PART TWELVE: IN THE CLUB
When I entered the United Center the next day, I was glad to see Patrick on the ice. It had only been a day since I had talked to him and two since I had seen him, but I had missed him somehow. I suddenly wondered how bad it would be if we were in a relationship and he was gone all the time, but I pushed that thought away quickly. We weren’t ever going to be together. That was impossible.
“As I told you yesterday, you’ll be working at a game, so you’ll all have certain jobs. I’ll assign you your jobs tomorrow based on your work today and in the past. You’ll be split up before the game starts - half of you selling tickets in the booths, half of you selling things at the merchandise store. When the game actually gets started, two of you will be selling drinks, three of you will be working concessions, and one of you will be Tommy Hawk for the night,” Brad explained.
He went over basics for working the booths, shop, concessions, etc. and for selling drinks. After that, Tommy Hawk himself came out to teach us how to be him. We all had a chance to bang the drum of course, but we didn’t have a way to practice getting a crowd fired up so the winner of that job would be chosen mostly based on personality.
When all that was over with, we all took pictures with the very famous mascot and we were able to stick around and help with after practice activities or leave. Dylan, Alex, and I decided to stay while the others left. I wanted extra experience, of course, but I couldn’t lie and say my reasoning wasn’t partially because I knew I would get to see Patrick. However, when I headed into the locker room with Brad, Dylan, and Alex, I saw more of him than I had anticipated seeing.
The team was in the middle of changing and many of them were walking around without shirts on, including Patrick. If only Puck Bunny had been there to see that sight…
“Alright, alright, there’s a lady in here guys. Lets try to get some clothes on,” Brad announced, causing everyone in the room to turn and look at me. I felt my face start to turn red. It could have been from the fact that all eyes were on me, or maybe it was the fact that I was embarrassed about staring at Patrick. I had seen him shirtless in pictures, but it was way different in person. I could see every muscle in his arms, his perfect abs, and even his glorious v lines…
“My face is up here, ya know,” he laughed as he walked up to me. Great, he noticed that I was checking him out.
“I know that,” I answered, looking into his eyes. He put on a t shirt and I was partially thankful for that - I didn’t need any more embarrassment.
“So what are you doing in here anyways? Not that I’m complaining.”
“Brad gave us the choice to stay and help out. So…do you need anything?” I realized that I wasn’t really doing much. Brad let us stay so we could actually get things done, not socialize with the players. Well, that was what I figured, anyways. But when I looked over at Dylan, I saw him talking to Corey Crawford. Typical Dylan. Alex was chatting with a player too, Brandon Saad. Well, at least we would all get in trouble if Brad really cared instead of just one of us.
“No, I don’t think so. I think you’ve done enough for all of us by now,” Patrick said, reminding me that we were in the middle of a conversation. I watched him put all of his stuff into his bag. He was now dressed in normal clothes instead of his uniform, and he had apparently gotten a shower in before I had arrived, because his hair was still wet but he actually smelled clean.
“Actually, now that I think about it, you could walk me to my car,” he decided.
“Oh, well, I don’t know if I’m allowed to leave since I said I would stay and work longer…” I said, searching for Brad.
“I just talked to him. There’s not a whole lot to do at this point. He said we didn’t have to stay in the first place so we can leave whenever,” Alex told me. He must have heard my comment.
“So you’ll walk with me then?”
“Sure.”
What I had thought would be a quiet, private walk with him to his car turned into a loud group activity. Most of the team was ready to go so they all walked out at the same time. They acted, well, like guys. Patrick almost seemed embarrassed by them. I didn’t really mind them, though. They were hilarious to listen to and watch. They reminded me of all the times Brian had friends over in the past.
“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said when we got to his car.
“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll probably text you later, too.”
When I got home, I was greeted by a very loud best friend, as usual. But for some reason, she was extra enthusiastic.
“Get out your sluttiest outfit, we’re going to the club!!!” she yelled.
“I. Am Not. A Whore,” I said, just the way it sounded in LMFAO’s song.
“Fine, then. Get your sexiest outfit out. Is that classy enough for you?” Tess asked, going to her room and searching through her closet.
“Sure. Why are you so into going to the club suddenly?” I wondered.
“I don’t know. We haven’t had a really fun girls night out for a while. I figured it was about time we went out and did something. Plus, there’s this awesome new club downtown that Jordan told me about, I thought we could check it out,” she explained, picking up a dress, looking it over, and then putting it back into her closet, unsatisfied.
“Okay, I guess that’s fair. When are we going, then?”
“Well I was thinking we could eat dinner and then go whenever we’re done getting ready after that,” she said.
We weren’t all that hungry and we were pretty eager to go, so we made Ramen noodles for dinner. It just proved that we still lived the college lifestyle…
I approved a short, fitted dress that was cobalt blue with long, black mesh sleeves for Tess. For me, she approved a short, fitted LBD with a sweetheart neckline. We did our hair and makeup until we decided that we looked perfect and then Tess drove my car to the club since she knew where it was. Since I would have to get up early and be sober for the UC the next day, I would be the designated driver on the way home, hence why we took my car.
When we got to the building we showed our IDs and we were in. It was quite the club. It was really big and my first impression told me that the DJ was pretty cool. The lights were colorful and bright and it was super loud. I had only been to two other clubs before, but this one seemed to top them both.
“Let’s find some hot guys to dance with,” Tess said, pulling me through the crowd. Boys were always the number one thing on her mind.
We found a group and we started to dance. Tess immediately started to flirt, but I didn’t. I never saw myself as very good at flirting, so I just went along with everything. I didn’t need to charm any guys to have fun. I just wanted to let loose and dance until I couldn’t anymore. But, of course, that wasn’t possible.
