Chapter Text
Yuna finds out that the Ottawa Centaurs are starting a charity through social media. According to an article that she read, there was an incident with a fan that resulted in a suicidal attempt, so some of the players and the coach got together to start a charity to promote mental health awareness. It’s not a large scale thing, but they’re planning on organizing some physical and educational events during the summer that will be beneficial to the community. They need volunteers, preferably people who are involved with professional hockey and the MLH. Yuna thinks that it’s a good cause and, even though they are not the Metros, her favorite team for many reasons, the Centaurs are her hometown team and they need help, so she volunteers.
As she arrives to the arena, she can see that a lot of people are already there.
“Hi, I’m Yuna Hollander, I signed up as a volunteer.” She says to a woman, maybe her own age, that is by the entrance with a clipboard, assuming that she is part of the organizing team.
“Hi,” the woman flips the pages on her clipboard and jolts something down. “Yuna Hollander, yes. I’m glad you decided to join us, we have a lot of work to do. I’m Claudine, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Claudine.” They shake hands.
“So, we’re pairing volunteers with hockey players,” Claudine explains while leading Yuna into the building. “You are going to help them with some tasks.”
“Sounds good.”
“And we’re you pairing up with…” she flips through the pages again. “Ilya Rozanov.”
Ilya Rozanov? The infamous team captain, known by most for being one of the best players of the league and also for being arrogant and having a big ego. Yuna still remembers the first interview she saw of him years ago, when he promised to score fifty goals in his rookie season.
“Fifty goals? What? He thinks that he is better than Shane? Fuck him, right up the butt.”
Shane laughed when she said that out loud, one afternoon while they were out having lunch.
“Yuna!” David tried to scold her for her language, but she just scoffed, regretting nothing.
So, yeah, Yuna does not think much of Ilya Rozanov and having to do volunteering work with him does not sound appealing, but she thinks that, if they don’t get along, she can ask Claudine to change partners.
The two women walk into a big open room with white walls and ceiling lamps, where some of the players are gathered around plastic foldable tables, while other people, that seem to be volunteers, are bringing in cardboard boxes full of stuff.
Ilya Rozanov is in the back of the room in front of a table, folding a T-shirt. Next to him there is a big pile of white T-shirts with the logo of the charity on them. She assumes that those are for the fundraising events.
“Ilya, this is Yuna Hollander, she will be working with you.” Claudine says. Rozanov doesn’t look up, too wrapped up in the task of folding T-shirts, apparently.
“Okay,” he answers absentmindedly and Claudine leaves.
Not liking being ignored by anyone, Yuna walks closer and extends a hand right in front of him. “Mr. Rozanov,” she says in her most businesswoman-sounding voice, the one that she uses to capture the attention of sponsors and other important people in meetings. Finally, Rozanov looks up.
“Ilya,” he says as he shakes her hand.
It takes a moment for Yuna to realize what Rozanov means, but then she gets it. He doesn’t want to be addressed by his last name. Yuna is okay with that, if they are going to be working together it’s better if they start building some familiarity from the very beginning.
“Ilya,” she repeats. “And you can call me Yuna.”
He stares at her for a moment and frowns, like he is suddenly realizing something.
“You’re Shane Hollander’s mother, right?”
“Yes, I am.”
He nods and a small smile appears on his face. “Yeah, you seemed familiar and also, I can see where he got his looks from.”
“Aw, half of them.” Yuna waves a hand dismissively, but also smiles a little because, deep down, she’s flattered.
“I think is more than that. He looks just like you.”
Yuna has heard that before, how much Shane looks like her and that he got his looks from her. Shane was declared Hottest Man in the MLH, according to Cosmopolitan, so when people tell her something to that effect, she takes it as a compliment. She doesn’t like leaving David aside, though.
“Actually, my husband is also a handsome man,” she says while taking her phone out of her bag and finding a photo of David to show to Rosanov –Ilya, he corrects herself in her mind.
“Mhm,” Ilya nods approvingly. “Good looking family.”
Yuna finds herself smiling again. Maybe this man is not as bad a she thought.
“So, do you like hockey?” Ilya asks casually, as he reaches for another T-shirt.
“Do I like hockey?” she says, amused by the question because, clearly, he has no idea. Then she grabs a T-shirt and starts folding.
