"I'm so sorry," you quickly put your saxophone case down and bent down to pick up your folders after this guy had bumped into you. You avoided eye contact, you hated drawing attention to yourself which was ironic considering you were a musician looking for gigs.
"It's okay, don't worry about it," you both grabbed the same folder, looking up to make eye contact. He let go of the folder letting you add it to the pile under your arm. You were stunned to see who it was, a face you had wanted to meet so badly and now was the time, when you were flustered.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Y/N," you smiled.
"I'm Jeremy,"
"I know," you answered as you straightened the Bruins hat on your head. You had been a Bruins fan for as long as you could remember, and from being a goalie in High School they had always been your favorite players.
"Oh, yeah, right," he laughed, it was adorable. You were shocked you had made him laugh after only talking for a minute. You picked up your saxophone as you thought you were going to be heading back home to your apartment, but he kept your attention.
"Do you wanna go get lunch or something?" you were tired after an early morning practice with your band but you could not pass on the opportunity to eat lunch with your favorite player.
"Yeah that would be nice," the two of you began your walk to a cute little cafe you had been to many times on the next block.
"Do you want help with that?" You shook your head no quickly, you didn't trust anyone but yourself with any of your instruments.
"No- I mean no thank you, I've got it, this is one of the lighter things I've had to carry." He laughed again confused by what you had said but he was smiling, you loved his smile, and being the one that made him smile made you happy after your long morning. You had arrived at the cafe and quickly put your things down at a table to reserve you two a place to sit. You both order a light lunch, you order a smoothie with your salad hoping you get an extra energy boost. You both take your seats and Jeremy can not wait to find out more about you.
"So what's in the case?"
"Work..."
"What do you mean work? What do you do?" You didn't like drawing attention to your work, you weren't embarrassed by it you just didn't like the typical reactions you would receive when talking about the crazy schedule and who knows maybe you wanted to flirt a little with him.
"Guess."
"I don't know, just tell me" he ran his hand through his hair. You felt yourself blushing as you watched.
"You will have to find out some time," you left him in suspense, "look I don't like talking about work that's all." He nodded in understanding. You both shared your lives with each other and you realized you had a lot more in common than you would think. Despite him being an NHL player he didn't like drawing attention to his work either, he enjoyed talking to you he felt like a normal guy.
"You sure you can't tell me about work?"
"Jeremy, it's not that I can't, I just-" you stopped and shrugged.
"If I get you a ticket to tomorrow night's game will you tell me, or I guess to show me what you do?" Your jaw dropped.
"You're kidding right?" You were confused about why he wanted to know so badly, but maybe it wouldn't be bad if he saw you play with your band.
"I'm serious, give me your number I swear I will get you a ticket, right behind my crease, I figure you'd like it there right?"
"Jeremy this is too much-"
"Y/N please." You picked up your phone and looked at the time to see that you had been here for three hours. Time passed faster when you weren't stressing and cramming learning songs into your day, and you were taking a moment to appreciate your second love, hockey. You created a new contact for Jeremy in your phone as you passed it his way so he could put his number in. You sent him a text when he finished so he'd know it was you.
"This was really nice," you said standing up, "I needed this today, so thank you." He stood up too, helping you with your folders as you put your backpack on and grabbed your case.
"Yeah this was great, I needed this too, it's nice to feel normal I guess." He smiled at you. You blushed again, getting lunch with your favorite NHL player had become way more. He opened the door for you and you both stood outside as it lightly snowed wondering what would happen next. You went to grab your folders from him but he pulled them away,
"Let me walk you home,"
"No it's alright-" you stopped when you saw the look he was giving you, "Okay." You walked for another two blocks until you reached your apartment.
"Thank you," you had taken your folders back from him as you pulled out your key.
"No problem, I'll see you tomorrow at my game hopefully if you choose to go," he smirked, you smiled and rolled your eyes over how determined he was to get you to go to his game.
"I'll let you know tonight okay?"
"I'll be waiting for that text Y/N" he laughed. You opened your door and said goodbye. He walked away slowly as you quickly put your things down and went to the window to see if he was still there. You saw him walking across the street to the apartments there, he was your neighbor? How had you not bumped into him before? You closed the curtains and hopped in the shower and prepared a snack to eat in bed while you worked on more music for your performance next week. You stared at your phone, you assumed Jeremy was doing the same thing, waiting for you to send that text.
"I'll go 🙂" you sent it, he instantly replied. "Can't wait let me send you the ticket 🤩". You threw your head back on your pillow letting out a huge sigh of happiness. You received the ticket and turned your phone off to sleep waiting for tomorrow to come.
