Serendipity

A somber air encompassed The United Center on a late April morning as the doors closed on the 2011-12 season prematurely for the Chicago Blackhawks. The team’s quarterfinal series fall to the Phoenix Coyotes had extinguished the team’s hopes of making return trip to the ‘Promised Land’ for the second time within three years. But the team did not have the magic that it had when they had won the Stanley Cup back in 2010. There had been something missing this year and the last that had prevented the team from becoming champions once more. But on this day there was no magic left in the wizard’s hat as the players and personal awaited a much-needed vacation after rather difficult season. After today, the offseason would officially be ushered in.

Haley Redding, the team’s Public Relations Coordinator had found that with every season that ended it became harder for her to see it leave. She was one of the few employees for the Blackhawks, who wouldn’t be leaving Chicago. She had made the city her home when she had dedicated herself to her job and her lifestyle complied accordingly. It had rewarded her greatly and had provided her with a new freedom she hadn’t known before.

After arriving at The United Center that morning, Haley’s feet were unconsciously guided her down the concrete corridors towards the team’s dressing room. The journey had been hardwired into her nervous system and she could probably find her way there in her sleep.

Despite her downcast look the petite, redhead with ivory skin held an air of confidence and determination about her even as her heart grew heavier with each step that brought her closer towards the group of guys she had worked with all season. Unshed tear stung and threatened spill over whenever she thought of having to say goodbye to all of them after the media sessions today. But she had to be strong in front of them. They didn’t need her tears. They were already pretty glum about how soon their season had ended and she didn’t want to make it worse for them. After all, they weren’t just her coworkers or people she worked for; they were like brothers to her and she had done and would do anything for them. If that meant holding herself together to get through this last day with them for the season, she would do just that.

Once she was standing in front of the double doors that led into the dressing room Haley paused to allow herself a moment out of not only ritual, but reflection. She probably couldn’t count off the top of her head how many times she had stood in that exact stop before she would direct the team’s post game interviews. It wasn’t merely a formality for her. She knew that she had put a whole lot of blood, sweat, and tears to stand where she now stands and to have the job she currently has. She had paid her dues and earned her position in the organization and she wouldn’t trade it for the world.

After standing there for a few minutes, she was finally able to gather herself up enough to enter the room and face her team for the last time until training camps started in August. Her hazel eyes wondered around the room as she, silently, watched the guys begin to pack up all their smelly hockey gear as a team. It was a display of team unity that the Blackhawks had strived for all season when there had been so many guys out with injuries. Haley would know because she had been with the team as they had gone through a roller coaster of many highs and lows over the past season. She had been there to watch them grow together as a team and grow stronger because of the adversity that they had faced. She hoped that their experiences this season would aid them during the next and that she would be there to witness it once more.

There were few guys who would be able to make her cry on a day like today and Patrick Sharp was certainly one of them. He was like an older brother to Haley and she considered him to be one of her best friends. When he saw her enter the dressing room, he had immediately stopped what he had been doing and went over to give her a parting hug. Being so close to her, Patrick could see that Haley desperately needed this offseason more than anymore who was apart of the organization. She had worked herself to the point of exhaustion and beyond this season, maybe not to the extent that she had when the team had won the Stanley Cup. That season, Haley had earned her stripes as the team’s Public Relations Coordinator. But as this season had progressed, Patrick could see the life being sucked out of her like her job was a vampire extracting blood from its victim. He hoped that some rest and relaxation would bring the old Haley back in time for next season because they sure as hell would need her then.

“Sharpie.” Haley’s voice was almost barely able to whisper as she stepped out Patrick’s embrace. The lump in her throat that had been steadily growing since she had woken up this morning had, suddenly, grown three times larger just seeing Patrick. She couldn’t bring herself to say, ‘goodbye’ to him and she knew that they would never say, ‘goodbye.’ That word didn’t exist their friendship because they knew that they would always see each other again at some point.

The older man smiled down at her and clasped his large hand on her tiny shoulder in a comforting manner, before imparting some words of wisdom upon her, “Hal, it’s alright. We’ve been here before. Sure, it hurts like hell but it beats making the Finals and not being able to win the cup.”

This was difficult for Haley to accept but she knew that Patrick’s words were true. It would be much worse to have the Cup plucked from their grasp than for them to lose now. Especially, after having won it before. It would be so much harder for them to watch another team celebrating their victory from the benches than to watch it from their couches. In fact, losing so soon would probably have a morphine-like numbing effect on the guys as they watched someone else lifting the Cup in a few short weeks.

“You’ll come visit Abby, Maddy, and I over the summer. Right, Hal?” Sharpie inquired with a hopeful smile while he watched Haley mull over his previous statement. Nodding, Haley couldn’t help but smile at the prospect of spending some time with Patrick and his young family over the summer in Thunder Bay. It would make up for the lack of time she would not be spending with her own family besides her younger brother and her grand parents. Not that she was really guilty about not spending time with them, they had mad their own decisions and she wasn’t going to let that ruin her summer.

“Do you think I would be crazy to miss out on your mother’s cooking?” Haley gapped at him in shock as she threw her hands in the air for dramatic effect, “Honestly, Sharpie, I thought you knew me better than that. Besides, Abby and I will need girl time for sure this summer.”

Patrick’s wife, Abby had become one of Haley’s good friends even if they hadn’t gotten along at first. Abby had thought that Haley was trying to steal Patrick from her when he had first introduced the two girls. But after getting to know Haley better, Abby could see that Haley and Patrick’s relationship was purely platonic. Haley was grateful to have someone she could actually watch hockey with all while cursing and yelling when refs made calls that weren’t what she thought they should be. They had grown even closer during the Stanley Cup run because Haley had kept Abby up to date on what and how her then fiancé was doing and because of her efforts she had been asked to be Patrick and Abby’s new daughter’s godmother. At first, Haley had wondered if Patrick had talked his wife into the decision but it had been Abby who wanted Haley to be Madelyn’s godmother.

