Chapter 6

Training was going really well, in fact the boys were thrilled by what I was doing with them and I was becoming very good friends with them and their girlfriends / wives.

I took advantage of these new found friendships to find that Sidney was indeed single Every time I was in his company I found that I would be watching him from afar and longing for him to notice me. I realised one night after walking home with him after a night out on the town with the boys I was falling in love…! Is this really allowed after losing the love of my life less than a year ago, could it really be possible to find someone that could make me happy again?

That night I lay in bed thinking, telling myself that I cannot fall in love with one of the most famous ice hockey players of his time, someone who is 5 years my junior, someone who I work with, someone who barely knows I exist and who I barely know. As I lay thinking I wondered if all these reasons were valid or if I was just trying to protect myself after being hurt so badly when Paul died. Anyway my pal Kirsty from back home in Scotland is coming over shortly for a month so I will be able to talk to her about it, she will have some words of wisdom she always does.

I was finding it increasingly difficult to get my work done in the office as I needed to spend more and more time with the boys on the ice and the training field so I decided to talk to Mario, it was decided that since the boys felt the training was so beneficial that we would employee an assistant to help me in the office.

That day I set about placing an advertisement in some of the local papers and on the NHL website. The applications I received over the next few weeks were phenomenal, I could not believe the interest I received, it then made me realise what I had went up against to get my job, it gave me so much of a buzz and such a sense of achievement.

I had meetings scheduled with each member of the team individually for this afternoon after training so we could see where each player felt they were and how they felt the new training scheme was coming along. I kept Geno and Sidney’s meeting until last. I expect Geno’s meeting to be quite difficult as his translator is ill and my Russian is still very limited.

Much to my surprise the meeting went brilliantly – Geno had been trying to learn English. He had asked the team to keep it from me as he was so impressed that I had been learning Russian that he wanted it to be a surprise. He is coming along so well, I am very proud of him.

The meeting with Sidney was much harder. I found myself wanting to stare into those piercing brown eyes of his but I need to act professional so the meeting goes on and I find myself watching what is happening outside just so I do not have to look at him. He has such a warm personality and is so easy to talk to, everything about him is perfect. You would never know that he is one of the top players in his profession. He is so down to earth. I need to stop having feelings for him and just accept him as a friend and a work colleague.