I'll Be

It was a fairly cool and cloudy day in Chicago, Illinois. The wind was blowing through the leaves on the trees and past the buildings that covered every city block. It was cool enough for those who were headed out to put on a light jacket. This was everything Rylo Callaghan had taken notice to on her dead end job at the corner drug store. Her job was so dead end that she had taken up a job at the local Starbucks just to make the rent.

Business was fairly slow today, and tracing circles with the tip of her fingers was getting very old, very quickly. A usual customer, an older woman named Helen walked through the doors and made her way towards Rylo with a smile. Rylo lifted her head and smiled back at the old woman. “How’re you doing today, Helen? I haven’t seen you in a long time,” she said with a tilt of her head.

Helen smiled sweetly and rested her hand over Rylo’s. “I’m fine dear, much better. I was in the hospital for pneumonia. Took them long enough to release me. It felt like a jail cell!”

“I had no idea!” Rylo said back in slight shock. “It’s great to see you’re back on those dainty feet of yours.”

“Why yes, but darling, it’s five o’clock. Aren’t you usually off at this time?” Helen looked at her watch and then back to the girl on the other side of the counter.

Rylo laughed as she looked up at the clock behind her. “Amazing, you remember what time I get off of work, and I just can’t.”

After exchanging a few last words with Helen, she made her way to the back of the store to clock out. Rylo threw on her tight red hooded sweatshirt and grabbed her bag. Just as she was about to head back into the store, her iPhone vibrated against her thigh. She made her way outside before pulling the phone from her pocket. Her finger slid over the screen and opened a text message from her best friend, Niki.

“OH MY GOD YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT! Meet me at Palace Grill, this can’t wait” was sprawled across the screen. Rylo sent a quick “be there in five” and began her short jog to the diner.

Few knew that Rylo loved to run. She loved the way it felt when the wind blew through her long, chestnut hair. It was her time to herself; it gave her time to think straight. After jogging for a few minutes, she made her way to the entrance of Palace Grill.

As Rylo walked in, she smiled to the workers behind the counter who pointed her in the direction of Niki. Both her and Niki were at the diner often, it had been where they spent time together throughout high school and during their semesters at college. She saw Niki sitting in their usual spot. “So what is this news, sounded urgent. What’s going on?” Rylo asked as she sat down across from her best friend.

Niki looked up from her chocolate milkshake and was excitedly typing into her phone. “Holy shit, Rylo Callaghan, you are NOT going to believe this.”

“You said that in your text message to me, I get it, what’s going on?” Rylo laughed and when the phone was passed her way, she looked at it. Her jaw dropped, and her eyes went wide.

“It was bound to happen eventually,” Niki started. “It’s not a total surprise, but it definitely shocked me!”

Rylo continued to stare at the phone for a moment, a look of disgust slowly forming across her features. “Patrick Kane slept with another club floozy and she took pictures of him and his stuff? Creepy,” she said quietly. “He’s such a whore.”

A moment later, the waitress came up to their table and placed a strawberry milkshake in front of her. “Here’s the usual!”

As she walked back behind the counter, Niki started to laugh. “The biggest whore of the Chicago Blackhawks. That we know of.”

“I agree. Sometimes I see him pick up condoms when I’m on second shift. It’s disgusting,” Rylo said with a tinge of disgust before taking a sip of her drink.

Rylo and Niki loved ice hockey more than most girls; they talked about the players’ stats instead of which one they wished they could sleep with. It was almost comical to them that so many girls go to games, practically drooling over the players warming up on the other side of the glass. To Rylo, the game was more important than that, it was the rush and the excitement. If the sport of ice hockey were a human, she would make it her boyfriend. That was much more preferred than the men who play it; she had her favorite players, but she never had the interest in sleeping with them.

“I just cannot even…” Rylo said as she rested her forehead onto her hand, attempting to soothe the headache forming beneath her skull. “Patrick Kane is a perfect example as to why I would never date a hockey player. Ever.” She looked down at her watch to see that it was a quarter to six. “Shit, I have to get to Starbucks. Filling a shift tonight for Steph.”

Niki held up her finger and headed over to the counter to pay for their drinks. She headed back towards Rylo and linked arms. “I’m walking you to work,” she said with a laugh.

They made their way down the street that way and the conversation of Patrick Kane’s newest sexual escapade continued. Rylo didn’t exactly care about his sex life per say; it was more like a concern for his career on the Blackhawks. “Niki, I can’t figure out how I feel about this whole thing,” she emphasized with a wave of her hands as they approached Starbucks.

As they walked in, Niki stepped in front of her best friend and rested her hands on either side of her face. “I think it’s scandalous, and I fucking love it.” She let go when Rylo gave her an odd look.

“If you say so,” she shrugged, before pulling her hair up into a bun. “I think he’s a dumb ass and this should just…I don’t know. It’s dumb. You want anything before you go?” Rylo started back towards the employee’s area where she pulled off her sweatshirt and replaced it with her apron. Two of her co-workers were helping out with some of the customers, but shot a smile her way as she walked out and made her way behind the counter. Looking over to her best friend who was smirking at her phone, she said a little louder, “I asked if you wanted anything, Nik.”

Niki laughed and slipped the phone into her back pocket. “Oh, right! Grande Java Chip frap would be great,” she said with a smile. “Do I need to time this one?”

“Yes, please. I’m trying to beat my regular time of 1:43,” Rylo replied as she whipped a towel in the air to signal her start. She grabbed each ingredient with practiced precision. Just as quickly did she measure them accurately into a blender and added a scoop of ice to top it off. The button was pressed and a cup and lid were grabbed just as the blender had stopped. As the contents quickly filled the cup, Rylo looked over her shoulder and winked, before topping off the beverage with the usual dollop of whipped cream. The cup was topped and straw was placed inside before being set down before Niki. “How’d I do?”

“Eh,” was the response she got before hearing a roaring laugh. “I’m messing you with you, Ry. One minute, twelve seconds.” Niki slowly calmed down, but a smile still remained on her face. “By the way, I made my decision about grad school.”

“And?” Rylo asked before working on the next customer’s order.

“I’m going to do it!” She said excitedly before sipping from her beverage. “I’m just bummed that I have to start looking for an apartment in New York City.”

As Rylo was finishing up on the order, she felt her heart sink slightly. Of course she was thrilled for her best friend, but that also meant she was going to be alone in such a large city. After handing off the beverage and receiving the payment, she jumped over to Niki and threw her arms around her neck. “I’m so happy for you, Nik! Whatever you need, I’ll help. Tomorrow morning, I will head over and help you with your apartment search!”

“Oh, hey Jeff,” Niki said as Rylo’s manager walked up to them. “I was just trying to get Rylo to be faster, and more productive.” With that, she received a glare. “Alright, and maybe I was telling her that I’m going to Grad-school.”

Jeff looked at the two, who still had their arms around each other. “I’m sure you were. And congratulations, Niki, I’m happy for you,” he said before patting her on the shoulder and turning to walk away. “Don’t forget to pay!”

“Thank you, Jeff. Okay, well here is four dollars my love. Keep the change as a tip, don’t stop me, Jeff.” Niki shouted as she pulled four dollars out of her pocket and placing it into Rylo’s hand. “I’ll see you later!”

Rylo smiled and watched as Niki walked out the door. She headed back behind the counter and placed the four dollars into the register and keeping the change as her tip. It was only a quarter to seven, and there were six hours left to her shift. As time wore on, her two co-workers grabbed dirty plates, trays and blenders and brought them to the back to wash them.

Not many people came into Starbucks at eleven, and for this Rylo was kind of thankful. It gave her time to think and reorganize stacks of cups over and over again. Her mind kept going over the fact that her best friend was leaving for New York City to continue her education. It wasn’t hard to imagine Niki as a doctor. She loved taking care of people when they were sick, especially children. That made her happy and in turn, it made Rylo happy. But the thought of not having anyone she could talk to about anything with around… sort of bothered her. She refused to be upset about it, because soon enough, she will find what she was meant to do.