***
The first event of July is a Walk and Talk fundraiser, a community charity walk organized by the team. Yuna spends the morning beside Ilya at the registration table, checking names off lists, handing out event T-shirts, and giving participants little paper flags printed with the charity logo. The day is warm and bright and the park is already crowded with families, hockey fans, volunteers, and local businesses setting up booths.
Two months ago, Yuna would have dreaded being assigned to spend an entire day with Ilya Rozanov. Now she actually likes having him around and talking to him. She believes that this unexpected change is the result of her getting to know more about him in the time they've worked together.
For starters, he's almost never serious when people think he is. Half the outrageous things that come out of his mouth are jokes delivered with such confidence that everyone assumes he's being sincere. That’s why people tend to think that he’s an asshole. And he's smarter than his public reputation suggests. She thinks that the assumption that he’s not very smart has to do with his accent. As the daughter of immigrants, she knows perfectly well that some people are prejudiced against folk with an accent.
Also, he's perceptive and thoughtful. More than once, Yuna has watched him quietly solve problems before anyone else notices they exist: moving a nervous volunteer to an easier task, carrying boxes for someone struggling with them, slipping money into a donation jar when he thinks nobody is looking. And despite his constant complaints that the charity tasks and meetings are boring, he always shows up. Every single time.
Yuna glances at him while he organizes a stack of registration forms.
There's another thing she's realized recently. For all their differences, Shane and Ilya actually have a lot in common. Not in personality, in that regard they're practically opposites, but in the lives they've lived. Both started skating when they were barely six years old. Both were identified as exceptional talents as teenagers and spent most of their childhoods traveling for tournaments, practices, camps, and competitions. Both grew up under enormous expectations. For most people, hockey is something they do, a fun sport to practice. For Shane and Ilya, hockey became the framework around which their entire lives were built. Yuna isn't sure either of them knows how unusual their lives actually are. They're so used to it.
Why aren’t they friends? Oh, yes, the rivalry.
She remembers how the media constructed it almost from the very beginning. Two prodigies, future superstars. Two teenagers arriving in the league at nearly the same time. One Canadian, one Russian. One quiet and disciplined, the other one loud and provocative. The story practically wrote itself. Every game became a showdown and every disagreement was treated like evidence of some deep personal animosity. And everybody loved it: fans, journalists, sponsors, and if she's being honest, the people managing their careers loved it too, including her.
At the time, she hadn't questioned it much or tried to dispel it. Rivalries generated attention, and attention generated opportunities. Articles about Shane's performance were one thing; articles comparing him to Ilya Rozanov were another entirely. They attracted more readers, television coverage, interviews and more endorsement offers. The rivalry helped turn Shane from an exceptionally talented young player into a marketable star.
Not that any of it had been fabricated from nothing. The two of them were fiercely competitive, neither liked losing, especially to the other. But somewhere along the way, the narrative became larger than the reality. Yuna finds herself wondering whether Shane and Ilya might have become friends years ago if the entire hockey world hadn't been so invested in making them rivals first.
But things are different now. Since Ilya was traded to the Ottawa Centaurs, the whole rivalry thing hasn’t vanished completely from the public discourse, but it isn’t as prominent anymore. There is an opportunity there.
Yuna sees Ilya suddenly leaving the stack of paper on the table when a golden retriever, that apparently escaped from its owner, passes by. He goes to kneel beside the dog and starts speaking to it in Russian while scratching behind its ears. The dog looks very happy with all the attention.
“Gimme kiss,” Ilya says to the dog, pouting his lips.
Yuna laughs despite herself and that makes Ilya turn to look at her.
“What?” He asks with a raised eyebrow.
"You're ridiculous.”
He scrunches his face while the dog licks it, and then grabs the leash and hands it to the owner.
“Did I tell you that last week I learned how to make borscht?” He says to Yuna when he returns to the table. “It tasted just like my mom’s.”
“Oh, that’s great.”
Ilya told her that he started learning to cook. He started with fancy sandwiches and now he’s learning to make soups and pasta.
“You know, my husband, David, he makes a mean Bolognese. He’s over there. If you’re interested, I can ask him to give you the recipe.”
“Sure.”
“Mr. Rozanov,” an elderly woman approaches the table. “Would you mind taking a picture with my husband?"
