Disclaimer: All these facts are disingenuous, (thank you Sandy Clough), and I know nothing of Jennifer and Adam Foote how they met, how long they’ve been together and whether or not Adam is having any...ahem... problems... I’m just twisting around stuff for fiction WOOHOO!
Chapter 100: Jennifer II—The Subject of Mrs. Roy
If it were another woman, then at least Jennifer would have had something tangible to blame. If it were someone young and busty and blond, then at least Jennifer would have had an answer. It seemed though that it wasn’t anyone, but it had to be something. Jennifer knew she couldn’t ignore this any longer.
Adam had been furious the day he returned from the roadtrip and Jennifer had informed him that she had made an appointment with the doctor for him. Such a brilliant red his face had turned and Jennifer had been frightened. Only the presence of the children laughing in the next room had stopped Adam from really exploding at her. Jennifer was sure of that.
"Honey," she had gasped. "I’m so sorry I did this but what if it’s something serious? I couldn’t forgive myself if something serious were going on and I lost you because we just didn’t check!"
Adam’s mouth had twisted with unsaid things and he looked away from her.
Jennifer closed her eyes and continued. "It has to be said. I know you don’t want to admit anything’s wrong but how long..."
"Goddammit!" Adam hissed and he stormed out of the house.
For the sake of the children, Jennifer did not burst into tears. But she didn’t know what she should do. Michele’s advice to her had not worked, and Jennifer was beginning to think that perhaps Mimi had been annoyed with her and was just spouting off stuff to pacify Jennifer’s worries. In fact, Jennifer was sure that that was the case.
Jennifer still couldn’t figure out why she had gone to Michele of all people in the first place, and entrusted her with such worries. As soon as Jennifer had spoke to her, she had regretted it suddenly thinking that perhaps she had said the wrong thing to the wrong person. Debbie, or Tammy or Brandi or anyone else would have been fine, they would have held her hand and hugged her and tried to console her. But Jennifer had not wanted to be consoled; she had wanted a solution.
It also egged at her now, looking at Michele smiling and greeting her all the while knowing the hell she was going through. She’s laughing at me inside! Jennifer thought. How could I have exposed myself to her like I did? Why had I given her such ammunition against me?
Michele had not been a human concept to Jennifer or the rest of the wives on the team when they had been in Quebec. The rivalry between Montreal and the Nordiques was a bloody, intense one and more often than not the Habs had the upper hand in games. That damned Patrick was usually the largest factor in that. So it was natural, in a way for the wives to transfer the frustration their husbands felt for Patrick onto his wife.
The rumors were there for the consumption, whispered by one wife to a girlfriend from a sister of some wife whose husband had come home reeking of Mamselle Roy’s favored brand of expensive perfume. They had heard the stories of the insatiable appetite the woman allegedly had for her husband’s teammates. And they had heard more than that.
When Patrick had reportedly beaten up teammate Mathieu Schneider in the Habs’ lockerroom over "defensive differences" the women laughed amongst themselves. "I wonder what the real reason was!" one of them exclaimed. They were convinced Michele had been the cause when Schneider was traded to the Islanders just days later.
"You know what I think?" one of the girlfriends said, "I think I feel sorry for Patrick cause I think he never realized he was marrying a PUCK BUNNY!"
Another round of laughter.
"Stop it," Young Debbie Sakic had finally sighed. "We don’t even know this woman and you’re judging her so cruelly!"
"Cruelly?" Jennifer had exclaimed. "But what more do we need to know? You’ve heard what she did in the Forum locker room in ’86? She’s depraved!"
"We don’t even know if that’s true," Debbie snapped, "I doubt it is, no decent woman would do that and I’m sick of hearing about it. You’re all obsessed!"
So the subject of Mrs. Roy had been closed.
Inside, though, Jennifer still mulled over it. She knew Debbie was right. They all were obsessed with the persona of this woman, and the tales. Even though they blushed and giggled at the very mention of her name, trying to demean her down to a sad, disgusting status in their minds, they couldn’t escape one simple fact. They were afraid of Michele Roy because she personified the one creature that the wives detested and feared the most, The Puckbunny.
