Secret

Seated across from each other in a small booth in the corner of a cozy restaurant specializing in breakfast foods, I finally had the time to truly look at the man I just spent a wild evening with, or at least, I assume I did. He was tall, with thick brown hair, and he was incredibly handsome. I had only begun to scratch the surface of his looks when I was interrupted by our waitress. She looked to be a college girl waiting tables just to get by. When she noticed that she would be waiting on the one and only Brent Seabrook, her eyes went wide and something in her clicked. It was as if she was some sort of animal ready to attack her prey.

"Hello, my name is Ashley, and I will be serving you today. Can I get you anything to drink?" She asked mainly Brent.

"I'll have coffee, please." He gave her a friendly smile and she looked like she died a little inside.

"Of course, and you?" She asked me in a less pleasant tone.

"Tea, please." She scurried off to get our drinks and it was just Brent and I again.

Brent was the first to initiate conversation.

"So, what brings you to Chicago?" Brent asked me.

"Well, it's been a stressful month for me, and I just needed to leave for a bit, get away, you know? I had to leave everything that's been causing me...well, issues...behind and just...move on." I somewhat lied to him.

"Issues, hm? Like what?" He asked, obviously curious as to what baggage I may have been carrying with me. Our conversation was interrupted when Ashley came back with drinks and took our orders. I got my favorite breakfast, pecan pancakes with fresh fruit, and Brent ordered eggs, toast, fruit, pancakes, sausage and bacon. Typical meal for a hockey player. After Ashley left, Brent and I continued our conversation.

"Well, I was living in Philadelphia, with a white picket fence life. I caught my boyfriend cheating on me, and well, my life has been upside down ever since. Everything I once found comfort in, well, it's no walk in the park any more, if you know what I mean. My job, friends, car, hus-boyfriend, I left it all behind, and I don't plan on going back." I confessed to Brent. Well, some what. I gave him the jist. Honestly, I didn't want to tell any more people about my failing marriage, and I had planned on keeping it a secret. Even when using the word boyfriend, I felt like I was sharing too much.

"I'm really sorry to hear about that, Natalie. A pretty girl like you doesn't deserve that kind of treatment. If I was your boyfriend, I would have never done that." Brent's words caused me to blush slightly.

"Thanks, Brent. That means a lot. It's hard moving on, everything reminds me of him. I can forget for a bit, but my thoughts always drag back to him." I sighed. Brent seemed to notice I didn't like talking about my relationship status, so he only nodded.

"What about you?" I asked, curious as to find out if I ruined a relationship from a careless night of drinking, the exact same way mine was ruined.

"What about me?" Brent asked, clearly not understanding my nonchalant question.

"You know what I mean, do you have a girlfriend?" I painted the picture clearly for him this time.

"Oh, no. It's hard to find real women nowadays," he slightly chuckled. "most girls around here can't handle the fact I'm on the road all the time." He sighed slightly.

"I understand. Trust has to be very big in a relationship, especially that of a professional hockey player." I understood very well. Back in the day, I spent a lot of time worrying about Dan, hoping he was on his best behavior. Unfortunately, things didn't go so well for us. Ashley came with our food, and I was grateful, especially considering the last time I ate was last night, and that was before I threw up.

"So, how do you know Tori?" Brent asked me, changing the subject, knowing neither of us wanted to discuss our sad love lives. I stabbed a strawberry with my fork and popped it into my mouth before responding.

"Well, she and I were roommates in college. She and I have so much in common. Ever since, we've been practically glued at the hip. I don't know what I'd ever do without her, to be honest." The thought of loosing Tori might even be worse than loosing Dan.

"Yeah, Patrick is crazy about her, he just refuses to admit it. He talks about her a lot. He talks about you too. I can see why though." He smirked, and I only blushed again.

