A Summer to Remember
2
When I woke up this morning I wasn’t really nervous, but I wasn’t actually excited either. It was kind of in the middle you could say. I grabbed everything and was out the door by noon. I walked through O’Hare airport getting stopped numerous times for autographs and pictures like I usually do. I’ll get stopped a lot in airports but I always get stopped a little bit more somewhere near Chicago. So when I go to Buffalo even though it’s my home town I’m not going to be noticed as much as I would here.
I rummaged through my lap top case searching for my IPod to drown out the sounds of the plane and the talkative people. I finally found it just as a young brunette girl about a few years younger sat down beside me. She had placed her carry on above us and sat down and smiled at me. I gave her a small smile back showing I was clearly uninterested in whatever she was doing. I threw my head back and closed my eyes for a little bit before she nudged me telling me to turn off my IPod. I sighed and waited out the lift off. “My name’s Kylie by the way.” “Patrick,” I simply stated.
“I know who you are silly.” She giggled, what was she 5? “I’m from Buffalo too; I actually went to your high school I was in your sister’s grade, Jessica right?” I nodded and stared out the window as the plane slowly made its way into the sky. I was thankful when she finally stopped talking to me. “So,” Fuck, “Are you single?” She finally asked. I was hesitant in telling her about my personal life considering I had just met her a few minutes ago. Ah, what the hell.
“Well, sorta,” This got her attention, “I had been dating my best friend Natalie for awhile and then she decided she was homesick so she broke up with me and moved back to Buffalo,” I rambled on, “That was about 5 years ago so now I’m trying to get her back.” She nodded in disappointment. “Oh, well I wish you luck with Natalie.” She sounded strange, like she was hiding something. But I shrugged it off and turned my IPod back on after the pilot said we could. I got a good 2 hour nap before we landed in Buffalo. I walked through the airport, got my bags, and met my mom at the front gate. “Hey honey, how was your flight?” I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Boring, but I met one of Jess’s friends, Kylie?” Mom shook her head, “Yeah, I don’t know, she was probably over at our house at one time or another.” I smirked as we made our way to the car.
At home I was instantly greeted with a bear hug from all three of my sisters. “Hey girls,” I was a little unenthusiastic about this flight home. “So Pat, are you ready to get her back?” I nodded but smiled, “Can I at least relax a little bit before we get into anything drastic?” Jackie sighed, “Fine, but don’t just shove it off, you’re going to have to talk to her eventually.” We walked into my room and threw my duffel bag on my bed. “Trust me Jack, I’ll do it tomorrow. I promise.” And with that I drifted off to sleep.
The next day my nerves were getting the best of me. Erica said that my parents had gotten the Vaughn’s home phone number for me. I called them right after breakfast. “Hello,” Mrs. Vaughn answered, “Hello Mrs. Vaughn, it’s Patrick Kane, I wanted to know if I could get a hold of Natalie somehow I had been meaning to catch up with her.” My voice was shaky but she seemed to have no problem talking to me. “Oh Patrick yes, of course Natalie had moved out a few months ago would you like her phone number?” I grabbed a pen and leaned my phone in between my shoulder and my ear, “yes and her address if you don’t mind.” She laughed a bit, “Oh Patrick, anything for you. Her address is 245 Jersey St. And her phone number is 716-234-0908.” I had a smile from ear to ear, I was this close to seeing her again, “Thank you so much Mrs. Vaughn,” I finished writing down the phone number on my arm. “Oh and tell your family that I said Hi from everyone over here.” “Will do Mrs. Vaughn, thanks again”
The first thing I did after I hung up was jump up and down in my room. Jackie had been eavesdropping and she opened the door so fast it hit the wall, “Way to go Pat!” I stopped jumping and went over and picked her up, but stopped for a few seconds a first, “Jackie! Were you eavesdropping?” She looked left, then looked right and looked left again, “No…” But she finally broke into a laugh, “Okay, yeah I was. So what? You got Natalie’s number, and her address!” I shrugged my shoulders, “Yeah that’s true.” I picked her up again and started spinning her around. Erica and Jessica came in next. “So?” Jessica finally said, “What do you think happened stupid!” She crossed her arms but cracked into a smile almost instantly. She came over to the love fest and gave me a hug, “You’re almost there Pat, and she’s this close. Are you going to go over there now?” I nodded my head spastically. “Well then go get her!” I basically ran out of the room.
