Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Girl Next Door Chapter 49

A week later, Kate and her parents watched as Team Canada lost in the semi-finals. Kate could see the disappointment on the players’ faces, especially Sidney’s. A little while later, when Sidney called, Kate could tell from the tone of his voice exactly how disappointed he was.
“Hello?” Kate asked into the phone.
“Hey, Katie,” Sidney said in a depressed tone.
“Hi Sid. I’m sorry about the game.”
“Me too. I thought we were going to win it all, and then, we just…”
“It’s okay. At least you can play for bronze this weekend.”
“That’s not as good as winning the gold.”
“You’re right, it’s not.”
There was a lull in the conversation for a long time, until Kate began to tell him about the Stanley Cup playoffs, and how the team they were rooting for, Buffalo, was doing really well. After that, Sidney didn’t sound quite so depressed, but still clearly wasn’t himself.
“Katie, I have to go, they want another interview with me.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later. Take it easy, okay?”
“Okay, love you.”
“Love you too. Bye.”
*****
Canada didn’t rebound from their loss in the semis. They lost in the bronze medal game, 5-0, and Sidney sounded sad, but not quite as sad as Friday. Sidney was named the best forward of the tournament; he had led the tournament in scoring the whole time, so at least he was happy about something. He was off to visit old friends in Europe, and wouldn’t be back for a week and a half. Kate was going to her prom in a few days with Andrew, and graduating in two weeks. Her party was two days before her graduation, and her relatives would be there to help (Kate was, of course, dreading her Aunt Megan and Uncle Jack and cousins coming in).
Two days after the world championships ended, Kate got a call from Nathalie.
“Hello?” Kate asked.
“Katie? It’s Nathalie.”
“Hi Nathalie, how are you?”
“I’m pretty good, how about you?”
“Not much. Actually, I wanted to know if you could baby-sit tomorrow night.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know how late we’ll be. I know your finals end tomorrow, and that you have prom in two days, so if you’re too busy, it’s okay.”
“No, I can baby-sit, it’s not a problem.”
“Great. We’re going out to dinner with Ray Shero and his wife.”
“Is he the new GM?!?” Kate excitedly asked.
“Shh!! Mario’s not announcing it until tomorrow! But yes, he’s the new GM. We’ll be bringing him up here for a little bit, and then taking them to Morton’s for dinner.”
*****
So, the next day, at six o’clock, Kate walked over to the Lemieuxs, and rang the bell. Austin answered, and brought Kate in.
“The Sheros are here!” Austin excitedly said. He ushered her into their living room, where all of the Lemieuxs were, and then the Sheros.
“Kate, thanks so much, sorry about the short notice,” Mario said.
“No problem, I’m glad I could help,” Kate said.
After a short pause, Mario began, “Ray, Karen, this is our neighbor, Kate Hanson. Kate, this is Ray and Karen Shero; Ray’s our new general manager.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Kate said, stepping forward to shake their hands.
“Nice to meet you too, Kate,” they both said. After a pause, Ray asked, “Are you a big Penguins fan?”
Kate laughed, and answered back, “Oh yeah, you have no idea.”
“Actually, Kate’s, um, do you mind, Katie?” Mario asked, looking at Kate. Kate knew what he wanted to say, and she nodded, essentially saying he could say it.
Ray threw a puzzled look towards Mario, and then Mario said, “Well, Kate’s Sidney’s girlfriend.”
“I didn’t know he had a girlfriend,” Ray said, a little puzzled.
“Well, we’ve been keeping it pretty quiet,” Kate explained. “But everyone in the organization knows about it, but they were told to keep it under wraps.”
They talked for another minute, and then they left. Kate fed the kids dinner, and then played with them until bedtime. She sat around and watched TV until Mario and Nathalie got back around midnight. They talked for a couple of minutes, and then paid Kate. Kate walked back home, and fell asleep quickly.

No comments: