pretty,” Sophie said. “Don’t you think so?” She poke Mel on the arm.

“What?” Mel tore her eyes away from the screen above the bar.

Lisa snorted. “Don’t bother, Sophie. Mel has got her eyes glued on Sidney Crosby’s magnificent ass.”

“He’s playing really well,” Mel replied, glancing up at the TV again.

“I can’t believe you had this private, intimate dinner with him,” Sophie said. “It sounds so romantic.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t tried to get him naked yet,” Lisa added.

Mel’s eyes widened. “Lisa! Come on. You know I don’t go for that.”

“He’s Sidney Crosby. It’s different.”

“He’s a nice guy.”

“He’s an Adonis. You cannot pass up a chance to experience that.”

Mel laughed and shook her head. “It’s not going to happen. He had a chance to kiss me and he didn’t. I think he’s just... I don’t know. Lonely, maybe? I bet it is tough to have so much pressure on you.”

“Which is why you should let him release some of that pressure with you,” Lisa said.

Sophie reached across the table and lightly slapped Lisa’s wrist. “Maybe it’s true love. Maybe he doesn’t want to treat her like he doesn’t respect her.”

“Maybe you’re crazier than Lisa,” Mel said, pushing her shoulder playfully against Sophie’s.

Sophie sniffed and turned her nose up at them. “Maybe I’m a romantic.”

“Delusional, more like,” Mel replied. “Sidney Crosby does not give two figs about me other than the fact that I work for his financial advisor.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Mel,” Sophie said.

Taking a long drink of beer, she turned her eyes back to the TV. His number was racing across the ice, down the left side. He chipped the puck over the Boston defenseman so it skittered behind the net. They both went racing for it, Sid throwing his weight into the other man once they hit the boards.

“I haven’t spoken to him in over a week,” she said. She was a little disappointed. Actually, maybe she was a great deal disappointed, but she wasn’t surprised. He was a busy guy with a fast-paced life and his choice of whatever woman he wanted. She was just a regular girl with a nine to five job in a typical Downtown office. Years later she could regale her friends and family with tales of how *The* Sidney Crosby taught her to skate.

“He’s busy; maybe he’s just trying to find the time.” Sophie’s voice sounded far away because Mel’s attention was back on the game. Kunitz was behind the net, fighting for possession of the puck against two Boston players. He deftly slid it away from them and passed it to Sid. Sid was only a few feet from the net. He deflected it in behind the goalie without even slowing the speed of the puck.

“Yes!” Mel whispered under her breath before picking up her glass of beer.

*************************************

Monday mornings were usually quiet in the office. She had spent most of it catching up on her filing. Mike was meeting with a long-time client in his office and Mel had been called in to talk about an insurance policy owned by the client’s trust. When she stepped back into her office, she saw the red message light flashing on her phone. Groaning with irritation, she sat down heavily in her seat and navigated the messaging system to retrieve the voicemail.

“Uh, hey. It’s, um, Sid. So, I have this problem. I told you I’d call you, but I only have your work number. I tried you a few days ago, but you didn’t answer. And you weren’t in this weekend. So, yeah... I hope you’ve been skating so you don’t get rusty. Call me. Bye.”

Mel’s pen was poised over her notepad, ready to jot down the message. She hadn’t expected to hear Sidney Crosby’s voice.

She saved the voicemail before picking up her phone and dialing. The line rang three times.

“Hello?”

“Lisa.”

“Mel, what’s wrong?”

“Sidney Crosby left a message on my voicemail at work. I’m freaking out.”

“What’d he say?”

Mel stared at her blank computer screen. “That he tried to call me a few days ago, but he only has my work number and I didn’t answer.”

“And?”

“And that he wants me to call him back.”

“And?”

Mel’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean, ‘And?’”

Lisa sighed. “I mean, what are you flippin’ waiting for. Call him!”

“This is weird. What if he’s serious? What if I get in trouble for fraternizing with a client or some shit like that? What if I make a fool of myself?”

“Jesus, Mel. You’ve already been out with him a couple times.”