I got in the car and drove to her house across town. I followed the GPS’s instructions until I got to the white 2 story house. My heart was beating harder and faster with every step I took going up the stairs onto the porch. I knocked on the door with fake confidence. “Just a second,” I heard from the other side of the door. That was the voice I had missed, that was the voice that walked out 5 years ago, and that was her voice.
She opened the door not knowing who was going to be on the other side, greeting her. Her eyes went wide. “Patrick,” she said in barely a whisper. She hadn’t changed much. Her blue eyes still sparkled in the light, her hair still just went barely passed her shoulders, “Hi Natalie,” I removed my backwards hat off and held it in both hands at my waist. She was speechless, in a state of shock, without any words to say. “What are you doing here? And how did you find me?” She finally said, “Well, I wanted to see you, I haven’t seen you for so long, and I got your address from your mom.” I shrugged, “So can I—,”
“Honey, who’s at the door?” I knew that voice, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. “Just an old friend honey, I’ve got it.” She yelled back to the man. But I still heard footsteps coming towards the front door. He snaked his hand around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. “This isn’t just any old friend it’s Patrick Kane.” Tyler Smith, fucking Tyler Smith, he finally stole her from me. I couldn’t believe it. “Hey Ty, how’ve you been.” I said with a little sadness in my voice. He opened the door and shook my hand still having a hold on her. “Pretty good, so why don’t you come in and catch up,” He was all smiles as he welcomed me into his home, unlike Natalie who was avoiding my eyes.
“Natalie honey, would you mind go getting me and this good man a beer.” She gave a week smile as she stood up and went into the kitchen. I looked around the room at the pictures hanging on the wall. Most of them were of wedding pictures, other than that the walls were bare. I picked one of them up that were on the coffee table in front of me. She looked beautiful. She was standing next to Tyler in a garden somewhere wearing a beautiful gown that hit her in all the right places. She was flashing her pearl white smile towards the camera with Tyler kissing her on the cheek. Tyler meanwhile was rambling off something that I really seriously did not give a shit about. Natalie walked back in and blushed once we finally locked eyes for the first time since she opened the door to my face.
She put her head down and placed the beer directly in front of the picture frame. I could tell that she was avoiding this moment. She went and sat down next to her husband on the opposite couch. “So Pat how have you been.” I was still trying to lock eyes with Natalie. She and I used to have conversations with just eye contact but now she wouldn’t even look at me for a second. “Pretty good, I’ve cleaned up gotten my life back together after a few years ago. We’re going for another Stanley Cup run next season. But enough about me, what’s going on with you guys.” He didn’t even hesitate before going into their life story together, “Well Natalie and I got married last April and we couldn’t be happier, isn’t that right Nat?” She nodded her head and smiled but didn’t say a word. “Other than that nothing really exciting has happened.” There was an awkward silence, “Hey uh Ty, do you mind if I talk to Natalie alone?”
He looked at her and she nodded as he kissed her and got up and went upstairs somewhere. There was a silence for a bit but I finally broke it, “Natalie, look at me.” She shook her head, “Why not?” Her eyes started to become glossy, “Patrick, you know exactly why. You shouldn’t even be here. I thought 5 years ago I lost you forever. And now you show up on my door step from out of the blue and what am I supposed to say, especially when I’m married to Tyler!” She still hadn’t looked at me in the eyes, “I get that, I know I should’ve called or something but I wanted to see you. After the first year after you left I was expecting to get a call or a text or something from you but I never got anything. So I waited another year, and nothing and another year went by, and another year went by, and still I didn’t get anything from you. I thought that it was all because of me that you left, so I decided that I was going to change for you. So I cut my hair got my life on track, and still nothing. So I thought after 5 years I should just go find you.”
For the 2nd time within an hour she looked at me. “Patrick, you did all of that for me?” Tears were streaking down her face. I went over and sat down next to her and wiped away her tears, “Of course Nat, I would do anything for you. You’re my best friend.” She smiled and wrapped her arms around me. “You know this still doesn’t change anything. I’m still going to stay with Tyler. You just can’t come flying in here and change everything, this isn’t a fairy tale.” Welcome back to fucking reality. “I know that, I just want to be friends again, just like the way it used to be. The truth was I did want it to go back to what it was like before, just a little closer to the present than I said.
