Ch. 6

Wait in line
'Till your time
Ticking clock
Everyone stop
Everyone's saying different things to me
Different things to me

Woooohh
Do you believe
In what you see
There doesn't seem to be anybody else who agrees with me

Do you believe in what you see?
Motionless wheel, nothing is real
Wasting my time in the waiting line
Do you believe in what you see?

Nine to five
Living lies
Everyday
Stealing time
Everyone's taking everything they can
Zero 7 – In The Waiting Line

Ch. 6

“Man, that must really bite the big one when you have to work Valentine’s Day,” the blonde bimbo customer said in a tone that didn’t make me feel like she was as overly sympathetic as she tried to sound.  Of course this wasn’t the first time I heard the statement today and it probably wouldn’t be the last since I had several more hours to go.  The Continental had been booked for Valentine’s Day since before the New Year, so we all knew it was going to be one hell of a night. 

The holiday had never been one of my favorites, even when I did have a significant other to spend the day with.  I always thought it was a complete Hallmark Holiday.  Call me old fashioned, but shouldn’t you celebrate your love everyday of the year?  Add in the anniversary of Brendan’s death being on the 5^th, it just made me sick.  It had been a rough week and a half, but I think it helped not being home with the family because my job forced me to smile and interact with people.

I just smiled at the young blonde who had spoke, shrugged my shoulders and opened my mouth to talk about our specials for the night.  Before I could get any words out she spoke again.  “This is my boyfriend Jeff Carter; he plays for the Philadelphia Flyers.”

I looked over to find Mr. Carter looking slightly annoyed that his date had to announce him like he was the King of England.  He leaned across the table and reached for the blonde bombshell’s hand.  “Fiona, honey, what do you want to drink,” he asked through his teeth, while trying to smile charmingly.

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud.  After knowing so many hockey players and growing up in a house full of them, I still did not understand why the majority of them insisted on finding the dumbest bricks known to men.  Some of these guys really were intelligent, despite what the common stereotype said about them.  I had actually met Jeff a few times over the years at different functions, so I was slightly worried he might recognize me, but it seemed my disguise was working out well.

“Gabby?” he asked as he squinted to read the name-tag pinned to my shirt.  “Can you bring us a bottle of your white wine special tonight?”

“Sure, I would be glad to,” I said politely before turning to go to the bar to fulfill his request.  While I was waiting for my orders to come up, I quickly checked my phone and my mouth dropped slightly when I read a text from my brother.

PattyB: Versteeg to Philly for 2 draft picks.

“No shit,” I breathed out louder than I thought.

“No shit what?” Kristy asked cheerfully as she poked her head over my shoulder, sneaking a peak at my phone.  “No shit…” she breathed a second later.  “Wow, doesn’t he play for…”

“The Maple Leafs,” I finished her sentence for her.

“I thought you didn’t like hockey,” she raised an eyebrow at me.

“Well, I did pick up a few things from living in Toronto for college.  It’s kind of hard not to know things when it’s in every paper, magazine, and news program.” I quickly covered.  It wasn’t a total lie; I definitely wasn’t a fan.  It was just my life.

“Well, that will put up the hottie factor on the team,” Kristy giggled.  “Speaking of which, I see you are waiting on the ladies man himself, Jeff Carter,” she elbowed me in the ribs.

Waiting on famous people here was nothing new.  It was well known that the whole team came here often, I had just been lucky to have to wait on any of them until tonight.  “Yeah, his girlfriend is a reeeeaalll winner,” I snorted.

“A lucky winner,” Kristy said seriously as she looked longingly over to my table.  I’d bang him in a heartbeat.”

“That’s a piece of information that I did not need to know.”

“But I’d rather have your cousin,” she winked at me before walking away giggling melodically once again and leaving me wanting to fake vomit because he was my brother and I was totally against hearing anything about him and sex. Eewie.

“Hey Daddy!” I chirped happily into my bluetooth as I jogged on the treadmill at the apartment complex gym.

“GabbyAbby!” he greeted me back cheerfully.  “I miss my baby girl.”

“I miss you too, Daddy.”  I was very lucky to know my dad as my dad.  He was a man that was very much business when it came to his job, but when it came to his family, he was always supporting and loving when you needed it the most.

“How is the waitressing job?  Are you making enough money? I can send you an allowance or something if you it…”

“Dad, I’m not in elementary school,” I frowned into the phone while rolling my eyes.

“I just want to make sure you aren’t working so much that you don’t have time to get out an enjoy yourself.”

“You sound like Patrick,” I frowned even more.

“Well, are you getting out?”

“I am.  Kristy doesn’t let me sulk at home by myself; heck, half the time she is over at the apartment doing her homework just so I won’t be alone.”

“Good.”

“Soooo draft picks for Versteeg?” I asked with a smile.

I heard him laugh because he knew he couldn’t get away from talking business, even with his family.  Besides, we were the only ones that had the guts to ask him his reasons.  “He’s a great kid and going to make an impact in the league for a long time to come, but he just didn’t fit with the players here…”

“Locker room issues?” I asked curiously.

“No, none at all.  Truthfully, I needed someone to play with Kessel.”

“Ah,” I said dramatically.  “The age old Kessel debate…”

“Yeah.  His self-esteem was totally bombed after the All-Star Game,” he answered truthfully.

“Tell Tyler to hold his hand more when they sit on the plane together,” I joked.  Tyler and Phil were both deathly afraid of flying and I think that is some of the reason the two of them became such good friends.  I had always found their friendship a little odd because Tyler was a lot more outgoing than Phil.  I always saw Kessel as the popular geek in school; he was awkward every time he opened his mouth, yet no one could be mean because he was so good at what he did.

“Yeah, Tyler seems to be the only one that understands him…” Dad said as if the wheels were turning in his head.

“Well, Philly is completely stoked to have Kris come here,” I pressed the conversation forward so that I wouldn’t lose my dad to his deep thoughts.

“That’s what Patrick said,” he said, obviously smiling once more.  “So are you going to go any games?”

“Oh, I don’t know…eventually.”

“Have you gotten on the ice at all?”

“Patrick took me over to the Skate Zone and got me signed up so that I could get rink time whenever I please.  They were ‘more than willing to help Patrick’s cousin,’” I giggled as I quoted the overly friendly rink manager who had no problem hitting on me the whole time.  Dad knew that the best rehab for me was getting on the ice.  Of course there were times that I played stubborn and said that I hated skating, but it was a total lie.  The ice was my sanctuary; the sound of my blades cutting into fresh ice was a symphony to my ears.  I played organized hockey up until I started college, and then I just played some games of shinny at the college rink when I had some time on my hands.  “So I’ve been over about 3 or 4 times so far,” I informed him.

“That’s good to hear.  Do you think anyone has a clue yet?” he asked.

“Nope.  My first test was last night when I waited on Jeff Carter and his girlfriend.”

“Ooh, yeah, you’ve met him a couple times.  Cool.”

“Daddy, I’m already starting to feel a little better…”

“Good, I’m so glad to hear that.  Well, I have to get to the Centre.  Jennifer and the girls say ‘Hi,’ and they miss you.”

“Tell them I miss them too. I love you Daddy,” I said, suddenly feeling a little homesick.

“Love you too, Abbers.”

If being traded wasn’t enough, I had to meet the team in the middle of a road-trip.  I was told before boarding the plane to our own little away jaunt, so I only had one change of clothing in my suitcase as I jumped on the next flight to Tampa. With one phone call, my mom and youngest brother, Bryce were hopping a flight from Lethbridge to pack up my apartment and drive my stuff to Philly.  I cringed when I thought about Bryce driving my precious car and I could already hear him trying to tell my mom the longest way possible to get to Philly so he had the maximum drive time in the Audi.

I said my goodbyes to my new friends, probably missing a few as I was pushed out the door and several hours later I was on the ice with a team that I had become my sworn enemy after 6 games.

“Kris, welcome to the darkside,” Pronger immediately walked over to me with an outstretched hand and his well-known cocky grin.  I had a feeling it was going to be a lot easier being on his side this time around.

“Heh, thanks Chris, it’s good to be on this side,” I grinned as I firmly shook his hand.  The guy was a future Hall of Fame-r and I still remember watching him raise the Cup in Anaheim.

The atmosphere in this locker room was completely unlike Toronto.  There were several voices that had no problem putting in their two cents.  Mike Richards was somewhat vocal, but I knew from stories he led by his on ice actions and not necessarily by words.  Pronger of course had a strong voice in the room, but they also had seasoned veterans like Kimmo Timmonen and Danny Briere.  This team had amazing depth and I was totally stoked to get out on the ice with the guys.

Immediately I realized it was going to take some time to get into Laviolette’s system, but I already liked how Richards, Nodl and I seemed to have clicked just during practice.

My first game with the team was against Tampa Bay.  Tensions were running high because they had been beat by this team 3 times and tonight they were attempting to stop the Bolts from completely sweeping them in their season series.  I just kept quiet and stayed focused on the pre-game ritual I had done since I was in Pee-Wee.

“Glad to have you on my line tonight, Versteeg.  Hope you can go out and have some fun tonight,” Richards said as we bumped fists before I hit the ice for the first period.  I smiled nervously, nodded and then took a step out onto the ice while my brain was still registering the fact that I was wearing the orange and black colors.

“Bryce! Get your butt over here and open the door for me!” A middle aged, blonde haired woman yelled over to someone I didn’t even see.  Her face was hidden behind some large boxes that looked heavy, so I quickly walked over and swung my key-fab in front of the door so that it would open for her.  She quickly thanked me as a younger guy, who I assumed was her son quickly scooted by me, but not before looking me up and down.

It had been an unseasonably warm day in the city, so I had taken advantage of the warm day and jogged outside instead of using the treadmill.  I was wearing a pair of short running shorts and an old US Hockey t-shirt.  The kid named Bryce obviously found it quite interesting.  Give me a break, you are at most 19 years old… He was so busy checking me out that he didn’t see his mom stopped in front of him.

*Smack* “Umph,” the woman breathed out as her son slammed in the back of her.  Somehow she was able to keep the boxes from falling out of her hands.

“Sorry mom,” he said with a bright red face, quickly taking a few boxes out of her hands before she flipped out. 

I just laughed quietly to myself and decided it was a good day to take the steps up to the 7^th floor.  As soon as I got up to the floor I inwardly groaned as I found the woman and her son standing at the apartment across the hall from my apartment.

“Oh, hello again,” the weary looking woman said with a friendly smile.

“Fancy meeting you here,” I joked lightly.  I caught a glimpse of Bryce still scowling from the previous embarrassment and once again found myself chuckling.  However, there was something that made me think he looked slightly familiar, but for the life of me, I couldn’t place the reason why.