After looking up at the clock for the umpteenth time that night, she walked to the back to grab her phone. When she picked it up, there were three text messages from various people and one from Niki. Rylo headed back to the front of the store and leaned back against the counter, to read each text message. The first from her brother Max and the next two were drunken messages from people she hadn’t spoken to in what seemed like years.
Niki’s text was a bit more exciting to Rylo, and made much more sense than “I gots laid huh huh huh”. "I picked out a few possibilities!"

Rylo sent back, "I can’t wait to see them later!” before setting the phone down on the counter.

She leaned onto her hand and stared thoughtfully out the massive windows covering the walls. Cars made their way down the street in fewer numbers than when she arrived early. And every now and then, a few people would walk past. It kind of made her wish she was one of them right now, instead of working at midnight, when clearly no one wants coffee. Rylo thought that she must have been really focused on the street because she had no idea someone walked in until a man let out a loud “ahem.”

Her head snapped up and she looked at the person in front of her. With a few blinks, she realized that she knew who this man was. “Sorry about that, there’s nothing better to do than stare out the window at this hour. So, what can I get you?”

The man in front of her let out a soft laugh and smiled. “I know the feeling. A tall hot chocolate with non-fat milk, please.”

Rylo grabbed a tall cup from a stack and began putting the hot chocolate together. She hummed to the song playing over the radio to keep herself calm. “Would you like whipped cream with that?” she called over.

“That would be awesome,” he said back to her, watching as she added the whipped cream to the top of the steaming liquid.

She grabbed a lid and walked back to the other end of the counter, placing the drink in front of him. “Would you like to enjoy the whipped cream, or do you want to just let it melt after I put the lid on,” Rylo said, holding the lid over the creamy pile that was slowly going down. She chuckled as the cup was picked up and the whipped cream was sucked up before it could reach its doom. It made Rylo smile, because she knew how tough of a day he was having.

Money was slipped in front of her and she slipped it into the cash register. She grabbed the change and handed it back to her customer before placing the lid onto the cup. “Thanks,” he said his smile somewhat sad. “Hey, um, when do you get off of work?”

Rylo looked up at the clock and realized her shift had ended ten minutes ago. “It ended ten minutes ago, actually,” she replied with a bit of shock. “I’ll go clock out and meet you at a table.” She picked up her phone and slipped into her pocket as she walked to the back to clock out. After clocking out, Rylo quickly pulled the phone from her pocket and shot a quick text to Niki that said “You won’t believe who I just sold a hot chocolate to. I’ll tell you when I see you.” After hitting send, she slipped the phone back into her pocket and grabbed her things before heading to the front.

He was sitting at a table in corner, starting out the window. One hand was wrapped around the cup of hot chocolate, and his other arm was resting on the empty chair next to him. Almost like he was thinking really hard, and Rylo could almost guess what. She slowly walked over and sat down across from him. “Hi,” she said, hoping not to spook him.

“Hey,” he said softly, his sad smile making a second appearance. “I’m sure you want to go home, but it really means a lot that you’re willing to sit here and talk to someone you’ve never met before.”

“It’s alright, I used to do this with my best friend Niki all the time,” Rylo said, looking at his black eye. “That bruise looks nasty, do you want some ice? I mean, I know it’s probably old, but.”

“That would be great,” he said before she could finish her statement. With that, she stood up and walked back behind the counter to grab a fresh towel and some ice. She pulled the hair tie from her bun and used it to hold the ice inside of the towel.

Rylo made her way back to the table and handed it over, watching as he placed the slowly cooling cloth to his face with a silent ‘thank you’. She watched as he flinched and couldn’t help but flinch herself. “You’re welcome, I hope it helps,” she replied while sitting back down.

“I thought that this year was going to be great, especially after last year,” he started. “You go from almost winning it all, to suddenly winning something that is second best. And just a year later, it slips from your hands. Mistakes are made, punches are thrown, and then you’re humiliated.” His gaze went from Rylo to the cup still in his hand. “I’m sorry for just letting everything out, it’s been a really long day and I don’t even know your name.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s alright,” she said while extending her hand out to him. “Rylo Callaghan.”

He took her hand in his and shook it gently. “Patrick Kane.”