“I missed you so much Pat, I just didn’t know what to do. I was scared and stupid, and I didn’t have my best friend by my side.” She smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck again. Just then her husband came down and ruined the moment. “Well isn’t this a nice loving reunion.” Yeah he really didn’t like that hug too much. I let out a deep breath. I got up and let him take my seat next to her. “Well, I guess I should be going. I’ll just let myself out.” I said monotonously, “Bye Nat.”
I rummaged through my lap top case searching for my IPod to drown out the sounds of the plane and the talkative people. I finally found it just as a young brunette girl about a few years younger sat down beside me. She had placed her carry on above us and sat down and smiled at me. I gave her a small smile back showing I was clearly uninterested in whatever she was doing. I threw my head back and closed my eyes for a little bit before she nudged me telling me to turn off my IPod. I sighed and waited out the lift off. “My name’s Kylie by the way.” “Patrick,” I simply stated.
“I know who you are silly.” She giggled, what was she 5? “I’m from Buffalo too; I actually went to your high school I was in your sister’s grade, Jessica right?” I nodded and stared out the window as the plane slowly made its way into the sky. I was thankful when she finally stopped talking to me. “So,” Fuck, “Are you single?” She finally asked. I was hesitant in telling her about my personal life considering I had just met her a few minutes ago. Ah, what the hell.
“Well, sorta,” This got her attention, “I had been dating my best friend Natalie for awhile and then she decided she was homesick so she broke up with me and moved back to Buffalo,” I rambled on, “That was about 5 years ago so now I’m trying to get her back.” She nodded in disappointment. “Oh, well I wish you luck with Natalie.” She sounded strange, like she was hiding something. But I shrugged it off and turned my IPod back on after the pilot said we could. I got a good 2 hour nap before we landed in Buffalo. I walked through the airport, got my bags, and met my mom at the front gate. “Hey honey, how was your flight?” I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Boring, but I met one of Jess’s friends, Kylie?” Mom shook her head, “Yeah, I don’t know, she was probably over at our house at one time or another.” I smirked as we made our way to the car.
At home I was instantly greeted with a bear hug from all three of my sisters. “Hey girls,” I was a little unenthusiastic about this flight home. “So Pat, are you ready to get her back?” I nodded but smiled, “Can I at least relax a little bit before we get into anything drastic?” Jackie sighed, “Fine, but don’t just shove it off, you’re going to have to talk to her eventually.” We walked into my room and threw my duffel bag on my bed. “Trust me Jack, I’ll do it tomorrow. I promise.” And with that I drifted off to sleep.
The next day my nerves were getting the best of me. Erica said that my parents had gotten the Vaughn’s home phone number for me. I called them right after breakfast. “Hello,” Mrs. Vaughn answered, “Hello Mrs. Vaughn, it’s Patrick Kane, I wanted to know if I could get a hold of Natalie somehow I had been meaning to catch up with her.” My voice was shaky but she seemed to have no problem talking to me. “Oh Patrick yes, of course Natalie had moved out a few months ago would you like her phone number?” I grabbed a pen and leaned my phone in between my shoulder and my ear, “yes and her address if you don’t mind.” She laughed a bit, “Oh Patrick, anything for you. Her address is 245 Jersey St. And her phone number is 716-234-0908.” I had a smile from ear to ear, I was this close to seeing her again, “Thank you so much Mrs. Vaughn,” I finished writing down the phone number on my arm. “Oh and tell your family that I said Hi from everyone over here.” “Will do Mrs. Vaughn, thanks again”
The first thing I did after I hung up was jump up and down in my room. Jackie had been eavesdropping and she opened the door so fast it hit the wall, “Way to go Pat!” I stopped jumping and went over and picked her up, but stopped for a few seconds a first, “Jackie! Were you eavesdropping?” She looked left, then looked right and looked left again, “No…” But she finally broke into a laugh, “Okay, yeah I was. So what? You got Natalie’s number, and her address!” I shrugged my shoulders, “Yeah that’s true.” I picked her up again and started spinning her around. Erica and Jessica came in next. “So?” Jessica finally said, “What do you think happened stupid!” She crossed her arms but cracked into a smile almost instantly. She came over to the love fest and gave me a hug, “You’re almost there Pat, and she’s this close. Are you going to go over there now?” I nodded my head spastically. “Well then go get her!” I basically ran out of the room.
I got in the car and drove to her house across town. I followed the GPS’s instructions until I got to the white 2 story house. My heart was beating harder and faster with every step I took going up the stairs onto the porch. I knocked on the door with fake confidence. “Just a second,” I heard from the other side of the door. That was the voice I had missed, that was the voice that walked out 5 years ago, and that was her voice.
