New Beginnings

Bedlam. Pure and utter bedlam.

Fans screamed and cried out to their favorite player. Cameras flashed continuously, blinding people left, right and center. Pushing and shoving for a position near the table was the least violent act. Reporters, tabloid writers, paparazzi, cameras; there was no rest from them, no end of them. Their annoying voices, the yelling as they tried to talk over one another, pushing voice recorders viciously in the faces of the Hawks. There was no end.

Payton didn’t know which one she wanted more, booze or a bottle of pain killers. The urge to run and hide battled fiercely with the urge to throw everyone out before she went on a mass killing spree. It was the reporters she couldn’t stand, the ones that she felt ruined the whole experience. Children, barely the age of ten or twelve, were being pushed behind, away from their idols and heroes. It vexed her more than she could possibly say, and the signing hadn’t even started yet, the players had barely sat down.

She had enough. Climbing onto the counter, she stood up as tall as she could. Fingers to her lips, a shrill whistle stopped everyone dead. “Alright people, this is how it’s going to be-“ she yelled in her most no-nonsense voice. “Kids and fans first and up front, press out the back, and if I hear any words of complaint, you’re all out onto the curb, got it?”

Everyone stared at her, quiet as a mouse. Embarrassment flooded through her. Did she step out of line? Do something wrong? God, if only she could have taken her actions back…but she didn’t feel guilty. This whole thing was for the fans, those who wanted to read the book, not the press who wanted to stick their noses into places where they don’t belong. Yet still no one said anything, and the Hawks stood there, all with blank and unreadable expressions.

“Well?” she demanded, deciding to just go with it, “What are you waiting for? Move it!” Immediately there was a rush of bodies, no one brave enough to argue against her. Sighing, she got off the counter, drained from the adrenaline that had pumped through her. The day had barely started.

**

It suddenly turned into one of her favorite past times. Hell, she had only met him twice before all of this, but she couldn’t help it, she just had to keep looking. Studying Jonathan Toews. Okay, so it probably made her sound like a stalker, at least to anyone who had access to her mind, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He had his hair gelled up into barely-there spikes, and a grey suit underneath his jersey.

A furious blush stole up her cheeks. She remembered the look he gave her, seeing her in his number. The phantom heat from his gaze still caressed her quietly. Squirming in her seat at the counter, she continued to scan books people bought, idle from their time in the line. It was good business they were getting, better than ever before, but Payton couldn’t summon the excitement for it, not while her attention was held elsewhere.

Her eyes traced his face slowly, taking in the two dark spots along his jaw line. Slightly chapped lips stretched into a boyish smile as he talked to fans while signing little things they brought with them. Her favorite would have had to have been when he talked to a child barely six, the way the boy’s expression brightened as Jonathan gave him a Blackhawks teddy bear dressed in the jersey.

Occasionally he would glance up at her, catching her as she looked at him. Then his happy smile drifted into a lazy smirk, as though he knew what she was doing. She would blush, duck her head and busy herself with something, all the while denying that he had caught her, that she had been looking at him.

“Uh, Payton,” Nate whispered in her ear from beside her. “We’ve got a bit of a problem.” She followed the girl’s point to a reporter pushing through the crowd, forcing himself up to the table.

“Shit,” Payton swore, watching as he knocked over a boy in his quest towards Patrick Sharp and Jonathan. “Get Sarah out here to cover the sales, I’ll sort his out.”

Pushing through the crowds, she tried to get to him before he got to the players. Scanning around, she saw her brother at the stairs, closer to the guy than she was. Waving to catch his attention, urgently, she pointed to the guy. Nodding, he moved as well, only to be blocked by a gaggle of giggling teen girls. Letting out a grunt of frustration, Payton moved forward, unable to catch the man in time.

“Captain Toews is it true that you’re hiding a girlfriend up in Canada?” she heard him ask. Swearing again as she recognized the voice, she finally reached them.

“I’ve got nothing to say to you,” Jonathan replied, his eyes flashing. He had seen the boy the reporter had knocked over and was less than impressed.

“Well, if you don’t have a girlfriend, can you comment on the speculation on a relationship between you and team member Kane?” Jonathan stood up furiously, his mouth open to reply.

“That’s enough,” Payton called out, grabbing the man’s shoulder. “It’s time for you to leave,” she said dangerously, glancing over apologetically at Jonathan.

“I have a pass,” the guy said shrilly. “I have every right to be here!”

“Yeah, and I have every right to throw you out after you pushed a boy down in my store. That can be considered assault,” she threatened. “Get out of my store or I’ll call the cops. Consider yourself banned from here for life.” A movement caught her eye as she talked. Jonathan disappeared into the staff room.

A security guard moved towards her, taking custody of the pushy reporter and gave her a nod. Thanking him for taking over, Payton made her way up the stairs, thinking of a way to bring Jonathan back out. She couldn’t believe how rude the guy was, attacking Jonathan verbally like that. When Nate had come out of the closet, and even before that, the girl had been subjected to abuse and often came to the store in tears. Christ, it was yet another thing that vexed her. Payton couldn’t wait for the next night, a chance for her to get out for a night for herself.

Lucy was facing the same amount of bedlam in the café, as they were on the floor below. Several waiters had been hired for the day from the restaurant a few stores down from the book store, and she could see that they needed it. Lucy was at the counter, taking another order as she caught sight of Payton.

“Busy day, huh?” Lucy laughed. “Could be worse, could be after school in Tokyo. Is everything alright?”

“That reporter from a few days ago showed up and upset Toews; think I can get a chocolate shake to take down to him?”

She grabbed the last one from the display fridge. “Last one before the next batch. You’re lucky, getting here just in time. They’re quite popular.” Lucy said, also giving her a few napkins.

“I’m not surprised,” Payton said wryly. “I’m going to use the back stairs. Last thing we need is me spilling this.”