Take Me as I Am

Olivia and Summer arrived at the airport an hour and a half before the plane was set to take off. They hurried through security, which was surprisingly quick. Granted, they were about to go on a flight with the Chicago Blackhawks, and that might have been a reason for the quickness. As they sat down and waited for the stewardess to announce boarding, they looked around. It appeared most of the team had already arrived, minus the two young superstars.

“So,” Olivia asked looking over at Summer, who was currently scrolling through her Ipod trying to find a song to listen to. “You ready to face Pat Kane?”

Summer looked up at Olivia. “Why wouldn’t I be? Just because I told him the truth, doesn’t mean I should be scared of him. Yes, he may be this hockey god in the making, but that doesn’t make him any less of a conceited jerk,” she said smiling at Olivia.

“Okay,” Olivia said.

“What about you? Are you ready to face Mr. Captain after what he said to you?”

“Oh, I’m kind of looking forward to seeing his face when he realizes that I work for the team,” Olivia replied.

“That’s my girl,” Summer said as she went back to her Ipod.

A half an hour later, the plane was being boarded. By team rules, they let the players and coaches board first. Then, near the end, Summer and Olivia were allowed to enter the plane. As they got on the plane, they quickly realized that there was no way that they were going to be seated next to each other, as there were only single empty seats scattered throughout the plane.

Summer noticed there were only two seats left, so she asked, “Which one do you want?”

“I’ll sit here,” Olivia said pointing to a seat that was to the left of Summer, which happened to have Andrew Ladd sitting in the seat next to it.

“Okay,” Summer said. “I’ll see you when we get off. Have fun.” She walked back a few more rows until she found the other empty seat, right next to Patrick Kane. Summer put her small bag under the seat in front of her and put her seatbelt on. She sat back and waited for the takeoff.

Pat, who hadn’t been paying attention to who had sat down next to him, finally looked over. He saw the same girl who had been in the locker room the previous day and had yelled at him in French. “Hey,” he said to her.

Summer turned her head to look at him. “Hi,” she said curtly.

“What are you doing on this flight?” he asked her.

“What? Don’t puck bunnies fly with the team?” she asked sarcastically.

“Hey, sorry about that. I didn’t know who you were. You were some chick in the locker room. What was I supposed to think?” he asked.

“So you automatically think that I’m in there to hook up with one of the players?” she questioned.

“I said I was sorry. But you didn’t answer my question.”

“What?”

“What are you doing on this flight?” he repeated.

“I work for the Blackhawks,” she replied with a smile.

“You do?” Patrick questioned. “Doing what?”

“I’m the new translator,” she replied.

“Oh,” he said. “So that’s why you yelled at me in French?” he asked.

“No,” Summer said. “I yell in French when someone really pisses me off.”

“I’m sorry,” Patrick apologized.

“Yeah, whatever,” Summer said as the stewardess announced that electronics were now allowed to be turned on. She reached down into her bag and pulled out her Ipod. She put the headphones into her ears and turned it on, drowning out anything else Patrick tried to say to her.

An hour later, they had landed, and Summer and Olivia were waiting on their bags to come around on the carousel. “So, how was the flight?” Olivia asked as she watched everyone else pick up their luggage.

“You were on the flight,” Summer replied.

“Not what I meant,” Olivia said. “You sat next to Patrick Kane.”

“Yes I did.”

“And?”

“And what?” Summer asked as she finally saw her bag coming around the carousel. She reached over and picked it up.

“Did you talk to him?” Olivia asked.

“Yeah, I did. He found out I was the translator, and then I turned on my Ipod and ignored him the rest of the trip,” she said as she saw Olivia’s blue bag come around the carousel next. “Come on,” she said, grabbing her bag. “Let’s go catch the bus to the hotel.”

The two girls went to the bus and found two seats next to each other near the front of the bus. They sat down, and Patrick Kane came on after them, sitting in one of the seats directly behind them. Summer rolled her eyes while Olivia smirked at her.

Two minutes after the bus had pulled away from the hotel, Patrick looked around the seat in front of him to Summer. “So,” he said. “What did you say your name was again?”

“I never told you,” she replied.

“It’s Summer,” Olivia supplied. “I’m Olivia.”

“Nice to meet you Olivia. What are you doing on this road trip?” he asked. “Are you a translator, too?”

“Oh, you don’t ask her if she’s a puck bunny?” Summer asked.

“I’m not a translator. I actually watch video and take notes on your opponents,” Olivia said, ignoring Summer’s comment.

“Oh, cool,” Patrick said. “So, any tips for the game tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Olivia said smiling. “Shoot upper left corner.”

“Thanks,” Patrick said smiling back.

Five minutes later, they all shuffled off of the bus, having arrived at the hotel. Patrick walked ahead of Summer and Olivia, but quickly turned around. “I’ll see you two later,” he said with a smile.

“Let’s hope not,” Summer muttered under her breath.

“Sum!” Olivia exclaimed.

“What?” she asked as she grabbed their room keys off of the table.

“He was being nice!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Summer said. “He didn’t call you a puck bunny.”

“And Toews didn’t call you a florist,” Olivia shot back.

“Touché,” Summer said as they made their way to their room.