New Beginnings

Twelve boxes in all different shapes and sizes with the Blackhawk logo sat innocently in front of her late Wednesday night. Payton got the urge to nudge them with her toe, a feeling she hadn’t gotten since high school. Tossing a sly glance over to Nate and Lucy to make sure their attention was held elsewhere, she prodded the box, feeling childish and foolish. It was hard to believe it was real, that there in front of her were boxes of promotional Chicago Blackhawks merchandise in front of her.

In her hand was the store’s phone, a heavy weight as she contemplated calling her brother and asking him if he was the one responsible for the boxes. However, she knew that if he told her yes, her pride would force her to return them and all they would have was a large banner that they had gotten to hang off the café’s railing and the books. They needed the things and she knew it well. Nate and Lucy turned to her, their eyes excited and hopeful as they waited for her to make a move.

Placing the phone back in its cradle behind the counter gently, Payton grabbed the bright yellow Stanley knife and opened the first box so slowly; it was as though all it contained were bombs. Pulling the flaps open, she saw a piece of paper on top of rich red fabric.

Payton,

No, you are not allowed to return this and by opening this box, you’ve reneged on being able to get a refund. Johnny and Sharpie put in for this, as well as some other guys on the team that are going to show up. So you’ll be insulting them by not accepting this. ;-)

The three jerseys on top I got for you guys to wear, duke it out on who gets which. I hope this helps you out somewhat and I’ll be by Thursday night to help take this all down, free of charge. It’s the least I can do. Love you loads, little sister, and behave and accept help when you need it!

Bryce.

Payton started to sniffle and smile, a tear sliding down her cheek. Lucy came over and hugged her. “Damned Bryce!” she laughed, wiping at her tears. Nate stood there in shock, watching her boss of two years cry for the first time in front of her. “Happy tears, Nate, happy tears…and overwhelmed tears too.” Grabbing a tissue from the counter, Payton blew her nose then sat back down by the box. “Um, Bryce said that we have three jerseys to duke it out over, so let’s see which ones are in there.” Taking out the three, she laid them on the floor in front of her. “Kane, Toews and Sharp,” she said out loud. “Nate which one to you want?”

Nate and Lucy shared a quick look before she grabbed the Kane jersey. “If I wasn’t gay, he’d be my hottie,” she giggled, slipping it on. “How do I look?” she took a pose as Lucy and Payton laughed at her, the shirt reaching mid thigh and almost swallowing her whole. “This is great; I haven’t got one of the newer Hawks jerseys, now I have the whole collection.”

“Fantastic, honey, it looks good on you.” Lucy smiled before grabbing the Sharp one and holding it up to her chest. “Will this look good with my work uniform, child?” Payton grinned and grabbed the last one and folded it up.

“We’ll wear these tomorrow,” she replied, slipping the shirt in her handbag. “How about we get these decorations up then head home? We have a really early start tomorrow, the guys getting here at eight and the store opening at nine.”

“I’ll be here at six, the food deliveries come in then and I need to get a head start on the food for the day,” Lucy supplied, opening another box filled with banners of all sizes.

“Ok, I’ll be in at seven,” Payton decided. “Nate, can you and Sarah get in at about seven thirty?” Nate nodded.

“Sure, we figured we would have to be in around then anyway,” Nate replied, moving to help Lucy.

“Fantastic, I’m going to sort through these now and set up the staff room for the guys to have a quiet and private place tomorrow. Can you and Lucy set up downstairs and the café?” The two agreed and opened the other boxes, making sure they would have enough. “Oh and before I forget, the staff room is for the guys only, unless we’re invited in, and all belongings I’ll lock up in the office, ok?”

**

Lucy and Nate had gone home, leaving Payton to close up. Sitting in the office, barely the size of a cubical, she typed in the sales for the day, more absent-minded than giving it the attention and dedication she usually gave. Her eyes kept straying to the handbag next to her. Sighing at the third mistake in as many minutes, she grabbed the bag and pulled out the jersey and set it on her lap.

Her long fingers stroked the rich red fabric idly, tracing the name and number. Toews. 19. Payton swallowed as his face drifted into her mind, the dark and deep chocolate eyes, the scar on his lip, his deceptively husky voice. Payton let out a disgusted noise, she sounded like a bad romance book. But it was true, he was all of that, and god-help her, she wanted to know more about him.

What did she know, though, apart from the fact he liked her chocolate milk shakes and played professional hockey? It was pathetic, this school girl crush of hers. It still didn’t stop her from stroking the material gently. What would he say, seeing her in his number?

Letting out a groan, she thumped her head on the desk. She sounded like…what did Nate call it? Oh, yeah, a puck bunny. Payton wasn’t like that at all; she knew it with every fiber of her being. She wasn’t the type of girl to fall into bed with a guy just because he looked at her. Why couldn’t she have grabbed the Kane one before Nate got it? She didn’t know the guy and it seemed the safer option.

The phone rang, startling her violently from her thoughts. “Hello, this is Payton of Thompson Books, how can I help you?” she said politely, wondering who was calling her at that time of night.

“Hey Pay!” came the voice of her best friend, Julie, “I tried calling your home number, you weren’t answering. Why are you still at that dusty old store?” Payton let out a small smile. Julie hated anything to do with books, more than happy to spend her time sewing and partying.

“I’m just finishing up, we have a really big day tomorrow.”

“Oh, yeah, that book signing thing,” Julie replied, sounding a little distracted.

“What are you up to?” Payton asked, slipping the phone between her shoulder and ear to continue typing, her mind happily distracted from Jonathan Toews.

“I’m hanging out at the college dorms; they’re having this huge party ‘cause the college team won another game or something like that. All I know is, there is a whole bunch of single athletic cuties that are dying to just talk to me,” she laughed. “You should come up, get away from that moth trap.”

“You know I love the store, Julie, and I’d love to come over, but I’ve got to start really early. What about going out Friday night?” Payton asked apologetically.

“Yeah, that’ll be great, give me a call that day and we’ll sort something out.”

The conversation didn’t last much longer than that, but it was enough to successfully distract her from anything to do with hockey.