Chapter 9 - Norway
Marie entered O'Malley's with Simon. She looked around the room and when she saw the group, she led the way over there. She introduced everybody to Simon and Simon to everybody. They were there to celebrate Buzz's 25th, Mark and Mark Wells' 22nd birthdays. Since the team was going to be gone in a week to play some European teams, they decided to have a big celebration.
Marie, Connie, and Regan decided to head over only to the Norway game, because since school was starting for them, they couldn't possibly skip school for about two weeks to follow the team around. They wanted to show their support for them, and they figured if they could go to one game then the guys would know they were rooting for them anywhere other than practices. They wanted to see them in action against other teams for the first time. When Marie mentioned this to her parents, they were concerned about school. Marie only had four more classes to go before she graduated. She reminded them this and if she had to, she'd work extra hard for that one class that she was going to miss anyway. They weren't going to change her mind about going.
Simon talked the night away when he wasn't dancing with Marie, with some of the guys. They did think he was a great guy and told Marie that, which she was extremely grateful over the news because it meant a lot to her. As the night went on, the guys started to split up to talk to a couple of girl's that caught their eye. Marie was sitting with Simon, Mark, Rizzo, Jack, and Silk when Mark said that he didn't believe that Dave Christian was dancing with a beautiful girl that everybody noticed. Marie had started to take a drink of her beer, but she spit it out when she heard Jack say that it looked liked the blind squirrel found her nut. The guys looked over at her and laughed.
Marie was shocked at the comment because she thought Regan and Jack had something going on. When she looked over at Regan, where she was sitting at the bar talking to some guy, she realized that maybe her friend wasn't interested anymore. Marie was concerned about the whole situation because it dealt her friend and two guys who are really good friends. If something happened then the team would also be suffering from the situation that would cause trouble for both guys. It wouldn't be good.
Marie not only danced the night away with Simon, she danced with Rizzo, Silk, Jack, and a few other guys. When she had a few moments to catch her breath she talked to Connie and Regan. She didn't bring up the Jack thing because she really didn't care about it at the moment. She was enjoying the party. When the night ended, she left with Simon.
vvv
Marie clapped with the rest of the crowd when the buzzer sounded ending the Norway vs. USA game. The team tied with the Norwegians and from what she could see now from her seat, Coach Brooks wasn't trilled with how his team played. Connie, Regan, and her stood up with the crowd and started to head out. Marie looked back at the ice and saw Coach Brooks point to the end ice. She stopped both girls and they watched as the guys started doing the red line, blue line drills.
"Think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don't have enough talent to win on talent alone. Again."
"Oh my God," Marie said shocked. She was surprised that Coach Brooks said that.
"And if you think you can come in here and play the Norwegian National Team and tie them and then go to the Olympics and win… you got another thing coming."
The team did the drill again and all three girls looked at one another. Marie was lost for words. They sat down, they weren't going anywhere.
"You better think about something else, each and every one of you. When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates and the name on the front is a hell a lot more important than the one on the back! Get that through your head! Again!"
Marie cringed at that thought. Coach Brooks didn't think they played like Gold Medal finalists. They still played like college students. If this was the way he felt than they deserved to do this drill. They did it for another eight times before Doc went out onto the ice because the rink manager wanted to get his job done.
"You keep playing this way, you won't beat anybody who's even good, let alone great. You want to make this team, then you better start playing at a level that's gonna force me to keep you here. Again!"
Connie was concerned about her boyfriend, Regan and Marie was concerned about everybody. They thought it was nuts when they kept on going when the lights went out. Marie thought a couple times was ok, but now it was crazy.
"This is cannot be a team of common men… because common men go nowhere. You have to be uncommon. Again."
"Herb this has gone on long enough!" Doc voiced his opinion.
"Everybody on that line."
Marie wanted to do something. One of the guys threw up and the rest were bent over trying to catch their breath. She wanted to yell at Herb Brooks and tell him that he was being a selfish asshole.
"Mike Eruzione! Winthrop, Massachusetts!" Rizzo called out.
Marie, Regan, and Connie caught their breath and were waiting to see what he was going to say. They let it out slowly when they heard his answer to Herb Brooks' who do you play for question.
"The United States of America."
When Coach Brooks left the ice and they saw Doc and Craig Patrick help the players, they decided right away that they were going to help. They didn't care if they weren't apart of the organization, or the rink, they were going to help. They decided to get onto the ice by hopping over the board behind the bench because it didn't have a partition there. Connie went straight to Rob, while Regan and Marie helped whoever they reached first. After helping the guys into the locker room, they stayed outside to wait for them.
