The Love to Live For

I wake up early in the morning and see that Olli already left for the airport. I was hoping I could at least see him before he left. I didn't realize he had to leave that early. Oh well. I will call him later to see how his flight was. I look around the room and see a note that Olli had left on the nighht stand. I pick it up and read it.

Alysha,

I didn't want to wake you, so I am writing this note to tell you that I will see you within a few days. I can't wait until you come to Detroit. We are going to beat the Senators tonight. Make sure you watch that game! You are more than welcome to stay in my house while I am not there. If you do leave, I left an extra key on the dresser, I would be happy if you would lock up. Good luck in classes tomorrow. I have never said this, but I love you. I will see you soon.

Does Olli really love me? Well, I love him so I can't complain. I walk over to the dresser and there is the extra key. Maybe I should go find Olli something for Christmas. Thanksgiving is soon and believe it or not, Christmas is right after. Man, the end of the year goes by so fast, it's hard to keep up. I walk downstairs and look to see where Olli keeps his coffee. I can't start the day without coffee. I put some coffee in the coffee maker and then I prepare myself some breakfast. Olli has such a nice house. The kitchen itself is beautiful. Maybe we should do our own Thanksgiving when we come back. Obviously it won't be a Thanksgiving, I just want to prepare a nice dinner for Olli. He treats me like a queen. I feel like I should return the favor. I will watch tonight's game and hope that Olli wins. I want to see him score. I sit in the living room with a plate of food and a cup of coffee and I turn on the TV. The Penguins pregame will be on soon. It is an afternoon game. I really have a lot of schoolwork to do, but I want to watch Olli's game. My parents bought me a new car, but that is at the college, Olli brought me here, so it looks like I am stuck here.

Olli's POV

We land in Ottawa. We are ready to play tonight and we are going to win. I want Alysha to see us win. It's going to be a tough battle, especially if Craig Anderson is in net. He's tough to beat, but not impossible. We get to the hotel to put our stuff in our rooms. We have an afternoon game so we better be ready. I know I'm ready.

"Hey Olli!" says Letang as he heads into our rooms. We are roommates for this trip. He is going to be picking on me all day and all night about Alysha. I don't mind it, though. I just don't want the whole team doing it.

"How's Alysha?" asks Tanger with a smile on his face. I just roll my eyes at him.

"She's fine. How's your daughter and wife?" I say. I feel like I should be polite and maybe get back at him later.

"They're fine. I want Alysha to meet them. I feel like she would be more comfortable around the team if she had a few friends that are girls."

"Okay. I will tell Alysha. Maybe we will have you guys over for dinner or something."

"No, you come over for dinner. We won't be back in time for Thanksgiving, but Cath wants to do a Thanksgiving dinner for the team."

"Okay. I thought you were going to come over here and tease me about her."

"Oh no, I will do that later," says Tanger with a smile as he leaves to find our other teammates. Everyone is busy getting ready for the game. I need a pregame nap. That's like a team thing to do. All of us take naps before the game.

***

Game time:

We sit in the locker room taking slow breaths and thinking about how we are going to play this game and how we are going to win. Coach Sullivan comes in with our others coaches. He stands right in the center of the locker room and clears his throat. We all look up.

"Boys, we have a tough battle today. We can beat these guys. We did it before, we can do it again. Let's just focus on the game period by period, minute by minute. Take short shifts and get into their shooting lanes and their passing lanes. If we trust each other and work as a team, we can win easily. Anderson is in net for them, so that means we need to get the puck to the net and collect any rebounds. Get traffic to the front of the net. In our defensive zone, get them out of the slot. Make sure that Murray can see the puck at all times. This is going to be a close game, we can't afford to give up cheap goals. Heres the starting lineups: Hornqvist, Crosby, Sheary will be the starting line and Maatta and Letang are the starting defensive line. Murray in net! Let's go Penguins!"

We all chear and jump to our feet to follow Murray out to the ice. We are pumped. The fans are cheering, but only because the Senators head out onto the ice. This is going to be tough. I hope Alysha is watching. The horn sounds and the game is about to start. I take my position at the blue line and Tanger is on the other side. Sid gets ready for the drop of the puck. The ref drops the puck and Sid gets it back to me and I pass it over to Tanger who shoots it up the side to Hornqvist. He takes a shot that is stopped by Anderson. The rebound goes straight to the blade of Sid's stick, bu Anderson is ready for that shot to. Sid dekes him out and passes the puck to me and I have a wide open net. I shot the puck as fast as I can and it hits the post. Damnit. That would have been a goal if I got that on net.

Alysha's POV

I saw Olli hit the post on a wide open net. He must be feeling embarrassed, but that's okay, there will be more chances. The game is starting to get intense. Olli is knocked into the boards a few times fighting for the puck in the defensive zone. He lost control of the puck and the Senators take a shot at Murray that goes in the net.

"Go at them Pens. Show them who's the better team."

Olli's POV

We let them score. I tried my best, but could not contain the puck. We need to show them who's boss. I sit on the bench thinking about how we are going to win and what I should do with the puck once I get it on the blade of my stick. Geno is out there stick handling the puck and he takes a hard shot against Anderson that missed the net. The Senators get the puck back and head down the ice towards Murray. They take a shot and Murray makes the save and they get the rebound and Geno blocks the shot. Thank God he did that. Murray is probably breathing a sign of relief. I hop off the bench and jump into the action. The puck slides to center ice as the Senators missed a pass. I grab it and skate towards Anderson with it. I fake him out and put the puck top shelf into the net. The red light flashes and the team congradulates me on that goal. We are tied at one.

Alysha's POV

The Penguins tied it and better yet, Olli scored the goal! I feel like I got a little carried away because I jumped off the couch cheering and clapping. I'm not at a live game, I'm watching it live on TV. The game continues, but at the end of the first period, the score was 5-1.

Notes

Sorry for the late update. I have been super busy with school and work. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Give me ideas for the next chapter!