Another Heart Calls

Meredith was hoping that if she would just ignore Janelle, that she would eventually just go away and all of her problems would be solved. But, that definitely wasn’t working. It was a month later, and Janelle had no intentions at all of leaving. In fact, Meredith was starting to believe that Janelle was around Patrick more often than she was.

Every single time Meredith would go into the locker room after a practice or game, Janelle would be in there, waiting to talk to Patrick. She kept telling Meredith that she wasn’t trying to get together with Patrick, but that instead she just wanted to work on her friendship with him.

Meredith was starting to get frustrated at the fact that every time she turned around, Janelle would be right there. Janelle had even gotten tickets that were in the row right below Meredith and Charlotte. Every time Charlotte would see her, she would give Meredith a dirty look. Charlotte made it no secret that she didn’t like Janelle. She simply didn’t trust the girl.

Meredith was sitting at home after getting off of work, watching the highlights from the Blackhawks’ game from earlier in the day when all of a sudden, her phone began to ring. “Hello?” she asked as she kept her gaze on the television screen which was currently showing an interview with Jonathan Toews.

“Mer, it’s me,” Charlotte said from the other line. “We might have a problem.”

“What?” Meredith asked.

“Janelle,” Charlotte said simply, and Meredith felt as her stomach dropped.

“What about Janelle?”

“She’s all over Patrick right now,” Charlotte told her. “And I mean all over him. She’s taking advantage of the fact that you had to work today and you’re not here.”

“What’s Patrick doing?” Meredith asked, worried for the answer.

“Honestly?” Charlotte answered, and Meredith nodded her head, even though Charlotte was unable to see her. “He’s not doing anything.”

“What do you mean he’s not doing anything?”

“Well, he’s just sitting there. He’s not encouraging her, but he’s not pushing her away.”

“Damn it,” Meredith muttered.

“Do you want me to go over there and kill her?” Charlotte asked jokingly.

“No, we can’t have you go to jail. Then, who’s Marty going to marry?”

Charlotte laughed a little and then said, “I promise, I won’t let her do anything too bad, okay?”

“Thanks, Char. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye,” Charlotte hung up.

An hour later, Meredith’s phone began ringing, and she looked at it to see it was Patrick. “Hello?” she answered, trying to not let him know that she had talked to Charlotte earlier.

“Hey, Mer, did you catch any of the game?” he asked.

“No,” Meredith told him. If he was going to act as if nothing happened, then she was determined to do the same. “I watched the highlights when I got home, though. Jonny’s goal was brilliant,” she said, referring to Jonathan Toews game-winning goal.

“Yeah, it was,” Patrick agreed. “What are you doing tonight?”

“I don’t know. I’ve got some papers to grade, but other than that I’ve got nothing special planned. Why?” she asked.

“I thought maybe we could go out to eat. You know, somewhere nice,” Patrick told her.

“Sure,” Meredith said. “What time?”

“How about I pick you up at eight?”

“Sounds good,” Meredith said. “I’ll see you then.”

“Bye,” he said hanging up the phone.

As Meredith went back to her bedroom to find something to wear, she couldn’t help but feel that Patrick was only taking her out because he felt guilty. Had something more happened between him and Janelle? Meredith and Patrick weren’t the type of couple who went out to fancy restaurants very often. Meredith was content staying home and cooking, so she wondered why all of a sudden Patrick wanted to take her out.

As they sat at the restaurant after ordering their food, Meredith looked over at Patrick. “Why are we here?” she asked.

“What?” Patrick asked, confused by her question.

“Patrick, this isn’t us. We never go to fancy restaurants. So, why are we here tonight?” she questioned.

“I just thought you’d like to go out somewhere nice, but if you don’t want to be here, we can go,” he told her.

Instead of replying to that, she simply asked, “What happened today in the locker room after the game?”

“What?” Patrick asked. “What are you talking about?”

“With Janelle. What happened with Janelle?” Meredith clarified.

“Mer, where is this coming from?”

“Charlotte called me. She said that Janelle was hanging all over you,” Meredith told him.

“Did she also happen to mention that I didn’t do anything?” Patrick asked.

“Yeah, she said you just sat there doing nothing,” Meredith said, anger filling her voice.

“Why are you upset about that?” Patrick asked incredulously. “Did you want me to do something with her?”

“No, Patrick. But, I would have liked it if you would have told her to get off of you and that you had a girlfriend.”

“Mer,” Patrick began before he was interrupted.

“I think you should go out with her,” she said quietly.

“What!?” Patrick yelled.

“I think you should go out with her,” Meredith repeated louder.

“Meredith!”

“Patrick, I think you should go on one date with her and see how it goes. She’s obviously in love with you.”

“But I’m not in love with her. I love you.”

“Well, then, this date should be nothing to you. You’ll go out with her and know for sure that you don’t want to be with her, and I’ll be happier knowing that you definitely don’t want to be with her,” Meredith explained.

“Meredith, this makes no sense,” Patrick said shaking his head.

“One date,” Meredith told him. “If what you say is true and you have no feelings for her, then this will be two friends going out, and we can go back to normal. But, Patrick, ever since she’s come here, I feel like I’m competing against her for you.”

“Meredith, it’s not like that. Janelle means nothing to me when it comes to love. Yes, she used to be my best friend, but that doesn’t mean that I love her. I love you.”

“Then, you’ll go on this date,” Meredith said.

“Fine!” Patrick relented as their food arrived at the table.