She opened the door not knowing who was going to be on the other side, greeting her. Her eyes went wide. “Patrick,” she said in barely a whisper. She hadn’t changed much. Her blue eyes still sparkled in the light, her hair still just went barely passed her shoulders, “Hi Natalie,” I removed my backwards hat off and held it in both hands at my waist. She was speechless, in a state of shock, without any words to say. “What are you doing here? And how did you find me?” She finally said, “Well, I wanted to see you, I haven’t seen you for so long, and I got your address from your mom.” I shrugged, “So can I—,”
“Honey, who’s at the door?” I knew that voice, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. “Just an old friend honey, I’ve got it.” She yelled back to the man. But I still heard footsteps coming towards the front door. He snaked his hand around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. “This isn’t just any old friend it’s Patrick Kane.” Tyler Smith, fucking Tyler Smith, he finally stole her from me. I couldn’t believe it. “Hey Ty, how’ve you been.” I said with a little sadness in my voice. He opened the door and shook my hand still having a hold on her. “Pretty good, so why don’t you come in and catch up,” He was all smiles as he welcomed me into his home, unlike Natalie who was avoiding my eyes.
“Natalie honey, would you mind go getting me and this good man a beer.” She gave a week smile as she stood up and went into the kitchen. I looked around the room at the pictures hanging on the wall. Most of them were of wedding pictures, other than that the walls were bare. I picked one of them up that were on the coffee table in front of me. She looked beautiful. She was standing next to Tyler in a garden somewhere wearing a beautiful gown that hit her in all the right places. She was flashing her pearl white smile towards the camera with Tyler kissing her on the cheek. Tyler meanwhile was rambling off something that I really seriously did not give a shit about. Natalie walked back in and blushed once we finally locked eyes for the first time since she opened the door to my face.
She put her head down and placed the beer directly in front of the picture frame. I could tell that she was avoiding this moment. She went and sat down next to her husband on the opposite couch. “So Pat how have you been.” I was still trying to lock eyes with Natalie. She and I used to have conversations with just eye contact but now she wouldn’t even look at me for a second. “Pretty good, I’ve cleaned up gotten my life back together after a few years ago. We’re going for another Stanley Cup run next season. But enough about me, what’s going on with you guys.” He didn’t even hesitate before going into their life story together, “Well Natalie and I got married last April and we couldn’t be happier, isn’t that right Nat?” She nodded her head and smiled but didn’t say a word. “Other than that nothing really exciting has happened.” There was an awkward silence, “Hey uh Ty, do you mind if I talk to Natalie alone?”
He looked at her and she nodded as he kissed her and got up and went upstairs somewhere. There was a silence for a bit but I finally broke it, “Natalie, look at me.” She shook her head, “Why not?” Her eyes started to become glossy, “Patrick, you know exactly why. You shouldn’t even be here. I thought 5 years ago I lost you forever. And now you show up on my door step from out of the blue and what am I supposed to say, especially when I’m married to Tyler!” She still hadn’t looked at me in the eyes, “I get that, I know I should’ve called or something but I wanted to see you. After the first year after you left I was expecting to get a call or a text or something from you but I never got anything. So I waited another year, and nothing and another year went by, and another year went by, and still I didn’t get anything from you. I thought that it was all because of me that you left, so I decided that I was going to change for you. So I cut my hair got my life on track, and still nothing. So I thought after 5 years I should just go find you.”
For the 2nd time within an hour she looked at me. “Patrick, you did all of that for me?” Tears were streaking down her face. I went over and sat down next to her and wiped away her tears, “Of course Nat, I would do anything for you. You’re my best friend.” She smiled and wrapped her arms around me. “You know this still doesn’t change anything. I’m still going to stay with Tyler. You just can’t come flying in here and change everything, this isn’t a fairy tale.” Welcome back to fucking reality. “I know that, I just want to be friends again, just like the way it used to be. The truth was I did want it to go back to what it was like before, just a little closer to the present than I said.
“I missed you so much Pat, I just didn’t know what to do. I was scared and stupid, and I didn’t have my best friend by my side.” She smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck again. Just then her husband came down and ruined the moment. “Well isn’t this a nice loving reunion.” Yeah he really didn’t like that hug too much. I let out a deep breath. I got up and let him take my seat next to her. “Well, I guess I should be going. I’ll just let myself out.” I said monotonously, “Bye Nat.”