Michele to them, was a representation of the skinny, fragrant groupie that enticed their husbands and boyfriends away from them if only for a night. She was the woman who sat in the stands, hands to her breast and sighing at THEIR men on the ice, without a proper knowledge of how the game was played no doubt. A woman whose appetites were so insatiable that she would stop at nothing to get the man of her fancy and then she would perform any sexual favor for him no matter how disgusting. She was a woman that was a crime against other females, who betrayed her fellow womankind. She was the type of woman who distorted how their men viewed females and in doing so, was a traitor.
Michele was the boogey man the wives scared each other with and brought them closer together in their knowledge that no woman on their team was like that. And their husbands were closely watched.
When Pierre Lacroix had taken control of the team, he had brought along with him, his adorable wife, Colombe. She was such a joy that the wives happily accepted her and doted on her and smiled as they called her, "Coco."
They found out quite quickly that Coco would have no talk against Michele or her "Mimi" as she called her. In fact any words against Michele would send the woman to tears. So they were again quiet about her.
Of course, the way things go there was that horrible game in Montreal for Patrick Roy. Their husbands knew it would happen before they did and then they were told. Patrick Roy would be coming to their team in their new city and along with him, that woman. Debbie Sakic had looked sternly at all of them in the wives meeting and made it clear that she would tolerate no ostracism of Mrs. Roy. Of course they had told her they would do whatever would make her comfortable.
That night they made a quiet pact with each other that that Bunny would not disrupt the peace of the team.
Coco Lacroix was excited and spoke in breathless terms, assuring them that they would simply adore Mimi. None of them were so sure.
Patrick had joined the team first, and Jennifer had been surprised that he was not a psycho. The first time she had seen and met the man she had immediately noticed the almost regal air he held his gaze and carriage and the steely, arrogant look about him. Adam really liked him and began to talk of him constantly. It had cheered Jennifer in a way. If Patrick wasn’t what she had expected, than there was no reason that Michele would also be different.
Soon the ballroom in an expensive Denver hotel was rented for a party funded by Joe and Patrick and the rest of the team. It was a way of bringing the team together.
"Oooh," Coco Lacroix had cooed. "I cannot wait for Mimi! She will be coming here straight from the airport, you will love her yes?"
Jennifer was standing by the doorway of the ballroom, casually glancing for the entrance of the famous Mrs. Roy. After twenty minutes of waiting, Mike Haynes, that adorable, stocky play by play radio man had arrived accompanied by a woman she had never seen him with. Another "Miss Right" that would break his heart she supposed.
It had been hard for Jennifer not to just scowl in disgust. In those tight, ripped jeans and tight shirt and "Fuck Me" tousled and flipped blond hair, Jennifer knew she was looking at the biggest trailer whore she had ever seen. Just the woman’s heavy make-up alone screamed slutsville! What would Mike bring home next?
"Mike," Jennifer had said, grabbing onto his arm, and giving him a chiding look. "How are you doing?"
"Just fine," Mike said in that matter of fact, perky way he had of speaking and then he winked. "Just fine."
The woman smiled at her but Jennifer made a point of not making real eye contact, just to put her in her place. She didn’t like the snobby look of that woman’s nose and the way she held her head. Already she wanted to tell poor little Mike to run for it.
"Hello," the woman finally said, in a slightly sharp voice.
"Hiiiii," Jennifer said, forcing a smile and not caring if it was obvious. "How did You meet Mike?"
"In the lobby," the woman said with narrowed eyes and an artificial smile. "Minutes ago." Did she have an accent? Jennifer couldn’t quite tell.
What would she be doing in the lobby of this hotel, a creature like this? Jennifer had thought and then it dawned on her. Oooooh, she thought, a prostitute, of course. But does Mike know?
"Oh," Jennifer said and then she smiled at Mike who was absolutely glowing as he talked with Adam. Taking the opportunity, for Mike’s sake of course, Jennifer had leaned to the woman and said, "We don’t really see your type here."
"Type?" the woman had asked blinking.
"Look, Mike doesn’t know who you are," Jennifer continued.
"I know he doesn’t," the woman said.
"And he won’t pay you later either! So you better fish somewhere else."
The woman’s eyes widened for a second and her crimson lips parted slightly before a smile settled on her mouth. "I don’t think I like you," she said quietly.
Before Jennifer could reply, there was a loud squeal from Coco, "Mimi! Hi!"
Jennifer frowned and looked behind the whore and saw... no one.
"Coco!" the woman had exclaimed and then she began to fire away rapid words in French.
