Cursing at the Wind

The locker room was filled with laughter and cheer as the Chicago Blackhawks walked in after a great win over the Vancouver Canucks.

“So where are we celebrating today?” Patrick Kane asked his teammates.
“I say we go to O’Malleys,” Brian Campbell suggested.
“Sounds good.”
“You coming captain?” Patrick Sharp, aka Sharpy, asked Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.
“You know it.”
The guys took their time showering then headed out.

As they walked out to the parking garage Jonathan's cell phone started ringing, an unknown number flashing on the screen.

“Hello?”
“Jonathan?”

He instantly recognized the voice on the other line.

“Adrienne?”
“Yeah.”
“Adrienne where the hell have you been? Mom and dad called me before the game and told me your roommate called them and told them you haven’t been in school for a week.”
“I know, I've just been going through some things and needed to leave.”
“So what? You ditched NYU?”
“I have my reasons. I was just hoping I could talk to you.”
“Ok talk.”
“In person.”
“I can’t go to New York right now Adrienne.”
“I know that’s why I'm here.”
“What?”
“I'm in Chicago Jonathan.”
“Where?”
“Just outside the stadium. Southeast corner.”
“All right I'm coming to get you.” He hung up and turned to the guys. “Hey I'll meet you guys there, I have some family business to take care of.”
“You sure man?” Patrick asked.
“Yeah. I'll see you in a bit.”

Jonathan jumped into his car and drove to Adrienne. He found her sitting on the sidewalk with her duffel bag next to her.

“You had to pick the darkest corner to sit at right?” he asked when he drove up.
“You know me, always looking for trouble.”

He got out of the car and hugged her.

“What happened this time?” he asked.
“I'm just not ready to talk about it yet.”

He noticed something about her was off but he couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was.

“Somebody hurt you?”
“Not ready J, don’t push.”
“Well I think as your brother I have the right to ask right?” She nodded. “Come on Adrienne, tell me what happened.”
“Just give it time ok? All I want to do right now is get my mind off of New York. Any ideas?”
“How about getting wasted with a hockey team?”
“Sounds perfect.”

---

“Where the hell is Tazer?” Patrick asked.
“Just saw him pull up,” Marian Hossa said. “Oh wait, he’s not alone.”
“What? No way he picked up a girl on his way here,” Patrick said.
“She’s cute too man. Looks right around your age.”
“Yeah? Why don’t you young guys ever bring in a cougar or something?” Adam Burish asked. “ You know, something us older guys can play with.”
“What fun would that be for us?”

Jonathan finally walked inside with the girl by his side.

“Finally man!”
“Sorry guys, I didn’t mean to keep your captain away,” the girl said.
“Now who is this and where can I get one?” Adam asked.
“Ask my parents. This is my sister Adrienne.”
“Sister? You never told us you had a sister.”
“I’m not really a great person to boast about,” Adrienne said.
“Oh you can’t be that bad.”
“Yeah, right,” Jonathan muttered.
“Well how about we find out for ourselves? I'm Adam.”
“Nice to meet you.”

Jonathan put his hands on Adrienne's shoulders.

“Just take it easy ok?”
“Isn't that sweet?”
“Just looking out for my little sister.”
“Little by how much?”
“Only a year.”

She took a seat and ordered herself a drink.

“Hey where’s Sharpy?” Jonathan asked.
“I'm pretty sure he went to take a piss. He’s taken down like three tequila shots already.”
“He always gets started early doesn’t he?”

---

Sharpy walked out of the bathroom hallway and looked over at the guys, a girl now sitting between all of them.

“Sharpy what the hell are you doing over there? Get over here!” Adam yelled.

---

When Adam yelled for Sharpy Adrienne turned to him, her jaw nearly dropping. He had to be the absolute most beautiful man she had ever seen. He had beautiful green eyes and a thick head of wavy black hair. His rugged features would make any girl want him.

“I see you guys are starting to party,” he said, looking directly at Adrienne.
“Well it’s more of a family affair. This is Jonathan's sister Adrienne.”
“Sister? That’s new. Patrick Sharp,” he said with a smile.
“Adrienne.”
“So now that our good captain is here how about we take another round of shots to celebrate our win and our new friend.”

The bartender prepared nearly twenty tequila shots and they downed them.

