Unlikely

"Yeah mom, I don't feel like doing this right now. I'm sorry, but it is what is and there's not much you can do about it now. I'll talk to you later, ahuh, bye." I said. My mother had called me trying to get me to not do the job and move back to my hometown instead, and it was pretty irritating.
I'm a photographer and the company that the Chicago Blackhawks use for photography hired me. I was living in New York and doing small gigs for things every now and then, but I knew this was my dream job. I'd grown up in a small town outside of Dallas, but my dad was from Chicago and got me hooked on the Blackhawks. I couldn't believe it when I saw the email in my inbox from the organization.

I left my new condo on Lakeshore Drive, got a latte from Starbucks and then to my new office to meet up with the rest of my team. When I got there, everyone had arrived except for Derrick. The other people told me this happened a lot. When Derrick finally did arrive, we loaded everything into my car and another girl's, Jill, and we left. Derrick ended up riding with me and Luke rode with Jill. The four of us would be working together for a while. I followed Jill to the United Center and we pulled into the parking lot, unloaded all of our stuff and went inside. We got set up and ready when the players started coming in. They'd be doing one with their jerseys and one with a Blackhawks tshirt they pick out. I would be on the camera, Luke and Derrick on lights, and Jill making sure their shirts/jerseys were straight and their was okay, basically their overall appearance. Before we got started, I hooked up my phone to my blue tooth speaker I brought a turned on some music. All of our equipment was ready, so we told the lady who works at the United Center to start sending all the guys in.

One by one, each one of them had their pictures done and we were finished for the day. When we were packing up the equipment, the other three decided to go get lunch.
"You coming Natalie?" Jill asked
"Nah, you guys go. I'll get the rest of the stuff if you just wanna leave." I said
"You sure?" Luke asked.
"Yeah its fine, if y'all will take the stuff we already have packed up I'll get the rest." I said
"Alright." Derrick said. The three got the equipment, thanked me, then left. I turned my music up a little and got started packing the rest of the stuff up. Right in the middle of everything, my mother called again and bitched at me more of why I should move home. I told her to stop and I'd talk to her when she wasn't being rude. I hung up and then continued getting everything together.

When everything was folded and in its bag, I picked it all up and made my way out to my car. As I was turning a corner though, I collided with someone. Since the extra weight of all of the equipment made me a little unbalanced and I wasn't very coordinated to begin with, I naturally fell flat on my ass.
"Fuck." I said, standing up and starting to pick everything up.
"Let me help you." the guy said
"No, no its fine. This stuff is pretty expensive and I'd like it not to be damaged anymore that it already is." I said. The stuff really was expensive, and my boss would probably kill me if I'd broken any of it on my first photo shoot. I picked up everything that the guy hadn't and then looked up at him, only to find that it was Patrick Kane. "At least let me help you carry it out." he said. I didn't respond, I just gestured outside with my hand and we walked out.
"Can I buy you lunch?" he asked when everything was in my car
"I've got some things going on." I said, walking over to the drivers side of my car
"Well, I hope to see you around sometime." he said
"We'll see." I said, getting inside and starting my car. He waved as I drove off and towards my office.


That afternoon when I got home, I saw that I had a voice mail from Jill. I unlocked my phone and listened to it.
"Hey Natalie, I was wondering if you'd want to go out tonight, have a little fun, get to know the city. Give me a call back!" she said. I looked at my phone for a second, realized I didn't have anything better to do, so I decided to go. I called her and she said she'd come get me around 8, which left me with 3 hours to get ready. Since I would only need to get about an hour, I used this time to get started on some editing on the photos. I'd gotten them off of the camera and onto my computer at my office earlier. I grabbed my laptop, keys and phone and made my way down to the Starbucks down the street.
When I got there, I got my coffee and sat outside on the patio. I pulled up the pictures and got started. I was pretty focused the whole time, so I got most of the pictures done. Around 6:45, I closed my computer, threw away my cup and made my way back to my condo.


