AUTUMN LEAVES

Abby sat at her desk long after everyone have left work for the day. Never in the 15 years that she has been Mario’s assistant for, did she face a tough decision like the one she was currently facing, or more accurately, holding in her hands. She pursed her lips as she stared back at the envelope she had received at the end of that day. It was addressed to Mario Lemieux, but had no return address. She has always taken care of his mail, but that one, it was special. Producing the two items that were in the envelop, Abby squeezed her eyes shot, unwilling to re-read that sentence again.

‘Mario, don’t trust your wife’

It was printed in a gold font, like some fancy wedding invitation card. From that sentence, Abby could guess what the other item held. But she couldn’t make herself look at it. She refused to believe that Autumn would do this to Mario. She was the sweetest and most genuine person she has ever met.

Ever since that day when Autumn walked into this very office and into Mario’s life, Abby has never seen him happier. Autumn has been the best thing that has ever happened to him after all the hardships he’s been through, from his health to his first marriage and the stress that came with owning a hockey franchise.

People were envious of Mario Lemieux for countless and obvious reasons. But did it reach that point where they would try to mess with his marriage like that? Was the evidence on that USB key even real? Did Autumn really cheat on Mario or is it all fabricated evidence? She surely hoped it would be false accusations, but she was certainly not going to look at the content of the USB key. It was not her job or her place, it was a private and sensitive matter.

That left her with the biggest predicament of all: telling Mario. A big part of her job was to take care of his correspondence. Wasn’t this a correspondence? Should she tell Mario about this? Would she make him question his wife and his marriage over what could possibly be nothing but a bad prank?

Although Mario had told her that she was family on numerous occasions, at the end of the day Abby knew that she was just his trusted assistant. Does that give her the right to make that kind of decision?

On the other hand, she can’t lie and hide things from her boss.

Abby groaned before picking up the phone and dialing a familiar number.

*****

Back at the cabin, Sidney took a solid half hour to collect himself before going back inside. He was mentally and emotionally drained. As soon as he entered the bedroom, Autumn sat up against the headboard looking every bit as miserable as he was. He silently slumped on the bed and put his head in her lap, snuggling under the blanket.

“Sid,” Autumn whispered, as she ran her fingers on his cold skin. “No,” he quickly said. “Please, not now,” he pleaded with a hoarse voice. There was so much that they needed to talk about but he did not seem ready yet.

Autumn breathed unsteadily, willing herself to stop crying. She focused her energy on Sidney, trying to wordlessly comfort him as he hid his face in her lap, in an almost fetal position. They were both trying to hide their tears before sleep eventually claimed their exhausted minds.

Autumn woke up with numb legs and a sore back as she was still in a sitting position with half of Sidney’s heavy body on her. Despite the warmth emanating from him, the air in the cabin was bitterly cold. She realized that they did not replenish the wood logs in the fireplace before going to bed. She successfully wiggled out of Sidney’s hold without waking him up. She made sure that he was well covered before grabbing his large hoody off the nightstand and trotting to the living room to start the fireplace.

Autumn sat on the rag in front of the growing fire, blowing warm air into her sleeves as she closely observed the first flickers travel across the wood, burning the first layer of bark in their wake, then the second, until the unyielding proud wood would eventually combust and turn into ashes, forever.

“You learn fast,” Sidney whispered as he sat behind her and wrapped her in a blank, securing her against his chest. She hasn’t heard him come in, too consumed by the fire, both literally and figuratively. It was still dark outside as the couple cuddled silently on the floor in front of the fireplace.

“Are you regretting it yet?” she asked after a long silence.

“No,” he whispered back.

More silence.

“Pat is right. Mario doesn’t know yet, and he doesn’t have to,” she whispered as a single tear slipped down her cheek.

Sidney sighed shakily and placed his chin on her head as she slouched against him. “Don’t do this. We’re not having this conversation again,” he spoke calmly but his voice was weak and so was his protest.

“It doesn’t matter if you manage to get a trade without Pat’s help either,” she continued, ignoring his words. “That’s not the point, Sidney. Everything that Pat said was right, and deep down you know it too. I can’t stand and watch while you commit this suicide for me,” she whispered.

Her words were betrayed by her actions though. She was telling him that he should walk away and leave her behind, all the while clinging on to him for dear life, never wanting to let him go.

Maybe she was trying to memorize how he smelled, how warm he felt, how strong his arms were, how his voice resonated in her ears when her face was on his chest, and how safe and loved he made her feel. She was committing everything that was ‘Sidney’ to her memory, because this was all that he will ever be. A memory. The memory of a love that Autumn will never feel again no matter how long she, not lived, but survived, without Sidney Crosby.

Notes

I'm sad to write this Chapter :(

But on a much happier note, we took the lead in the series! Yay!

Crosby thrived yesterday! Despite the classless act of putting his pictures in the arena's urinals.

Trying hard not to judge here, but come on, have (some) Flyers' fans reach that level of petty?! This is more than just hateful and quite honestly, disrespectful to the Flyers organization itself.

Thanks for reading and for your lovely feedback!

Charlie