"I have a feeling Tori is too, she's the same way, never admitting it to anyone. Ever since she and Kris broke off their engagement, she's always been so unsure of boys. Afraid to love, you know? It's been years since they broke up, but I feel like there's still something inside her that isn't truly over Kris, and it's holding her back from loving someone with everything she has. I mean, I guess I could understand where she's coming from, Kaner isn't exactly the poster child for being a responsible boyfriend." I have always felt this way, but I was always afraid to tell anyone that. Brent seemed to understand, though.

"I do see where you are coming from. Why is this the first time we met? Your brother and I were teammates for quite some time, and on top of that you're friends with Tori and Kaner." Brent asked me. My heart sunk a bit.

"Well...It's complicated. There were a lot of things that got in the way. I was really held up in school, and Kris and I had a falling out at the beginning of his NHL career." There was something about this man, I felt like anything would be kept a secret with him.

My response was only partly true however. When you have a husband, a job, an entire life on a different part of the country, it's hard to just drop everything and visit for a bit. I think the worst position I had ever been put in was the Stanley Cup Finals. Having your brother and husband competing against each other was not easy. I wanted to support my husband as he dealt with the loss, but I wanted to be alongside my brother, helping him hoist the cup. Tori was in the same position as me, having been engaged to Kris at the time. Fortunately, both men understood our dilemma, and were flexible so we could support both of them.

"Falling out? How so? I do recall Kris not talking about you that much at one point, and whenever he did, it was either really nasty things, or him saying how much he missed you."

"Well, we never really saw eye-to-eye on things at one point. It was weird for both of us. We were the kind of siblings that rarely fought and we shared friends in high school. He was, and still is, my best friend. I think the source of it all was the distance. He was in Chicago, and I was in Philly. We were so far away and I guess neither of us were prepared for it. We started arguing about everything, and one day, we just stopped talking all together." I confessed to Brent. I felt safe to share my life with him, I felt like I could trust him, and telling him how I felt about a lot of things took a lot of weight off my shoulders, weight I had been carrying for years.

"Not talking to Kris at the time really sucked. It had been going on well before Tori and I became friends. Tori promised me she would end the fighting, and I never believed her, but she did. One day, while I was sleeping, she got Kris's number from my phone, and called him. He was confused." I continued.

"How did it get settled then?" He asked me, obviously interested for the information that was never given to him by his teammate.

"Well, she arranged a meet up one time while you guys were in town for a game. I thought I was meeting Tori for coffee, but when I got there, Tori was no where in sight. Kris, on the other hand, was. At first, I didn't want to talk, but eventually he got me to open up to him and after a while, we settled things. I was really happy for it too, because I missed him. I think one of the main reasons it dragged on so long was because I am as stubborn as a mule. I have never been the person to admit they're wrong, let alone give an apology. In my eyes, even if I'm wrong, I'm still right. It's a bad habit I really need to get over." It felt weird saying that out loud. Brent only nodded, and sipped his coffee.

"I'm glad things worked out for you." He smiled. I smiled too.

"Me too." We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, when Ashley appeared with our check. Our conversation felt like 5 minutes, but when I looked at the time, it had already been an hour. Brent chuckled when he saw the bill. Shooting him a confused glance, he simply handed the receipt over, and I looked at the source of his laughter. The receipt was obviously an attempt to win the love of the hockey player I just shared a meal with. Near the bottom of the receipt she left a special note, just for Brent. The note read: "Hope you enjoyed your breakfast, don't be afraid to call me cutie! xx, Ashleigh " Complete with a sticky lip gloss kiss on the paper and her number.

"You might want to hold on to that." I teased him. Brent chuckled and pulled out his wallet. I did the same, only to have my wallet shoo-ed away. As I stood up to leave, Brent put him arm around my waist, and walked me to the door, holding it open for me. Ashleigh looked green with envy. It made me laugh slightly.

Brent and I spent the rest of the day together. I got to know a lot about him, his family, friends back at home, and everything in between. There was not even one pause where we were left with silence, unsure of what to say. We could talk about anything and everything.

My favorite part of the night was the most simple. Brent and I picked up Portillo's and he took me to a favorite place of his, a hill overlooking the Chicago skyline. We lay there for a long time, watching the sunset and sharing embarrassing stories of our high school years.

