Open Your Eyes

After two exhibition games in Zurich, the Blackhawks traveled to Helsinki, Finland. With the season opening with two games against the Florida Panthers, the team was given the day before off to rest and sight-see. Waking up early in the morning, Alyssa mentally went over her plan for the day. There was a team meal later in the evening, after which she would relax in her room, getting some paperwork done. Before then, though, she was free. She wondered what there was around their hotel that she could entertain herself with.

Silently, she finally climbed from the surprisingly comfortable hotel bed and moved toward her window, dragging the curtain open. Sucking in a breath, her brown eyes took in the beautiful surroundings of the Finnish city. She had to pinch herself to believe she was really there. She never would have thought she would end up in Europe, let alone as part of her job. She had only Blackhawks management to thank for giving a young girl a chance with part of their organization.

A knock on her door pulled her out of her reverie. Shuffling toward her door, she forgot her attire as she checked the peep hole and saw Tomas’ grinning face. Quickly pulling the door open to greet him, she laughed as he raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes as he looked at her black, silk nightgown. “Nice outfit,” he smirked, composing himself quickly and letting himself into the room. Alyssa laughed and thanked him, watching as he flopped himself onto her bed. “What do you want to do today?”

Alyssa shrugged, sitting on the edge of the second bed in the room, looking at the man across from her. She ran a hand over her makeup-less face, laughing at the situation a little. Her and Tomas had been spending almost all of their free time together, and while she knew Aimee was pissed at her for it, Alyssa couldn’t seem to regret it. Tomas was great company, and he was just as adventurous as she, always wanting to see as much of the city they were in as possible.

“Well,” he started after noticing her silence. “There’s a lot of shops around the hotel apparently, and Niemi recommended this place to have lunch at that he swears by. He mentioned meeting up there at one, which I think a lot of the guys are planning on doing.”

“So, you’d take me shopping before we met up with the guys for lunch?” Alyssa questioned, her brown eyes widening as she looked at the grimace on Tomas’ face.

“Yeah, I guess I would.”

Alyssa grinned, grabbing undergarments, a pair of jeans, and a blouse before taking them into the bathroom with her. “Good,” she yelled back to Tomas. “You can help me pick out a gift for Aimee. She’s not going to speak to me when I get back because of you, you know.”

Tomas laughed as the bathroom door closed and the shower turned on a minute later. He grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV, hoping to find something at least a little entertaining. On his second time going through the channels with no luck, his cell phone rang, and he grinned when he saw Marian Hossa’s name on the screen.

“Hoss,” he greeted.

“Tomas,” the man on the other end said. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“No, I’ve been up for a little while. How’s Chicago?”

“Good,” the blonde responded. “I’ve been hanging out with Burish and Aimee a little.”

“Aimee, really?” Tomas snorted.

“She’s actually really nice, Tomas. She’s funny and a great person to hang out with. Maybe you could learn that if you stopped insulting her for two seconds.”

“Are you with her now?” Tomas asked, his eyes narrowed as he heard the shower turn off and the curtain slide open, letting him know Alyssa was just getting in.

“No,” Marian laughed. “I had dinner with her and Burr earlier, though. I’m at home now.”

“So,” Tomas started, his signature smirk stretching across his face. “Are you going to ask me about Alyssa like I know you’re dying to?”

“Shut up,” Marian groaned, and Tomas could practically see the older man with his hand rubbing his forehead in frustration.

“I’ve been keeping her away from Eager,” Tomas admitted. “You’re welcome.”

“What?” Marian asked, his voice rising slightly indicating he was highly interested in Tomas’ words.

“I’ve been hanging out with the girl every day, Hoss. There’s been no time for alone time with her and Ben.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Marian groaned again. “But thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” the brunette shrugged. “She’s a great girl; I can see why you instantly liked her.”

“Are you hanging out with her today?” Marian asked, and Tomas laughed, practically able to hear the jealousy in his friend’s voice.

“Yeah, just waiting for her to get showered and dressed,” he admitted, just as Alyssa cracked the bathroom door open and the hair dryer turned on. Hoping his friend couldn’t hear, he continued. “There’s a team dinner later, and before that, we’re going to do some sight-seeing. Alyssa’s pretty excited to be in Europe.”

“Oh yeah?” Marian asked.

“Yeah, she said she’s always wanted to see Europe. Maybe you can take her to Slovakia someday. Though, I doubt she’d see anything besides your bedroom if you did.”

“Shut up,” Marian groaned for the third time in the conversation. Tomas laughed at his friend again, giving up on the TV and turning it off. Marian and Tomas moved the conversation toward his shoulder, how the rehab was going, and when the doctors were hopeful he’d be back on the ice. Nothing they said, unfortunately, was fast enough for the thirty year old.

“I’m almost ready!” Alyssa called from the bathroom, making Tomas wince.

“…was that Alyssa?” Marian asked, suspicion dripping from his voice.

“Yeah,” the younger man admitted. “She’s in the bathroom getting ready.”