“Holy crap. Lean, look!” Tess pointed to a group of guys nearby. I didn’t really know what she was trying to get at. They were all turned around so I couldn’t even see if they were attractive or not.
“What?” I asked, letting her know how confused I was.
“I know that butt,” Tess decided. Surprisingly, I had heard more ridiculous things come out of her mouth before. I couldn’t imagine whose butt it could possibly be, but I had a good idea when I saw the blonde curls on the guy next to him.
“It’s Toews and Kane,” I said.
“Oh my god, that does look like Kane. Well, what are you waiting for, Lean? Go get his attention!”
“No! I should leave him alone, he’s just trying to have a good time outside of his hockey madness,” I said. We bickered for a minute until Patrick came up to me himself.
“Hey! Long time, no see,” he grinned.
“Wow, yeah. Hey Patrick,” I answered awkwardly, adjusting my dress.
“You’re her friend Tess, right? The one who sent me the picture on Christmas?” he asked.
“Yep, that’s me!” Tess answered. I could tell she was giddy about meeting him, but she wasn’t turning her flirt on like she normally would. She had apparently decided that he was mine.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Patrick told her. “Hey Tazer! Come over here!” At that comment, I saw Tess fan girl.
“Tess, this is Jonathan. Jonathan, this is Tess.” They were introduced to each other and Tess completely lit up.
“I heard that I was your favorite player,” Jonathan said to her with a goofy smile.
“You heard right,” Tess told him. They seemed to click right away, so I decided to leave them alone for a while. It was just me and Patrick again.
“You look great tonight,” Patrick told me. Now he was the one checking me out, but I was still the one that was blushing.
“Thanks, you do too,” I answered honestly. As nice as the Hawks uniforms were, it was nice to see him in something else for once.
We talked a little but we mostly danced. After a while, we got more comfortable with each other and we danced a little closer as time went on, too. As soon as Tess noticed, she announced that she was going to the bathroom. That was my cue to go with her. We were just like any other typical girls; we went in groups.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked me when we entered the surprisingly empty restroom.
“What do you mean?” I wondered, going into a stall. I actually had to go.
“Don’t think I didn’t see you getting some out there,” she said. If I would have had a drink, I would have done a complete spit take.
“Okay, I think you have a really messed up definition of ‘getting some’ in your head if you think that’s what you saw happening,” I told her.
“Oh, you know I don’t actually mean THAT,” Tess clarified, checking her reflection in the mirror next to mine when I exited the stall and began washing my hands.
“So what you really mean is…?”
“Well, you never really flirt with guys and I definitely have never seen you dance like that with any guy before. Even when I’ve forced you to you’ve refused. For you, this is big. I mean, you might as well be getting some.”
“Well jeez, I didn’t know it was such a big deal. Maybe I should have a drink, I feel like this is a big enough achievement for a celebration,” I joked. Tess was right, this wasn’t really like me. I almost felt slutty, but I would never consider Tess to be a slut and she did things like that all the time. In fact, out of all of my friends, I was the only person that didn’t really try to get any guy’s attention or let them have all of mine. Maybe I was just being a normal person for once. It didn’t really feel weird, anyways. I was enjoying myself. I guessed that it was probably a good thing that I was letting my guard down a little.
We headed back out to the dance floor and we spent some more time out there letting loose and having fun. Patrick bought me a drink, one that I could afford to have and still easily get us home safely. He bought himself one too, and I was almost afraid that he would gradually get really drunk like he had a few times before in the past. Luckily, the recent news I heard about him focusing on his job and getting away from the partying lifestyle seemed to be really true. He didn’t seem drunk at all, and I didn’t catch him drinking very much.
After a few hours had passed, Tess and I decided we should head home. It was starting to get late and I actually wanted to get a little sleep. Jonathan and Patrick apparently did too, so they headed out the same time that we did.
“Hey, before you go, I want to ask you something,” Patrick said while Tess and Jonathan walked and talked.
“Okay.”
“Do you have any plans for New Years?”
“I don’t think so. Why, do you have something in mind?” This was getting interesting.
“Yeah. Johnny’s having a party at his place. I was wondering if you wanted to come,” he said. “You can bring Tess, too, obviously. Hell, John’s probably inviting her himself right now,” Patrick said.
“Well, in that case, I’ll definitely be there,” I answered.
“Awesome! It should be really fun. Pretty much the whole team will be there, so you can imagine how that’ll be.”
We reached our cars and broke off the conversation, saying goodbye to each other. Tess was super smiley when she got into the passenger seat.
“I cannot believe I just met Jonathan Toews,” she sighed.
“Well you better believe it, because you’re going to his New Years Eve party,” I said.
“I know! You’re going too, right? I mean, him and Patty are besties, he probably doesn’t care who Pat brings.”
“Yeah, I was invited. I’m pretty pumped for News Years, now.”
“Me too…CRAP!” Tess yelled the last part so loud that I almost got us into an accident.
“What?!”
“We need to go shopping. We have to have the PERFECT outfits for this, Lean. It’s a party with the freaking Blackhawks, we have to get it right!”
“I know. I can’t tomorrow night, though. I’m working at a game again. We could go the day after tomorrow, though,” I decided.
“Sweet!” Tess said. She was normally crazy, but it was clear that she had a few drinks, because she was more ridiculous than normal. She wasn’t terrible, though, which I was thankful for. Even though people were funny when they were drunk, I hated having to deal with super drunk people. I didn’t have to worry too much about Tess, though.
Once we got home, I fell asleep quickly, worn out from all the dancing. I didn’t have any dreams, just a peaceful, uninterrupted, deep sleep. I was glad that was the case. The next day was another important one at the UC, and I needed as much rest as I could get.