Oh my God! Jennifer thought as she and Mike exchanged surprised looks. The woman and Coco embraced each other and kissed each other on the cheeks.
"Mike!" she whispered to Haynes, "I thought she was with you!"
"So did I!" Mike breathed, "I saw her in the lobby and asked if she wanted to go to a hockey player party and I thought I had scored one!"
And then Patrick was there and the woman, Michele, jumped into his arms, letting him lift her body and kissing him passionately. It was enough to make Jennifer blush, and it was rather embarrassing to see them do that too.
"I said to her," Haynes whispered. "Do you like goalies? And she said, ‘of course.’ And then I said, ‘I know Patrick Roy, would you like to meet him?’ and... shit I thought she was a Bunny!"
At that point Jennifer had exchanged worried glances with the rest of the wives and girlfriends, even Debbie seemed a wee bit worried.
As far as Jennifer could tell, in the seven, eight years that she had known Mimi, there hadn’t been much incident. Perhaps the move from Montreal had calmed her down; perhaps there had never been any truth to rumors. As garish as she had been at that party, the wives had visited her the next day only to find a tastefully dressed, beautifully scented, perfectly cordial young woman complete with gorgeous little children. There had been no trace of that woman from the night before.
It hung between Jennifer and Mimi though; she had called her a whore. Jennifer felt bad about that but Mimi never brought it up as if she had forgotten it completely. And that was annoying too, how could someone be so chronically nice? She was too perfect.
It was a Sunday afternoon brunch at the Lacroix house. The wives were milling around, munching on dainty foods and doting on their children. Jennifer had gone into the kitchen to pour some more punch into the bowls when that adorable, quiet voiced Cecile came to her. "Um, Mrs. Foote," she said. "Can I talk to you about something?"
The girl looked so worried and she was glancing over her shoulder so often, that Jennifer put the punch down and patted the girl on the arm. "Of course," she said. "What’s wrong."
"See," Cecile said, gripping her left elbow with her right hand, "I needed to talk to someone... well unbiased."
"Unbiased?" Jennifer exclaimed.
"Yeah," Cecile replied. "It’s about... I’m not... well its about Mr. Roy."
An odd feeling began to swirl in her stomach as Jennifer said. "Yes?"
"Well... I know I couldn’t talk to Mrs. Sakic about this cause she’s so close with them and. Well you seem so nice so..." Cecile was blushing now.
Jennifer remembered something about Cecile staying with the Roy’s to help Mimi with the children on the weekends and that had made Jennifer feel a bit triumphant. Miss Snooty about Nannies Supermommy suddenly needed a nanny?
Cecile glanced away and took a deep breath. "I don’t want to spread any rumors or spoil anyone’s name..."
"I won’t say a word," Jennifer said holding her hand to her breast. "Don’t worry."
"What do you know about him?" Cecile asked. "I mean I don’t know much. Just what people have told me... I mean..." Sigh. "I think he was looking at me like... well you know, like that! And it really made me uncomfortable but I don’t know if I were just imagining it or he has a wandering eye or anything like that."
"Oh," Jennifer said and it hurt her inside. Of course she hadn’t been planning on doing anything with Patrick but... well the only thing she had had to hang onto in the past month was his kiss and his momentary attraction to her. At least she had been desirable in someone’s eyes, which had been something. Now that wasn’t hers anymore either! This gorgeous little girl had taken that from her and it wasn’t exactly jealousy but it was definitely bitterness inside Jennifer’s heart. Nothing was fair! "Well... Patrick’s a bit of an odd fellow... I mean he wouldn’t hurt you or anything but.. I would stay away from him if I knew what was good. OK? You should keep as little contact with him as you can. Because... well I don’t like to be the one to spread rumors but he has a bit of a history with other women." (A fact which Jennifer knew next to nothing about and more than likely made up to her knowledge) "And it would be a shame to see you fall into another one of his categories."
Cecile’s black eyebrows skid up. "Really?" she said. "Does Mrs. Roy know?"
Jennifer shrugged. "I don’t know, poor Mimi. If she does she keeps it to herself, she’s a very patient woman, real long suffering."
Cecile scowled in a three-year old girl sort of way. "Wow," she said. "If that’s true then that explains a lot about other things... gives me a new perspective."
"Glad I could help," Jennifer said, suddenly feeling real good about herself.
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