Marie's attitude about the whole situation was half mad at the guys and half mad at Coach Brooks. She wondered what made him go off like that other than tying and possibly not playing their best. He did say Verchota had a hot date. She looked at her watch, but sighed because she forgot she still had it on Minnesota time. "Wonder what the mood in there is like?"
"Probably tranquil," Regan replied quietly.
A few more minutes passed and the girl's were getting a little restless. Their heads shot up toward the locker room door when it opened for the first time. Dave Christian waved to the girl's before heading off. The next person was Mark. He came over and got a hug from each of the girls. When Rizzo and Rob came out they stood in the hallway just trying to relax before heading back to the hotel.
"Did you guys learn your lesson!" Marie huffed.
Rizzo was taken aback by Marie's attitude. "Marie…"
"I just hope you guys realize you aren't playing in college," Marie scowled. "What made Herb go off like that?"
"Some of the guys weren't paying attention," Rob answered back in the same manner that she was using. "They were checking out the crowd. They weren't focused on the game."
Marie shook her head. "And they want to go pro! Do you think if you played for… oh I don't know… Scotty Bowman, he's going to be easy on you?"
"Look they learned their lesson… we all did!" Rob responded back. "Why are you being like this?"
Marie sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm angry at Herb, I'm angry at the team, I'm angry at myself. I guess I wasn't really paying extra attention to you guys because I ended up enjoying watching you guys play than being more of a critic."
"I'm glad you're enjoying the game, the practices," Rizzo said. "But Marie… do not beat yourself over the fact that you have to pay more attention to every little thing. Just be a fan."
Marie stayed quiet. She was going to be angry for awhile. "I'll be outside, trying to cool down." She left real fast and when she got outside, she paced back and forth. When she turned around to go back the other way, she jumped. She seriously wasn't expecting to see Silk.
"You ok?" he asked.
Marie nodded. "Trying to cool down. I just went off on Rob and Rizzo."
"We all heard you," he told her. "I agree with you. If we want to be pro's we gotta act like it."
Marie sighed. "I just…"
Silk walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Marie… seriously we deserved it. It was a wake up call."
Marie sighed again and looked down at the ground. When she looked back up, she smiled but it wasn't her signature smile. She still had a little frustration in her. "As long as you guys realized it."
Silk let go and put an arm around her shoulders. He walked back with her to the bus area and she smiled a little at Rob and Rizzo. Rizzo gave her a hug and Rob tried to resist, but he did, too. They said bye and the girls said they would be waiting for their calls in the next few days as they played their way in Europe.
vvv
A week and a half later, Marie made plans to spend an entire day with Simon. He told her that he'd make the plans for them. She found herself that morning, riding in his car, headed to his cabin at a lake. When they got there, he explained what he had planned out. Marie had said once that she wanted to learn how to fish, so he brought them there to do just that. Plus, after they fished he'd make a romantic dinner for them.
"Are we keeping or releasing the fish?" Marie asked after Simon explained the procedure of what to do with the hook.
"I was hoping if we caught at least one, that would be our dinner," Simon told her.
They stood on the sandy beach as they kept reeling the line back in and releasing it back into the water. Marie's fishing pole bounced and tugged a little while later. "I got something!"
Simon told her, "Reel it in."
Marie reeled the line in and Simon took a hold of the fish. He told her the exact details of how to take the hook out of the fish's mouth. After they put the fish in a cooler he brought out. He turned to her and gave her a way to go kiss. They kept fishing for another hour, talking as they stood there.
Marie reeled her line in and fastened the hook securely against the pole and set it against a tree that was nearby. "That was awesome. Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. We still got dinner," he said.
Marie smiled and as he put his stuff away, she waded into the water until her ankles were submerged. She was just staring into the wilderness and listening to the sounds when Simon's arms went around her. She jumped a little, but relaxed into him.
"Peaceful, isn't it?"
Marie nodded. They stayed there for a few minutes before they decided it was time to start dinner. When she put her shoes on, she held onto Simon. When she looked over at him, he leaned forward and started to kiss her. They didn't pull away until a few minutes later.
"I love you," she blurted out. When she realized what she said, her eyes widened.
Simon was quiet. She didn't know what he was thinking. Finally he smiled. "I love you, too."
Marie let out her breath that she didn't even know she was holding. She smiled back at him and kissed him again. "Make love to me."
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Of course," she whispered.
Marie and Simon stumbled into the bedroom a few minutes later and for the very first time they shared their love.