"Of course." Ilya steps away from the table without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Yuna glances at David. This is the first event he is attending. He decided to volunteer after he saw how involved Yuna was with the charity. He was assigned at one of the hydration stations with Wyatt Hayes, the star goalie. David was also a goaltender when he played for McGill, so they have that in common. She likes having David here. It feels good having him supporting her in something that she is involved with aside from Shane’s career. Shane should be here too, but he is in Vancouver filming an ad for City Seltzer. She will convince him to come to the next event, once he is in Ottawa for the summer.
***
Shane likes doing charity work. He’s always believed in the importance of professional players getting involved in this kind of things to give them more visibility, so when his mom asked him to participate in the Therapy Pet Day, an event organized by the charity that the Ottawa Centaurs started to raise awareness about mental health issues, he said yes. He thinks that the work that they’re doing is important and necessary, so without hesitation, he decided to join his parents at Confederation Park.
For this event, the Centaurs paired up with a local shelter to bring certified therapy dogs. The aim is to tell people about the importance of their work, convince them to donate and adopt the other dogs. The task that the organizing team assigned him is pretty simple: he has to walk one of the therapy dogs across a small stage and wave at the audience, like they are in a pageant. All the other players that are participating are doing the same. A very easy thing to do, except that the dog in question is not cooperating.
“Come on man, move!”
The dog’s name is Louie. He is a short, stocky Basset hound who wants to do as he pleases and refuses to listen to Shane. The moment they let him out of the crate and handed him the leash, Shane knew that he was in trouble because, instead of following him to the stage, Louie pulled Shane forcefully in the opposite direction and went to sniff at a tree and then at a trash can before peeing on it. This dog is surprisingly strong for his size. Most animals are, Shane thinks, and the thing is that he has no real experience with dogs.
He never had a dog growing up, or any other kind of pet. Always too wrapped up with hockey, he never had time to think of other things. And then, when he was drafted and started playing at a professional level, being on the road constantly made it almost impossible to own a pet, so he doesn’t know how to handle a dog, specially one as strong-willed as Louie. He was foolish thinking that this was going to be easy.
“Louie, we have to go over there,” Shane tries again to convince the dog to move, but to no avail.
“Hey! Hollander!”
Oh, no.
Shane recognizes that accent immediately. As he turns around, he confirms that, standing behind him, is no other than Ilya Rozanov, the Russian menace, with a black dog by his side. “Not now Rozanov,” he mutters while discreetly pulling at Louie’s leash. The other man smirks.
“They are waiting to see Louie,” he points at the stage, and sure enough, there must be at least a hundred people already there, waiting. “Are you disappointing them?”
“No, of course not,” Shane says, petulantly. “He’s just taking a moment to sniff around. We’ll be there in a minute.”
“Hurry up then, we don’t have all day,” Rozanov says as he jogs toward the stage, the black dog trotting by his side in perfect synchrony. Shane looks at them go with narrowed eyes and, right at that moment, the event begins. A woman at the microphone welcomes the audience and then announces the first player to get on stage with his respective dog.
“A round of applause for Zane Boodram and Daisy, the bulldog.”
People clap and cheer and Shane needs to get there already.
“Damn it, Louie! We have to get to the stage,” he leans down and tries lifting the dog and carry him in his arms, but Louie wiggles his body wildly and frees himself only to continue sniffing. He seems determined to sniff every square centimeter of this park so, feeling dejected, Shane resorts to begging.
“Louie, please, you have to walk with me. Please, behave.”
Then, one of the trainers appears backstage. “Where’s Louie?”
“He’s here!” Shane yells, waving at the trainer. “But he doesn’t want to move.”
The trainer whistles loudly and that does the trick. Louie starts running, dragging Shane behind him.
“You’re really good with dogs, huh? Hollander?” Rozanov says as Shane stumbles to the back of the stage and almost trips with the leash when Louie draws to a halt.
“Shut up,” he says between gritted teeth. Then he remembers that he is about to be in front of a lot of people, so he fixes his shirt and his hair, trying to regain his composure. “Why you always have to be such an asshole?”
Rozanov doesn’t answer, just looks at him with an amused smile until he is called to the stage.
