Believe in Me

“You’re really going to throw a party tonight? After we got our ass kicked by Anaheim?”

“Relax, Tazer. It’s not a party. It’s more of a Meet & Greet, with the new Ice Girl.” Patrick told his teammate. Jonathan was in a bad mood after the game. Although he scored a goal and had 2 assists, he still felt that he didn’t do well enough. The Blackhawks ended up losing 5-3, and it took a toll on Jonathan. The last thing he needed was some of his teammates to go out partying after a loss. Patrick was bummed about it too, but he didn’t let it ruin his plans.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Kaner.” Andrew Shaw told him as he walked toward the two. Patrick shook his head, disagreeing with Andrew. “Come over tonight, then. Just watch, man. It’s gonna work.” Patrick said as he gathered his things. “You don’t know anything about this girl. What are you gonna do if she’s dating someone?” Jonathan asked, trying to make Patrick think twice about his plan.

“Like that’s ever stopped me?” He laughed. “Are you coming over then?” He asked, turning to Andrew. Andrew shrugged, “I guess. I’m leaving right now.” He said, grabbing his bag and heading out of the locker room. Jonathan got up and left, without saying one word to any of the team. Patrick shook his head. Tazer’s overreacting, he thought. Following other teammates, Patrick grabbed his things and headed out of the locker room.

He headed down the hall, searching for the Ice Girls. He reached their locker room, but didn’t go in. He didn’t want to walk in, in case they were naked or something. Although he wouldn’t mind that, he held back and waited. Moments passed, and one girl finally walked out. Patrick couldn’t recall her name, but he remembered her from a party or something.

“Hey!” He told the girl as she came out of the room. She jumped, unaware that he was standing there. “Hey, Kaner.” She smiled. “Kinda creepy of you to be standing there, by our locker room.” She told him. He chuckled. “I’m having a little party at my condo, a welcome party, for the new girl. Go back in and tell some of the girls for me, would ya?” He asked. The girl sighed and sat her bag down. “That’s sweet, but I’m not sure Lilly’s much of a partier. She seems shy, so don’t be surprised if she isn’t up for it.” She looked at him once, and then entered the room. Patrick smiled to himself.

“Lilly.”
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“Come on, Lilly! He’s throwing a party for you! Isn’t that sweet?” Jade shrieked at me. I didn’t feel like partying tonight, especially at some guys house who I don’t know. I sighed, thinking it over. “Fine. I’ll go. Only for a little bit!” I told Jade. She smiled and cheered. Since I don’t have a car, I rode with Jade back to my place. She walked into my apartment and headed straight to my closet.

“You’ve gotta look hot. This party is for you, after all.” She told me, rummaging through my closet. I shook my head; I can’t believe this is happening. She walked out of my closet and grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Jade came back in, and cut open a box labeled “Dresses”. Great, I didn’t think she’d notice.

“Try this on.” She told me, throwing me a little black dress. I remember I wore it to Supperclub in LA with my best girlfriends. I tried it on, checking myself out in the mirror. It didn’t look bad at all, it actually complimented me really well, but I felt kind of slutty in it. It was all black, with lace cutouts down the sides. I walked out to show Jade; spinning in a circle, showing it off. “Perfect! You seriously look hot. If I was a guy, I’d-“

“Okay!” I laughed. This girl was crazy, but somehow she seemed to be my closest friend here. I barely saw Rachel at the game, so I hoped she would be at the party. Jade went through my shoe box and threw me some red Pumps.

“What are you going to wear? You can borrow one of my dresses.” I offered to Jade. She smiled, but shook her head. “No thanks, your dresses are super cute, but I already brought one in my car. I figured the girls would be doing something after the game so I came prepared.” She winked. I walked into the bathroom and put my hair up in a sock bun. I fixed my makeup, and then the two of us headed out, making our way to the party.

“We’re here!” Jade shrieked, pulling into a parking garage of a building which looked like a plaza hotel. “He lives here!?” I asked in awe. I knew I shouldn’t be surprised; he’s a professional hockey player after all, but even the outside of this place looked amazing. We got out of her car and walked into the lobby of the complex.

“Ahhh you guys are here!!” We heard from behind. I turned around to find Rachel pacing toward us. I smiled, reaching in for a hug. “You’re gonna have so much fun, Lilly. It’ll be a blast!” She cheered. The 3 of us walked into an elevator, and I watched Rachel push the button labeled “Penthouse”. Go figure. I could only imagine what the Penthouse of this place looked like. The elevator stopped after what seemed like forever, and the 3 of us walked out into the hall. The Penthouse was the only room on this floor. We walked straight, heading toward the door. Before we could even knock, the door swung open. Grinning, none other than Patrick Kane stood behind the door.

“Hey, ladies, come on in.” He greeted. It was warm inside, so the 3 of us took off our coats and handed them to Patrick. He hung them inside of a closet, and then led us deeper inside the condo. I gazed around in awe. The kitchen’s probably bigger than my whole apartment. Wide eyed, I continued to scope out his place. It was actually very clean. I thought since he was a young guy living alone in this huge place, it might be a little trashed, but it wasn’t. At all. He probably has a housekeeper. Jade and I headed to sit down on a sofa in the living room, joining other Ice Girls who’d gotten here before us. Rachel and Jade left to get us all snacks and drinks, so I sat there talking to Bree, a girl who I walked the floor with at the game.

“Can I get you something to drink?” I heard. Looking up from Bree, I saw Patrick standing in front of me, with a coy look on his face. I shook my head, “Jade’s grabbing me one, actually, but thank you for the offer.” I smiled. He sat down next to me, smiling as he did so. “You know, this party is for you.” He told me. “Welcome to Chicago.”

