Once Upon A Time
oo2
September 26th, 2010
Kasey was watching the Blackhawks practice, having shown up about an hour early to meet Jon. She was the most nervous she’d ever been in her life and she was constantly checking to make sure she had everything she needed. The boys were practicing hard, having only won one game out of three during the preseason so far. Jon hadn’t noticed Kasey yet, but only because he was frustrated and wanted to work hard to win the next one. He knew he shouldn’t be so worked up over a few preseason games, as they didn’t mean anything, but they didn’t call him captain serious for nothing. Coach dismissed practice and as the men were skating off the ice Kasey stood to wait by the locker room.
Jon was one of the last ones out and didn’t even notice Kasey standing on the opposing wall nervously fidgeting with her fingers. He was too preoccupied with his phone, dialing Kasey’s number (which he’d already memorized) to find out where she was. He was much more excited about this interview than he thought he should be. There was just something about that girl…
“Jonathan!” Kasey called as she spotted him, making him look up and smile. He walked towards her, taking in her appearance as he did and couldn’t help but want to jump her bones.
She was wearing a low cut teal tank top with a light sweater over it and jeans with flip flops. She figured since this was a casual meeting, as it seemed, then there was no point in getting dressed up. She did try to look good though. Her short hair was pinned half back and straightened nicely. Her eyes were lined very lightly with eyeliner and mascara with white on the inner corners of her eyes.
Jonathan dressed similar, jeans covering his muscular legs with flip flops on his feet. A simple grey v-neck shirt clung to his chest. It seemed like all his clothes were getting smaller on him and everything he put on was tight. Kasey couldn’t help but take notice to the fabric stretching across his biceps and pecks. It almost looked as though the fabric would bust at any move and it would leave him there shirtless. God, please let that happen… She thought to herself as she licked her lips.
“Hey Kasey.” Jonathan smiled as he approached her. He wasn’t sure if he should hug her, or give her a hand shake, or just wave. He’d never been so nervous around a girl before.
“Hi. So, shall we get going? My roommate wants me back at our apartment before three so we can go… do something.” Kasey suggested and jabbed a thumb towards the door, purposely leaving out the fact that she needed to go pick up her boyfriend from O’Hare at four. Her movement saved Jonathan from any sort of action. He just nodded and said “sure” before leading the way out of the rink.
They walked around the corner to a small diner that had a few other members of the Blackhawks sitting in various booths eating and chit-chatting. The walk there was short and filled with “How has your day been?”s. They found a booth in the back and sat down quietly. They ordered their food before Kasey started her interview.
“This seems so awkward,” She chuckled as she began, “I feel like you should be asking me questions too. Kinda like that game twenty questions.”
“We could do that.” Jon smiled, interested in getting to know the woman sitting across from him.
“Alright, I’ll go first. What was it like to hear your name called when you were drafted?” She asked and turned on her tape recorder, a little technique she picked up years before in her high school journalism class.
“It took my breath away. I was so excited and nervous I’d trip going up the stairs or something.” Jon laughed as he thought back to 2006. “Well, you’re obviously not from Illinois. So, where are you from?” He asked her. He’d figured she wasn’t a Chicago native mostly because she didn’t have an accent but also because she had a different glow to her.
“I’m from California. I moved here for college.” Kasey answered and smiled.
The questions flew back and forth for more than a few hours and the two seemed to have lost track of time. Kasey’s recorder had been filled up for thirty minutes now, and it seemed the questions weren’t even hockey related anymore. Kasey didn’t realize it was nearing three thirty until her phone rang from her pocket. She told Jon that she needed to answer it, as it was Jade and she probably wasn’t happy.
“Hey, Jay.” Kasey said casually, but grimaced when Jade snapped at her in response.
“You’re boyfriend got here early and he’s fucking pissed that you’re on a ‘date’ with someone else. He said he wanted to surprise you and got a cab over here. DO NOT make me deal with this douche!” Jade whined in a whisper, obviously trying to hide her words from Daniel.
“Shit,” Kasey said and rubbed her forehead with her free hand and gave Jon an apologetic look, “Did you remind him that it’s for school?”
“Like that will make a difference, Kasey. Get your ass over here before you come home to a dead boyfriend.” Jade hissed once more before she hung up angrily. Kasey winced again and looked at Jon with sorry eyes.
“I am so sorry… something came up and I have to leave, maybe we could continue this another time?” Kasey asked, hopeful. She kept deliberately leaving out the fact that she had a boyfriend. She wasn’t sure why, maybe because she was afraid she’d never see Jon again if she told him.
“Oh yeah! No problem. I hope it’s not an emergency?” Jon inquired, worried for his new friend.