“Girl time?” Patrick inquired with an arched eyebrow, pulling Haley out of her thoughts, “Don’t you two get plenty of girl time during the season?”

Haley scoffed at this but she could tell that he was only teasing her. So she decided to play along with his little game, “If I didn’t spend time with your wife, she would go insane because of yours and Kaner’s antics.”

Patrick almost looked offended by Haley’s accusation but everyone, even Patrick knew what she said was the truth. But that didn’t stop him from asking her, “How bad could Kaner and I possibly be?”

As soon as the words had left Patrick’s mouth, a flash of blond hair almost collided with the conversing pair causing both Patrick and Haley to laugh, hysterically as their cohort nearly falling to the floor when they sidestepped him. Shaking their heads, they both knew that they couldn’t even begin to fathom just what was going on in the head of the 24 year-old forward. Only the good Lord Almighty could possibly know just what was going on in the head of PKane and if he did, Kaner had probably been sentenced to an eternity in purgatory for some of the thoughts he has.

“Are you two planning on hangin’ out this summer?” The young man asked, excitedly now almost bouncing around like the energizer bunny had lighted him up.

Haley arched an eyebrow at Kaner in slight wonder, clearly surprised that he had been able to hear her conversation with Patrick from the other side of the dressing room. The little hellion had the acute hearing of a dog and twice the personality to boot. His charisma both off and on the ice was certainly something to behold. She just hoped that he didn’t end up in the hospital for trying to pursue the wrong guy’s girl.

“And if we are?” Patrick dared his fellow Blackhawk.

“Then I better be invited!” The other Patrick informed him, puffing up his chest as if he were preparing for some manly challenge.

Haley could only roll her eyes at the pair, who seemed so eager to start something on the last day of the season. But they were always acting like two roosters showing off in front of a bunch of hens and they were almost always trying to beat each other at something in order to show off in front of the team. She knew they were only playing around to make the mood a little lighter around the dressing room and most guys had grown accustomed to their playful banter by simply choosing to ignore them but if they got out of hand a few of them would attempt to be the shit out of them for being so annoying.

So Haley brought it upon herself to break the mischievous pair of Patricks, “Kaner, we would invite you but this is going to be a little more PG than what you’d be interested in. Besides, we have plans to go out with Madison and Allie tonight.”

Kaner’s face instantly lit up when Haley reminded him of their plans to have one last night on the town before everyone would be headed home for the summer. Haley, her two roommates: Madison and Allie, and Kaner regularly went to clubs and parties together. He wouldn’t admit it to Haley, but he felt like such a pimp whenever he went out with them because all three of the girls were extremely beautiful and any guy would die to be with them. But even if he did feel like that, he would do anything for those three. They were his friends after all. Well, Haley was certainly his friend and her friends became his friends subsequently. He didn’t mind that of course, he was Patrick Timothy Kane the 2nd after all and he loved having women around him, even if those women were much more like his wingmen than anything else.

“Right on.” He, eventually agreed with a wide grin, “Where to?”

Haley shrugged, she hadn’t thought that far ahead and didn’t really care. She figured she’d let Patrick, Madison, and Allie decide and just go long for the ride tonight. It was their Get Away Night so they had the right to choose where they would spend their last night in Chi-Town until fall rolled around and hockey started up again. Haley would be staying in the city except to visit a few of her friends from college, her younger brother and her beloved grandparents.

An awkward cough suddenly broke Haley’s train of thought and broke up the conversation Sharpie and Kaner had started up about their summer plans. Turning, Haley felt a wave of bitterness crash upon her current emotional high thanks to no one other than the team’s captain, Jonathan Toews. There were so many things left unsaid between both of them along with so many words that shouldn’t have been said. It had made working with the other extremely difficult because of how complicated everything had been and still was between them. If anything, whenever Haley and Jonathan were near each other it was like an elephant entered the room and everyone was waiting for their next blow up to happen. Luckily, this time there was no fight to be fought or argument to be argued.

“Yes, Captain Serious?” Haley quipped, trying to maintain air of professionalism when the man before had almost taken that away from her.

His attempt to be indifferent was rather pathetic as she saw the pained expression on his face when he shared with her, “Some of the guys wanted to know when the media sessions were supposed to start so they could start heading home.”

Immediately, Haley’s eyes went wide. She had almost forgotten why everyone was here and she had almost forgotten the most important part of her job with the organization: Media Relations. But her brief moment of feeling utterly stupid wore off as she glanced down at her watch in order to find out how late she had made them. Luckily for her, Jonathan had been on time for once.

“Well, Tazer, I must say your timing is impeccable because you have exactly five minutes to prepared yourself before the press begin to show up.” She informed him, her tone blatantly fake and sweet before she turned away from him on her heel and marched to the center of the dressing room to announce,

“Alright, everyone! FIVE minutes ‘til the last press sessions of the season start!”

Anybody, who had been previously been goofing around suddenly became serious after Haley’s announcement. It wasn’t every day she had to use such an authoritative tone in the locker room, but it was her job to boss people around when it came to things of this nature. Especially, when her boss would be watching how she handled every little event or problem that happened today. She had been on his bad side for some reason after the All Star Break and she hadn’t been able to figure out why. For some reason, she felt like she needed to excel at whatever task asked of her in order to keep her job. But thankfully, she wouldn’t have to deal with the man for another three months after today and she couldn’t wait for it to start.