Work Text:
Alicia Carlson was staring sadly out a floor to ceiling window into the very snowy night on February 13th. And if she was also maybe sighing sadly, well no one had to know. The scene outside the Syracuse international airport was…not pretty. The flakes were quarter sized and coming down fast, they had been all day. Her plane, and really every plane, had been grounded indefinitely. She wasn’t going to make her date. Alicia leaned her forehead against the cold window. She REALLY liked this guy. God knows why, but she did. He was big and lumbering and seemed kinda dumb. But then you got him alone and you realized that exactly none of those things were true.
Oh well, nothing for it but to call him. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too disappointed.
Alicia turned to look for a payphone.
She called the hotel that she knew his team was using, asked for his room.
“Alicia! Mon cher, are you nervous about your flight?”
Alicia laughed under her breath. “No Bob, although next time I am I’ll remember to call you for a pep talk. Actually I’m calling to apologize. The snow is too bad, we’ve been told we won’t be able to take off for at least 24-48 hours, and that’s if the snow stops within the next six. I’m so sorry Bobby, you know I wanted to be there.”
Alicia heard a pause. And then, “Well that’s alright we’ll just have to reschedule. What are they doing for you tonight, is there a hotel that they’re putting you up at?”
“No, there’s one attached to the airport but it’s booked solid, they’re trying to find some place to send us but well it’s Valentines and a snowstorm, they don’t seem to be having much luck.”
“Oh well, that’s unfortunate, I know they’re doing their best though. Call me when you get to a hotel eh darling? I have to go, it’s rather urgent. We’ll find another day to make it up promise! I’ll talk to you later Alicia!”
She barely had time to say goodbye before the line went dead. That was odd, and, and rushed. It made her stomach curl sadly. It was always hard to keep relationships going. She was constantly on the move and often times her plans changed with a moment’s notice. It wasn’t terribly conducive to gaining trust and making things last. Plus, well, she was a model. Most men, at one point or another gave in to the idea that she was too pretty and that no one could resist her so she had to be cheating. It never occurred to them that SHE might be the one able to say no. And yes, she’d tried dating girls but…outside the arts it was so very frowned upon, she couldn’t take the chance that she’d be caught or worse that they’d be caught. Anyway, it looked like this might be a sticking point for Bob.
Alicia had really been looking forward to the next few days. Bobby and his team, the Montreal Canadiens were set to play the Ottawa Senators on the 15th. She was scheduled to go and watch from a private box. She loved watching him play. And the way the rest of the boys looked up to him. It was like watching poetry on ice, even if she wasn’t terribly fond of all the bruises he walked away from the ice with, though the bruises he gave out, they were another story.
Well. Nothing to be done about it now. All she could do was wait and hope that she made it out for the game, at the very least hope that they found her a hotel room and soon. They had returned the checked bags to the passengers when it became clear that hotels were going to be needed so at least she had all of her clothes and such. Alicia wandered over to the closest terminal and sat down in the wildly uncomfortable chairs. She did have a book that she had been meaning to finish. No time like the present and all that.
“ALICIA CARLSON TO GATE NUMBER 1754. REPEAT, PASSENGER ALICIA CARLSON TO GATE NUMBER 1754. THANK YOU”
Alicia’s head jerked up at the sound of her name over the loudspeaker. She glanced at her watch. It had been maybe four-ish hours since she sat down. She’d gotten almost halfway through her book when she determined that she was too tired to continue and had made a pillow out of her outerwear and started dozing, as if she could actually fall asleep on these uncomfortable chairs. Alicia shook herself and gathered her things. They must have found a hotel for her. This was apparently a perk of being a semi famous actress, that’s the only reason they’d call her individually by name. Alicia spared half a moment to feel guilty that she’d gotten special treatment and then her back started to protest her uncomfortable nap and the guilt went out the window.
“Hello, I’m Alicia Carlson. You called my name? Over the intercom?”
“Yes, Miss Carlson, please make your way to the check in at the front of the airport. They have the information for your hotel there. Thank you for flying with us, ma’am.”
“Thank you so much, I just need to go that way?” Alicia gestured.
“Yes ma’am, just follow back the way you came.”
Alicia gathered her things and tried to look a little less like she’d slept half the night in an airport chair and took off down the hall. All she could think of was the warm bed waiting for her at the end of this mildly hellish night. She was going to order the worst possible thing from the room service menu and follow it up with both cheesecake and the most chocolatey chocolate cake available. Today. Had sucked.
She stopped at checking and asked where they needed her to be. She was told to simply take her bags and go out the front door. There should be a chauffeur holding a sign with her name on it. You can’t miss him they said.
Alicia bundled up and headed out into the snow, very glad that she had been heading north ANYWAY so all her cold weather gear was with her. Winter hat on and heavy duty mittened, she headed out the doors.
She looked around.
There was only one car in site.
If you could call it a car. It looked like a pretty intense SUV. Those tires…did those tires have CHAINS on them?
And the man in front of the car, he was holding a sign, hand lettered. But it didn’t say Alicia Carlson.
‘Mon Cher’ in big letters.
The man lowered the sign so that she could see his face.
When their combined body weight hit the car, it didn’t even rock.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? YOU HAVE A GAME IN TWO DAYS YOU STUPID MAN. IT’S THE MIDDLE OF A BLIZZARD. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”
Alicia was embarrassed to find that she was crying.
“It was only three hours by car, and no one is on the roads, I grew up in Canada Alicia, I know how to drive in worse snow than this. Did you think I would let snow stop me from seeing you for Valentines? Did you think I’d let it stop me from getting you someplace warm and dry and comfortable for the night? You couldn’t fly to me, so I came to you dearest. It only makes sense,” Bob murmured into the warmth of her hair, his breath tickling her ear.
“Come on, lets get your things in the car, I brought flowers and travel snacks, I even have some hot chocolate for the ride.”
Alicia chuckled wetly, “Pragmatic and romantic. What a catch.”
Bobby winked at her.
The drive was long but didn’t seem it. The hotel was a dream but they didn’t notice it. The reservations the next night were incredibly romantic but they hardly needed it. And game against the Senators was a triumphant win but that was barely a footnote.
Everything worked out just like it needed to.
And what a story it was (every year) for the grandchildren.