More Than You'll Ever Know

Click.

Patrick smiled to himself as he heard the distinct sound of a camera clicking at the final second when a picture was taken. That sound had quickly become one of his most favorite sounds in the world – a close third coming after the sound of skates scarping against ice and her voice.

Patrick wanted nothing more than to turn around and see her beautiful smiling face. He knew as she continued to snap pictures of him that a big, almost uncontrollable, smile would be appearing on her face. It was not very often that Patrick would act as her model and let her snap pictures of him left and right. Anytime he gave in and let her creative side go wild she took full advantage of the opportunity.

Normally she preferred to take pictures of him on the ice where he was most comfortable, but this time was different. Instead she drugged him out to the Navy Pier, which Patrick soon realized was swarming with people on a Saturday evening.

Out of the corner of his eye Patrick could see his favorite person and girlfriend of over a year pull her camera away from her sun kissed face and stare at him. Her long, wavy, dark brown hair blew around her face, making it hard for her to see where the best light was coming from. Patrick let out a chuckle as she groaned and used her free hand to push the thick hair out of her eyes.

When she went back to snapping pictures Patrick turned his head out to the water, watching as it moved peacefully around. He stood there, leaning against the railing that surrounded the lake. As the people moved around him, some recognizing him and stopping to stare while others practically walked right into him, he thought about he and Alyssa first met.

*****

”I think we need to work on some shooting drills today.” Jonathan Toews had been going on for half an hour about the things the team needed to work on at practice. Last night’s game against the Avalanche was terrible. Everybody took stupid penalties, shots, and made a lot of back decisions. Of course, Patrick knew already what went wrong and needed to be improved, but Jonathan seemed to think he needed some filling in. “Maybe some hitting drills too. The hits last night were weak. Oh! And…”

Patrick completely tuned Jon, his team captain and friend, out. They were standing in line at a Starbucks, which was overly crowded and entirely too loud. Between hearing the hundreds of other conversations going on around him along with Jon’s never ending talking he was getting a headache. It was only eight thirty in the morning and he was ready for the day to be over with.

“Tazer, I’m going to go wait outside. I need some air.” Patrick quickly shoved his way out of the small coffee infested building. Outside of the building was a small bench empty, practically waiting for him to sit on. He hunched over and rested his elbows on his knees, letting his head fall into his big hands.

As he sat there, enjoying the cool Chicago air and quiet he heard the click sound of a camera. At the small noise he lifted his head from his hands and looked right at the girl that got a picture of him. She was not even looking at him. Instead she was studying the picture she had just taken on her camera. Patrick could tell it was not just a simple digital camera she was using; instead it was one of those big, fancy, photographer type cameras. It had to have cost a fortune.

The girl continued to pay no attention to him, even though she just took his picture quite rudely without asking. Her hair was completely covering his view of her face.

“Excuse me miss.” He said loud enough to get her attention. Patrick pushed himself off of the bench and walked the few feet to where she stood. The girl quickly looked up at the sound of his voice and blushed violently red. “Did you just take a picture of me?” He was not angry, more like annoyed and curious. Today wasn’t his best of days.

She pushed her hair back from her face so he could make eye contact with her. “I’m very sorry.” The girl said frantically. Patrick wasn’t too worried about the picture anymore. She was beautiful. Her skin looked to be naturally tan and her facial features were almost mesmerizing. She had the best cheek bones Patrick had ever seen a girl have, and her big, brown doe eyes made her look extremely innocent and adorable. In a way, she almost looked foreign. When she spoke Patrick even thought he could hear a slight Italian accent.

“I can delete it if you want me to. It just seemed like the perfect unexpected shot, I couldn’t resist.” She smiled at her last few words, making a slight smile grace Patrick’s face for the first time that day.

“Don’t worry about it, keep it. But, if you don’t mind me asking, can I see it?” Honestly, Patrick could have cared less about the picture. All he wanted was to get the girl’s name, maybe get to know her a little better.

“Here.” She handed him the camera with the picture of him on the screen waiting for him to look at. As he looked at himself, looking stressed out and like he was in his own world, he could understand why she thought it would be a perfect photograph. A photographer could really edit the picture and make it into something great. “I want to make it black and white so it looks dark. The darkness will give it a deeper meaning. You know what I mean?”

Patrick nodded his head to answer her question and flipped through some of the other pictures she had taken. They were all of random objects; a building covered in graffiti, a Starbucks cup, and leaves in the street and so on. None of them really made sense to Patrick. The picture that stuck out to him the most was a simple shot of a window that had For Love Not Money written on it.

“Why do you have all these random objects?” He asked as he handed the camera back to her, smiling as she was caught staring at him.

She took the camera and put it in the bag that hung off her shoulder. “They’re simple objects people see in everyday life and don’t think a thing of. I look at them and see a deeper meaning, a story behind each object. Like that one window with the writing on it. There’s obviously going to be a story behind that. And for love not money has always been my motto about my love life.”

Patrick nodded and smiled at her. She was no doubt a deep and artistic person, and he was greatly attracted to that. Just like hockey was his passion and he found deeper meaning behind his love for it, this girl found deeper meaning behind everything.

“I’m Patrick Sharp.” He stuck his hand out for her to shake. She gladly slid her small hand into his large one and shook it firmly.

“I know. I’ve photographed you at tons of ‘Hawks games. And I’m Alyssa.” She was adorable, and apparently a Blackhawks fan. As Patrick spotted Jon emerging from the Starbucks with his coffee he did one of the most outgoing and spontaneous things he’s done since he was a teenager.

“I’d love to see some of your work. Maybe we could meet up sometime soon?” Alyssa blushed at his request. He could tell she was modest and probably didn’t go out with random guys all that often.

“Sure, I’d like that.” With that said the two exchanged numbers and promised to be in contact with each other soon.

*****

It wasn’t long after that day that Patrick and Alyssa became to be, what some would call, best friends. Alyssa was that escape and person to talk to outside of hockey that Patrick had always wanted in his life. And to Alyssa, Patrick was that best friend that she was secretly in love with but kept her feelings hidden.

Just as Patrick was starting to drift off to a different memory, getting so lost in his own thoughts he couldn’t stop thinking, Alyssa came up and wrapped her arms around his waist. Patrick couldn’t help but smile as she rested her head on his chest. She smiled up at him, camera put away for the day. Patrick wrapped his own arms around her petite frame getting lost in the feeling of being with someone you love. He leaned down kissing her lips softly and just holding her against him for a bit.

She let out a content sigh when he pulled away. Patrick felt her moving out of his hold. Alyssa grabbed her bag and laced her fingers with Patrick’s pulling him towards the Navy Pier exit.

“Come on; let’s go work on those X-Rated pictures now.” Patrick smirked, more than happy to try out a new type of modeling for the day.

This was Patrick’s favorite part of the day. He loved coming home and getting to show Alyssa how much he loved her – the X-Rated pictures were just an added benefit. Alyssa was the only girl Patrick could remember being with that loved him for him, not his money.

The window story she told him when they first met really was her lifelong love motto.

For love not money.