“Ilya Rozanov and Shadow, the Labrador mix.” People cheer and clap some more.
“And lastly, give it up for Shane Hollander of the Montreal Metros and Louie, the Basset hound.”
Shane takes a deep breath before climbing the stairs. Once he’s on stage, he gets in character. He puts on his best smile and waves at the audience in the elegant, yet masculine way that his mom taught him years ago. Surprisingly, Louie is in his best behavior and he paces alongside Shane without causing any trouble. Once they cross the stage, the trainer grabs the leash and Shane is finally free.
After the dog show, Shane lingers for a while and talks to the other players. When he gets off stage, he signs autographs and takes pictures with some fans.
Overall, Shane has a good time, except for the fact that Ilya Rozanov keeps glancing at him. He does it when he himself is signing autographs, and when he’s talking to people, and even when he is fussing over some puppies that are playing in a dog pen. Somehow, he manages to find Shane in the crowd and look at him for a moment, long enough for it not to be considered accidental. Shane knows the look because Rozanov does this when they’re in hockey related events and sometimes when they’re on the ice. Shane has always assumed that it is because he’s assessing the competition all the time. But here? In neutral ground –so to speak?
It’s disconcerting but, also, weirdly intriguing, and the worst part is that Shane glances back every time.
***
The Hollanders spend a whole week in London after Rolex invited Shane to Wimbledon. He was reluctant to go at first, but Yuna and David managed to convince him, framing it as an opportunity for them to spend some time together as a family and enjoy part of the summer in a historical city with lots of things to do and interesting places to go. Yuna and David have a great time there. She loves London and she thinks that Shane is enjoying the trip as well until the last day, when they’re at the Tower bridge and she notices her son quietly staring at a couple of men that are hugging lovingly and taking selfies while kissing. She recognizes the sadness in his face while he looks at those men. She thinks that he might be feeling lonely.
Shane had a boyfriend, Adam. They were in a situationship for like three years and dated for two. Shane was so in love, but then Adam cheated on him.
“You’re always away. Am I supposed to stay celibate while you travel all over North America? That’s what he said,” Shane told Yuna on the phone, the night that they broke up. She could not see her son at that moment, but she could imagine his face, splotchy red and his eyes glossy from the tears that he was holding. She wished she could be there with him to hug him tight, but also, she was mad. Adam blamed Shane for his cheating? The nerve! That man was lucky that Yuna wasn’t there, in Montreal, because she wanted to find him and strangle him.
In the aftermath, Shane was truly devastated and it took him some time to recover. Apparently he hasn’t dated anyone since the breakup. Yuna doesn’t like Shane being alone and hurting. She wishes he could find a nice man and fall in love again.
***
On Tuesday, back in Ottawa, Yuna tells Ilya all about the trip. She shows him some photos that she took of the three of them on the tennis court; of them on the bridge; of them in a restaurant near Piccadilly Circus. Ilya looks at the photos with the same neutral expression, until she shows him a photo of Shane alone. That one truly seems to capture his interest. Is a candid photo that she took of Shane while he was standing by the bridge railing, staring at the river. The part of his face that is visible in the photo is illuminated by the sunset light. He looks serene but also a bit melancholy. Yuna notices Ilya looking at that photo longer and with more intent that the other ones.
“That’s a good one, huh? I adjusted the settings to capture the sunset light,” she explains.
“Yes, really good photo.”
Yuna smiles and puts her phone back in her bag before changing the subject. “So, how was your weekend.”
“Good. Some friends came over and we played videogames and then, on Saturday, I went out with a guy. We went to a club”.
“A guy?” Yuna asks, curious.
“Yes. You might not know this, but I like both.”
He’s bisexual. Yuna did not know that. She knew of Ilya’s reputation as a ladies’ man, so she just assumed that he was straight.
“And you had a good time?”
“Yeah.”
The answer is short and the expression on his face reveals nothing, but she wants to know more. “So you two are…? is he your boyfriend?” She asks, thinking that it’s better to be direct.
Ilya huffs out a laugh. “Ah, no. It’s not like that. We’re just, you know…”
Yuna assumes that he means just having fun, nothing serious.
“So, you’re not in a relationship right now?”
“No,” he says simply.
Ilya Rozanov is bisexual and single. Yuna finds this information very interesting.