“Oh… it will be if I take any longer…” Kasey mumbled and looked up at Jon with a slightly joking, slightly serious face.
“So, uh, call me when you get a chance, okay? I really liked meeting with you Kasey.” Jon said and stuck his hand out to shake hers. She gratefully took it and smiled brightly at him before responding.
“I enjoyed it too, Jonathan. I’ll make sure I call you when I get a chance.” She said as she backed away from Jon, trying not to get lured in, and made a bee-line for the exit before running to her car and jumping in. She sat in her car for a minute, a smile so prominent on her face she knew Daniel would know her meeting was Jon was more than just a meeting.
**
“Hi babe!” Kasey said loudly and happily after she entered her apartment. It was so obvious Daniel had been here for a good hour, the place was trashed. She hated his horrible temper, her mind flashed to Jade and she hoped to god he didn’t lay a finger on her.
“Babe? Are you sure you’re in the right fucking house? What the fuck Kasey, you knew I was coming today and you decide to go on a date with some guy!” Daniel roared as he came out of the kitchen.
“Okay, first off, do not come into my house and trash it or else you won’t be welcome here anymore, second, it was not a date it was an interview with a guy named Jonathan Toews.” Kasey responded with her signature sass.
“W-What!? Babe! You got an interview with Toews! That’s great!” And just like that, his mood changed. Kasey was starting to think Jade was right about breaking it off with him. He was close to bipolar.
“Yeah! Now help me fucking clean, asswipe.” She sounded mean, but her actions told a different story. She smiled at him with her hands on her hips and walked up to him before punctuating her sentence with a kiss to his lips.
“Oh that’s gross.” Jade commented as she came out of hiding from her room.
Kasey just flipped her off and continued kissing her boyfriend. The only interruption was when Kasey’s phone vibrated and told her she got a new text message. She broke away from Daniel smiling and telling him to hang on while she answered her text.
You left your recorder again, want me to drop it off at your house? – Jonathan Toews
“Oh shit.” She mumbled before typing a quick reply telling him to hold onto it and that she’ll get it back from him when they see each other again.
Needless to say, having that recorder to hold onto as a reason to see Kasey again made Jonathan’s heart flutter. He couldn’t wait to see her again. But little did he know, he had some competition to get by first…. And that it would be close to a week before he saw Kasey again.
Kasey was watching the Blackhawks practice, having shown up about an hour early to meet Jon. She was the most nervous she’d ever been in her life and she was constantly checking to make sure she had everything she needed. The boys were practicing hard, having only won one game out of three during the preseason so far. Jon hadn’t noticed Kasey yet, but only because he was frustrated and wanted to work hard to win the next one. He knew he shouldn’t be so worked up over a few preseason games, as they didn’t mean anything, but they didn’t call him captain serious for nothing. Coach dismissed practice and as the men were skating off the ice Kasey stood to wait by the locker room.
Jon was one of the last ones out and didn’t even notice Kasey standing on the opposing wall nervously fidgeting with her fingers. He was too preoccupied with his phone, dialing Kasey’s number (which he’d already memorized) to find out where she was. He was much more excited about this interview than he thought he should be. There was just something about that girl…
“Jonathan!” Kasey called as she spotted him, making him look up and smile. He walked towards her, taking in her appearance as he did and couldn’t help but want to jump her bones.
She was wearing a low cut teal tank top with a light sweater over it and jeans with flip flops. She figured since this was a casual meeting, as it seemed, then there was no point in getting dressed up. She did try to look good though. Her short hair was pinned half back and straightened nicely. Her eyes were lined very lightly with eyeliner and mascara with white on the inner corners of her eyes.
Jonathan dressed similar, jeans covering his muscular legs with flip flops on his feet. A simple grey v-neck shirt clung to his chest. It seemed like all his clothes were getting smaller on him and everything he put on was tight. Kasey couldn’t help but take notice to the fabric stretching across his biceps and pecks. It almost looked as though the fabric would bust at any move and it would leave him there shirtless. God, please let that happen… She thought to herself as she licked her lips.
“Hey Kasey.” Jonathan smiled as he approached her. He wasn’t sure if he should hug her, or give her a hand shake, or just wave. He’d never been so nervous around a girl before.
“Hi. So, shall we get going? My roommate wants me back at our apartment before three so we can go… do something.” Kasey suggested and jabbed a thumb towards the door, purposely leaving out the fact that she needed to go pick up her boyfriend from O’Hare at four. Her movement saved Jonathan from any sort of action. He just nodded and said “sure” before leading the way out of the rink.
