Life Coach

What were the odds of finding her again? In all of Las Vegas, of all the people I stumble upon her. And the weirdest thing...I was happy about it.

When I first spotted her at the NHL Party I just had to talk to her. She looked hot in her blue dress. Her brown hair falling in curls down her back, and her eyes...unforgettable.

It wasn't until I started talking to her, that I found that she was different. She didn't fall of her chair at the sight of me, she didn't seem nervous to be surrounded by famous people which I guessed she must be use to, and she was just nice to talk too. She wasn't stumbling her words or choking on her drink. She treated me like a normal guy, like she didn't want anything from me. And honestly...I'm not use to that kind of attention. Someone always wants something from the other. Whether its her or me, something happens.

But Kara was like someone I grew up with. Yeah, she was pretty good looking but....I wouldn't want to fuck her or anything. She's defiantly better than that. She's nice and deserves better treatment. Was I going to be the one to give her that...nah but no one said anything about just being friends. I mean, I probably would never see her again so I'll savor the moment.

Then the next day when Jon and I saw her walking around by herself, I just wanted to hang with her. Thankfully Jon was thinking the same thing. She honestly shouldn't be walking around Vegas by herself so inviting her to join us was the moral thing to do.

And then, all of a sudden, she was joining us for dinner. Where in the world did that come from? It kind of just came out. That's never happened before. I'm usually pretty smooth, that just...wasn't exactly smooth.

"That was smooth Kaner." Jon said as the elevator door closed, "You're into her."

"No I am not."

"You just invited her to dinner. You never stopped looking at her today. You, my friend, are in to her."

"You're out of your mind. Besides, I know you were checking her out too."

"How could you not?"

"Then I'll let the two of you go to dinner. Skip the third wheel."

"That's a good idea Pat. I'm going to call Sharpie and ask if he wants to do something. Have fun with Kara." He said as he stepped off the elevator. I almost didn't make it off because I was trying to figure out what he just said.

"What...you're not coming with me?" I said catching up to him.

"No, you're going with Kara. What? Scared now Kaner?" He said with a smirk.

"Psh...what? No. Me, scared? I'm Patrick Kane."

"...right. Well Patrick Kane, you should go get ready. You have to pick up that pretty lady soon." He said leaving me in the room alone.

Why am I even worried about this right now? I just spent all day with her...what could one dinner do?

---

1721...1723...1725. Here it is. I let out a breath and knocked.

"Just a minute!" I heard her yell through the door. The corner of my mouth turned up at the thought of her running around getting ready. After a few seconds, the door opened. I couldn't help but look her up and down. Her little black dress hung her slim body. Her heels showing off her toned legs. Damn...was all I could think. "Hi." She said a smirk on her face.

"...Hi."

"Where's Jon?" She asked stepping out into the hall.

"Something came up so it's just the two of us...if you're okay with that."

"Yeah, of course." I need to say something to her. It's literally too quiet in this hallway. Think Kaner, think.... "You look really nice." She smiled, "Thanks, you look pretty snazzy yourself." The ride down to the restaurant was quiet because of the other people there. When we made it to the hostess, we were immediately seated. "I hope you don't mind staying at here for dinner." I said.

"It's fine. I probably would've ordered room service. I really appreciate this."

"It's your last day in Vegas, I thought I could help make it nice."

"It is, thank you. I really don't want to leave. There's still so much to do but work calls."

"What do you do?"

"I babysit from morning to afternoon, then I work with a theater company in town."

"That must be cool. What do you want to do after school?"

"I want to find a travel show and board that bandwagon."

"That would defiantly be an adventure."

"That's all part of my plan."

Now, I don't know much of anything about plays and shows, but from the way Kara describes them, it reminds me of my love for hockey. I'm doing what I love and I wouldn't want to do anything else. Kara is so passionate about what she does that I felt myself mesmerized by her words. "Enough about me, what about you?" She said changing the subject. I had been rattling off questions like a reporter. I wanted to know everything about her, and more.

When she started asking me questions about home and hockey, I was very comfortable telling her anything. It was as if we were old friends finally reunited after many years. When we talked about hockey she could keep up with me. Most girls I need to dumb it down a little just so they can stay in the conversation. That, or they don't care. But Kara cared. She wanted to hear my stories; of the lost and won games, of the pranks...everything.

It was nonstop conversation through the whole meal. There was always something to talk about, no matter how random it seemed. And the last night I remember laughing as hard and as much as I had was...man, I don't remember.

"I couldn't tell you the last time I laughed this much." She said after we calmed down from one of my stories about the team.

"Me either. I mean, yeah the guys are funny but...this was nice."

"I'm glad I could help." She said taking a sip of her water.

"I don't know what it is, but there's something about you Kara." I saw her raise her eyebrow at my comment before she replied, "And what's that?"

"You're...different from a lot of the girls I meet. With you I can be myself and not care. I feel like if it was anyone else, they'd do anything to get their 15 minutes of fame. And there have been people that go through with that." I mumbled that last part but I know she heard me.

"I don't know why people think that's going to do anything. I know they wouldn't want someone treating them like they treated you. No one really cares. And it's sad that people choose to be that way." I just stared at her. This girl got me....where has she been all my life? "Patrick Kane, I think you need a girlfriend." I laughed, "I don't want a girlfriend."

"No not a 'girlfriend'. I mean like a girl as a friend...a gal-friend if you will. Or better yet, a Life Coach."

"A 'gal-friend'? What is a 'gal-friend'?" She smiled and I noticed the blush creeping up on her cheeks.

"I don't know...someone you can talk to...that's a girl. Someone that isn't afraid to tell you the truth."

"Isn't that what friends do?"

"Okay then, how many heart to hearts have you had with Jonathon Toews?"

"We have them all the time."

"Right, when you paint your nails before a game." She joked.

"Okay, okay, we don't have that many but that's because he's a guy. Guys don't have heart to hearts."

"My point exactly. You should be able to talk to someone that won't judge you or make fun of you. Someone that will always be there no matter the situation and help to make it better." As weird as this was...she had a point. There weren't many people I could talk to about what's on my mind. The guys would make fun of me and all the girls out there don't want to talk, they just want sex. Maybe Kara was right. I needed someone that would treat me like a normal person and not like a professional athlete. People give me what I want, but no one is there to tell me that I can't do something or have something. And as I look back on everything that's happened to me...I need someone like that. Someone...like Kara.

"Kara," I sat up and leaned over the table taking her hands in mine, "Will you be my gal-friend? Or life coach? Whatever you want to call it."

"I didn't say it had to be me!" She said with a smile.

"But it was you're idea. And I've told you practically everything. You know me."

"I don't know you that well. And then there's the fact that I live in New York."

"I don't think we need to be in the same city. We can call or text. Come on Kara...I need your help." I mustered up my best puppy dog face and starred at her until she finally cracked, "Fine! I can't believe this."

"Oh come on...It'll be fun." I said with a wink. This was defiantly going to be interesting.