“Why are you in her room again?”

“I got here early to make sure Eager didn’t have a chance to snatch her up for the day. He’s been 5 minutes after me and too late every day; it’s hilarious.”

Marian sighed on the other end of the line, as Alyssa came from the bathroom dressed, made-up, and ready to go. “Is that Marian?” she mouthed, pointing to the phone. When Tomas nodded, she grinned, telling Tomas to say hi for her.

“Alyssa says hi,” Tomas smirked.

“Tell her I said hi back,” he quickly spoke. “And to have fun today.”

Agreeing and then saying their goodbyes, he disconnected the phone call and stood from Alyssa’s bed. “I’m ready if you are.”

Tomas and Alyssa headed out from the hotel, light jackets on to combat the cool breeze in the air. Stopping into the coffee shop in the lobby of their hotel, Tomas ordered them coffees and breakfast pastries, once again refusing Alyssa’s money. She frowned, keeping her small coach bag draped across her body as her coffee was handed to her.

“For the record, I’m buying my own souvenirs,” she laughed. Tomas laughed as he held the door open for her, leading her out onto the streets of Helsinki, holding his hands up in defense.

The first few stores they popped into were a bust. The clothing stores offered nothing Alyssa and Aimee didn’t already have or couldn’t find somewhere in Chicago. Tomas had begun dragging his feet, and they had only been on the hunt for an hour. “You’re bringing me down,” Alyssa laughed, her feet keeping her a few paces ahead of Tomas. “Come on, hockey player!” she teased as she continued to walk and take pictures of almost everything they passed.

Tomas glared, quickly catching up, shoving her shoulder as the street they were on widened into a courtyard. “Oh wow,” he said, staring up at the castle-like building in front of them.

“I know,” Alyssa agreed, breathlessly. “This is gorgeous,” she said, angling her camera up to snap a picture as they moved closer to it.

“Excuse me,” she heard Tomas say from behind her, and Alyssa turned, thinking he was talking to her. Instead, he had grabbed a man probably around their age. “Would you mind taking a picture?” he asked, pointing to Alyssa’s camera. The man nodded, and the woman looked at Tomas curiously as he grabbed the device from her hands, handing it to the man as he wrapped his arm around Alyssa’s waist and pulled her close.

“Aimee is going to kill me,” she laughed, just before the picture was taken. Grinning at her, Tomas grabbed the camera back from the man, thanking him before looking at the photo. “Oh it came out great,” she acknowledged as Tomas leaned it toward her.

“Now, let’s find Aimee a gift,” he laughed.

Alyssa glanced around the store for Tomas, finding him looking at some tee shirts that aligned an entire wall of the store they were in. Aimee’s gift in hand, she came to a stop next to him. He smiled at her and pointed at the shirt that caught his eye. “I kind of want that,” he laughed. Alyssa laughed, too, following his gaze to the white tee shirt that in the design of the famous I heart NY shirts, but with a blue heart (because the Finnish flag was blue and white) and Helsinki scrunched onto the second line.

“I kind of want one, too,” she agreed, following Tomas to the rack as he looked through the sizes, picking out one for himself and Alyssa grabbed her size in the women’s cut of the shirt.

“What are you getting for Aimee?” he asked as they continued to browse the store. When Alyssa grinned and held up a set of four shot glasses with matching carafe to hold the alcohol, Tomas raised his eyebrows.

“She collects shot glasses from places she’s been or other people visit. We keep them all in one of our kitchen cabinets.”

Tomas laughed as he grabbed Alyssa’s shirt from her hands. “I’ll get you this.”

“Tomas…”

“I want to, now tell me,” he started walking back toward the shirt rack. “What size does Aimee wear?”

---

After Tomas and Alyssa had done their shopping they headed toward the restaurant Antti Niemi had recommended. The pair was the last to arrive, and they had joined the table of the Finnish goaltender, Troy Brouwer, Kris Versteeg, his sidekick Robbie Klinkhammer, and Andrew Ladd. The meal had been excellent, everyone taking Antti’s word for it and ordering what he recommended. They trusted he would guide them in the right path and not order them anything too weird, being used to American and Canadian cuisine, save for Tomas. Alyssa didn’t even want to guess what weird European thing he had on his plate.

After lunch, while the rest of the boys went back to the hotel, Tomas and Alyssa stayed out, wanting to see a few more things before they headed back. It was their only day to do it, as they would have games the next two days, and then they would be flying back home. They wandered around together, taking more pictures as they took in the beautiful architecture of the city.

A few hours later, they were back in Alyssa’s hotel room and completely exhausted, but with no time to rest, they quickly freshened up for the team dinner. “We should wear our shirts,” Alyssa laughed, half joking as she stepped out of the bathroom, just a tank top on and the shirt in her hands.

Tomas laughed, turning around and making Alyssa bust into giggles. He was already wearing his. “Okay,” she laughed. “I’m putting mine on, too.” Putting on a bright blue cardigan to top off the outfit, she slipped her legs into black, knee high boots, making sure her black skinny jeans were tucked in.

