God, she was tired. Haley rubbed a hand over her face before she took another sip from her coffee, which had already gone cold. She was sitting at the desk in her cubicle thee day after the concert. It was supposed to be her day off, but she had to do some research on her next project. She’d gotten her article about the concert in just in time. After that she’d actually needed some sleep, but this project was more important than sleep.
This morning she’d skipped breakfast again. A coffee had been enough for her. But now she felt hungry. She should probably get a little something for lunch, but before that she had to finish putting down her notes, so that she could leave the office for the day. She had a hockey game to attend later on.
Just when she’d switched off the computer, her colleague and friend Duncan McHale looked over the wall of her cubicle and smiled at her. “I thought this was your day off?”
“It is. But you know how it is.” Duncan worked in the sports department of the Chicago Tribune and knew about her connections to Jonathan Toews, but had never bothered her with questions about him, except for how they knew each other. He’d shown her around the office and had introduced her to everyone.
“I do,” he said with a grin. “Care to join me for lunch? I can take my break now.”
“I’m afraid she can’t.” A voice sounded behind Duncan. When he took a step aside and turned around, Haley could see Patrick standing there, a grin on his face. “She’s got a lunch date with me.”
The look on Duncan’s face was priceless and made Haley chuckle for a moment. Nonetheless, Patrick was crazy. Showing up at her workplace unannounced, when he shouldn’t even know that she was working? She’d known beforehand that everyone would find out that she was in a relationship with him, that’s what they wanted them to believe, but she didn’t want them to find out like this. They should have read it somewhere or seen a picture. Not because Patrick Kane showed up here and took her out for lunch.
“In that case, have fun you two.” Duncan winked at her and left them alone.
“You ready to go?” Patrick crossed his arms over his chest, still looking at her.
“Yes.” She didn’t say anything more. With everything she needed in her purse she got up, put on her coat and left the building with him, well aware of the stares of her co-workers. This was fucking great, but there was nothing she could do. She had to go with him. Refusing would only end in rumors, and not the kind they were looking for.
Patrick took her to a little Italian restaurant just around the corner of her office. All kinds of smells filled her nose and made her mouth water. It had been a long time since she’d last had a pizza. Her stomach longed for it, but her mind told her to go with a salad.
They sat down and ordered their drink first. Patrick gave her some time to study the menu before he asked what she would like to eat. “I think I’ll go with a salad, I just don’t know which one.”
“Don’t take the salad. You should eat one of their pizzas.” Patrick grinned from ear to ear. “They’re to die for. And a salad is not a proper meal.”
“It is for me.” She put the menu down and looked at him across the table.
“You should really get something proper. Do you always eat salad for lunch?”
“Can we not discuss my eating habits, please?” Irritated she took her glass of water that had just arrived and took a sip. She ordered a pizza, even if it was just to shut him up and not talk about this anymore. This was nobody’s business and especially not Patrick’s.
“Well, then tell me something else about you. You probably know a thing or two about me already, so that’s only fair.” He leaned back in his chair, keeping his eyes on Haley.
“Oh, I know quite a lot about you. I’ve done my research.” There was enough about him on the internet, plus she’d heard a lot from Jonathan. Still, she’d promised to make her mind up about him without most of the background information she already had. “Let’s see… I don’t have any siblings and grew up with only my Dad around. That’s why I know so much about hockey and how to skate and so on. I’m a journalist, as you know, and I love my job. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I like country music, a little bit of rock, my favorite color is red. I’m still a kid at heart and love Disney movies. No tattoos and no piercings except the ones in my ears. My Dad writes books for children.” She thought for a moment before she continued. “I’m allergic to strawberries and I’m terrified of bees. I can’t think of anything else.”
“What kind of perfume do you use?” he thanked the waiter for their food and looked at Haley again immediately.
“Princess. Vera Wang. Why do you ask?”
“Because I was curious what that smell was. It’s really nice.”
Haley cut off a piece of her pizza and tasted it. It was so good that she nearly closed her eyes to savor the taste. She’d missed eating pizza, but she wouldn’t do that again so soon. Patrick watched her satisfied.
The look on his face threw her off and made her realize where she was again. “By the way, what made you think you could just turn up at my office and take me out for lunch? How did you even know I was working? It was supposed to be my day off.”
“That was easy. I just called the newspaper and asked. I told them not to say a word to you because it was a surprise.” He started eating, casually looking up at her every now and then.
“And now everybody knows that we’re going out.” Haley sighed and ate another piece of pizza.
“So? That was the plan, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, but I didn’t want to push it in their faces like this. It will already be difficult. And now Duncan knows. I’ll probably have to tell him everything when I get home today. Or tomorrow at the office.” That would be a lot of fun. Lying to one of the few friends she’d made so far in Chicago.
“What’s your relationship with him anyway?”
“That’s none of your business.” She stared at him in disbelief. Yes, she was pretending to be his girlfriend, but that didn’t mean that she’d tell him everything.
“Actually it is. We’re a couple, remember?”
How could she forget? Still, she didn’t want to tell him, but eventually she had to. There was nothing going on, but seeing that slightly concerned look on his face satisfied her somehow. The longer she waited with her answer, the more determined he looked. Oh, he wanted to find out so badly, she could see it on his face. Finally she told him the truth: “We’re colleagues and I call him a friend. There’s nothing more.”
“Good. I can’t have my women looking after other men.
“Your women?” She looked up and studied him. “You’re unbelievable, do you know that?” She shook her head and got up. He hadn’t hurt her with his words, but he’d given her a headache. And she had a hockey game to get through tonight, probably even drinks afterwards. Half a pizza was enough to make her feel queasy and uncomfortable. It was the perfect opportunity for her to go home now without him thinking that there was another reason than his behavior. Good, let him worry about this.
“What’s going on?” He slowly got up and carefully grabbed her hand to stop her from going. Haley, still aware of where they were and who was looking, leaned over and kissed his cheek, which made him let go of her hand.
“I’ll see you at the game.” She needed to get out of this restaurant and get some fresh air. Without turning around to look at Patrick again, she left.
Meanwhile Patrick was staring after her. Jeez, she was sensitive. Of course he’d only made fun when he’d said women, so he hadn’t expected her to react that way. E liked teasing her a lot, because of the look she gave him, but this? What the hell was going on with this woman?

Notes

Sorry for taking so long, but I'll post less frequently the next couple of weeks, because exams are coming up and I need to concentrate on them. I'll try to write as much as possible though.