Laura had been dead tired after she got back from seeing Johnny’s Icehouse, but she knew she had already delayed the call home to her Mom. Fighting off sleep, she called back home and told her parents she’d arrived at her hotel in Chicago safely. After hanging up, she’d had no energy left to change for bed, so she ended up falling asleep in the clothes she’d worn when she left Vancouver.



Now she yawned and rubbed her eyes as she woke up. She couldn’t recall when she fell asleep, but she did remember today was her big day. She rolled off the bed and threw open the hotel curtains. This place seemed far too regal for her taste, but that’s not to say she wasn’t enjoying it. Warm sunlight streamed in through the gigantic window. Laura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “This is a complete dream,” she thought.
Laura looked at the clock on the wall to see that it was currently 7:30 am. She had about an hour and half until she was expected to be at the rink. She decided breakfast could wait a bit longer; she needed to look a little presentable.
The weather outside screamed sunny, but Laura expected it to be pretty cold once she actually got inside the rink. Digging through her carry on, she discovered she’d forgotten to pack her favourite Blackhawks sweater. Disappointed, she settled her star sweater, a pair of blue jeans, and her white converse. Satisfied with her choices, Laura set off to the bathroom to get ready.
After showering and brushing, Laura emerged from the bathroom and stood in front of the large mirror next to the bed. Her hair was a frizzy tangled mess since she had spent forever blow drying it. Laura struggled with her brush for a bit, but finally managed to get her hair to cooperate. When it became apparent to Laura that she wasn’t going to have many styling options, she decided to go with a quick and easy ponytail. Casting a quick glance at the clock, Laura discovered it was already 8:30.
Luckily her breakfast was due to arrive at any moment. Finishing up with her hair and usual simple make-up, Laura answered the knock that came at the door. As she had thought it was a server bringing her breakfast. Taking a seat in the arm chair, she began to eat her toast.
“Eating alone just feels so awkward,” she thought taking a sip of her orange juice.
That was when her phone began to vibrate on the nightstand where it had been charging. Setting aside her food, Laura hopped over her belongings on the floor and grabbed it. Picking up her phone she realized it was her cousin Sidney calling.
“Hellooooooo!!” Laura yelled.
“Aren’t you just a little too energetic for this early in the morning?” Sidney giggled.
“When you’re in a city like this, about to go do a job like this – you feel on top of the world!” Laura said.
Sidney laughed in response. “Well way to give me a heads up that you were leaving, punk. I was planning on coming to visit.”
“I’m supposed to be in Chicago a few more days as part of the prize. You should come out here. Then we can head back up to Canada together, Laura suggested.
“Easy for you to say miss all expenses paid trip. “ Sidney teased.
“Come oooooon, don’t be like that! This place is really worth seeing!” Laura pressed.
“The place or the people?” Sidney sassed.
“And what is the supposed to mean?” Laura replied a little peeved.
“Oh please, it’s not like we all didn’t know about you’re little crush on that hockey guy!”
Laura reddened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you don’t.” Sidney muttered.
“So are you coming or not? I need to know ASAP!”
“I don’t know. I’ll see what I can do.” Sidney replied.
Laura smiled. That was Sidney’s version of a yes.
“I gotta go head to the rink. Call you back later?” Laura needed to get ready.
“Don’t embarrass yourself in front of the pros!” Sidney advised before hanging up.
“Just add on to my anxiety,” Laura breathed.
Stealing another glance at the clock Laura panicked a bit. It was 8:55 and she was still stuck doing a little bit of everything. Rushing around the room, she slipped on her shoes and grabbed her bag. With a final check in the mirror she nodded at her reflection and headed out.
By the time she had made it out of the elevator and through the front doors of the hotel lobby, she could see exactly what vehicle awaited her arrival. It was the obvious red and black Camaro decked out with the Blackhawks logo. It became even more apparent when she began walking towards the car and someone stepped out of the driver’s side to greet her. She let him know that she was Laura and the chauffer let her know that he was responsible to get her to the rink. He went on to open the car door and let her in. Laura thanked him as she took a seat in the back. “This is insane,” she thought.
After about 15 minutes of sitting in silence, the driver told her they had arrived. Once again he opened her door to let her out and she thanked him. “This is getting crazier and crazier,” Laura thought still mesmerized by the car.
Once Laura got inside Johnny’s Ice House she figured out where to go pretty quickly. She continued walking towards where she could see most people in jackets walking, and eventually, she found herself standing in front of the plexiglass that stood between her and the ice. Laura suddenly felt under-dressed. She was starting to shiver a little through her sweater.
“There you are Laura!”
Laura turned to see Troy. She smiled. “Wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” she answered.
“There’s been a little change of plans Laura. I need to leave for the day for a family situation, but my assistant Clint will be here in my place. It’s so short notice, but we had it all planned for today, so delay wasn’t possible. Hope you don’t mind this.”
Laura shook her head. “Nope, that’s totally fine. I understand.”
Troy smiled. “Great, I’ve gotta jet but Clint should be around to meet you soon enough.” He said good-bye and was on his way.
Laura sighed and rocked back and forth on her heels. The Zamboni was just finishing up. Meaning the players would hit the ice soon. She heard quick paced footsteps and saw a man jogging her way. He was a little out of breath when he reached her, but he still managed to speak without a pause.
“You must be Laura,” He said extending his hand.
Laura nodded and shook his hand, “You’re Clint right?”
“That’s right. Alright Laura, let’s get going and get you ready. We got work to do.”
Laura followed Clint as they walked past the curving boards. She could hear skates and saw the players filing out onto the ice. She was assuming they were headed to the equipment room to finally get to work.
“We’ve probably got some skates to sharpen so we’ll head over there first,” Clint explained. There was a banging on the boards and Laura turned to see Captain Toews himself.
“Don’t listen to that guy though, that’s really bad news,” Clint told her with a smile.
“Here we are, the equipment room,” Clint said opening a red door with the Blackhawks logo on it.
“We need to get you in official trainers gear,” he stated passing her a red Blackhawks hoodie. She slipped it on over her star sweater and laughed. It was a size too big.
“Let’s get out there,” Clint motioned towards the door. Laura was hit with a rush of cold as they stepped up to the bench area.
“Right, so you gotta keep your head up during practice cuz you never know when you might need to make a quick fix,” Clint told her. “And of course the guys obviously, in case like a stick breaks or something,” he continued. Laura responded with a nod.
They son got to work organizing the things that lay around the bench area. Just as Laura had finished stacking a neat pile of orange cones, Clint spoke up.
“You’re going to have to hand that off in a second,” he stated giving her a stick.
A red jersey was headed her way. She recognized the face to be Johnny Oduya. She passed him the stick and he gave the one he already had to Clint. “Thank-you,” he said before skating away.
“You’re welcome,” Laura replied with a grin. This was starting to get fun!
Clint tossed her a jersey. “Good job,” he commented.
“Thanks,” she laughed.
After folding the first few practice jerseys, Laura got stuck in a bit of a loop and tuned everything out. Clint seemed to be otherwise occupied as he helped out another player with something.
“Wow, now do I have a story to tell everyone when I get back,” Laura smiled as she thought to herself. She felt someone skate up but assumed whoever was there needed to talk to Clint. Still focused on her jersey folding, Laura was surprised when a voice spoke.
“Are you the new equipment manager?”
She looked up to see the same blue eyes she had seen in her dream. Only this time, they were real and captivating.