“I know,” Rylo said in return as their hands parted.

“Then I guess you’ve heard already?” Patrick asked her shamefully.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure the universe of hockey and then some have heard,” she replied. “I honestly probably wouldn’t have found out if it weren’t for Niki.” He sighed and slumped his shoulders down even further, making Rylo feel kind of bad for him. She didn’t feel bad for him that he made such a stupid mistake, but seeing him so torn up…

“So if you knew…why haven’t you said anything? I stepped outside earlier and got shit for it. Went to the store to pick up a few things, and that’s how I found out. It was so embarrassing.” Patrick was now rubbing circles into his temples and looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

“Maybe because I’m not that kind of a person,” she started, “and on top of it, even though I think you’re a dumbass, it isn’t my place to call you out on it. It isn’t right for anyone to call you out on it when it isn’t their life, and especially in public.” Patrick stared at her, blinking a couple of times. It almost seemed like he was at a loss for words and that seemed to surprise the both of them. For that reason, Rylo continued. “It was a mistake, and lessons come from mistakes. Just learn from it.”

After a moment of silence, Patrick sighed. “That was kind of refreshing, thanks.”

Rylo looked up at the clock and saw that the time was clicking closer to two. “Look, I would really love to continue talking, but it’s almost two, and I’m exhausted.” She looked at Patrick as he handed her the towel that was starting to drip a small puddle on the table. As she took the towel and turned to head to the back, she could hear Patrick standing up and pushing his chair in. This made her stop in place and turn back to face him. “Would you mind walking me home?” Rylo asked with slight hesitation.

Patrick looked back at her and smiled genuinely for the first time that day. “No, not at all.”
After taking care of a couple things, Rylo made her way back to Patrick and they walked out together. It was cooling off outside, causing a chill to make its way down her spine. As they made their way along the side walk, she looked over at him and stopped suddenly. Patrick continued walking a couple of steps before realizing she had stopped walking. He gave off a confused look before heading back to her. “You alright?” he asked as he stepped in front of her.

“Yeah,” Rylo said softly. “I was just thinking that maybe I was kind of wrong about you.”

“What do you mean?” He looked at her, wondering what she had actually thought of him.

“Well, I was right that you are pretty irresponsible. I was wrong thinking that you’re one of the biggest assholes on the Blackhawks.” Rylo smiled softly before turning away from him and continued to walk in the direction of her apartment.

It took a moment for Patrick to catch up with her. What she said made him think a bit about himself. Maybe he did come off as an asshole, or okay, maybe he is an asshole. He was definitely irresponsible, and what happened just a day earlier was an excellent example of that. “You’re right about me.”

Rylo let that statement hang in the air for some time as they kept walking. Every now and then, she would look up at the sky, or over at Patrick. It almost seemed unreal to her that Patrick Kane was walking her home, even more so that he agreed to. A short time later, they arrived at her apartment. She turned to him while pulling the keys out of her bag. “Thanks for walking with me. I don’t usually work that shift, so it was nice not being alone on the street this late.”

That smile of his reappeared as he slipped his hands into the pocket of his jeans. “It’s no problem,” Patrick started, “and thank you for listening to me earlier. I was too…embarrassed to talk to anyone about what’s been going on.”

“You’re welcome, any time,” she replied softly as she walked up the stairs towards the door.

“When do you usually work, if you don’t mind me asking,” Patrick shouted up to her.

“Usually Thursday through Sunday, from ten in the morning until six I think. Why?” Rylo asked with a crooked grin.

He smiled and shook his head. “I’ll see ya around, Rylo. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Patrick,” she replied before heading up to her apartment. Rylo tossed her bag aside and locked the door with a yawn. The keys were tossed onto the table and her shoes left at the doorway of her bedroom. She grabbed her pajamas before heading into the bathroom. Another yawn escaped her lips as she slipped out of her work clothes and changed into her pajamas. After brushing her teeth and tossing her clothes into a hamper, Rylo walked over to her bed and slipped between the sheets. Her alarm clock was set and her bed side lamp was shut off soon after. At this moment, Rylo Callaghan realized that her life just got extremely interesting.