AUTUMN LEAVES

Soft jazz music filled Autumn’s ears as she stood beside Mario who was in deep conversation with Nate, one of her oldest and closest friends. Clutching her wine glass, she thought about the many late nights spent there venting and having some much-needed fun with her friends. She always felt at home at Nate’s restaurant. But tonight, nothing seemed to calm her nerves. Seeing Sidney after what happened at the gala left her unsure of how this dinner would go. Given the last time they saw each other, it was bound to be an awkward encounter. But she will keep it casual and will try not to bring up the topic of his flirting nor his sudden outburst during their dance. She liked Mario and where their relationship is going. She will not let the memory of those moments she shared with his protégé ruin that.

Where is he? Is he not coming? He was late for sure, Autumn thought to herself. As if her thought has summoned him, Sidney appeared trailing behind Ester the hostess all the while checking her out not so subtly. She was not shocked in the least bit. From what Mario had told her about Sidney’s “no serious dating” rule, she figured he’s probably the kind of man to sleep around with random women he meets. Glad I dodged that bullet, Autumn thought silently. Sidney flashed an apologetic smile as he shook Mario’s hand and turned to Autumn. “Sid, you remember Autumn?” Mario said. “Of course, it’s good to see you again”, Sidney said casually while gently shaking her hand.

“It’s good to see you too Sidney. Tough game but I’m sure you’ll bounce right back next game, if last season proved anything, we’ve got a quite resilient team here, am I right boys?”, Autumn sounded very cheerful. Sidney was taken aback by how friendly she was. She seemed unfazed by their last encounter. “Sidney this is my friend Nathan, he owns this incredible place”.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m a big fan”, Nate said politely as he gestured for the waitress. “What would you like to drink?” Nate asked. “A glass of Bourbon, neat please”. Sidney figured it will be a very long evening, maybe alcohol will help his nerves. Nate excused himself as the trio sat on the table. The waitress arrived quickly to take their orders, seeing that it’s already past the kitchen’s closing time, but Autumn had always got the royalty treatment at SteakOut restaurant and bar.

As soon as the waitress left, the topic of the game was inevitable, much to Sidney’s dismay. The two men dissected the game and Mario pointed to some key problems the defense should be improving on. Autumn noticed how uncomfortable Sidney was at the discussion of a bad loss. She squeezed Mario’s leg under the table, earning a surprised look from him. She smiled sweetly and Mario got the hint that it’s time to change topics. Autumn beat him to it though. “If you think a hockey game loss is awful, you should think twice”, Autumn said with an exaggerated face palm. “A two-year-old with no bladder control sprinkled me right in the face this morning. Of course he thought it was so funny. Lucky for him I was wearing a waterproof mascara, otherwise he would have had an early Halloween scare”, she said with a chuckle. Mario was covering his mouth trying so hard to stifle a laugh as Sidney laughed out loud not caring if it was at her expense. “It’s alright honey, you can laugh, it’s quite funny if I say so myself. You should see his parents, they were so embarrassed. They probably thought it’s my first experience”.

“Are you saying that had happened before?”, Sidney asked in disbelief. “Half my patients are in diapers still, Sidney. To put it in hockey terms, I would say it happens as often as you pull your goalie for an extra man”. Sidney shook his head while still laughing. They talked some more about random things while going through appetizers and SteakOut’s famous Texan-style steaks. Sidney found himself relaxing since Autumn does not seem to hate him for how he left her at the gala. Maybe she does hate me but is putting a good act? He thought. Or maybe she does not care at all because she never liked me to start with.

Sidney did not need to wonder for long, his unspoken questions were about to be answered as Mario excused himself to take an important phone call. As he stared awkwardly at his almost empty plate, Sidney was startled by Autumn’s voice. “Listen Sidney, I can sense your discomfort and believe me despite your rude escape that evening, I’m not holding it against you. We will be seeing a lot of each other and I don’t want this weird tension between us. I know it would mean so much to Mario if we could be friends”. Sidney nodded slowly not sure how to phrase his next question. “Does um… did you…?” he stuttered. “No I did not tell Mario. As you can guess I care about him deeply, so why tell him and ruin that ‘perfect kid’ image he has of you in his head” she said somewhat jokingly. “But why?”, was his only response. “Because there is nothing to tell and we’ll keep it that way”, Autumn said with finality in her tone and Sidney could sense a hint of hostility. At least she did not yell at you, it could have gone a lot worst.

In reality, Autumn did not feel comfortable telling Mario that she danced with Sidney and more importantly that she was upset when Sidney ditched her and was not into her as much as she was into him. She thought Mario could do without what felt like high school drama. Besides, Autumn did not want Mario to know or even think that she may have had a small crush on Sidney. She did back then, but not anymore she mused when she looked at her boyfriend as he returned to the table. He gave her a sweet kiss on the temple and a squeeze on her shoulder after he draped his long arm around her pulling her along with her chair closer to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed happily.

If he wasn’t so consumed by his racing thoughts, Sidney would’ve smiled at the sight of the couple in front of him. “Someone is tired. I think we will skip dessert, what do you think sweetheart?”, Mario asked knowing about her long day at the hospital. Autumn nodded, “I want to say goodnight to Nate before we leave, I’ll be back shortly”, she said before walking away from the two men.

Mario turned his attention back to Sidney as his girlfriend disappeared from his view. “So, what do you think? She’s something else, eh?” Mario asked with a smile that Sidney had only seen once before, the day Mario met Autumn. She makes him happy, that much was clear to the young captain. Mario gave the waitress his credit card, turning his attention back to Sidney. “She cares about you and that’s the most important thing”. Sidney said, having hard time complementing her without sounding too weird or dishonest.

“You are happy, it’s so easy to see. I’m happy for you Mario”. He added. Mario nodded his head with the same blissful smile. “I think this could be for real. You know when something feels right and absolutely perfect. She is perfect Sidney. I’ve never met someone like her. Not even my ex-wife, my first love. you know what I mean?”. Sidney shook his head but smiled nonetheless. “You love her”. Sidney stated more than asked. “I do, and I think she loves me back”. Mario sighed with some apprehension. “But…?”. “But I feel that I’m moving too fast that I may scare her off”. Mario voiced his fear for the first time as he looked around to make sure no one was within earshot.

“Well if she feels the same, why would she run away?”, Sidney said to alleviate his mentor’s worries, though he did agree that Autumn and Mario were moving too fast.

Autumn returned after saying her goodbyes and the trio exited through a back door where the valet would bring their cars. Sidney shook Mario’s hand and went to shake Autumn’s but he was taken aback by the quick but friendly hug she gave him. “We’ll see you at the Halloween party, right?”. Sidney nodded politely waving the couple goodbye as he climbed into his Range Rover. Sidney was surprised that Mario would go to the team’s Halloween party. He has never gone before, saying he’s too old for that. Maybe Autumn is good for him after all.

Notes

Hey! it's been a while since the last update. Did you watch the game yesterday? :( I wish I didn't, Sid is starting this season on an angry note! hope he chills until Tuesday :)

Note that this story takes place during the 2016-2017 season as the pens were trying to RE-peat!
Boring chapter, I know but more action/drama is stirring in the pot. Thanks for reading! don't forget to vote and leave me a comment, I would love to hear your feedback on the story :)

Cheers,

Charlie :)