AUTUMN LEAVES

“Please join me in welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Mario Lemieux!”, the master of ceremony spoke enthusiastically into the microphone as the newly-weds entered the fancy reception tent that was set-up near the ceremony area, in the vast lakefront of Sidney Crosby’s Nova Scotia home. Autumn looked stunning in her simple yet very elegant lace Elie Saab wedding dress. It exquisitely accentuated her curves. The cream color strikingly contrasted her summer tan. Her hair was put up in a simple bun with her make up lightly done, highlighting the emerald of her eyes and the plumpness of her lips. No one could take their eyes off the bride. It helped Sidney’s case, as he was not the only person staring.

The relatively small wedding was exactly what Autumn and Mario desired. Few people from the Penguins were present. Their close friends and Mario’s close family including his kids, two of them. Lauren called and congratulated them, but she told her dad frankly that it was hard for her to be present at the wedding.

Sidney maintained his composure throughout the ceremony and reception. Now, as he looked at her dancing so happily and most of all carelessly with her husband, he couldn’t help the lump in his throat. He turned away from the dance floor and exited the tent. Few people stood outside in the late summer night. He walked towards the dock with his hands in his tuxedo’s pockets. He thought about how he successfully avoided Autumn in the last three days. But he can’t avoid her forever. He will have to face the music. He closed his eyes shut, wishing he could take back everything he did and said three days ago.

~Three days ago~
Mario and Autumn had spent the month of August at Sidney’s place in order to put the final touches on their wedding and to join the festivities on his 30th birthday and day with the cup. Throughout the summer, Mario was busy with business as usual, leaving Autumn to do the wedding planning with the help of Tiffany and the Crosby family. She was able to take six weeks off from the hospital. Her boss was more than happy to accommodate the young doctor, given the very little time off she had taken from work in the past.

While Nathan was catering the event, Sidney was quite helpful in using his local connections to find a local florist that impressed Autumn by executing what she wanted down to every detail. Another local wedding company was chosen to set up the outdoor venue that accommodates all kinds of weathers, which put Autumn more at ease.

Now it was two in the morning and Autumn could not sleep. Mario was supposed to be back the next morning from his last business trip before their wedding. She tossed and turned in the bed of Sidney’s guest bedroom. Giving up on sleep, she got out of bed, made herself a tea and sat in Sidney’s home office that had a huge window facing the lake. It was her favorite room in his cozy home. She didn’t bother to turn on the lights, just his desk lamp. The full moon beautifully illuminated the room with a soft blue hue.

Planning a wedding in two months was finally having its toll on her. She was tired, overwhelmed and nervous. She also missed work and was anxious about whether the pediatrician replacing her was taking a good care of her patients. There was also the fact that she was getting married in three days. Elbows on the desk, she covered her face with her hands and took few deep breaths to calm her nerves.

She didn’t hear the door open and a shirtless Sidney walk in. She jumped when he spoke. “What are you doing up this late?”, he asked grumpily. “I could ask you the same thing”. “Fair enough”, he said as he slumped his tired body in one of the chairs. He sighed uneasily. “So… three days eh? Looking forward to it, right?”, he tentatively asked. “I feel overwhelmed with everything that sometimes I forget I’m getting married”, Autumn spoke honestly.

Sidney was surprised by her statement that he decided to be honest and speak his hazy sleep-deprived mind. “Do you think that maybe you rushed into this. I mean you’ve been dating for just few months and he’s like 20 years older than you”, Sidney bluntly stated. She stared back at him with shock written all over her tired face. She didn’t know where to start to express her anger at his words. She stood up from her seat and glared at the man who she thought was her friend. “You never really approved of our relationship, have you?”, she asked him furiously. She was aggravated but mostly hurt.

Sidney was tired, tired of it all. Of hiding his feelings for her, of the overwhelming love he felt for her. It weighed on his mind and heart and he desperately wanted to say it out loud. He shook his head and looked down not meeting her eyes. He did not answer her.

“What is it Sid? You don’t want to talk now?! I’m the one getting married, I should be the unreasonable nervous mess now not you! I get it, you love Mario like a father and that you want the best for him, but you don’t wait three days before the wedding to tell me that we’re rushing into this. You have no right”. She said, her voice rising. She was met with silence once again.

She resigned and said half-heartedly “Well, I thought we were friends. I guess I was wrong. You never really liked me. you were just trying because Mario asked you to. But in reality you’ve always hated me” she said very sadly, looking out the window. That’s when he decided to speak, “Hate you!! Do you think I hate you? Really?!” he asked angrily as he stood up. “I don’t hate you Autumn”, he said somewhat more calmly.

“I wish I did. It would make this so much easier. I really tried to hate you because of how much I love you”. And there it was, he said it. He didn’t dare look her in the eye. It was out there and he can’t take it back so he went for it.

“I love you, not like in a friend or a sister way. I love you in I don’t want you to marry him way”. She was too shocked to speak. “I have always loved you. Only admitted it to myself lately. I fell for you the day I met you. But Mario, …”. He stopped talking and dared to look at her for a second. In the dim light of the office, he could make the look of disbelief written all over her features.

She chuckled shaking her head and sniffling a little bit. “You don’t love me Sid. Maybe you just want to be in a relationship and what Mario and I have reminds you of that fact. You don’t love me.” She emphasized on each word refusing to believe his declaration. “Don’t tell me how I feel, I know I love you. Don’t fucking tell me how I feel, not with all the pain I’m going through looking at you two so happy planning your wedding here.” He started pacing and running his hand through his hair. Then he paced some more, but Autumn was still in shock that she did not know what else to say.

