Fire in Our Hearts and Ice in Our Veins

“When I was a little girl, my mom and dad got divorced. After that, I never saw my dad again. I guess my mom just needed something to… hold onto, ya know? So when she discovered I was good at ballet she threw her whole life into my career as a ballerina. I was homeschooled, and the only people I was ever even allowed to interact with were the people I danced with. My mom was so hard on me, she had me in ballet classes seven times a week, sometimes for six hours a day, she barely fed me, but when she did it was vegetables or fruits and I wasn’t allowed to have friends at all, especially not boys. I began to hate her, as I got older I would break more and more rules. One day when I was fifteen my mom was three hours late picking me up from dance class. For the first time, I explored New York City, I had lived there all my life and all I had really seen was whatever was in between the drive from our apartment to the studio. That day I met Ryder Anderson, who was this 20-year-old guy affiliated with a gang. I never knew too much about what kinds of things he did or how dangerous he was, and I knew he was too old for me, but breaking the rules made me feel…more like a human being and less like my mother’s Barbie doll. I dated Ryder for a year and he constantly brought me to parties I shouldn’t be at with people I shouldn’t be with. One night Ryder was walking me home, and a guy appeared in this random alley. He had a gun and before I knew it, Ryder was lying on the ground holding his shoulder. The guy took me and raped me,” Harley was now crying, “He made Ryder watch, then once he was done he killed him. I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do, as soon as I was able to walk again, I just ran as far away as I could get. That’s why Trevor was after me. Trevor Anderson is Ryder’s brother, he thought I could have saved Ryder’s life that night, but the truth is, he was already dead. I went to Paris and changed my last name, taking Ryder’s last name in his honor, a week later I found out I was pregnant. I had the baby on June 1st, the same day Yves Saint Laurent died, which is why I left the baby at the orphanage with the last name Laurent.”

Patrick’s eyes were wide with realization, “Catherine…she’s not just your student.” It all made sense now.

Harley nodded her head sadly, “she’s my daughter. The name Catherine, it means pure. I wanted to make sure her life was as pure as possible of all my problems. I never wanted and I never want her to have to deal with my stupid mistakes. But I just…loved her too much to not see her again. I offered the orphanage free lessons for her just to see her.”

Before Patrick could say anything he heard footsteps pounding down the stairs.

“Hide!” Harley begged him. But it was too late. There stood Trevor with two other guys looking as if they had just won the lottery.

“Well, well, well… what do we have here? I knew it was only a matter of time before you showed up Mr. Kane,” Trevor sneered making his two sidekicks laugh, “You see, I have no use for that bitch,” he pointed at Harley, “it’s you people actually care about.”

Harley looked like she was going to cry again but instead she tried fighting back, “Leave him alone Trevor! He’s got nothing to do with this. Just let him go!”

“Oh I wouldn’t dream of hurting your little boyfriend, princess, that would only drive down his value. But I’m afraid I just can’t let him go quite yet,” Trevor’s sidekicks struggled to tie Patrick up, “Let’s play a game, Mr. Kane. I like to call it, How Much is Chicago Willing to Pay for their Favorite Hockey Star! We’ll start the bidding at…”

But he wasn’t able to finish because suddenly he was surrounded by hundreds of police officers, SWAT members, CIA & FBI agents, and Patrick swore there were even a few ninjas mixed in.

“TREVOR ANDERSON YOU ARE UNDER ARREST, PUT YOUR HANDS UP, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT!”

Trevor was easily outnumbered and Patrick and Harley watched as they slapped handcuffs on him and take him away. One of the agents approached the two of them.

“Mr. Kane, I have been ordered to inform you that Ms. Stevenson sends her regards.”

“Allie?” Patrick asked, causing the agent to shake his head yes, “tell her I said thank you, will you?”

“I’ll do my best, sir.”

After a few minutes everyone cleared out as if there had never been anyone there in the first place. Patrick turned to Harley. “You okay?” he asked.

She looked at him wide eyed, “Most other boys would have just left me alone after the first time I rejected them. But you are most certainly not like the other boys, Patrick Kane.”

“Thanks,” he smiled.

“So I’ve been thinking…I was actually wondering if you wanted to go out with me sometime,” she laughed trying to do an impersonation of him the first time they had met.

Patrick fed it right back to her, “No thank you Ms. Anderson, but I appreciate your offer.”

“I didn’t say it like that!” she exclaimed through fits of giggles.

“Oh really?” He then took her and threw her over his shoulder and began walking out the building.

“OH MY GOD, PUT ME DOWN! PATRICK I HATE YOU!”