The Assistant
Dreams Do Come True
It took Laura a second to process who was in front of her, but her mouth seemed to be ahead of her. “Yeah, just for the day,” she answered.
“What’s your name?” He asked still holding her gaze.
“Laura,” she replied, hoping she had a pleasant smile on her face.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Patrick.” He said.
And it came as no surprise to Laura when she couldn’t get herself to speak again. Ah, social anxiety. Luckily for her though Patrick seemed persistent to keep the conversation going, even if only for a second.
“Well you won’t learn anything from this guy,” he teased leaning against the boards.
Clint pretended to scoff. “Of course she won’t.”
“He told me not to listen to you,” Laura shot back.
Patrick smiled and shrugged. “Alright, maybe you will learn something.” The three of them shared a laugh before he skated off again to join the team.
Laura worked to help around and met a lot more of the players when they came by to grab a new stick or talk to Clint. They were all really good natured guys who just seemed to love to laugh and crack jokes.
After the guys had done some more drills and Laura had tried not to stare all that much, Clint explained how they were going to switch up and work on power plays and such. And that involved handing out the different coloured jerseys when they came over to retrieve them. Once that had been done and the guys had all left to the locker room, Laura and Clint went to work folding all the discarded jerseys that lay around. When that was done with, they both headed to the nearly empty locker room to collect skates and get guards on the all. Later she helped to put any other miscellaneous pieces of equipment where they belonged. Laura was sure she had smelled enough sweat to last a life time, but she wasn’t going to begin to complain. She had just got to do what most fans would die to do.
Soon it seemed as if time really did fly by once Laura realized she was heading out of the rink with Clint at her side. It was starting to get chilly outside and Laura was grateful she had been given the Blackhawks hoodie as a gift.
“Today was fun, huh?” Clint asked.
“Totally was. I’d do it all over again tomorrow if I could,” Laura answered happily.
“Well, I might just hold you to that,” Clint replied with a smile. Laura raised an eyebrow puzzled, but didn’t question it.
“Looks like your ride is here,” he added. Laura looked and sure enough, there was the Camaro.
“Thanks for everything Clint, I had a blast today!”
“We kind of had to let you come. You won the contest and everything you know,” he teased.
Laura laughed, but the joking look on Clint’s face disappeared. “But in all seriousness Laura, I really think a certain someone has a bit of a crush on you.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Yeah, totally.”
Clint frowned. “I’m being honest. Kaner was flat out showing interest, how did you not see it?”
Laura scoffed. “The guy was just being nice to my awkward self. And what makes you think he showed interest.”
“For one, what I just told you. And two, he’s headed this way.” Clint answered flatly.
“Oh plea-,” her sarcastic reply was cut short when she turned to see, yes indeed, Patrick Kane, headed their way. She gulped, feeling panic arise. “What do I do Clint?!” She asked turning back around.
But Clint was already half way in his car in the parking lot ahead. He smiled and waved. Laura felt like strangling him for abandoning her. Not knowing what to do next, Laura began searching through her bag for her phone. She didn’t want to make it all that obvious that she was waiting for Patrick to come talk to her. “He could be looking for someone else, and just walking by. Calm down Laur.” She thought to herself, finally managing to fish her phone out of the bag.
Patrick had just reached her when she fumbled the phone and sent it flying towards him. Luckily he was quick to react and caught it before it smashed to the ground. “You’re literally throwing hints at me now, huh?” He said meeting her eyes. Laura felt a deep blush creep up her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry! That was a complete accident.” Laura explained feeling horrified that he thought that.
“I’m just messing with ya,” Patrick smiled. In that moment Laura saw something in his eyes change for a second, then change back before she could really take note. “Well since you’ve already made you’re move, I might as well come out with it,” He said. She answered him with a confused look when he didn’t specify. “I mean, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out some time? I overheard you would still be in Chicago for a little bit longer....” He drifted off as if rethinking his words. “I mean, not that I was eavesdropping on your conversation when you walked by or anything.”
“Laura laughed nervously. “Don’t worry, I didn’t think so. And yeah, I’d like that.”
A look of almost relief filled Patrick’s eyes. “Great, I should give this back,” he said grinning sheepishly as he handed her phone back.
“Thanks,” Laura replied still replaying his words in her head.
“I should probably get going to,” Patrick pointed out.
“Oh, uh, yeah. Me too.” Laura agreed. He gave her another smile before walking back towards the rink.
Laura walked to the Camaro waiting for her and thanked the driver again for opening her door for her. Once inside she pinched her arm to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Once again, the pain proved it was all real. After fangirling silently to herself she thought she felt something odd in her hand. She looked down to see she was still clutching her phone tightly from when Patrick had handed it to her. Turning over the phone, she watched as a little white piece of paper fell to the car floor. She picked it up to get a closer look and discovered a phone number scribbled on it. Patrick’s name was written beneath it followed by a cheeky smiley face. Laura bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling like an idiot. Dreams did come true.
