Twenty-One and Invincible

Over a month had passed since that day at the diner with Patrick. He’d been visiting our house a lot more frequently, offering to help Grandma and Grandpa around the house. Grandma was convinced that not only was he a godsend, but also that he and I were destined to be wed.

I’d also just like to say that yes, I had finally admitted to myself that I liked Patrick. I knew that he at least liked me a little bit, but I was still sort of keeping myself in check around him. Even though he told me that he wasn’t like how he was portrayed in the media, I couldn’t keep myself from thinking about everything. I wanted to open up to him, but I couldn’t.

“Carmen,” Grandpa barked, pulling me out of my thoughts. It was Saturday--my day to relax--and I was sitting on the couch with a copy of the Chicago Tribune, asking myself why I didn’t work there instead of at Savoir.

“Yeah, Grandpa?”

“I need you to come help me with something.”

Part of me didn’t even want to know.

“What is it, Grandpa?”

He coughed a bit, holding his chest. “Printer’s broken,” he muttered, wandering into the kitchen to fetch himself a glass of water.

I sighed and went up to his office where his computer and printer were. I hated going in there because it smelled a little bit like mothballs and there were weird kitschy statuettes and things like that all over the place. When he was younger and had the energy to walk around or go for bike rides, he used to frequent garage sales a lot. That’s where he picked up all of his strange knick-knacks.

I cautiously eyed the petrified puffer fish that he had up on his bookshelf as I went to do some troubleshooting on his computer.

“Hmm,” I mumbled to myself as I clicked on a few things, checking to see if the printer had been installed properly and if the connection was working. Grandpa was still in the kitchen talking to Grandma. I leaned back in his chair, squeezing my eyes shut and pinching the bridge of my nose with my index finger and thumb. I knew where this was going.

Taking in a deep breath, I lowered myself onto the ground and looked under the desk where all the cables and outlets were. Of course, one was unplugged. And where did it lead?

To the printer.

I plugged it back in and straightened myself out as it started to print and Grandpa came back in.

“Oh, you fixed it,” he said, the tiniest of smiles appearing on his face.

“Yup,” I nodded, running a hand through my hair. “No big deal.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” he said, coming over and giving me a one armed hug and planting a kiss on the top of my head. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

I smiled wide. “Thanks, Grandpa.”

He sat down in his chair and retrieved his printed documents. “So, what was wrong with it?”

I bit the inside of my lip. “Nothing big, just a bit of a connection problem between the printer and the computer. I don’t think you’ll be having any problems with it anymore though.”

“That’s good,” he nodded. “One less thing to worry about.” He went back to his computer and started typing away. “You can go now.”

“Right,” I mumbled, leaving the creepy office and heading back downstairs to reunite myself with the couch. The instant I sat down and started to get comfortable, the front door opened and Patrick poked his head inside. Part of me wasn’t sure why Grandma would leave the front door unlocked, even in a relatively safe neighbourhood, but the other part of me just chalked it up to her age and how things were in ‘the old days’ when everyone knew everyone and bad things just didn’t happen. Per say.

“Hey,” I greeted as he came inside and sat down next to me on the couch. “How was your road trip?”

“Good,” he shrugged. “We won a few, we lost a few. All in all though, it was a good way to end off November. How have things been here?”

I sighed and smiled, leaning my head back against the couch. “It’s how it always is. That never changes.”

Patrick nodded and looked like he was about to say something when Grandma came in and spotted him.

“Patrick!” she declared gleefully. “It’s so nice to see you again. Where have you been the past week?”

“On a road trip to the east with the team,” he told her.

“And did you have fun?”

“Yep, loads.”

“Well, that’s good,” Grandma smiled. “Well, I’ll let the two of you go back to whatever it is you’re doing.” Then she winked and quickly exited the room.

“Grandma!” I whined like a child. “Why!”

“Oh, come on, you know you want me,” Patrick joked, pulling me towards him by the waist. For a split second, we made direct eye contact and everything seemed to slow. But I regained my senses and let out a nervous laugh, pushing him away and clearing my throat.

“In your dreams, Kane.”

“You know,” he pondered aloud. “We’ve known each other for about a month and a half now. I’ve invaded your work like...a hundred times, but you haven’t come to the arena once yet.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t really do sports.”

“You’ll love it there though,” he pressed. “The atmosphere’s great. And so are the guys. I think you’d really like them.”

I bit my lip. “Patrick, I don’t really think I belong there. Isn’t there a term for girls like me who go to hockey arenas and don’t really know anything about hockey?”

“Oh, you mean puck bunnies?” Patrick mused.

I frowned. “Yeah. That’s the one.”

“You’re not going to be a puck bunny because you’re not going to dress like the way you do for work and I’m going to teach you about the game so that you can follow it. And no, you do not have any say in the matter.”

I frowned again and punched him in the arm. “You suck. I don’t know why I’m even considering doing this.”

“Because you love me,” he grinned cheekily. I punched him again. “What if I told you that I was a masochist and that I liked it when you hit me?”

I didn’t say anything. I just moved to the other end of the couch as Patrick howled with laughter.