Thursday, April 17, 2008

Chapter 23 - How I Spent My Summer Vacation

So Sid did end up breaking the record for most points in a season by a 16-year-old. He managed one goal and four assists, moving from 124 points to 129 points (the previous record was 125). Not that I was surprised or anything like that. I mean I don’t think anyone was surprised. That’s why his parents were there… it was expected that he’d do it. No one figured he wouldn’t manage it. I was so proud of him, even though the media circus was so intense that I didn’t get to congratulate him until later that night. I didn’t even bother waiting for him. There was no point. His agent and all kinds of media people surrounded him. Even his Mom (who waved at me when I tried to see him) had a hard time getting too close to him.

With two games left in the season Sidney needed three more assists to beat the record for most assists in a season by a 16-year-old. Watching the media around him, talking about how some of them weren’t sure that he could do it… it was actually sort of disgusting. I shook my head. I knew full well that if that’s what Sidney wanted to do, then he was going to do it. For my phenom it was that simple.

So I grabbed Michelle and we all headed over to Marc-Antione’s place for a bit of an after game, record breaking celebration. Sidney had promised that he’d show up later. He now had more assists then any sixteen-year-old in the Q ever. It was nearly midnight when Sidney made his way through the door, still in his suit. His eyes immediately began searching for me.

“Hey phenom.” I said walking up to him and kissing him softly.

“Did you have to dress for my parents approval?” He asked, making a face at the jeans and hoodie I was wearing. “I mean, I broke a record tonight and you can’t even bring out a skirt for the occasion.”

“And have another confrontation with your Mother?” I asked, shaking my head. “I wasn’t completely asleep last night Sid. I heard every word of your discussion with your parents.” I paused. “Besides, I thought you thought I looked sexy no matter WHAT I was wearing.” I added teasing him.

He kissed me firmly. “Of course you do.” He said. “I just love it when you show just enough skin to drive me insane. I love it when you drive me insane.”

I licked the shell of his ear teasingly with my tongue. “I don’t have to wear a short skirt to drive you insane phenom. You should know that by now. But I can’t wear a short skirt without having to deal with your Mom’s disapproving pursed lip look.”

“She’s disappointed in me you know.” He said wearily, once again sounding more like an adult then any teenage boy ever should.

I hugged him and buried my face briefly in his neck. “I know sweetie.” I said softly. “I’m sorry.”

“Did Mom tell you that Bianca tried to talk to her tonight?” He asked, accepting the beer that Eric offered him and plopping down in a large comfortable chair that someone had vacated while we were talking, pulling me onto his lap as he did so.

“She didn’t say a word.” I said, a little surprised that Bianca had actually done that.

“Yeah, when Mom took Taylor to go get a drink at the end of the first.” Sidney said. “Bianca walked up to her and introduced herself.”

“What did she say?” I asked curious. “Did your Mom say?”

“She tried to tell her that you’d been drinking tonight and asked if Mom knew about the flask that you carry around with you everywhere.” Sidney said. He knew full well that I do in fact carry a flask with some kind of alcohol in it with me everywhere. It’s something that I started doing back home and having the flask (which my Dad had bought for me and was engraved) was more of a comfort thing then a wanting to drink thing. “But Mom didn’t believe her.” He added quickly when he saw the look on my face. “She even went so far as to tell Bianca to mind her own business.”

“I’ll have to thank your Mom.” I said, reaching into the pocket of my jeans for my flask and taking a swig. I handed it to Sidney. “You want?”

“What is it?” He asked, taking it from me.

“Gin.” I replied. “But I didn’t have it with me at the game.” I explained. “It was in the trunk of my car along with the 40 of gin that Mark went and got for me.”

“I knew you wouldn’t have it with you at the game.” Sidney said, taking a swig and then handing the flask back to me. “You want my Mom to like you far too much for that.”

I blushed. “Of course I do. I like you too much to have your Mom not like me. It would be hard too hard to deal with Sid.” I said.

“It’s not a big deal sweetie.” Sidney said, taking a chaser swig of his beer. “I drink, you drink, my parents drink, your parents drink, Mark drinks, Eric drinks, fuck we all drink.”

I laughed. “Well I knew there’d be a party after my boyfriend broke the record so I figured that I’d best be prepared.”

“You knew that I’d break the record huh?” He said, his lips working on my neck.

“I knew that you would break the record if that’s what you wanted to do, and I knew that you wanted to break it. So I knew it would happen.” I explained poorly, concentrating far more on how his lips on my neck felt then on what I was saying.

Sid laughed and hugged me tighter. “You definitely have a lot of faith in me.”

I kissed him gently. “Of course I do phenom. How can I not when you have so much faith in me?”

“Get a room!” Danny yelled obnoxiously, his arms wrapped around Michelle’s waist.

“You first!” Sidney replied, kissing me again.

“We could go to Tante Amèlie’s….” I whispered softly.

“Naw.” Sidney said, to my intense surprise.

“Umm why not?” I asked.

“Because I told my Mom where I was going to be.” He explained. “And that I’d be home by three. If I go with you to your Aunt’s I’ll want to spend the night.”

