That Man Right There

Addie was in a daydream the next couple days. And even though everyone could see that she was, she didn't admit to anyone the reason why. Not even to Christine. Maybe, especially not even to Christine. Addie didn't actually think it was going to be a problem. Christine had said she wasn't into him and that made it seem like he was fair play. But still, she was hesitant to say anything should there be any backlash to her newfound happiness. Sid had promised he would call and he was good to his word. The following night he didn't text, he didn't email, he called. Good, old-fashioned, phone ringing, voices talking, called.

She had just gotten in for the night when her phone rang, and although she had a lot to do for her classes, she didn’t want to miss out on a chance to talk to him. Addie was giddy like a schoolgirl and it scared her a little bit to be at this level. This was unusual. As much as she was nervous about how she was hanging onto every word he said, she couldn’t pull herself to stop. After talking for awhile, Sid asked if she wanted to see a movie with him. She agreed and actually liked that idea more than the idea of getting dinner. With a movie, they’d have a bit more privacy; not that they’d be talking or climbing all over each other. But it was no secret that Sid was a big deal in Pittsburgh, and so going out to a restaurant, no matter how low-key, might prove to be difficult.

The day after that, he didn’t call. Which turned out to be more than alright with Addie. He would’ve been a distraction. A welcome one, but still a distraction, and it was imperative that she didn’t fall behind in her classwork so early on in the semester. But the following day, the day of the movie date, she didn’t have class. That gave her hour upon hour to live in the anticipation of what tonight was going to be like. What were they going to see? What should she wear? Would he come into her apartment again? Would he stay the night this time? It was at this point she decided she was definitely insane. Pull yourself together.

When she finally got her mind off the date, time flew rather quickly. The day passed and she soon began getting ready for their early night date. By the time it was six and Addie knew he would be by to pick her up soon, she ran through the apartment, searching for the earrings she’d pulled out earlier in the day. They were exactly where she left them, which would have been alright if she had remembered where she left them. And then there was a knock on her door. So she’d have to skip the earrings. Addie slowed down, took a breath, and then pulled the front door open. Sid looked absolutely handsome despite just being in a pair of dark jeans and a t-shirt.

He smiled when he saw her, “hi. Ready?”

She nodded and stepped out beside him with her purse, turning to lock the door. Addie noticed that Sid had only backed up a tiny bit, so when she turned to lock the door, her body nearly pressed up against his. And while they walked back to his truck, Addie realized that he didn’t kiss her at the door. She tried not to think too much into that. What was going on with her? Again he helped her up into his car before taking off, and it wasn’t much longer that she saw they were leaving the city.

“Where are we going?” She asked looking over at him.

He flicked his eyes at her quickly before glancing back at the road, “back to Sewickley. This theater’s a little smaller and people are more used to seeing me out around there so they may not bother us as much.”

“You’re kind of a big deal, aren’t you, Sidney Crosby?”

“A little bit,” he laughed and raised his eyebrows at her. Then he took one hand off the steering wheel and held her hand over the center console. “We’re seeing Casablanca. Ever seen it?”

Addie glanced at their hands, enjoying the way his fingers fit in the spaces between hers. “Not a huge Bogart fan, but I do enjoy that movie.”

“When we get out of the car,” he looked over at her and squeezed her hand gently, “I’m not going to hold your hand or kiss you, or…” he trailed off, glancing back at the road. Even though Addie had a pretty good thought of why he wouldn’t do those things, Sid still chose to explain. “I’m not comfortable with PDA,”

“It’s our first date.” How was she being the reasonable one now? “I don’t think we’re dating. I like you, you’re fun, but this is only the first date. What makes you think I even want you to kiss me?” She flicked her eyes over at him and winked.

This was going to have to be a different relationship of sorts. Here were two people, both searching for someone or something to heal them from wounds that were years and years deep. Neither of them wanted to move too fast, not only in fear of scaring the other off, but scaring themselves off too. They were their own worst enemies but still had the ability to ruin each other.

Sid did exactly what he said he was going do to. He didn’t try to hold her hand, he didn’t try to kiss her; he even made sure when they walked that he stood far enough away from her so they didn’t accidentally bump shoulders. Going out in public with someone else was a task to him and he had spent years perfecting the craft of getting through it. He picked up the tickets from the kiosk after telling Addie to wait by the elevators, where he was stopped for the first time to take pictures. Then his name was hollered by someone as they rode the elevator up to the theater. And when they got inside, Sid handed Addie her ticket and asked her to get them seats as he saw another group of eager people rushing towards him.

Addie wanted to be disappointed; she really did. She wanted to be angry that he was giving her orders of where to stand and what to do while he galavanted off to be adored by the public. But she couldn’t because despite the orders and requests, he was being gentle. He was overly apologetic that he couldn’t speak to her for more than three minutes at a time before someone else was hollering at him. His eyes looked sad every time he had to tell her to do something so he could go handle fans. And so Addie couldn’t be mad or disappointed no matter how badly she tried or wanted to. At the end of the day, this wasn’t a perk of the job, it was a sacrifice.

