The Sake of the Show

It was Monday, and while Blair felt strange after the eventful weekend she’d had with Patrick’s party and his departure, it was back to work for her. Waking up had been a struggle; even after a refreshing shower she still wasn’t sure how she managed to put on her matching scrubs with the appropriate tennis shoes. She surveyed her reflection briefly, reassuring herself that she applied eyeshadow to both eyes before she left her room.

Once she stepped into the hallway, she heard her television emitting noise from the living room. A chill ran up her spine. Blair hardly watched television, and she sure as hell hadn’t watched it last night. After Corey had dropped her off, she’d curled up with one of her favorite novels until it was time for her to sleep.

She edged slowly toward the living room as her heart crawled up into her throat. She clutched her phone in her hand, dreading that she had absolutely nothing in her apartment that could serve as a weapon. Whatever was in her house, she was virtually defenseless. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest as a cool sweat coated her palms. She rounded the corner and-

“Good morning!” Andrew Shaw greeted her exuberantly. Blair let out an ear-splitting scream, stumbling into the wall and clutching onto it for support. “What the hell, Blair! I’m not that scary looking!”

“Oh my god,” Blair wheezed, her throat now raw and scratchy from her yells. She hoped and prayed that none of her neighbors heard and decided to call the police. She stood against the wall still, a small hand over her heart as it ricocheted against her ribcage painfully. Andrew continued to stare at her as if it were perfectly normal that he were here, and Blair was the insane one for reacting so dramatically.

“Where’s your boyfriend at, you freak?” He asked, nonchalantly grabbing the television remote and surfing the channels once more. She openly gaped at his casual stance, as he balanced a bowl of her cereal on his lap.

Boyfriend, right. Blair had almost forgotten due to the early hour. “What the fuck are you doing in my house? How did you even get in? How many hockey pucks have you taken to the head? Do you not realize it’s-”

Andrew stared at her for a moment. “First, I was bored. I got up early for a run and ended up here. Two, I got in because Patrick gave me his key to hang onto while he’s in Switzerland. And uh... I don’t remember the last question.”

“Doesn’t surprise me.” Blair snapped, her heart now a sore organ as it began to slow down a little. She edged further into the living room, although her legs were still shaky like a gelatin from the adrenaline. He eyeballed her as he fed himself a spoonful of Cheerios, a little milk dribbling down his chin as he ate messily. “My boyfriend is not here, by the way.”

“Where is he then?”


“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe his house?” Blair hissed. She weaved her arms into a fold over her chest. “So you literally came here because you’re bored?”

“That, and I’m supposed to be sending Patrick reports on you and Crow’s relationship.”

“So basically, you’re supposed to be stalking me since Patrick isn’t here. I understand now.” Blair clucked her tongue, deciding to leave the younger hockey player to drool as she inhaled deeply and called upon the great forces of the Earth to keep her from striking him. She moved into the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast, opting for a full glass of chocolate milk and a granola bar to tide her over until lunchtime.

When she hoisted her bag over her shoulder, Andrew was still sitting on the couch with a now empty cereal bowl in his hands. When he didn’t take the hint that Blair wanted him to leave when she did, she huffed loudly and slammed the door behind her to make a point.

Things at the office went smoothly during the first half of Blair’s day. She was training the new office girl, Jessie, who would be working beneath her simply converting all of their paper charts into the electronic system. The girl was fairly nice and Blair found herself falling into easy conversation with her as they passed the time with idle chit chat. She was about to ask the girl if she wanted to go to lunch with her when the song of wind chimes signaled the door swinging open.

Jessie’s eyes widened a little as she glanced at the intruder. Blair looked up from her stack of papers and felt her heart stutter in her chest as Corey stepped into view. He wore a simple hoodie and a pair of jeans, with a Blackhawks beanie jammed onto his head. He grinned at her as he approached her desk, plopping his elbows on the surface and leaning across it to get a good look at her.

“Ready for lunch?” He chirped as he drummed his fingers against the countertops. Jessie was discreetly giving Blair “the look” which one female typically gave another when she wanted to communicate silently about an attractive guy. Blair effectively ignored this as she glanced up at Corey, feeling the slightest of smiles tug at her tired lips.

“Sure, let me just grab my bag.” She sprung up from her seat, finally glancing at Jessie and giving her a “don’t-you-say-a-word” expression before she grabbed her purse and joined Corey on the opposite side of the counter. “I’ll be back in about an hour, alright?”

“Oh please,” Jessie scoffed, her eyes sparkling mischievously as she grinned at the pair. “Take your time, I won’t be waiting for you darling.”

Blair narrowed her eyes playfully before she pushed on Corey lightly to get him moving. He chuckled heartily as he stumbled toward the door, grasping the handle and holding it open for her to pass through first. Once they were outside in the cool Chicago breeze, Corey spoke up.

