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Cliff Marleau played hockey from a very young age, it’s practically the only way to make it professional, and growing up in Ottawa he found that he shared a lot of ice time and training sessions with a kid a couple of years younger than him. It was a bit of an ego killer to be so out-skated by a younger kid, but once Cliff got to know Shane they were fast friends. Shane was quiet, but he was had a hilarious sarcastic side to him that only came out when he was comfortable.
Cliff loved to gossip, probably he had the habit trained into him by his 3 older sisters, but any tidbit of relationship drama or a hockey scandal and Cliff was right there finding out details. Over the years he learnt who was okay with joining in with his gossip and who he shouldn’t trust to keep it quiet, there was one incident in his final year of high school where he still remembers being slapped in the face by a girl because Sandra couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
Cliff was also rather good at Hockey. Good enough to go pro, and get drafted by Boston in the first round, it was a bit of an adjustment to move to America from quiet Ottawa, but being part of an MHL team was an endless source of gossip. In his third year on the Raiders, they drafted who would become his best friend- Ilya Rozanov, and ever since then Cliff had a new muse for all his gossip. Not only did Roz love to hear stuff, but his wacky adventures and crazy ability to pull girls in literally every situation meant Cliff was living his best gossip loving life. Plus Roz made his skating way better, the kid was crazy good and lovingly bullied him into improving- so much so that Cliff got a call up to be part of Canada’s national team for the worlds.
It was a fantastic few weeks, mainly because he got to reunite with the other half of the rivalry but also because he learnt that Shane looooved to hear his Roz gossip.
He would ask questions and gasp at all the right spots- like the time he told Shane about Roz getting stuck in a fence at a team party and they had to call the fire department to cut him free.
Slowly but surely, playing for the national team became a regular part of his life, which meant he was able to keep up his friendship with Hollander. So when Roz went into a slump for the first time in his career in 2016 and Cliff finally badgered out the reason a week before a national friendly match between Canada and England he couldn’t wait to tell Hollander.
It was fucking Jane- everything with Roz came back to Jane in the end. She was this elusive but long standing hookup Roz kept in Montreal and she had just broken his best friends heart, possibly forever. Certainly Roz wasn’t showing any signs of moving on, and last week he had caught him blasting Adele songs and silently crying while working out in the rink gym.
Cliff settled into his seat on the plane next to Hollander and let him get settled before diving straight in,
“Dude, Rose Landry? Epic pull man- she seems like a really funny person, plus she is smoking hot”
Shane laughed at his lap awkwardly, “thanks Marly, it’s still pretty new and stuff, we got papped on literally our first date so we’re still figuring stuff out”
Oooh- his gossip senses started tingling- “that sucks- getting through the get to know you phase can be tough in the public eye”
“You’re telling me- like the internet thinks we’re soulmates, and I’m over here trying to work out if a filming schedule and a hockey schedule can even coexist” Shane shrugged and fiddled with his headphone case.
“You could ask Vaughny on the Admirals for some advice- I heard he’s dating Gloria Grey now- actually you could probably even double date because aren’t Gloria and Rose friends? I see them together on socials all the time.” Cliff was excited to share some hopefully helpful advice for his friends new relationship. “How did you even meet anyway?”
“Oh, JJ invited me out to his buddy’s restaurant event and the entire x-squad cast was there- Rose fed me her fries and we just talked the whole night. And then she gave me her number when we were leaving.”
“Atta boy JJ- I need me a wingman like that- Roz is slacking these days.” Shane’s head snapped over to him and just as quickly flicked back. Cliff grinned and then sobered,
“He’s slacking on being a wingman is he? Too busy taking all the girls for himself then?” There was an odd tone in his voice- possibly the judgement of a newly taken man over the thought of serial hook up behaviour, and Cliff hurried to set the record straight.
“Nah man, Roz hasn’t pulled anyone in like a year- he’s fully heartbroken at the moment and is refusing to out to any clubs at all, I’ve got the boys back home on Roz watch while I’m away.”
Shane’s eyebrows climbed on his face, “A year? And he’s heartbroken?”