“Yeah, I heard. Thank you.” I chuckled. “Awfully kind of you to do when I don’t even know you.” I told him. It was true; I was stunned when I heard one of the best players on the team was throwing a party for me, of all people. I didn’t want to overthink it, but I was curious as to what his intentions were.

“It’s not a big deal. I always like to welcome new people here.” He smiled. “Come with me, I’ll show you around.” He told me, grabbing my arm and pulling me up. We walked down a hall past his teammate Andrew Shaw, who gave him a peeved look as we walked by. I wondered what that was about. Is this something normal for Patrick? I didn’t wanna look like an idiot, or some easy girl. He led me into a room that had a pool table and a few other arcade games. I looked around, glancing at the photo frames on the wall. They all seemed to be of his family or his team.

“These are my sisters.” He told me, pointing to an old photo of him and 3 girls sitting at a table, playing with dolls. “Erica, Jessica, and Jackie. This was a while ago, obviously. They made me play dolls with them.” He laughed. I chuckled too. “Never expected someone like you to play dolls.” I joked. “Oh, I played House, too. I was the Dad, Erica was the mom. In return, I made them play hockey with me; so it was even.” He laughed, shaking his head. He led me to the other side of the wall, and I walked around, taking a look at all the jerseys that were in frames on his wall.

“So, what brought you to Chicago?” He asked me, leaving against the wall. Memories of me and Landon running around the yard of our old house and playing tetherball in the backyard flooded my mind. The good memories came and went, and I soon thought of the night everything changed.

“Lilly?” I heard. I realized I’d just zoned out, how embarrassing. “Sorry, my mind went blank. What’d you say?” I asked. He probably thought I was some weirdo now. Instead, he smiled. “I asked why you came to Chicago.”

“Oh, right. I- I don’t really know, actually. I lived here until I was 6, but things changed and we moved to LA.” I told him, he licked his lips, understanding what I’d just told him. I could tell that he wanted to know more, but I wasn’t about to give in. I wasn’t willing to talk about what happened with some guy I barely met, even if he was a professional hockey player. Hell, I’ve never talked to ANYONE about the accident. Not even my family, or my best friend Taylor, whom I’ve known since I moved to LA.

“Well, I hope you enjoy it here. C’mon, I’ll show you more.” He told me, leading me out of the room and into another. “This is the guest room, not anything special. My sisters stay here when they visit. You can stay here too, if you’d like.” He said. “Or you can stay in here.” He told me, leading me into what was clearly the Master bedroom.

“No thanks.” I began. “I have my own place.” I walked out of the room and back into the hallway. I knew this was too good to be true. Here I was, making conversation and becoming what I thought would be friends with Patrick Kane. Turns out he just wants to fuck me.

“Lilly! Wait! I didn’t mean it like that.” He called. I stopped in my tracks, turning to him with a hostile look on my face. “Why did you invite me here, Patrick? Is this all some sort of plan? Did you set me up?” I asked, growing angrier by the minute. He sighed, looking down at the floor. “I really didn’t mean it like that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure seemed like it.” He walked toward me, reaching for my hand. I pulled back and he sighed.

“Come with me. I wanna show you one more thing.” He told me, and led me up some stairs and outside. I looked around in awe, this view was perfect. You could see everything from here. The way the city lights sparkled around the building seemed more like a photo than real life.

“You like it?” He asked, standing next to me. “I come up here when I have a bad day, or play a bad game. It calms you, huh?” He asked. I nodded. “Whenever I’m feeling down, all I have to do is walk up those stairs, and I feel like I’m in another world.” He chuckled. “Now I wouldn’t mind staying up HERE.” I joked. He laughed. “Alright, it’s all yours. I’ll even buy you a little tent or something. Maybe a mini fridge?” He asked sarcastically.

We stood up there for minutes, watching the night sky. I was scared to look down, because, well, this building’s huge and the drop would not be fun. I began to shiver, so the two of us headed back inside.I used the restroom while Patrick waited outside, and I could hear him talking to someone.

“Where have you been, dude? You got in her pants yet?” I heard a guy ask. I swung the door open and bolted out of the bathroom. “I knew it.” I told Patrick as I walked by. He ran down the hall, following my lead. “Don’t listen to that guy. C’mon. We’re friends, aren’t we? I did all of this to welcome you… I don’t want us to not get along. You’re part of the family now.” He pleaded.

Andrew Shaw walked behind him, “Hey Kaner, seems like your fuck-and-dump plan didn’t turn out so well.” He laughed, and then walked away. My face felt red with hatred. I knew it, I just knew it. Patrick had his hands to his face, shaking his head. I walked into the closet by the front door, and grabbed my things. I put on my coat and headed to the front door. Patrick followed me, not saying a word. I looked back, and he looked at me with a face of guilt.

“You’re disgusting.” I told him, and then walked out.
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I walked outside of the complex, looking for a cab. Minutes passed and none drove by, so I decided to walk a block or two to find one. I was happy to walk; I needed air after dealing with that. Patrick seemed just so nice. I was starting to really get along with him, and I’d even hoped to be friends with him. After hearing that stupid conversation between him and his teammate, I was hopeless. I wanted nothing to do with Patrick. I wanted nothing to do with the Blackhawks either.

I walked past a diner, walking toward a parked taxi cab. A man got out of the backseat, and held the door open for me. He looked at me once, and then hurried away after I gasped. That face. That face was the same face than ruined everything 16 years ago.