Chapter Two

"Wow… you look nice! Where are you going?" I ask as I walk through the front entrance on my way to the kitchen. Bree is leaning against the wall, wearing a short black dress that clings to her curves and looks unbelievably hot. But I can't exactly say, 'Hi, you look unbelievably hot and I wanna right now, up against that wall...' even though that is exactly what I am thinking. I have never seen her wear that dress before. I thought I had seen all her clothes.

"Thanks… just out for dinner," Bree mutters as she fights to slide her foot into her shoe, getting the straps into the right places.

"Oh yeah? With who?" I ask, kind of shocked that she was leaving without telling me.

"Paul. He asked if there were any good places in town and I told him there were a couple that I knew about and so we are going to go to one…"

"On a date?" I practically choked on my own tongue.

"No! I mean, I guess it might be kinda like that but we are just friends, having dinner…" Bree just shrugs like its no big deal.

"Like you and I go for dinner?" I ask, trying to act innocent, not like I am prying.

"Well hopefully I won't have to go in through the kitchen or use some dirty service elevator… or watch the waitress flirt shamelessly," Bree laughs. "And it might be kinda nice to talk about something other then your schedule and hockey… I guess he is still a hockey player, so there isn't much hope in not talking about hockey but…"

"I meant –" I stutter, still in shock. She wouldn't wear that dress to have dinner with me. I wouldn't complain if she did...

"I know what you mean! Relax, it's just dinner. I am not distracting your team mates or anything. I'll be home early and you are all packed for the road trip. You have a skate tomorrow morning at Southpointe and then I will drive you to the airport," Bree rambled on about my schedule but I didn't hear any of it. I can't believe she is having dinner with Paul. I knew it! I should have told him that she was off limits from the start.

"I'll see you in the morning! Get some sleep," Bree instructs me, as she searches for the keys in her purse. I reach for the door and pull it open for her, as she kisses my cheek on her way past me. That's just mean. And I hate when she wears heels that make her basically the same height as me.

I watch her walk down the sidewalk towards her car and debate what to do now. The petty twelve year old in me wants to call Max and Tanger and head to the restaurant that I think they will be at, just to spy on her. I know they wouldn't say no but what would that prove? That I am pathetic? I don't think I need any more proof, as I stand here watching her drive away to be with another guy.

-.-

"Did you really have to text me a hundred times during dinner?" I look over as Bree walks into the family room, pulling out her earrings. I thought she might be pissed at me when she came home but she sounds more exhausted then anything. I hope it's not from a night of making out in the back of Paul's rental car… or worse.

"Well if you were home, I would have just been able to ask you…" I explain. The texting started off innocently enough, with a question about a contract but then, I admit, got a little out of control. But from the sounds of it, I may have been on to something.

"Is that what this is about? Am I not allowed to leave the house ever?" Bree put her hands on her hips, which just emphasized her curves and wasn't really helping the point.

"I didn't say that…" Was all I could muster.

"Oh my God Sid! I need to get out every now and then!" Bree stomped her foot on the ground.

"We go out…" I shrug.

"Without you… I need to get out without you. I need to have a life of my own, or at least a couple hours where I can pretend that I do!"

I know she is trying to explain her point but I don't get it. She's never said anything to me. "You have a life…"

"Do I Sid?" She asked. "I was out for dinner with a really nice guy and I was answering your texts all night."

"You didn't have to answer, you chose to answer." I try to defend myself.

"Because I know that you would whine when I got home if I didn't! And don't tell me you wouldn't because I know you…" Okay, she might be right on that one.

"I'm sorry you didn't have a good time…" I offer, trying to sound genuine but I'm not doing so well.

"I actually did have a good time, despite you. We are going to have dinner again when you guys get back from your road trip. He seems like a nice guy," Bree shrugged. "Maybe you could leave me alone long enough for me to find out next time… seriously, he probably thinks you are the neediest guy on the planet! I believe his exact words were prima donna..."

