I woke up the next day feeling like a completely new person. I was so excited that Pat was back in my life, and I was so excited to have my best friend back.
I actually had to go into work today since I called in ‘sick’ yesterday.
It probably isn’t my best idea to fake sick on my second day, but Patrick has limited free time and if he wanted to spend it with me I wasn’t going to waste that chance.
Luckily my aunt didn’t want to risk getting her customers sick, so I just had to come in a set up some tables and wash some dishes. She wanted me out of the restaurant by 5pm before they got their dinner rush.
I got dressed and decided to walk to work today. Since I had a shorter day, I thought I would explore the town, and go buy a Blackhawks jersey before the game tonight. I was really excited to go. I called Matthew and reminded him we were going to the game tonight.
As I was walked down Michigan Avenue, I realized how much my life had changed in the last few days.
I was reunited with my brother, I was working at one of the best restaurants in the city, and I was reunited with my brother. I had everything I wanted when I was back in Buffalo.
That reminded me that I never called Jackie after our date last night. I’d have to call her after the game tonight. I decided to take the long way to the restaurant to see more of the city. This definitely might be one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Not just the city, but the people too. There are just so many people. It makes me think that even if I mess this up, I won’t have to go too far for another start. Not that I want to mess this up. Yesterday made me realize how great my life here could be.
When I arrived at the restaurant, Aunt T put me to work setting up the tables. A couple hours later, she told me to leave because she didn’t want customers getting sick. Since i wasn’t actually sick, I had to put on a show, sneezing and coughing a couple times. I decided to head to the Blackhawks store. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for walking
When I arrived to the Blackhawks store, I instantly fell in love. I wanted everything on the shelves. I decided to control myself. I bought myself a Kane jersey and a blackhawks headband. I then realized that Matthew didn’t know I was talking to Pat again. Telling him was going to suck. Matthew hated Patrick ever since the breakup and was looking for a reason to punch him. I was lucky that they had never run into each other in Chicago since the Blackhawks did lots of charity work with Lurie’s, but I knew he would find out tonight.
When I got home, Matthew was waiting patiently for me.
“Hey sis, how was your day today?” he said happily.
“Good,” I said “Here’s your jersey, I got you a Duncan Keith one. I know he’s your favorite.”
“What’s this for?” he asked.
“Oh right I forgot to tell you. I got us tickets to the Hawks game tonight! Isn’t that fun?”
“Seriously Taylor! You’d think after years of living here I would have been to a game by now, but I guess I’ve been too busy. What jersey did you get yourself?”
“Oh right. I just got the most popular one they were selling since I don’t really have a favorite player.” I lied.
“Good. As long as it isn’t a Kane jersey. He’s such a low life. I can’t believe you wasted even a second of your time on him.” He said with a scowl.
“Well I didn’t even happen to see who it was before they put it in the bag, I guess we will see who it is. I’m guessing Toews is probably their highest selling.” I lied again.
He just gave me a weird look and headed to his room to get ready.
“Be ready in an hour!” I yelled down the hall.
I quickly ran into my room to get ready. I’ll admit I felt sort of guilty getting the Pat jersey and not telling Matthew, but I decided that it wasn’t that big of a deal. I took a quick shower, applied some makeup, and slipped on some black leggings, converse, and the jersey. I went out into the living room, and I hear Matthew gasp.
“So, you didn’t know it was going to be a Kane jersey? Really? Sounds strange to me!” He said, visibly angry.
“I seriously didn’t know Matt, just drop it and let’s go to the game.”
He nodded and grabbed his keys, and we started the drive towards the United Center. Excited was an understatement. I couldn’t keep still the entire car ride, but I had to hide it from Matthew. I could tell he wanted to talk about Pat, but I kept changing the subject before we could start an argument. When we finally got to the United Center, I was amazed. It was everything I had hoped it would be. We went down to our seats, and they were amazing, right on the glass.
“How did Aunt T manage to get these?” Matthew almost yelled.
“I don’t know, but this is the most amazing thing ever. I cannot wait for the game to start!” I replied.
We settled in, and in what seemed like no time, the game started. I did see Pat glance up a couple times during warmups, but I didn’t think Matthew noticed. The Hawks were playing the Kings, and I knew from the start it was going to be an exciting game.
The Kings are one of the best teams in the league right now, so I knew they would put up a good fight this game. The Hawks won the cup last year, 2013, and that made them the team to beat this year. It was a tie game, and regulation ended with the score being 1-1. I was so nervous for OT. As much as I loved it, it made me feel like I was going to die.
The puck dropped for OT and my heart was immediately racing. The first 2 minutes of OT were back and forth, but then the hawks slowly started gaining momentum. 30 seconds later, Pat received a stretch pass at center ice and went flying towards the goal right by our seats. He made the most beautiful dangles I had ever seen, and Jonathan Quick had no chance. Pat scored and immediately pointed up at me, and then skated over and celebrated right in front of our seats. He winked at me, and I was so happy I thought I was actually going to faint.
I looked over to make sure Matthew didn’t see any of that reaction, but of course he did. I could tell he was pissed off, and he wasn’t going to let it slide this time.
“What the hell was that Taylor?” he screamed.
“What was what Matty?” I asked doing the best innocent face I could pull off. He always fell for that.
“It’s not going to work this time Taylor. Why did he just wink at you? Have you been in contact with him since you’ve been in Chicago?” I could sense his anger.
“I little bit.” I admitted, “We may have hung out yesterday.”
“Taylor, do you not remember how he broke your heart and left you in the dust?” Matthew said, and was starting to raise his voice. Luckily most people had started exiting the stadium.
“I know Matt, I know, but we ran into each other and started talking, and we both know we made mistakes back then, and it’s time we fix them.” Just as I had finished saying this, a security guard came up to us telling us that we had been invited to the locker room.
I really wanted to go back to see Patrick and meet his friends, but I knew Matthew wouldn’t want to be in the same room as Pat.
“Can I please go back and see Pat?” I practically begged.
“I’d usually say no.” he said. “But since it has been so long since you 2 have seen each other, and I get to meet Duncan Keith, I’ll say yes.” And with that we headed to the locker room.

Notes