“So I have to sleep alone again tonight huh?” I said, somewhat sadly but still trying not to sound too disappointed. “I’ve missed you Sidney.”

“I know brat. I’ve missed you too. I heard you get up and leave last night and I wasn’t happy, but I didn’t want to get up to talk to you and make my Mom upset. You could have stayed you know.” Sid told me.

“I couldn’t sleep.” I said with a shrug. “And it was like, four am. So I went back to Tante Amèlie’s and lay on the couch in the basement watching TV until I fell asleep again. I didn’t want to turn on the TV here, because I didn’t want to wake anyone up.”

“I still wish you’d stayed.” He said. “I just wanted to kiss you first thing in the morning.”

“When do your parents leave?” I asked, nibbling on his ear teasingly.

“Not soon enough.” He replied with a groan, his arms tightening around my waist.

I giggled. “See Crosby?” I said. “I can drive you insane in sweats.”

“Stop making me want you.” He said, his voice low. “I can’t piss my Mom off tonight Nickie… she’s disappointed in me as it is.”

“Well then….” I said slowly. “Maybe I should get you home early.” I teased him, my hands smoothing themselves over his chest over and over again. “We can always spend some time in the backseat of your SUV.”

“That sounds far too tempting brat.” Sidney said, appearing to contemplate it.

“Felicitations Sidney.” A sickeningly sweet sounding familiar voice said.

“Bianca.” Sidney said coldly, turning away from me and towards her.

She glared at me, not that she hadn’t seen me before or anything like that. “Go away.” She snapped. “I need to talk to Sidney.”

Sidney pulled me closer. “Why don’t you go away?” He asked. “And while you’re at it, stay out of my life, and quit telling my Mom lies about Nickie.”

“I have never even met your Maman.” Bianca said, clearly lying.

“You introduced yourself to her at the game tonight… told her Nickie was drunk.” Sidney pointed out.

Bianca shrugged. “Nicole is always drunk.” She said harshly, clearly implying that she thought I was an alcoholic. “I did not think that she would not be.”

“And you’ve been calling my Mom to give her updates on my life.” Sidney said angrily. “I tell my Mom what she needs to know. You are only a part of my life now because you refuse to leave Nickie and I alone. So I really do not appreciate that.”

“Then perhaps you should call your Maman more often.” Bianca said, with a nonchalant shrug. “And spend less time with your trou de passage.”

Sidney stood, basically lifting me with him (one of the perks of having a very strong boyfriend) and glared down at her. I may not have spoken a lot of French when I got to Quèbec, but I had definitely picked up on a few things. I knew full well that a “trou de passage” meant basically, a hole to pass through. A slut. A whore. “Nickie n’est pas un trou de passage Bianca.” He said in his slow and careful French. “Tu es. Tu etais seulment un trou de passage pour moi, come tous les autres.”

Bianca looked ready to cry. “Mais Sidney, mon bèbè, je t’aime.”

“Tu m’aimes pas.” Sidney said disgusted. “You don’t love me, you never loved me. Shit Bianca, you don’t know what loves is. Love is patient and kind, true love is unconditional.”

“And she does not put conditions on you mon bèbè?” Bianca asked, glaring at me, as if this were my entire fault. I suppose in a way, it was, because if I hadn’t moved to Rimouski and if Sidney and I hadn’t fallen in love, Sidney would still be fucking her before games and ignoring her the rest of the time. “You cannot have any other girls because of her. I never asked that of you Sidney. She does.”

“She doesn’t ask me to be faithful. I’m faithful to her because I want to be.” Sidney said. “I love her enough to want to be with only her. I also know that she is woman enough that if I were to cheat on her, she would leave me, because she knows full well that she deserves better. You didn’t.”

Sidney took a deep breath. “Bianca, you’re a very pretty girl.” He said kindly, gently. “But you and I were never meant to be. You only wanted me because of what I am… the next big thing, not because of who I am. Nickie knows who I am and would love me even if I never played hockey again. You deserve someone who loves you as much as I love Nickie. Someone who is willing to give up other girls just for you, the way I’ve done for Nickie. But you need to believe that you deserve that before you’ll find someone like that.”

Bianca didn’t say anything. She just burst into tears and turned and ran away. Sidney looked stricken. He didn’t love her, but no guy likes to see a girl cry. Gently I wrapped his arms around me. “You did the right thing phenom. You told her how it was and then you tried to make her feel better about herself.” I said. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks.” He said, still looking concerned. “I mean, I don’t love her or anything… I never have, but she’s so upset….”

“She’ll get over it.” I said firmly. “It will be hard right now, but you did the right thing. I should go talk to her though, see if she’s okay.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Sid asked, looking at me as he were considering whether or not I could possibly be insane.

“Yes.” I said. “If I don’t talk to her and someone like Catrine does, then she’ll just make her hate both us. Maybe I can comfort her a little and maybe she won’t hate us quite so much.”

Sidney looked at me as if he didn’t totally believe me. He gave me a quick hug and whispered into my hair. “Good luck.”

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