Three

At the same time, over a thousand miles south of where Nathalie and Nicklas were, Autumn Perreault was eating lunch at her work. She had been working at WalMart in Sunrise, Florida for six months, and she was already bored of it. 

Sure, she was thankful for even having a job, but the supermarket wasn't exactly what Autumn wanted to do. She had always liked ice hockey, and the Pittsburgh Penguins were her original team. But living in Florida, you kind of had to root for the Panthers or the Lightning. 

Autumn didn't root for them wholeheartedly though, because the Penguins would always be her team, no matter what. 

She never knew why the Penguins had drawn her in, because her brother, Mathieu, was playing for the Washington Capitals, and they were both born and raised in Quebec, Canada. 

In the midst of her thoughts, Autumn realized her lunch hour was nearing its end, so she walked down the stairs and carried on where she had left her stuff before lunch. 

Sighing, Autumn started marking the coca cola bottles, cursing her boring life under her breath. 

Just as she put down the last bottle, three guys walked in through the doors. Casually, Autumn looked over at them, and she had to catch her breath. 

The three guys were Jacob Markstrom, Shawn Matthias and Steve Bernier, all players of the Florida Panthers. 

The first one, Markstrom, walked up to her just as she had straightened up. 

   “Hi...” He said with a faint smile. “Could you tell me where you keep the Oreo's?” 

Autumn found it very difficult to speak at this moment, he was too gorgeous for his own sake. 

   “Uh... Sure...” She finally said, blushing like an idiot and brushing past him and the others as she showed the way to the shelves with the cookies. “Right here...” She smiled politely and hurried to hide her face as she walked back to the coca cola bottles. Even though she knew all of them were marked, she picked them out one at a time to check if there were stickers on all of them. 

   “Oh my god, calm down...” Autumn told herself and took a deep breath. Markstrom, Matthias and Bernier walked past her and she did everything she could not to look at them. 

She heard them laugh at something one of them said when they were at the end of the aisle, and then Markstrom turned around and winked at her. 

Autumn closed her eyes when he had disappeared, and she took several deep breaths.
   “Get a grip, Autumn...” She mumbled. “You don't want to get into trouble. Stay away...” With these words to herself, she managed to get through the remains of the day without thinking too much about him. 

Driving back home, Autumn's thoughts wandered back to Jacob and his gorgeous body. 

   “Oh my god, stop it...” She said, once again, to herself. “He probably doesn't like you anyways and there's no point in even trying to start something with him because it will be all over the press...” 

She turned up the volume on the radio and sang along to one of the latest hits in the musical world. 

As she pulled up at the apartment house, she turned off the radio and parked her car in the same spot as usual. 

She ran up the stairs, like she always did, and unlocked the door to the apartment she shared with one of her best friends, Sarah. 

   “Hi...” Sarah greeted her when she had closed the door. She was sitting in the sofa, watching The Big Bang Theory and eating Ben & Jerry's out of the carton. 

   “Hey.” Autumn replied, putting her carkeys in the bowl on a table. “Did something happen?” 

   “No...” Sarah denied. “Well, yes... He dumped me...” 

   “Sarah...” Autumn sat down next to her and took the carton of Ben & Jerry's from her. “Didn't we say we'd cut down on this?” 

   “Yes...” Tears were starting to fall from Sarah's eyes, and Autumn pulled her close and hugged her tight. 

   “He's not worth your tears, Sarah.” Autumn said, trying to make her feel better. “You'll find someone better in no time.” 

   “T-thanks Autumn...” Sarah said, her voice thick because of the tears. “You're awesome do you know that?” 

Autumn simply smiled and focused on the newest episode of The Big Bang Theory, that Sarah had been watching. 

When it was over, Sarah turned to Autumn. 

   “So, I heard you met some of the Panthers today. That must have been awesome?” From the tone of her voice, it sounded as if this was something she had been wanting to ask her all day. 

   “Met and met, they asked me where some stuff were in the store, nothing special.” 

   “Who were they?” 

   “Who told you this anyways?” Autumn felt that she was beginning to blush, so she tried to change the subject, at least a little bit. 

   “Tim. Answer my question: who were they?” 

   “That bastard...” Autumn muttered and avoided to answer.

   “Autuuuumn...” Sarah moaned. “Tell me!” 

   “Fine... Jacob Markstrom, Shawn Matthias and Steve Bernier.” 

   “Oh my god. Markstrom? The Swede?” Sarah's eyes grew larger. 

   “I guess, yeah...” Autumn tried her very best not to blush, as she had done at every mention of his name so far. 

   “Autumn Perreault, do you like him?!” Sarah grinned and poked her arm. “You do, don't you! I know you do! Oh my god, you're blushing so much!” 

   “Sarah, geez, stop it! He's hot, but that's it. I don't even know him... Wow, you're pushy!” 

   “Well we're going to have to do something about this, won't we? 

   “What's that supposed to mean?” Autumn raised her eyebrows. Sarah just stared at her with a grin. “No, Sarah, no, don't do anything. Please, I don't want to start a fuss.” 

   “Fine...” Sarah said, disappointed that she couldn't help her friend. “I won't do anything. But if I hear one single word from you about how hot he is or how much you want him, I'm going to punch you, okay?” 

   “Woah, calm down Sarah!” Autumn raised her hands and started to laugh. “You are so weird. But I love you.” 

A moment passed and Sarah leaned back against the sofa. 

   “You have no idea how absolutely gorgeous he is, Sars.” Autumn sighed and received an evil look from Sarah in return. “I'm kidding!” 

   “Yeah, right... I can see it in your eyes Autumn. You like him.” 

Autumn sighed again and bit her lower lip. What if she did like him? This was not going to end well. 

   “I think I'm going to bed. Talk to you tomorrow.” Sarah said, yawned and walked away towards her room, leaving Autumn with her thoughts.