Cliff sighed, he would have to start from the beginning to make it all make sense.
“Yeah so, did I ever tell you about Roz’s girl Montreal Jane?”
Shane must’ve had a cramp in his back because he fully twitched in his seat and took a moment to settle himself before saying in a slightly strangled tone “Yeah it vaguely rings a bell- what happened?”
“Okay so, Roz has been obsessed with this girl for literally as long as I’ve known him. Like full on kicking feet in the air giggling and blushing over her. For the first few years they were just hooking up- but slowly over the last year or so- Roz clearly caught deeper feelings and stopped hooking up with anyone on the road and stuff. I asked him once if they were exclusive and he said they hadn’t talked about it and he didn’t want to bring it up but that he just didn’t want anyone who wasn’t his Jane anymore”
“For a whole year he was exclusive but… Jane wasn’t?”
“I know right- what a fall from grace for the playboy isn’t it? Anyway so Roz was telling me that he was slowly testing the waters to ask if he and Jane could be more than just fuckbuddies, I remember his exact words because they were so hysterical. He said “I want to not just be fuck buddies but also buddies who fuck- but I know Jane won’t want me to be boyfriend”
Shane laughed in shock- “He knew that Jane wouldn’t want it and still tried anyway?”
Privately Cliff agreed but he still had to stand up for his best friend. “It’s this Jane chick though, she is super flaky and always seems to be leading Roz on. He told me they first kissed in 2010 but that she didn’t let him go all the way with her for over 3 more years- for one that’s crazy, for two like where does she get off thinking my Roz isn’t worthy to be a boyfriend?!”
“Do you know that for sure though? Have you spoken to Jane?” Ever the voice of reason from Hollander
“Well no, and you’re right- I only have Roz’s side, but he was dead certain that Jane wouldn’t want to be official with him. But he was just hoping for a little more than quickies I think. Anyway- so a couple of weeks ago he had this whole plan to have Jane over at his house, and to bring it up the possibility of trying a little more. Apparently he cooked her a meal and it was all going fine but then she literally ran away when he tried taking things further.”
“Ran away?….” Shane echoed faintly, a furrowed look on his brow as he listened.
“And then, get this- Jane fucking ghosted him, didn’t reply to his messages at all and then hard launched an actual relationship on social media with another guy.”
“What?!?” Shane’s reaction was everything Cliff wanted from the shocking news.
“I know! Roz thinks they must’ve been dating on the down low for a while because Jane is so quiet about these things- but then Roz trying for more must’ve made her realise she couldn’t keep cheating on her man and she made him public. And it just sucks for Roz cos, like yeah they weren’t exclusive, but to hard launch a serious relationship one week after ghosting your years long situationship is rough.”
“So he thinks that he was the other man?”
“Yeah he must’ve been. You know what girls are like on social media these days- boyfriends don’t get official credit until the relationship is solid. Roz even told me he saw that she was hinting about possibly being engaged”
“Engaged?!?”
“Yeah I dunno- he said he saw a photo of Jane in front of a jewellery store specifically that does engagement rings. It just seems rude of her to be honest”
Shane shook his head in disbelief, “And so Roz is heartbroken?”
“Oh man, like you would not believe. He told me that the only reason he came to the MHL was because he hoped to see Jane again- apparently they met at his first ever juniors game and that solidified his decision to join the draft here. I genuinely think that he is fully in love with her and it sucks so much that she just clearly doesn’t like him back that same way.”
“You think it was love?” He sounded disbelieving, probably because the idea of his cocky rival being heartbroken was such an incongruous image.
“He told me himself- he said he knew that Jane wouldn’t love him back but he still hurts to see that he never had a chance”
“And so you said you had the boys on Roz watch?” Shane’s tone was faintly curious, clearly still fishing for more gossip details.
“Oh yeah, you know how he gets like sad sometimes? Well every now and then he gets like extra sad and so we have a pretty good rotation to just keep him company and make sure he stays good.”
“What?” Hollander’s voice was strangled, “that sounds like a fucking suicide watch!”