“What’s your name?” He asked still holding her gaze.
“Laura,” she replied, hoping she had a pleasant smile on her face.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Patrick.” He said.
And it came as no surprise to Laura when she couldn’t get herself to speak again. Ah, social anxiety. Luckily for her though Patrick seemed persistent to keep the conversation going, even if only for a second.
“Well you won’t learn anything from this guy,” he teased leaning against the boards.
Clint pretended to scoff. “Of course she won’t.”
“He told me not to listen to you,” Laura shot back.
Patrick smiled and shrugged. “Alright, maybe you will learn something.” The three of them shared a laugh before he skated off again to join the team.
Laura worked to help around and met a lot more of the players when they came by to grab a new stick or talk to Clint. They were all really good natured guys who just seemed to love to laugh and crack jokes.
After the guys had done some more drills and Laura had tried not to stare all that much, Clint explained how they were going to switch up and work on power plays and such. And that involved handing out the different coloured jerseys when they came over to retrieve them. Once that had been done and the guys had all left to the locker room, Laura and Clint went to work folding all the discarded jerseys that lay around. When that was done with, they both headed to the nearly empty locker room to collect skates and get guards on the all. Later she helped to put any other miscellaneous pieces of equipment where they belonged. Laura was sure she had smelled enough sweat to last a life time, but she wasn’t going to begin to complain. She had just got to do what most fans would die to do.
Soon it seemed as if time really did fly by once Laura realized she was heading out of the rink with Clint at her side. It was starting to get chilly outside and Laura was grateful she had been given the Blackhawks hoodie as a gift.
“Today was fun, huh?” Clint asked.
“Totally was. I’d do it all over again tomorrow if I could,” Laura answered happily.
“Well, I might just hold you to that,” Clint replied with a smile. Laura raised an eyebrow puzzled, but didn’t question it.
“Looks like your ride is here,” he added. Laura looked and sure enough, there was the Camaro.
“Thanks for everything Clint, I had a blast today!”
“We kind of had to let you come. You won the contest and everything you know,” he teased.
Laura laughed, but the joking look on Clint’s face disappeared. “But in all seriousness Laura, I really think a certain someone has a bit of a crush on you.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Yeah, totally.”
Clint frowned. “I’m being honest. Kaner was flat out showing interest, how did you not see it?”
Laura scoffed. “The guy was just being nice to my awkward self. And what makes you think he showed interest.”
“For one, what I just told you. And two, he’s headed this way.” Clint answered flatly.
“Oh plea-,” her sarcastic reply was cut short when she turned to see, yes indeed, Patrick Kane, headed their way. She gulped, feeling panic arise. “What do I do Clint?!” She asked turning back around.
But Clint was already half way in his car in the parking lot ahead. He smiled and waved. Laura felt like strangling him for abandoning her. Not knowing what to do next, Laura began searching through her bag for her phone. She didn’t want to make it all that obvious that she was waiting for Patrick to come talk to her. “He could be looking for someone else, and just walking by. Calm down Laur.” She thought to herself, finally managing to fish her phone out of the bag.
Patrick had just reached her when she fumbled the phone and sent it flying towards him. Luckily he was quick to react and caught it before it smashed to the ground. “You’re literally throwing hints at me now, huh?” He said meeting her eyes. Laura felt a deep blush creep up her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry! That was a complete accident.” Laura explained feeling horrified that he thought that.
“I’m just messing with ya,” Patrick smiled. In that moment Laura saw something in his eyes change for a second, then change back before she could really take note. “Well since you’ve already made you’re move, I might as well come out with it,” He said. She answered him with a confused look when he didn’t specify. “I mean, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out some time? I overheard you would still be in Chicago for a little bit longer....” He drifted off as if rethinking his words. “I mean, not that I was eavesdropping on your conversation when you walked by or anything.”
“Laura laughed nervously. “Don’t worry, I didn’t think so. And yeah, I’d like that.”
A look of almost relief filled Patrick’s eyes. “Great, I should give this back,” he said grinning sheepishly as he handed her phone back.
“Thanks,” Laura replied still replaying his words in her head.
“I should probably get going to,” Patrick pointed out.
“Oh, uh, yeah. Me too.” Laura agreed. He gave her another smile before walking back towards the rink.
Laura walked to the Camaro waiting for her and thanked the driver again for opening her door for her. Once inside she pinched her arm to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Once again, the pain proved it was all real. After fangirling silently to herself she thought she felt something odd in her hand. She looked down to see she was still clutching her phone tightly from when Patrick had handed it to her. Turning over the phone, she watched as a little white piece of paper fell to the car floor. She picked it up to get a closer look and discovered a phone number scribbled on it. Patrick’s name was written beneath it followed by a cheeky smiley face. Laura bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling like an idiot. Dreams did come true.
9/20/13