“You look great,” Tomas smiled, handing her his purse. “Ready to head to the bus?”

Alyssa nodded, crossing her long purse strap over her body as she linked her arm with Tomas’.

They were two of the last players to make it onto the bus, Coach Quenneville checking their names off as they walked on. “I’m doing your job, Miss Black,” he laughed, winking a bright blue eye at her. “Nice shirts, by the way,” he commented as Tomas put his hands on Alyssa’s shoulders, pushing her down the aisle of the bus.

Ben Eager’s eyes narrowed as he took in Alyssa and Tomas’ appearance. They had fucking matching shirts on? I heart Helsinki, to boot. He shook his head, knowing the Slovakian had gotten to her before him, yet again, and they’d spent the day together. He just had to remind himself, that once they were back in Chicago, he would be able to see her again without his new teammate getting in the way.

“I want one!” Patrick Kane laughed, as everyone noticed their matching tee shirts.

“You should have gone shopping with us, Kaner!” Alyssa laughed, sliding into the seat behind the young forward.

“I wasn’t invited.”

“Oh,” she laughed. “Right.”

Tomas sat down next Alyssa, grinning as Sharpie’s camera pointed at them. “Sharpie! Knock it off!”

“Oh, come on, Lyss! I want your beautiful face on camera!”

“I gave it to you. I should have immunity from your shenanigans. Put it back on Tazer or something.”

A few rows ahead, Alyssa heard the captain groan. Patrick Sharp laughed and agreed, turning the camera on the man he jokingly referred to as ‘To-ez’ once again.

---

The next two days were filled with all the things that went into a game day, and Alyssa found herself busy with invoices, interview requests, and things needing to be added to the Blackhawks website for the fans to see, such as Sharpie’s videos. Splitting the two games with the Panthers, the Blackhawks were heading back to Chicago with three points of a possible four, the first game having gone to a shootout.

Alyssa looked around her hotel room, making sure she had everything she had brought with her. With a work outfit on and her hair pulled back in a clip, she began to move her bags toward the door, sighing at how much crap she had brought with her and bought while in Europe. Tomas let himself in a couple of seconds later, shaking his head at her position. She simply stood in front of her three bags of luggage, her bangs falling into her eyes as she rested her hand on her hips.

Wordlessly, Tomas lifted a bag onto his shoulder as he grabbed one of the wheeled ones behind him. Alyssa grinned and grabbed the other wheeled suitcase, giving her room one last scan before she closed the door behind her and the pair made their way to the lobby.

A short bus ride, a security check, and a boarding process later, the players and management of the Blackhawks were ready to head back to Chicago. Alyssa was ready to head back home too, despite wishing she could see more of Europe. The second she was on the plane, she headed to the bathroom to change into comfortable clothes to sleep in, hopeful she would get a few hours on the plane.

She curled herself into her seat just as Quenneville announced everyone needed to get in their seats. Tomas smiled at her from the window seat next to her, and she smiled back, albeit nervously. “You okay?” he asked.

“She’s a nervous flier,” she heard Ben Eager say from across the aisle. Alyssa snapped her head to the left and gave him a small smile.

“Hey, Ben,” she said, feeling the tension practically radiating off of the man.

“Hi,” he replied, as the flight attendants began to give directions from the front of the plane, silencing everyone.

Alyssa laughed as she noticed Tomas fidgeting in his seat. “What the heck?” she asked after the plane had taken off and had gone into smooth flying. A noise dinged through the cabin and the ‘fasten seatbelts’ sign had gone off.

“Oh thank god,” Tomas breathed, taking his seatbelt off starting to climb over Alyssa.

“What?” she laughed.

“I have to pee!”

Alyssa laughed again and turned toward Ben, whom she could tell was looking at her. She smiled shyly. “I haven’t seen you in a while,” she admitted.

“Been spending all your time with Tomas,” he said, nodding his head back toward where the restroom was.

“I’m sorry, Ben.”

“Are you with him or something?” the Ottawa native asked, giving her a stern look.

“What? No!” she told him. “We just hit it off, despite the fact he and Aimee don’t get along. Besides, if I was into gambling I’d bet that he would get with Aimee eventually.”

Ben raised his eyebrows, a small, crooked smile gracing his face.

“I’m sorry about not spending any time with you in Europe. We’ll have to do something when we get back home, and soon, okay?” Ben smiled as Tomas came back from the bathroom, again climbing over Alyssa to get into his seat. Alyssa smiled at him as he sat down and put a pillow behind his head, offering one to her, too. Grabbing it and pulling the blanket over her body, Alyssa sent him a final smile before turning to Ben and giving him a grin, which he returned.

“Goodnight,” she whispered to him, watching as he flipped through a magazine. Soon her eyes grew heavy, and she drifted into sleep, thoughts of her time in Europe and her home she couldn’t wait to get to back in Chicago.