Goalie // Sidney Crosby

Eighteen

Emerson had the day off as soon as morning skate was over. She was glad for that as soon as she plopped herself down onto the couch in her living room just an hour earlier. Pete was still at work so as of right now she was alone,, but the two planned to meet soon to go for lunch. Food was much needed as her stomach let out a low uncomfortable grumble.

Tomorrow the team would be heading to Florida, and she was actually very excited because she had never been before. She hated to say the teams would be easy to beat, but she was secretly hoping they would get two easy wins this week after Ottawa yesterday. Speaking of the Canadian team, Ems spent what felt like hours chatting on the phone with her former teammate. It felt normal talking to him about anything and everything. She had missed that.

Waking up this morning she felt genuinely very good. Maybe seeing people who mattered to her was helping her come to terms with things. So far she had been having a great day even though it was hardly noon. Mentally there was this unexplainable happy feeling that caused a hop in her step, a smile to form midway through drills, and allowed her to think more positively. Days like these were what she wanted to continue with.

"Alright I'm leaving work now so let's meet at our favorite deli now!" -Pete

Seeing Pete's text she immediately kicked her legs off the couch to force herself to get up. She had already been dressed and ready to go, she was just waiting for the message.

The sun shimmering down onto the sidewalks was misleading, as the air was sharp and chilly. There was yet to any type of snow, but Emerson was pulling her warm jacket into her body tighter as she began jogging to her car. Her breath was easily visible and the cold air was hurting her lungs as it came in. She absolutely hated winter, but this was nothing compared to what went on up in Boston.

It didn't take long for her to drive to the deli. Only a few minutes longer due to some unnecessary traffic.

As she walked into the place, the small bell dinging as the door opened; she spotted Pete already sitting.

The deli was a bright, modern, quaint place they liked to frequent. The workers were always the same five people, who were the types to memorize your order and spark up a
conversations.. The walls were decorated with beautiful paintings of nature and things that represented the world of food. Some of her favorites were the small signs scattered about with sarcastic comments. All in all the environment was perfect for the healthy close to home-cooked as it could get food for literally anyone.

"Hey!" Emerson said happily as she took a seat across from her close friend.

"Hey there, you seem happy today."

"I am. It's been going pretty good so far."

"Awesome! Well I already ordered your usual so we wouldn't have to wait much longer." Pete moved a glass of water closer to her signaling it was hers, "Hopefully it'll be out soon."

"Oh thanks." Emerson thanked him bringing the small black straw to her lips to take a sip of water.

"When do you again? Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, a bit early too, just so we can get there. It'll be much nicer weather than here."

"You hate the heat!"

"Yeah but I also dislike the cold.."

"You need to go to like.. North Carolina of someplace around there that's like always the same." Pete eyes sparkled with amusement. He knew his friend was hard to please when it came to weather; she was always complaining. How was she a hockey player again? He could never get over how cold rinks got at times.