\\.::=Five=::.//

Mel Rubbish: 24. Day care worker with Riana. Single. Sweet, loving, outgoing, thoughtful, and talented. Plays piano and sings.
On the way home, I filled Mel in on what happened. “And he invited me to the game tomorrow,” I said smiling ear to ear.
“What? You’re kidding. Please, tell me you’re kidding,” she said laughing.
“Sorry,” I laughed. “But, he gave me two, so if you want, you can come too.”
“Are you sure?” she asked excitedly as I nodded. “Ooh my God! Thank you so much, Raina!” she said hugging me. “We’re going shopping after this!”
I laughed and sighed, “Whatever you say.” After we got back and parents picked up all the kids, we headed to the mall and searched for the best outfit. “I’m nervous, Mel!” I said looking through racks of clothes.
“You at least talk to him before! I’m scared,” she laughed. “So, what’s he like?” she asked with a grin.
“Well, he’s very sweet and helpful. He’s definitely not like any other man. He loves helping out with kids.”
“Wait, how did you run into this guy anyways?” she asked looking at a blue shirt.
“Don’t get it,” I said making her put it back down. “Well, after work, I went to set up a few things and he came in the room after practice looking for a soccer ball. He started talking about what it was for and what he does for the kids. Then, he helped me set up and told me he’d see me tomorrow.”
“You’re so damn lucky, Riana,” Mel huffed.
“Sorry,” I laughed. After looking at clothes, we bought a few things, and headed home. “I’ll see ya at work,” I said dropping her off at the day care to go home in her car.
“See ya! And thanks a bundle!” she smiled getting out of the car. I drove home and looked at the time. It was nearly seven o’clock. One hour left till I could talk to Sid. I made myself dinner and tidied up the house. After I ate, and cleaned the kitchen, I looked at the time again. It was now three till eight. I picked up the phone and found Sidney’s number. I nervously hit send and gave him a call.
“Hello,” he said with little voices in the back ground.
“Hey, Sid, it’s Riana. I was just calling about directions.”
“Ooh, hey. How are you?”
“I’m fine, and yourself?”
“I’m doing swell. So, are you sure you really want to go tomorrow? It’s fine to say no,” he laughed.
“What?” I asked in shock. “Why would I say no?” I laughed. “I’m really excited.”
“Awesome,” he said in an excited voice. “So, who are you bringing?”
“Mel. She works at the day care with me. Is that alright?”
“Of course,” he laughed.
“Now about those directions,” I said not wanting to take up much of his time. He gave me the fastest way to get there and where to park. “Thanks, a bunch, Sid,” I said smiling.
“No problem. I was wondering what you’re doing after the game?”
My heart skipped a beat. “Uh,” I said trying to find words quickly. I didn’t think a night out on the town so soon was a great idea. “Well, I’m not totally sure. I have work really early in the morning, so I can’t stay out late. And I’m sure traffic won’t be too pretty,” I said trying to make it a light conversation.
“Ooh, yeah of course. I understand,” he said trying not to sound disappointed.
I sighed. “Don’t think I’m blowing you off, Sid. I just can’t do much on week nights. Those kids put in a long day.”
He laughed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about that. How about, on Friday before I leave for Florida?”
I took a moment to think. “I’ll let you know.”
“Awesome! Well, I better get the kids to bed and let you get ready for bed. Thanks for accepting.”
“Of course,” I said with a smile bigger than ever. “See ya tomorrow, Sid.”
“See ya. Good night, Riana.”
“Night,” I said and hung up. I smiled to myself and set the phone down. I haven’t felt like this in years. It was hard to accept something like this though. It’s been almost three years since Justin’s been killed. But a part of me still felt devoted, even though I had a broken heart. My mornings and nights are the hardest. I was always used to falling asleep in Justin’s arms and waking up to his face, watching over me as I slept. Every morning and night I think about his scent, looks, touch, and personality. I just have to except it will never be the same.

The next day seemed to go by so slow. I hurried the kids out with their parents and shut and locked the door. I slid down it and looked at Mel with a huge smile. “Ready?”
She looked over at me grinning. “Of course I am! Are you going to pick me up?”
“Yep, I’ll be there around five forty or something?”