“I mean, you’re not far off, I don’t think he’s actively suicidal or anything but he definitely doesn’t care about staying healthy or making good choices at the moment, I had to wrestle half a bottle of his good vodka away from him last week because he wanted to drink the whole thing.”
“But… but”
“Hey man, don’t stress, I’m probably making it sound worse than it is- Roz will pull through- and once he is back in Russia I’m sure his family will comfort him.”
“Back in Russia? What do you mean?”
“Ah yeah- I probably shouldn’t have said that much- oh well you can be trusted to keep a secret- Roz said that when Jane announces the engagement he will retire and move back to Russia.” He was interrupted with the loudest exclamation yet
“WHAT?!” Several team Canada people turned to look at them and Shane shrunk back into his seat.
“Shhh, I know! It’s totally fucked, but the man says that Hockey is too mixed up with Jane and he can’t stay here when there is no more hope for him. I mean I don’t even understand what he means- like I know Jane is apparently some crazy metros super fan but surely he could just skip games in Montreal if it’s really that big of a deal.”
Hollander pulled a weird face at that- probably at the thought of his favourite opponent never facing him in his home town again.
“But to go back to Russia…I thought he hated it there”
“Oh he fully does- but he said he reckons he can make his dad happy if he joins the same department that the old goalie Vetrova? Works for- apparently when you are a public figure in Russia they just hand you government jobs when you retire.”
“Wait he would actually retire- not just joins the KHL? Ilya Rozanov? Retire?” His tone was shocked beyond belief.
“I know! But I guess if the passion is not there then it’s not there, I’ll miss him like hell- and you know I’ll be hassling him to come back, but what can I do? The man’s been in love with this girl for like 8 years and she’s picked another man. I’m just hoping that he finishes out the season- fucking Jane. I think he thinks he’ll never be happy again so he might as well go back to the place he hates and do a job he hates even more- he’s basically punishing himself for trying for more i think.”
Shane shook his head in disbelief,
“So what, you’re just waiting around for this Jane to announce an engagement and then he’s gonna leave?”
“Yeah, I mean he was thinking of leaving Boston anyway so I guess it’s not that big of a deal.”
“Why do you mean leaving Boston?”
“Well… I mean we don’t call her Montreal Jane for nothing- I think if his planned buddies who fuck talk had actually gone well he was gonna try and transfer to Montreal or something to be closer to her- which to be honest might be even crazier than going back to Russia- you and Roz on the same team? Can you even imagine- none of us poor fucks would have a chance at the cup at all.”
“He was thinking of moving teams and countries for a fuck buddy? That’s …. Beyond crazy.”
“Yeah but you gotta remember it’s Roz, the man loves with his whole personality- which I guess is causing the problems now- but hey if he moves back to Russia you’ll definitely win the rivalry- which will suck for us in Boston but us canadians have to stick together right?”
Shane crinkled his brow at that, seeming uncharacteristically annoyed, “I don’t care about the rivalry that much- but it wouldn’t be the same without Rozanov to play against” he paused for a good few seconds, “who knows maybe Jane will break up with the other one and go back to him” his tone was hopeful, clearly Shane wanted his best rival to stay in the NHL.
“I think that will be the only way I see Roz smiling again, but still what’s the use in hoping for it, Roz is sure that he’ll never get to talk to her again. Sometimes I wonder if it isn’t all a ploy to get the metros another cup- take Roz out through emotional damage and then that’s the path to the finals cleared”
Shane huffed out a laugh, “you say that, but I saw some crazy fans literally burning an effigy of Rozanov outside the stadium a couple of games ago”
Gossip about crazy fan interactions was one of Cliff’s favourite topics and the burning images of Roz distracted him enough to side track into the news from Anaheim from last week where several fans tried to literally climb inside their mascots costume and accidentally pulled it apart.
Shane seemed a bit distracted and quiet for the rest of the flight but like he had said, juggling a new girlfriend and a hockey schedule came with challenges, he was probably just super tired. He thought about fishing for more details about Rose Landry, perhaps hearing about it would cheer Roz up, but also… probably best to shy away from pointing out his rivals happy relationship while he was suffering. Cliff was sure some other gossip would turn up soon.