“So Shawzy told me he gave you quite the scare this morning.” Corey laughed as he glanced at her face, which had screwed up in distaste. “Looks like I’m going to have to protect you from him now that Kaner isn’t here.”

“I think you need to protect me from all of your teammates, honestly. My bruise from Viktor is turning even prettier colors now. It's beginning to look more and more like a Picasso piece.” Blair complained as they walked down the busy sidewalk. They were headed toward her usual hole-in-the-wall eatery, which she had conveniently found and become acquainted with during her length of employment at the dentist office. The hostess immediately recognized her when she walked in, however confused she looked at the fact that it was Corey standing beside Blair and not the usual Patrick Kane.

Corey had fidgeted all throughout lunch as he and Blair made light conversation. There was something incredibly intimate and comfortable about sitting in the dimly lit restaurant toward the back, secluded from many of the watchful eyes as he sat there and watched her pick at her patty melt. Being around Blair without his teammates meant “just friends”, which had become increasingly difficult for him over the short span. It pained him how nonchalant she was about the whole ordeal.

When the tab came she fought him for the bill, but just like every other time Corey won and threw a few bills on the table. Halfway through their walk back, Patrick had called and Blair excitedly squabbled away on the phone to him as if he weren’t even there.

The topping on Monday’s crappy sundae for Corey was when he dropped Blair off, and heard her new trainee whisper excitedly, “Is that your boyfriend, Blair? He’s so cute!”

Blair’s resounding response echoed through his mind the entire drive home. She hadn’t skipped a beat when she replied, “No, we’re just friends.”

Corey was the master of coming up with the worst plans. He had given himself false hope.



“So how did you and Blair happen, dude? For a minute there, I thought Adam was going to steal your chance.” Patrick bounced his little baby Madelyn on his lap, eyeing the kitchen area where his wife was preparing the baby's food for the night. They were waiting for Blair to arrive; Patrick and Abby were having a date night and they’d dubbed Blair and Corey the worthy babysitters. It wasn’t like they had much to pick from, now that the younger guys were in Rockford playing for the IceHogs and most of the older players were off playing in foreign leagues.

“I dunno,” Corey shrugged, feeling a bit testy on the Blair subject. He understood that his anger was a bit uncalled for because he brought it on himself, but he was still angry nonetheless. “Maybe I was just fueled by the thought of Adam ever sticking his filthy hands on her. You know I’ve liked her for the longest time.”

“That’s an understatement. I was pretty sure you were going to die an old man without confessing your love for her.” Patrick teased him. "It was starting to scare me."

“Can we just drop it?” Corey snapped quickly, a bit harsher than he intended it. Patrick raised an eyebrow at him. “Sorry. Everyone’s just getting involved lately and it’s irritating.”

“What’s getting irritating, Corey-Bear?” Blair pranced into the room lightly on her feet, swooping down and pressing a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth. He bit his tongue to refrain from emitting a noise of surprise at her forward show of affection. He wasn’t too sure why he was so taken aback; Blair was a very affectionate person and they were to be convincing their friends…

“You two are so cute!” Abby gushed as she scooped up Madelyn and thrust her into the British woman’s grasp. Blair immediately let out a squeal, taking the Sharp baby into her arms and cooing at her. Madelyn babbled at her lovingly as she grabbed onto Blair’s hair and tugged on it lightly.

Blair had her moments of being a feisty woman, but when it came to little Madelyn she was a hopeless sap. In every strong man, there was a part of his heart that melted at the sight of the woman of his affections cuddling a baby. Corey certainly hoped that reincarnation was a thing, because he was sure he was about to die on that very loveseat. Blair was going to give him a damn heart attack, the little she-devil.

“Have fun.” Patrick patted his shoulder roughly as he stirred him from his thoughts. He recognized that look on Patrick’s face, as the look someone shared when they wanted to say “isn’t that beautiful” or “I know exactly how you feel”. Neither pieces of silent communication squelched his feelings as Blair stole Patrick’s spot.

“Isn’t she the cutest?” She asked as she prodded Madelyn’s cheek. What was it with women and babies? They turned into very different creatures in the presence of a small human. It was almost unsettling, Corey thought to himself.

Corey waited a few beats before he could speak. He needed to clear some air between the two of them; he needed to just talk about this whole grey area they were exploring with their stupid little game. He had been driving himself up the wall to the point that he might not be able to take it any longer. “Blair, can we talk?”

Of course, at that current moment Madelyn decided that his face was terrifying her. He felt his heart sink into the bottom of his chest as her little smile crumpled into something awful before a loud wail erupted from her chest. Corey openly glared at the little girl as Blair stood up again, on the determined mission to soothe the evil Sharp baby precious little Madelyn’s woes.

She was the child of Patrick Sharp, so Corey knew she had intentionally rained on his chances. He just knew it.