“Whatever you can do, just call me before you leave.”
“Will do, see ya!” I grabbed my purse and coat and headed home. I ran inside and said a quick hello to Millie. I ran into the shower and washed up. I dried my hair and straightened it. I put on blush, eye liner, mascara, and a dark grey eye shadow.
I ran to my closet and pulled out my new outfit.



After prepping, I called Mel to let her know I was on my way. I sped to her house and picked her up.
She got in the car with a bright smile. “I’m so excited!” she yelled.
“I know,” I said joining her excitement. “I wonder where our seats are.”
“Probably a box with a television and room service!”
I smiled thinking about it. We drove to the arena singing to Bon Jovi. I pulled into the parking garage and parked the car. I looked at Mel who couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear. “Let’s go!” she said jumping out of the car. I shook my head laughing and joined her. “Will we get to met him?” she asked hopeful.
“I have no idea,” I shrugged. My phone then started ringing and I looked at my caller ID. I looked at Mel with a smile and got butterflies. “It’s him! Be quiet!” I said pressing talk. “Hello,” I answered, trying to keep my excitement down.
“Hey, Riana,” he greeted. “Are you here yet?”
“Yup, we’re actually walking to the arena now.”
“Well, can you meet me by the players’ parking lot? I have your tickets. I figured it’d be easier.”
I started jumping up and down a little. “Sure! I’ll be right there.”
“Okay. See ya.” He hung up and I looked at Mel.
“Let’s go get our tickets from the man himself!” I said loudly. We practically ran to the lot seeing Sidney standing outside in his gear and wearing yellow crocs. Damn, he’s hot! We walked closer to him and a guard stopped me. “Sorry, you can’t pass this. Players only.”
I looked at Sidney and yelled. “Sid!” The guard started to say something and Sidney ran over.
“Hey, sorry, I didn’t see ya there,” he laughed. “Here ya go, beautiful,” he said handing me the tickets.
“Thanks so much, Sidney. Oh, Sid, this is Mel. She’s my friend and works at the daycare with me.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said giving her a firm handshake. “Are you sure you don’t want to go out after the game?” he asked with a hint of hope in his voice.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Crosby. But we’re definitely on for Friday,” I said smiling.
“Awesome! Hope we put on a good show for you two ladies,” he said with a grin.
“Well, you better hurry your little ass in there and get to work then,” I said with a smile.
“Yeah, you’re right. Well, at least come down after the game to say bye,” he said smiling. With those perfect teeth!
“Of course,” I said as he pulled me into a tight hug.
“Awesome, it was nice meeting you, Mel,” he said giving her a hug as well.
“Same to you, Mr. Crosby,” she said, surprising me she could still speak.
“It’s Sid,” he said with a chuckle. “Bye, Raina. Ooh, and just come out here after. Text me.”
“Okay. Good luck!” I called to him as we started walking away. We barely got ten feet as Mel started freaking out.
“Oh, God! We just talked to Sidney freaking Crosby!” she yelled as we got to the doors. We talked about how sweet and what a gentleman he was to us, and how Mel swears he was flirting with me. I know it was obvious, but I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself.
We looked at our tickets and went to see where our seats were. “He fucking hooked us up,” I said staring at them.
“Huh?” she said looking at them. Yep. They were box seats and probably the best ones. “This is sweet,” she said breathlessly. “Let’s go!” she said grabbing me hand. We decided to try and find our seats on our own. Took a good fifteen minutes, but made it just in time. I got to the door and walked in.
“Holy shit,” I said looking inside. There he was himself, Justin’s idol, Mario Lemieux. He would always talk about how great he was, how much he looked up to him, and how he almost cried when he met him. Leave it up to Justin. I couldn’t help but smile thinking about it.
“Go,” Mel said poking me in the back. “Say something at least.”
I nervously walked and the room got silent and turned. “Hi,” I spoke, with my voice shaking.
“Hello, girls,” Mario said with a smile. “You must be the two Sidney invited. You can sit right up here,” he said pointing to a row in front of them. “I’m Mario, by the way.” He extended his hand and took a few steps towards us.
“Nice to meet you, Mister Lemieux,” I said shaking his hand. “This is my friend, Mel, and I’m Raina.”