They walked around the corner to a small diner that had a few other members of the Blackhawks sitting in various booths eating and chit-chatting. The walk there was short and filled with “How has your day been?”s. They found a booth in the back and sat down quietly. They ordered their food before Kasey started her interview.
“This seems so awkward,” She chuckled as she began, “I feel like you should be asking me questions too. Kinda like that game twenty questions.”
“We could do that.” Jon smiled, interested in getting to know the woman sitting across from him.
“Alright, I’ll go first. What was it like to hear your name called when you were drafted?” She asked and turned on her tape recorder, a little technique she picked up years before in her high school journalism class.
“It took my breath away. I was so excited and nervous I’d trip going up the stairs or something.” Jon laughed as he thought back to 2006. “Well, you’re obviously not from Illinois. So, where are you from?” He asked her. He’d figured she wasn’t a Chicago native mostly because she didn’t have an accent but also because she had a different glow to her.
“I’m from California. I moved here for college.” Kasey answered and smiled.
The questions flew back and forth for more than a few hours and the two seemed to have lost track of time. Kasey’s recorder had been filled up for thirty minutes now, and it seemed the questions weren’t even hockey related anymore. Kasey didn’t realize it was nearing three thirty until her phone rang from her pocket. She told Jon that she needed to answer it, as it was Jade and she probably wasn’t happy.
“Hey, Jay.” Kasey said casually, but grimaced when Jade snapped at her in response.
“You’re boyfriend got here early and he’s fucking pissed that you’re on a ‘date’ with someone else. He said he wanted to surprise you and got a cab over here. DO NOT make me deal with this douche!” Jade whined in a whisper, obviously trying to hide her words from Daniel.
“Shit,” Kasey said and rubbed her forehead with her free hand and gave Jon an apologetic look, “Did you remind him that it’s for school?”
“Like that will make a difference, Kasey. Get your ass over here before you come home to a dead boyfriend.” Jade hissed once more before she hung up angrily. Kasey winced again and looked at Jon with sorry eyes.
“I am so sorry… something came up and I have to leave, maybe we could continue this another time?” Kasey asked, hopeful. She kept deliberately leaving out the fact that she had a boyfriend. She wasn’t sure why, maybe because she was afraid she’d never see Jon again if she told him.
“Oh yeah! No problem. I hope it’s not an emergency?” Jon inquired, worried for his new friend.
“Oh… it will be if I take any longer…” Kasey mumbled and looked up at Jon with a slightly joking, slightly serious face.
“So, uh, call me when you get a chance, okay? I really liked meeting with you Kasey.” Jon said and stuck his hand out to shake hers. She gratefully took it and smiled brightly at him before responding.
“I enjoyed it too, Jonathan. I’ll make sure I call you when I get a chance.” She said as she backed away from Jon, trying not to get lured in, and made a bee-line for the exit before running to her car and jumping in. She sat in her car for a minute, a smile so prominent on her face she knew Daniel would know her meeting was Jon was more than just a meeting.
**
“Hi babe!” Kasey said loudly and happily after she entered her apartment. It was so obvious Daniel had been here for a good hour, the place was trashed. She hated his horrible temper, her mind flashed to Jade and she hoped to god he didn’t lay a finger on her.
“Babe? Are you sure you’re in the right fucking house? What the fuck Kasey, you knew I was coming today and you decide to go on a date with some guy!” Daniel roared as he came out of the kitchen.
“Okay, first off, do not come into my house and trash it or else you won’t be welcome here anymore, second, it was not a date it was an interview with a guy named Jonathan Toews.” Kasey responded with her signature sass.
“W-What!? Babe! You got an interview with Toews! That’s great!” And just like that, his mood changed. Kasey was starting to think Jade was right about breaking it off with him. He was close to bipolar.
“Yeah! Now help me fucking clean, asswipe.” She sounded mean, but her actions told a different story. She smiled at him with her hands on her hips and walked up to him before punctuating her sentence with a kiss to his lips.
“Oh that’s gross.” Jade commented as she came out of hiding from her room.
Kasey just flipped her off and continued kissing her boyfriend. The only interruption was when Kasey’s phone vibrated and told her she got a new text message. She broke away from Daniel smiling and telling him to hang on while she answered her text.
You left your recorder again, want me to drop it off at your house? – Jonathan Toews
“Oh shit.” She mumbled before typing a quick reply telling him to hold onto it and that she’ll get it back from him when they see each other again.
Needless to say, having that recorder to hold onto as a reason to see Kasey again made Jonathan’s heart flutter. He couldn’t wait to see her again. But little did he know, he had some competition to get by first…. And that it would be close to a week before he saw Kasey again.