AUTUMN LEAVES

“What do you want? And how did you get in here?”, Sid asked annoyed as he skated off the ice. “To talk to you”, Tiff answered slowly. “And for how I got in the arena, well, you seem to forget that Autumn Lemieux is my sister!”, Tiff added with an emphasis on her sister’s new last name. Sidney stiffened at the mention of Autumn, an immediate frown appearing on his sweaty face.

He took a deep breath and leaned on his stick as they both watched the rest of the team head to the locker room after their morning skate. “What did you want to talk about? Oh, I know. Maybe about how you told her about us and messed with her head?!”, Sidney said angrily, making sure no one was within earshot. “I’m the one messing with her hear! You’re the one to talk, asshole!”, she scoffed.

“Why did you decide to tell her just like that, out of the blue? Tell me!”, he demanded.
“Out of the blue huh? You mean the same way you two cheated on Mario, out of the blue?! She needed to know who she’s getting involved with”, she shot back, effectively silencing the Pens captain. He looked away, unable to find an appropriate response. “Sid, I’m not here to tell you what you should or should not do. You’re an adult”, Tiff said trying to control her rising voice. “She’s my sister, and she’s not talking to me. She’s avoiding me and not answering my calls or messages. She thinks that I have feelings for you, and given her feelings for you, you can imagine how upset she is with me. You’ve got to explain to her that what happened between us was just a one-time thing”, Tiff explained, clearly affected by her fight with Autumn.

“I did”, Sid whispered, his whole demeanor changing as he recalled their time in Geno’s home two weeks ago. “And?”, Tiff asked. “I don’t know Tiff. I think she believed me but I haven’t spoken to her since, so I don’t know how angry she still is”, he said quietly. “What happened between you and me is not important now. But what the two of you are doing, now that is something you’re gonna both regret sooner or later, so how about you make it sooner rather than later! Sid, wake up, look around you. You can’t keep pursuing her. If you really care about her, you should just let her go. Let her be happy with the man she chose. Stop confusing her”, Tiff pleaded with him, hoping to get to him somehow.

“I am letting her go. I started seeing someone. Sidney Crosby is dating, if you must know”, he confessed with a hint of sarcasm. Tiff’s eyes were so wide with shock. “You are?”, she asked with surprise. “Two dates in the last two weeks. She seems really nice”, he said with a small smile. “Wow, okay”, Tiff said, still surprised. “The point is that I’m moving on, Tiff. Autumn and I can never be together. I know how much I’m hurting her every time I’m near her. I can’t keep my hands to myself, I can’t stay away from her. But now I’m trying, really trying, believe me”, he said, looking Tiff in the eye.

“Good for you, Sid. I guess that’s the best thing you could do”, she said, genuinely happy that he’s seeing someone. “She loves you, you’re her only family, Tiff. She can’t be mad at you for too long, trust me”, Sid said reassuringly as he put his hands on her shoulders. “I know, but she’s stubborn”, Tiff said with a sad smile.

From there, the conversation was steered back to the new woman in Sidney’s life. He told her a bit about how they met through mutual friends. She told him about the new wellbeing project what she was working on with her sister, not hiding her amusement at his nonexistent yoga skills. The two friends chatted idly, something they haven’t done in a while.

*****

“More wine, Mrs. Lemieux?”, the waitress asked. Autumn nodded as she focused back on what Mario was asking her after she ignored another phone call from her sister. “What I don’t understand is why you’re still upset with Tiff? I mean she just hid some things from you. Things that I still don’t know why you’re so uncomfortable sharing with me. But that’s not the point. What’s the big deal if she wanted to keep certain things to herself? I’m sure she had her reasons. Just call her back and meet her half-way. You can’t ignore her forever, Autumn” Mario asked, feeling that her fight with Tiff was occupying her mind, making her miserable lately.

“Can we just enjoy our night out Mario? We don’t get to do this often with our schedules. Please let’s talk about something else. Is everything ready for Friday?”, Autumn said asking about their fundraising event. Mario’s blue eyes brightened suddenly as he remembered something exciting that he thought would lighten up his wife’s mood. “He wiped his mouth with a napkin as a smirk appeared on his face. “Speaking of Friday. Guess who’s bringing a plus one?”, he asked teasingly. “Who?”, she asked curious as to why Mario looked so excited about this. “I’ll give you a hint. It’s the last person you’d expect to bring a date to a public, televised, media-covered event”, he said, quirking his eyebrow, his smile never wavering.

Autumn was too shocked to speak. She gaped at him, too astonished to verbalize the name of the man he was talking about. “Sid?”, she finally asked, just above a whisper, too afraid of the answer. “Yes! Do you believe it? I mean I thought he was joking at first. I may have offended him by asking if he was sure. I asked him if he was sure, Autumn! I was too damn shocked!”, Mario continued with a chuckle. “He didn’t say anything about who this mystery woman is but I could only assume that she’s quite special. They must be really serious for him to bring her out in public. I’m assuming, they have been together for a while”, he contemplated.

Mario continued to analyze the situation not paying much attention to his wife’s reaction. He assumed that she would be as shocked as he was. Autumn tried to maintain her composure at the news of Sidney’s girlfriend. He’s in a serious relationship that she was not aware of. Did he have a girlfriend when she cheated on her husband with him? Was he committed to another woman when he confessed his love for her just a couple of weeks ago? Does he love her? Who was she?

Notes

Hi,

Short and brief chapter. More coming soon :)

How do you like the story so far? Who's rooting for Mario and who's rooting for Sid? I'm curious to know!

As always, thanks for reading and commenting!

Charlie