“Those weren’t real dates.”

“Like hell. Call him. He’s Sidney Crosby for Christ’s sake.”

Mel’s eyes moved to her Penguins calendar hanging on the wall. March was a picture of Sid, arms up in victory after scoring a goal, that goofy smile on his face. “What if I get fired for giving him my cell number?”

“He’s Sidney Crosby,” was Lisa’s only response.

“I’ve got to go. Bye.”

“Hey, are you going to call him?”

“Maybe. Yes. I don’t know. I’ve got to go. Call me later.”

Lisa laughed and hung up. As soon as the phone went dead in her hands, Mel pulled up the Human Resources area of the internal company website. She used the find feature to skip to the area that dealt with client relations. It was vague. Gifts from clients were discouraged, no gifts over $50 should be accepted. No texting or e-mailing clients from personal accounts about business-related items. Nothing anywhere prohibited her from giving him her cell number.

Mel sat in her office, staring out the open door into the hallway. Tara walked by with a clipboard and a file. Muted laughter came from Mike’s office right before she heard his door open. He said his goodbye to the client he’d been meeting with and showed him back to the reception area. She looked at her phone, then up to the pictures of Sid on her calendar. “My life is ridiculous. This cannot be happening,” she muttered under her breath.

She heard Mike go back to his office and shut the door. She gave him three minutes. It felt like thirty. After the clock on her phone ticked over to 10:48am, she got up and walked down the short hallway to his door, knocking softly twice before opening it. Mike was leaned back in his chair, his hands laced behind his head while he watched the stock tickers on his computer screen blink green and red as the market moved up and down.

Without saying a word, she walked across the room and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “What’s up?” he asked.

“How’d it go?”

Mike nodded. “Good. I think we’re going to replace that insurance policy. Probably need to call Steve and ask him to get some quotes for the 1035. The usual.”

“That’s good.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s with you? You’re acting strange.”

“I kinda have a problem.”

Mike sat up in his chair and leaned forward, paying more attention to her now. “What’s wrong?”

Mel counted herself lucky to work for such a generous boss who paid her well and cared about whether she was happy with her job. He was the chivalrous type, always doing thoughtful and caring things for the women he knew. Hell, he had bought her Penguins tickets--good ones, at that--for holidays and birthdays in the past. He was always chiding her about letting herself go on more dates, even offering to let her leave early if she wanted to go get drinks with someone. She never took him up on the offer.

“Remember I told you I went on a skating lesson with Sidney Crosby?”

Mike smiled. “Yeah, I remember.”

“I might have had a second lesson.”

His eyebrows raised.

“And dinner, too.”

Mike leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “Is that right? Where did you go?”

“Um, Tambellini’s.” Mel twisted the cuff of her long-sleeve blouse with her fingers.

He broke out with a full on grin. “So what’s your problem?”

She stuttered before she was able to reply. She wasn’t expecting him to be amused by her predicament. “He just left me a voicemail about how he only has my work number and I should call him.”

“And?”

“And I don’t want to get in trouble with you or with the firm by calling him on my cell.”

Mike shrugged. “I don’t mind at all. And I don’t think there is anything in the employee manuel that prohibits it as long as you don’t talk about work.”

“Oh, okay.”

He furrowed his brows. “You don’t seem happy with that.”

“I... I don’t know what to think. This is all really weird.”

“That Sidney Crosby wants to ask you out again?”

Mel held up her hand. “Not *again*. We haven’t gone out on a date. Plus, what makes you think he was calling to ask me out?”

“You went to dinner with him at a nice restaurant with a waiter. Did you have wine?”

Mel nodded.

“It was a date. And he wouldn’t call you and hint around about her cell number if he didn’t want to ask you out again.”

“I feel like I’m getting played.”

Mike shook his head and smiled at her. “He seems like a good kid. Give him a chance.”

“What are you? My fairy godmother?”

“Godfather. But I don’t want to be a fairy. Go call him.” Mike tilted his head in the direction of his door.

Notes