When I got there, I showered a dried my hair and gave it some loose curls. For my makeup, I used a nude, shimmery eye-shadow with dark eyeliner and dark mascara. I wore white-denim shorts with a black v-neck and black sandals. I put my credit card, ID, and some cash into a black clutch and waited for Jill to text me. When she did, I got my keys and locked my condo and went downstairs. Jill was waiting in her car outside of the front door and I quickly got in.
"Hey Natalie." she said, pulling out into the the street.
"Hey, thanks for inviting me." I said
"No problem." she said. After driving for a few minutes, we parked at a meter, paid and then walked about a block to a nice bar. We went inside and were seated at a tall table. A little later, a waiter came over and took our order.
"I'll just a tall Shock Top." Jill said
"Vodka and Sprite." I said. The waiter left and Jill and I got to talking. I told her about my run-in with Patrick Kane this morning.
"No way." she said, leaning in closer. The waiter came and set our drinks down.
"Yeah, he asked me out to lunch." I said
"Did you go?" she asked excitedly.
"Of course not!" I said.
"What the hell, why not?" she said
"I had stuff to do and the only interests I have for him is him playing well for the Hawks." I said
"So you don't think he's attractive?" she asked
"Well yeah, he is, but that's all. Plenty of people are attractive but that doesn't make me want to have lunch with them." I said.
"Speaking of the devil." she said, gesturing behind me. I turned to see a group of the Blackhawks walking in the bar and the hostess bringing them to a few tables next to ours.
"Well fuck me." I said. Jill and I continued talking, but I was somewhat distracted because I kept seeing the glances of a certain blonde out of the corner of my eye. I tried not looking, but I kept finding myself doing it. We made contact a few times, which made me blush harder than I ever had.
"He keeps looking over here." I said quietly to Jill
"He does?!" she said, turning around and looking over at him.
"Shit Jill, I don't want him to come over here." I said
"Why not?" she said, turning back to me.
"Just because!" I said.
"Fine, I'll stop looking." she said and we got back to our conversation. Later into the night though, Jill and I a few more drinks, her more than me though.
"Lets go dance!" she said, standing and grabbing my hand. Just so she'd quit asking me, I got up and joined her. I danced with her for a while, and it was pretty fun. She started getting a little wild though and dancing with a guy, so I went back to my table and just let her do her thing. I was on my phone when I saw someone sit across from me at my table. I looked and met a pair of bright blue eyes.
"Look's like your friend is having some fun with the boys." he said
"Is she really?" I said a little worriedly then leaning to look around him. She was standing with Toews, Saad, and Crawford and laughing her ass off. Luckily, the other three seemed to be having a good time with her too.
"So was all of your stuff okay?" he asked, bringing my attention back to him.
"Yeah. Sorry I was kinda rude earlier. My mother had me a little irritated." I said
"No worries. Is everything okay with her now?" he asked
"Dunno. Haven't called her back." I said
"Hm. Well sorry about that." he said. I just nodded and looked down at my hands. Just then, Jill came back over.
"Hey, umm, could you do me a favor?" she asked
"Sure." I said, laughing a little at her slightly drunken state
"Can you find a ride home?" she said a little sheepishly.
"Yeah, I can. Call me in the morning and watch out for police." I said
"Well I'm not driving." she said, gesturing over to Corey Crawford who was talking with Patrick.
"Okay Jill." I said, laughing a little more.
"Thanks." she said. She then turned and grabbed Crawford's hand and they made their way out of the bar.
"Well I probably outta get going. Cabs a pretty hard to catch when it gets this late." I said
"I can give you a ride." he said
"No, no its fine. I live all the way on the north side and its really okay." I said
"I live on the north side." he said, looking a little hopeful. I looked at the time on my phone and then back at him.
"You sure it's okay?" I said
"Completely. One condition though." he said. I raised my eyebrows at him.
"Let me take you to lunch tomorrow." he said with a smile
"Sure." I said smiling back. Before leaving, he said goodbye to his other teammates and we paid our tabs and left. We walked down the street a little and then we got to his car. He opened the door for me and then he went around to the driver's side and got in.
"What's the address?" he said
"132 Lakeshore Drive." I said
"No shit." he said, turning to me.
"Uh yeah." I said
"That's my building! Were you the one moving in on the 34th floor last week." he said pulling out to the street and driving towards our building.
"Yep, that was me." I said
"I live down the hall, 3412." he said
"3405. At least I'll know someone." I said.
"Well it'll help me to know you if I knew your name." he said, looking over at me and smiling.
"Natalie." I said
"I'm Patrick." he said, smiling over at me again. The rest of the time driving, I told him about moving here from New York and where I was from and all of that good stuff. When we got to the building, he pulled into the parking deck and we made our way up to our floor. When we got to my door, we turned to each other.
"I'll come by tomorrow at noon." he said
"Sounds good." I said.
"I'll see you later Natalie." he said
"Bye Patrick." I responded, smiling.

Notes

First chapter done! Hope you guys enjoy it!
The chapters will be lyrics from some of my favorite songs, the title and artist are in the description and I'll put them again here in the notes!


Fallingforyou - The 1975