“Don’t marry him”, he whispered in a moment of weakness. He stood right behind her as she stared out at the peaceful lake. She turned around, stopping only inches away from him. She said between clenched teeth, “You do realize what you’re asking me! Three days from my wedding where you are the best man! Mario’s best man” she said angrily. “I tried to shut those feelings, believe me I tried. Do you think I’m happy that I’m in love with Mario’s fiancé. Of all the women I could be with, of course I had to fall for you. Do you think it was a coincidence how much I tried avoiding you? And here you are thinking that I hated you.”

His eyes became watery, his feelings were obviously one-sided but he had to try since it was all out now, only to know if there was a tiny possibility she thought of him more than just a friend. That’s why the next thing he did was gathering her in his arms, pushing her against the wall as he kissed her fervently taking all her breath away. His lips moved against hers like a rehearsed melody. She froze and couldn’t move away. Paralyzed by his sudden bold move, she didn’t react right away. He poured every emotion into that kiss. Months of the frustrations. Months of want and need. Months of longing and stolen moments, trying to convey all his feelings and insecurities to the woman he loved into that one kiss. His arms around her shoulders and waist secured her against him. Everything felt right. Her soft warm lips tasted of Chai spices and something sweet he couldn’t put his finger on. Her pliant body fit perfectly with his solid one. Kissing her was long overdue.

Few seconds passed before she started to struggle to push him away. Her hands were pushing against his bare chest but her mouth couldn’t detach from his. Her whole body refused him but her lips had a mind of their own. she tried to wiggle out of his grasp only for him to follow in the same direction still latching his mouth to hers. Struggling between breaths she begged him to stop and let her go. “I love Mario. I’m marrying him Sunday!”.

She managed to breathlessly say after she detached her mouth form his. She was still in his embrace. She looked into his dark eyes pleading with him to let her go. Her heart was beating like a drum and her lips were red and swollen from his kiss.

As those few words left her mouth though, his grasp loosened and she managed to escape him this time. She turned her back to him and took few steps away, wiping at her mouth with her forearm, as if this would erase the feeling of his lips. Still facing away from him, she took few steadying breaths to calm herself as this situation was new and escalated fast.

“Listen Sid, you’re tired and maybe nervous about the wedding. Mario is a big part of your life after all, I get it. Let’s just pretend this never happened and whatever you said and did tonight meant nothing and is nothing more than a lapse in judgment”. Her voice was wavering and her tone was unsure, a contrast from her normal confident self. She still doesn’t believe that I love her, he thought in disbelief. Or maybe she’s just in denial.

He looked down, his eyes were wet and his heart broken into pieces. He always thought if he ever told her how he felt and she turned him down that it would hurt. He was never prepared for how painful it actually felt. Of course she would turn him down. A tiny part of him was kind of relieved for Mario’s sake. He cares about Mario. Of course he does. She refused his advances which reconfirms that she indeed loved Mario. Mario deserves to be happy and he’s not going to be the man standing in the way of his happiness. And Autumn was his happiness. It was this simple.

He silently nodded turning and facing away from her, feeling a mix of shame and embarrassment form being rejected. He walked towards his office door, turning the nob, he turned half-way towards her, she could only see half of his handsome face highlighted by the soft moonlight. “I’m sorry”, he said barely above a whisper. “Mario doesn’t need to know”, she added with a low voice. He nodded his appreciation without looking at her and left her alone, closing the door behind him.


Autumn sat back in his massive office chair. She was at a loss. Not wanting to believe any of it. She refused to believe that Sidney had feelings for her. She refused to believe that he forcefully kissed her. Was it forceful though? She kind of kissed him back for a second and struggled to stop him.

She knew she loved Mario though. She was marrying him and nothing will change that. There will always be a special place for Sidney in her heart. But they can’t be friends anymore. It is going to be awkward. Awkward is an understatement, she thought. But it’s for the best. Mario will be heartbroken if he knew what just happened.

She realized she had been crying ever since Sidney had left the room. She cried some more, letting out all the frustration she felt towards him, the worry about the wedding details and the small doubts that he had just implanted in the back of her mind.

~~
Sidney sat on his dock, legs dangling almost touching the water, a cigar in his mouth, something he rarely indulged himself in for obvious reasons. He kept replaying that kiss they shared in his head. Likely the first and last kiss they ever share. He felt that for a moment she did kiss him back. However, none of this matter now. She’s Mario’s wife now. It’s time to really move on. Taylor appeared out of nowhere and sat next to him, setting her drink next to her heels on the dock. “What’s been on your mind brother? The woman in the yellow dress? Because let me tell you, she was headed this way if it wasn’t for my interception”, she said teasingly.

“That’s Tiffany, Autumn best friend and maid-of-honor. We’re good friends. Hey, you know her. Were you not at the wedding or are you drunk?”, he said with a dead-serious tone. “Chill bro, I’m not drunk and I was kidding. She was looking for Autumn not you. But my guess is that many single women in the crowd are wondering where the most eligible bachelor disappeared to”, she said with fake disgust. Sidney did not hear the last part. His thoughts were racing. Why was Tiff looking for Autumn? Where is Autumn?

Notes

Let the drama begin! the post-wedding part of the story just started and I'm so excited to write it.

Hope you're enjoying this story.
Thanks for reading and commenting!!

Charlie :)