“Nice to meet you both,” he said smiling. “This is my wife Nathalie, and my kids, Austin and Alexa. Lauren and Stephanie are at their grandparents.”
“Nice to meet you all,” I said waving and smiling. We took our seats and I looked at Mel. “I feel so awkward,” I whispered.
“So, Raina,” Nathalie spoke up, “have you been to a game before?”
I thought back to my last game. It was Mario’s first game back with Justin. He was so ecstatic to see Mario again. “Yeah, actually it was Mr. Lemieux’s first game back,” I said smiling.
“Really?” Mario asked smiling. “And just call me Mario,” he said smiling. “Did you have fun?”
“Yeah,” I said smiling, thinking about it. “I used to go a lot. But I got tied up with a lot of things and just didn’t have spare time.”
“That’s understandable. How long have you been a fan?”
“Since I saw you guys win the cup in Chicago. Great game by the way,” I said smiling.
“You were there?!” Mario asked in excitement. I nodded. “How old were you?”
“Four. My dad had to move to Chicago for a year for work, so we went with him and got hooked on hockey. But when you guy faced them in the playoffs, I couldn’t stop but cheer for you guys.”
“That’s awesome,” Mario said with a bright smile. We hushed up as soon as the lights went down and they did the intro to the game. We cheered as the team flew out onto the ice and stood for the national anthem.
The game started and I started to get really into it. Mario was giving me high fives every time there was a power play or a great play. He ordered pizza for us and drinks. “How awesome is this, Mel?” I said taking a bite of the pizza.
“Pretty hot,” she said setting down her food. “Ooh! That game!” she said smiling. “Pretty good, I think Sid’s showing off a bit,” she grinned.
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up,” I laughed as he passed Tyler Kennedy the puck and he scored. We stood on our feet and cheered. There were only five minutes left, and the Penguins were leading the Coyotes 3-1. We won the game and I just couldn’t wait to get home and fall asleep after a long day.
“Thanks for everything Mario,” I said shaking his hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you and your family.”
“Same to you two,” he said shaking both of our hands. “This was the most fun I had at a game in a while.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Well, I’m going to say thanks to Sid and say bye.”
“Alright, hope to see you again sometime.” I said goodbye to the kids and Nathalie too. “Let’s go see that stud muffin,” I said with a grin to Mel.
“Thanks for taking me tonight Raina. It was awesome!”
“No problem,” I said smiling. “I wouldn’t want to take anyone else.” I texted Sidney to let him know I was heading out, and to my surprise, he texted back quickly.
Awesome! I’ll go out now before interviews.
“Excited to see your lover?” Mel said nudging my arm.
I blushed. “Mel, stop. I really don’t think I’m interested him. Yeah, he’s cute, sweet, all of that, but I-“
“Raina,” Mel said stopping me and holding my shoulders. “You can’t keep living the past. I understand you miss Justin, and think you shouldn’t see other people. But, don’t you think he would want to see you happy?”
I looked down at the ground. Would Justin mind seeing me with someone else? Would he want me to actually see other people, instead of living alone for the rest of my life? I started to tear up but tried to hold back. I didn’t want Sidney to see me like that.
“Common,” Mel said grabbing my hand. We saw Sidney walking toward the gate and I got random butterflies.
We met eye contact and I smiled. “Hey, girlies,” he said smiling. “Did you two have fun?”
“Yes!” I said smiling. “I can’t believe we had box seats with Mario Lemieux! Thank you so much, Sid.”
He blushed. “I’m happy you liked it. Mel, did you have a nice time?”
“Yeah man!” she yelled. “That was fucking sweet!”
Sidney laughed. And God, was it adorable! “Well, thanks guys for coming. It means a lot.”
“It was a blast, Sid. Thanks,” I said smiling. “So, Friday, right?”
“Yup, I’ll call you tomorrow night and tell you what’s up.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to ya later.”
Sidney pulled Mel into a hug and said good-bye and then held my hand and pulled me closer to him. He hugged me and kissed my cheek. “Good night, Raina.”
I blushed and smiled at him. Even though he smelled awful, and was dripping with sweat, I loved hugging his strong body. “Night, Sidney.”