She spotted him walk in and at the time, they were still the only people in the theater. It had been revamped with the fancy cushioned and reclinable seats, and Sid pointed his finger towards the back of the theater. Addie took the hint and got up, meeting him in the aisle and heading for the last row of seats. What took her by surprise was that while they were ascending the steps, Sid hooked his fingers around hers. She looked back at him, catching his smile, and immediately understood his reason for wanting to move seats. Even if more people were to join them for this viewing of a classic movie, the back row would give them privacy; not to do anything too absurd, but to be able to hold hands, or put up the arm rest between them and cuddle. Addie was happy he had the foresight to do so. By the time the lights dimmed to their lowest, only three other couples had come into the theater, and none of them noticed their beloved hockey captain sitting in the back row.

The worst part of the movie was the first twenty-five minutes. And not because there were plot holes or the characters were poorly developed or the acting was bad. But because it took Sid those twenty-five minutes to make a move. When he finally did, it was quiet and without hesitation. He took it upon himself to lift the arm rest between them. With that out of the way, he stretched his arm out and slid it around Addie’s shoulders. She looked up at him as he did so and scooted closer to him, resting her head back against the front of his shoulder.

She could feel his fingers dancing up and down her arm and it was just that sense of closeness to another human that made her melt a little more. Addie had always considered herself a highly independent person, but after this… after wanting to be wanted so badly by someone else, she wasn’t sure she knew anything about herself.

For most the movie, they were content to just have their bodies touching even if it did result in Sid’s arm going numb somewhere around midpoint. But when Addie knew the movie was winding down in its last fifteen minutes, she tilted her head back and looked up at Sid. The movement, even in the darkness, caught his attention and he glanced down at her. Addie smiled knowing she had his attention, and then slowly, Sid lowered his head and kissed her gently. She grinned against his lips and reached up, cupping his head in her hand. Sid parted his lips and bit her lower lip softly. A faint giggle passed his lips when he heard Addie let out a quiet, airy moan. She lowered her hand from his cheek to his chest and hooked one of her legs over his, using it as a chance to press more of her body against him. It was at that point she felt, for the first time, the magnitude of his physique. He cradled her body in his arms and kissed her again, not hesitating to use his tongue. She was thankful for his sudden burst of spontaneity that resulted in her first passionate kiss in almost two years.

With the noise of the movie providing the perfect cover, Addie pressed her lips to Sid’s ear as he kissed her neck. She moved her hand from his chest and centered it over his crotch.

Sid didn’t say anything, but moved his lips back up to hers and then grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his crotch. Although Addie kept kissing him, she was confused what that meant. Had he just thought he was doing the honorable thing? Had he been turned off and didn’t want her like that? Probably not, given that he continued to put his tongue in her mouth. But why didn’t he want her touching him? Before she had enough time to ponder all of that, they apparently both knew the last line of the movie because as Humphrey Bogart said it, they both pulled away from each other and returned to a normal sitting position as the theater lights came back up.

Addie looked over at Sid from the corner of her eye and caught him smiling as he wiped his fingers over his lips. She wasn’t offended by that at all because her dark lipstick had smeared over his mouth. The other three couples were quick to leave the theater, but Sid and Addie waited for just a minute, relishing the time they’d get to remain holding hands before having to go back into public.

It wasn’t super late, but people were too enthralled with their own plans to notice or care that Sidney Crosby was walking amongst them, and so they made it back to his truck without any incident. And the truck remained silent until they got onto the freeway heading back towards Pittsburgh and Sid held Addie’s hand over the center console again.

“What are you doing Friday evening?”

She looked up at him again. “I start teaching,”

He looked over at her and furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

“Getting my degree requires teaching an undergrad class. Friday night I start teaching a lecture hall full of uninterested co-eds about the role of the US Army Airborne in World War Two.”

“What about after that?” Sid smiled and let go of her hand as he turned a corner off of the freeway.

Addie set her hands in her lap, “if you’re free after nine. It’s a three hour class.”

“Maybe we can grab a drink afterwards,”

Addie smiles and nodded. It would be interesting to see Sid in an environment with alcohol flowing freely. It’d give her a chance to see if this put-together, mature man could loosen up in a more social setting. She thought about that for the brief drive back to her apartment and when they pulled up and Sid walked her to the front door, Addie hoped this wasn’t where the night was going to end.

Alas, after asking if he wanted to come in, Sid declined as politely as possible, reassuring her that he had had a wonderful time and looked forward to their second date on Friday. They kissed again, much quicker than the kisses in the movie theater had been. And then Sid was back in his car and driving off within a matter of minutes.

Notes

Wooooooooo!