Chapter 23 - Some Kind of Wonderful

I sat there, frozen for several long minutes. Or maybe it wasn’t minutes, it just felt like minutes. Maybe it was only seconds. Troy, Trina and Taylor were all looking at me expectantly. “Umm….” I said slowly.

Taylor tugged on my hand. “You have to come.” She said firmly.

“You really do.” Trina said with a motherly smile… the kind of smile that made me miss my own Mom.

“Sidney really wants you to be there Darryl.” Troy said. “He was very insistent that we make sure you come with us.”

“In fact….” Trina said slowly, as if she were suddenly gaining some more insight into what was going on with Sidney and I. “He told us that we couldn’t take no for an answer, that we had to convince you to come.”

I sighed, feeling resigned. I had no good reason for saying no, except my own stupid fears and insecurities. Troy and Trina weren’t about to lie to me, and tell me that Sidney wanted me there when he didn’t. So I couldn’t exactly say no, not without making Trina more suspicious then she already was.

I smiled tremulously. “I suppose I could, but I’d have to be back before six on Sunday.” I told them. “I have a lot of things that I need to do in my classroom.”

Trina grinned. “I’m sure that Pat can arrange something.” She said confidently.

I nodded, feeling nervous. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to Sidney when I saw him. In fact, I wasn’t sure what there was to say to him. I knew that I missed him, and this invitation showed that he missed me.

Either that, or he was too noble to leave things the way that they were, angry words spoken in a hotel room and he wanted to end things officially. I wasn’t really sure. There were times when I understood Sidney so well that it scared me, and then there were times when I just wasn’t sure about anything.

Since that night in Pittsburgh, I don’t think I’d been sure of anything where Sidney was concerned. Part of me needed to believe that things were over between us, and that it was all his fault, because he’d been deceiving me the entire time. But part of me still believed in him and in what we’d had.

So less then a week later, late one Friday night, I found myself on sitting on a plane, headed to Wilkes-Barre. Sidney wouldn’t be there when I got there, which was almost a bit of a relief. It would give me a chance to figure out what I was going to say to him when I saw him.

No, he was in Bringhampton with the Penguins, as they were taking on the Ottawa Senators in their farm team’s venue. So when I got to Wilkes-Barre, I headed straight to the hotel, where I collapsed, exhausted, into a dreamless sleep.

I woke late the next day and went for lunch with the Crosby’s, then out for some shopping to kill some time. I wasn’t entirely sure when I was going to get to see Sidney, but I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be before the game. I mean, I didn’t want to be a distraction to him. There were enough people looking for him to fail without me helping the cause by distracting him.

So I played lest in sight until it was time to meet the Crosby’s to go to the game. They headed over to the rink very early, around five, and I didn’t have much of a choice but to go with them. I managed to avoid going with them to the dressing room before the game, instead staying in our seats, a beer in my hands.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see Sidney. In fact, I was desperate to do so. But I didn’t want to be some kind of distraction to him and I didn’t want to hear after this game about how Sidney Crosby wasn’t living up to expectations. I knew that people were waiting for him to screw up and I didn’t want to be the reason that happened.

It wasn’t long before Trina made her way back to the seats. “Are you alright Darryl?” She asked, sitting down next to me.

I choked on my beer slightly. She’d almost snuck up on me, as I was alone with my thoughts, and hadn’t really been paying attention to anything but the ice surface. “I’m fine Trina.” I said when I had cleared my throat.

“Sidney was hoping to see you before the game.” She told me quietly.

I shrugged, taking sip of my beer. “I didn’t want to distract him.” I told her.

“He misses you Darryl.” She said softly.

I shrugged again. “I miss him too.”

We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. Finally Trina sighed and turned to me. “Darryl, I don’t know exactly what happened between you and my son, and I know that this probably isn’t my place, but he wanted us to extend this invitation to you because he misses you and he wants to make things right.”