I watch as Bree laughs to herself and then left the room, as if I am some big fucking joke to her. How did it come to this? I thought when I asked her to come to Pittsburgh that everything would just fall into place but now it seems like it's just spiraling out of control, as she slips further and further away from me.

-.-

"Morning," I say as Sid wanders into the kitchen. I am not sure what time they got in from the road trip last night but I know it was late and I am surprised to see him up so early.

"Morning," he mutters, then grunts and points to the coffee pot. I reach into the cupboard for a mug and pour him a cup. I turn around and he is sitting on the bar stool, his arms by his side and his forehead flat on the counter.

"Sid, if you are tired, go back to bed!" I place the coffee down on the counter.

"No… I don't want to throw off my schedule… must … work out…" He says mid yawn and picks up his coffee.

"Well then promise me you'll go to bed early tonight! I hate dealing with you when you are overtired and grumpy…" I remind him. Sometimes I feel like his mom. Sometimes when I have to act like his mom, I feel I don't get paid enough.

"Fine…" He grumbles. He better be in a better mood when he finished that cup of coffee, cause he has a busy day and heaven forbid he missed a workout even though he has the next four days without games. I can't help but roll my eyes, especially when I catch him looking at his reflection in the mirror. He isn't vain but I think he thinks he's fat… which I think most of the world could agree is fairly far from the truth. I mean, sure his ass is huge but you could seriously bounce a penny off of it. I would love to try…

"What are we doing today?" He asked, as I shake my head and force myself to stop imagining his ass.

"We?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. "You sir, are going to the gym, then you have meetings with Ray, then Pat, then a rep from Reebok and then you can come home and have a short nap before your interviews at 2:30 and 4:00."

"I say we because I know you are coming too…" Sid rolled his eyes. "Where are the interviews?"

"One will be here and one is at the Channel 6 studio. And actually I won't be coming to that, so I hope you can somehow manage without me…"

"Why won't you be coming?" Sid asked, sounding a little more pissy then I expected, even for 7:00am…

"I am going to a movie…" I explain.

"In the middle of the afternoon?"

"Yup. Paul has a hard time staying awake at movies at night, much like someone else I know, so he asked if I would mind going earlier and grabbing dinner after that…" I explain. "I said it shouldn't be a problem… is it a problem?"

"Yeah it's a problem! I have to go to this stupid interview myself?" He practically shrieked.

"Yes, Sid… you have to go downtown all by your lonesome but you're a big boy now and I think you can do it," I reach across the counter and pinch his cheeks in the most condescending way possible. He has done hundreds of these interviews on his own and certainly doesn't need me.

"No Bree… you are missing the point! This is your job! Your job is to come with me to these stupid interviews!" He climbed up off of his chair but leaned on the counter.

"No Sid, my job is to be organized to tell you to go to these stupid interviews, not to go to them with you… I am doing my job! Don't you dare tell me I am not doing my job! I work my ass off!" He can't honestly believe that I am not doing my job. Does he have any idea how much work he can be?

"Well you are going to work a little harder because you ARE coming with me to the studio this afternoon!"

"Sid!" I gasped. He has never been this demanding.

"Deal with it!" He slammed his hand down on the counter.

"Fine, I'll cancel the movie and just meet Paul for dinner…" I concede. Sid just shook his head and stormed off. Fuck, he acts like a spoiled brat sometimes.

-.-

If she thought I was going to stand by and just let her go out on another date with… with… with that big eared dork, then she had another thing coming!

Big eared dork? Is that really all I've got?

Whatever! It doesn't matter. She should know what her job is and she has always come with me before. She can't just decide to stop coming with me to these stupid interviews because it suddenly isn't convenient for her. I asked her to come here to help me organize things, to be my assistant and I didn't think that I had to lay out every single bloody detail of her job.

Okay, okay! That's not the only reason I invited her here. I just couldn't come up with any better plan to keep her in my life at the time. I never wanted to treat her like just another employee but she is leaving me no other option. I'll just have to keep her busier then normal and come up with a better plan. But I can't watch her go out with someone else. I just can't.