"And I slipped and fell right on my ass! In front of my biggest crush, and a bunch of cute seniors! I was wearing white shorts too!" I laughed as I shared the story of my first day of high school, slipping and falling in a puddle not even before second period.

"Are you serious?! That's so embarrassing!" He laughed at me. Gosh, did he have a cute laugh.

"Dead serious. There were puddles everywhere. The senior class decided to celebrate their first day of school by throwing water balloons all over the school. I was lucky enough to slip and fall. All the seniors got a real kick out of it. They all pointed and laughed at me, calling me Puddles. Sadly for me, the nickname stuck, and by the time I graduated, people who didn't know the back story called me it too. Even Kris sometimes." I hated the nickname with a burning passion.

"Haha, Puddles, eh? I think it's kinda cute." Brent said, still laughing.

"Shut up, it's not funny!" Even though I hated it, I was still laughing. After the laughter died down, he and I just sat there, taking in the city. I was freezing, and Brent seemed to notice. Taking off his sweatshirt, he gave it to me, and I gratefully put it on. Now lying on our backs, I curled into him and he put his arm around me. I inhaled deeply, taking the scent of his cologne.

"The city is just so beautiful at night." I mused.

"Not as beautiful as you are though." He winked to me, and I blushed for the millionth time that day. I started laughing and sat up.

"You are such a loser!" I cried through my laughter, punching him in the arm.

"Don't blame me for being honest!" He whined, before pulling me back down to continue our cuddle session. I'm not even sure how much time passed after that, but before I knew it, I was fast asleep, in Brent's arms.

Feeling a gentle nudge on my arm, I let my eyelids to flutter open, to reveal a gorgeous man staring at me.

"It's almost midnight, Natalie, I should get you home before Tori starts to worry." Cute and responsible.

"Okay," I reluctantly replied, never wanting the night to end.

Getting back into his car, I enjoyed a quiet car ride home. We sat in comfortable silence, listening to whatever the radio felt like playing. A few moments later, we arrived at Tori's apartment.

"Well, thanks for everything Brent. I had a great time with you today." I smiled, before unbuckling myself free.

"You think I'm going to let you go up to your apartment all alone?! I can't let anything happen to you! May I escort you to your apartment, Miss Versteeg?" Brent politely, yet jokingly asked me.

"Why of course, you may Mr. Seabrook." I smirked.

Brent sprung out of his car, and ran to my side of the car to open the door for me. Holding a hand out, I gladly accepted. I felt an electric shock pulse through my body immediately. We held hands all the way up to the apartment. Standing outside the doorway, Brent and I stood there, unsure of what to do.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later.." I somewhat stalled, before turning away.

"Natalie, wait-" Brent grabbed my arm and pulled me into him. The space between us became smaller and smaller until we were lip-to-lip, sharing one of the most magnificent kisses of my life. After quite some time, we both pulled away for air. Letting out a small giggle, I looked at the ground.

"I want to see you again, Natalie." Brent told me.

"I want to see you again, too." I admitted. He and I exchanged phone numbers before we shared one last embrace.

"Get some sleep, Natalie." Brent smiled to me, before kissing my forehead.

"Goodnight." I smiled back to him, before going inside.

Walking inside, I found Tori sitting on the couch reading a magazine.

"Where were you? You didn't answer your phone all day! I was worried sick!" Tori scolded me.

"I'll explain it to you tomorrow, mother. This is the best day I've had in months, and I don't want anything ruining it for me. Besides, you have some explaining yourself, eh? Miss I'm-Going-To-Lead-On-Both-Kaner-And-Tazer." I teased Tori, and she blushed in return.

"Deal. But tell me, Natalie, were you with a boy?" Tori questioned me.

"Maybe." I winked, before closing my bedroom door. Glancing at my phone, I saw I had a text message from Brent, along with dozens from Tori.

I rolled my eyes before composing a response.



For the first time in a month, I was truly happy.