once the game was over, emma mentally prepared to face the press. she changed into her post game sweats and put on her black mask, slipping her feet into white crocs. she walked to the conference room and sat down. she crossed her arms, already seeing a bunch of reporters on tvs getting their notebooks ready to question her.
she took off her mask and took a drink of her water, wishing it was tequila. the media supervisor came in and started the conference. he looked at the paper in his hands, "brian sawyer, go ahead and ask your first question."
emma heard a mic turn on and an older man spoke, "how do you feel to be apart of sidney crosby's one thousandth game?"
"it's honestly one of the best things i've experienced so far in the nhl. just seeing the absolute dedication that he has towards this team and his career is absolutely amazing." she smiled, looking to the side of the displays and seeing sidney watching her.
"andy crews." the media guy said and another microphone clicked on.
"what was going on between you and your captain as the starting tribute played? are you two seeing each other?" the reporter asked, daring to ask two questions at once.
she paused, trying to think of what to say. she looked at sidney and he nodded, letting her know he was ok with her telling them. "yeah we are actually. i wasn't really there as a teammate in that moment, i was there to support my boyfriend."
"great. thanks." the reporter muted their mic.
"erica hall."
"someone found an old picture of you and blackhawks captain, jonathan toews. forgive me for asking but are you trying to be with every captain in the league?"
emma raised an eyebrow, "if you need to be forgiven for asking something, maybe don't ask. also, jon and i were in a relationship for almost five years. so answer my question, what about that time span would suggest that i'm just sleeping around?"
"i apologize, i wasn't aware of that."
emma didn't respond. she took another sip of water, ignoring the urge to walk out of the conference room.
the next couple of questions were about the way she played that night and she was happy it wasn't all about her relationship. but the happiness was short lived. a journalist unmuted themselves, "does it cross your mind that everyone in the league is watching as you fall into the stereotype that stopped women from being in the nhl in the first place?"
"and what stereotype is that?"
"that women and men cannot be just teammates and women being drafted into the league will only lead to fights within a team."
"what the hell are you talking about right now? there is absolutely no fighting between players because i am on the team nor because crosby and i are dating. believe it or not, real men are actually able to control their feelings." emma felt herself getting angry and coach sullivan seemed to notice.
"harvey, you are finished for the night." he waved her over and she got up, walking out of view of the cameras and flipping off the displays. she rolled her eyes, huffing and walking out of the room.
sidney followed her, putting his arms around her shoulders, "you ok?"
"i'm sorry i didn't tell you about jon. i didn't want you to think i was coming after you because of who you are."
"i already knew." he whispered and she turned to face him.
"how?"
"i might have looked you up and looked through all of your photos on google." sidney felt embarrassed.
"why did you do that?"
"i just wanted to learn more about you. i was too nervous to ask." his heart started to race, thinking a fight was about to start.
"i didn't realize i was so intimidating, sid." she frowned.
"it wasn't you. i just don't really know how to talk about my feelings sometimes."
emma felt bad, "you know you can talk to me about anything, right?"
"i do now." he leaned his forehead against hers, "i love you, em."
"i love you too." she pushed his wet hair back, "let's go home. i have a surprise for you."