Unbidden, tears came to my eyes and I dashed them away angrily. “Then why didn’t he call me himself?” I asked. “He never did try to call you know.” I informed her. “I have message manager, so if he called and I wasn’t home like he said, he could have left a message, but he never called.”

Trina sighed again. “Darryl my son cares about you. He cares about you enough to bring you home to meet us. Something he’s never done before. You’re the first girl he’s been with that I’d actually call his girlfriend. He’s new at this. I know that this isn’t easy for you either, but please, give him a chance.”

It was my turn to sigh. “I came didn’t I?” I asked, sipping my beer. “And I’ll see him after the game… I promise.”

Trina reached over and patted my hand. “Good.” She said. “Because he wants to take you for dinner after the game… he asked me to tell you.”

“Oh.” I said quietly.

Trina sighed again and stood. “Taylor is hungry so I’m going to go grab something from the concession. Would you like anything?”

“I’m fine thanks.” I said, not taking my eyes off the ice surface as I took another sip of my beer.
So I sat in relative silence until the game was done, answering questions whenever they were asked, and responding automatically to comments directed at me. The game was disappointing, at least if you were cheering for the Penguins. They lost to the high powered Ottawa Senators offense took the Pens to school 6-2.

The best part of the game was Sidney’s first NHL goal, though he didn’t bother gathering the puck. Part of me wondered why. So I asked Troy, who shrugged and said. “He probably doesn’t want to count a preseason goal as his first NHL goal.”

“Oh.” I replied.

I knew that Sidney would have to talk to the press after the game so I slowly followed the Crosby’s down towards the dressing room. Someone from TSN grabbed Troy and asked him a series of questions about Sidney’s performance. I blended back, trying to blend into the woodwork, hoping that no one would see me and wonder who I was.

As I moved back towards the wall a hand was placed on my shoulder. “You must be Sidney’s girlfriend.” The voice said, a slight French accent in her voice.

I shrugged. “Don’t you watch TV?” I asked. “Sidney doesn’t have time to have a girlfriend.”

The girl snorted. “Neither does Marc-Andrè.” She replied. “Yet here I am, living with him in Pittsburgh.” She paused. “I’m Catline Bergeron.”

There was something about her that made me want to introduce myself the way my Oma always had. “Yelsaveta Koryluk.” I said, shaking her hand. “But please, call me Darryl.”

“Darryl?” She asked.

I shrugged. “It’s what people call me.” I said, failing to mention that it was also my real name.

“Oh.” Was her only reply to my comment.

We stood next to each other in silence for several minutes. Finally Catline couldn’t take it anymore apparently. She touched my arm and I looked up at her. “Are you and Sidney coming out tonight?” She asked. “A group of us are going for dinner and then out to have a good time.”

I shrugged again. “I don’t know what Sidney has planned.” I told her honestly. “I think his Mom mentioned something about dinner, but that was it.”

“Well if you go for dinner with his famille, you will have to join us for drinks after.” She said with a smile, and I could tell that she was trying to be nice. “It will be fun, all of the young Penguin players together.”

I nodded. “Thanks for the invite.” I said noncommittally. “I’ll ask Sidney when I see him.” I nodded towards the locker room. “Of course, he’ll probably be in there talking to the press for a good hour.”

“Oh non.” Catline said, shaking her head. “C’est… it’s the preseason. They will not keep him from you for that long.”

I gave her a half-smile. I didn’t want her to think that I was a complete and utter bitch after all – I mean, I could be when I wanted to be, but well, I couldn’t always be a bitch. “I’m not so sure.” I said with what must have sounded like a bitter laugh. “Sidney is the freaking phenom after all.”

Catrine shrugged. “He is good yes.” She said. “But that does not stop the fact that he is only 18 years old.”

I looked at her oddly. This girl must have been completely crazy if she thought that the fact that he was only 18 was going to stop the vultures from taking all of his time. The media had been all over Sidney since he was sixteen. I shrugged. “Whatever you say Catrine….” I said slowly. “Whatever you say….”