“God it burns,” Adrienne said.
“Don’t like it?” Sharpy asked.
“Oh I love it.”

He smiled at her and she nearly melted.

The guys continued celebrating and drinking, a lot. Adrienne on the other-hand stayed pretty sober. The bar was getting loud and girls were starting to surround the guys so she picked up her drink and moved to an empty table down the bar.

She was quick to notice Sharpy looking at her and felt her body tense up when he started her way.

“So I have a question,” he said as he sat down.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I want to know why you’ve been sitting here all night with the same drink and same somber look on your face?”
“I'm not sure this is something I want to talk about with my brothers teammate.”
“Hey I'm a great listener.”
“And you're also incredibly attractive which in turn makes me kind of nervous.”

He chuckled.

“That’s cute.”
It was her turn to laugh.
“Why do you find that funny?”
“Because the last time somebody called me cute I was three and in a yellow dress with purple flowers. I have never been cute.”
“Then what are you?”
“Reckless and every synonym that goes with it.”
“Every man loves a bad girl.”
“Well I'm trying very hard to change my ways, hence the same drink sitting in front of me.”
“So how long are you going to be in town for?”
“For as long as my brother will have me.”
“You don’t go to school?”
“I did but something happened that kind of um… I just didn’t want to be there anymore.”

Judging by the tone of her voice Sharpy knew this wasn’t something she was going to want to talk about so he tried to lighten the mood.

“So you think I'm hot huh?”
“Ridiculously,” she admitted.

He called a waitress over.

“Two double whiskey’s, straight,” he ordered.
“Of course.”
“Drink up because there’s another one coming for you.”
“You’re going to have to drink them both yourself.”
“Oh I don’t think so. Two isn't gonna kill you.”

She sighed and finished her drink, her new one soon arriving.

---

“I think Sharpy is macking on your sister,” Adam said to Jonathan.
“Oh man, I wanted her,” Kaner moaned.
“Can we not talk about my sister like she was some sort of object please?”
“Sorry,” Kaner mumbled.

Jonathan looked over at Sharpy and Adrienne and Sharpy looked right at him. Jonathan gave him a warning look and Sharpy nodded, knowing his boundaries.

---

“So was your brother always easy to prank?” Sharpy asked Adrienne.
“Oh yeah. He never went to hockey practice without something crawling around in his bag.”

He laughed.

“Yeah him and Kaner have always been the easiest.”
“Well I spent fifteen years prepping him for you so I think you owe me a thank you.”
“Thank you very much. You helped make away games that much better.”

She smiled and he suddenly suavely moved to her side and put his arm around her.

“My heart’s beating really fast right now,” she said.
“I'm sorry, did I do that?”

She nodded and he leaned forward, his lips an inch from hers.

“How fast is it going now?”
“It’s gonna get to an unhealthy speed pretty soon.”
“Thought it would be,” he said before pulling back and standing up.
“Well it was nice talking to you. You know you should really go for Kaner, you two look like you’d be good together.”

He patted her head like a guy would to a kid and walked off, almost instantly talking to a new girl.

Adrienne shook her head in disbelief. She wasn’t expecting anything out of him but she at least thought he’d be her friend. But it was all just to tease her.

Now normally she wouldn’t care about this but given recent events and her current mental state this was just something she couldn’t take.

She walked over to Jonathan.

“J can we please go?”
“Are you ok?”
“I'm fine, I just want to go.”

As soon as he noticed her watery eyes he nodded.

“Yeah sure. We’re going to get going. See you guys at practice tomorrow.”
“All right, bye Tazer. Nice to meet you Adrienne.”
“You too Patrick.”

When they got into the car Jonathan turned to Adrienne.

“Adrienne what happened? Did Sharpy do something to you?” Jonathan asked Adrienne on their way to his house.
“No Jonathan, everything is fine. I'm just tired.”

Jonathan reached over and grabbed her hand.

“Remember you can tell me anything.”
“I know, I just need time.”

He nodded and continued driving.

When they got to Jonathan's house he took her to her room.

“So you can stay as long as you want as long as you stay out of trouble.”
“I promise, I will.”
“All right, come here.” He pulled her into a hug and kissed her head. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I'm down the hall, if you need anything.”
“Thanks J.”

He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Adrienne lay back on her bed, starting to cry. She cried herself to sleep that night as she had been doing for days now.