One in a Million

The Stanley Cup is a Dream!

Lying stretched out across her sister’s already made queen-sized bed still in her pajamas as said sister was getting ready in the adjoining bathroom, Lilly flipped through one of the very old teen magazines she’d found in the drawer of one of the bedside tables. “Can you at least tell me in which direction you’ll be going?” she pleaded with the older woman.

“No,” Lucy stated frankly as she was fixing her makeup in the bathroom mirror, still not fully dressed for her day yet.

“Oh, come on!” Lily groaned out loud, much to the other woman’s amusement. “I know where they live, and you can’t even tell me if that’s where you're going?”

“You know where he grew up,” Lucy corrected her. “They bought a new place last summer and as far as I know Liam hasn’t told you where that is yet,” she pointed out. She was finding it very entertaining that their brother still refused to give up his old classmate’s living location to their younger sister.

“I hate you two, always conspiring against me,” Lily sulked as she looked back into the magazine, behaving like the baby of the family that she truly was.

“We’re not conspiring against you,” Lucy rolled her eyes before slowly applying mascara to her lashes. “But like every other hockey player on his level, he wants his privacy.”

“What does he think I'm going to do?” Lily demanded to know. “Drive over there in the middle of the night and scale the fence?”

“Sharpy doesn’t think you’ll do anything,” Lucy stated seriously. “It’s Liam who doesn’t trust you and I'm just following orders. I'm not to say where the Stanley Cup is going as to not cause unwanted attention.”

“That’s bull, that thing gets attention wherever it goes,” Lily pointed out exasperatedly. “Besides, I’ve already seen the cup, twice. I drank champagne out of it when I was seventeen!”

“I know, but I’ve still been ordered to keep my mouth shut,” Lucy stated with a half smile as she stuck her head back into the room. “And I like my job, meaning I'm not telling you a thing about where thing is going to be today.”

“I could just follow you,” Lily pointed out innocently.

“I’d call the cops on you,” Lucy retorted immediately. “And I know that you do not want another arrest to hide from mom and dad.”

“You know about that?” Lily’s reaction was immediate and she practically flew off the bed and into the bathroom where her sister was standing before the sink, curling her hair slightly.

“I knew about it the second you had Taylor come bail you out,” Lucy rolled her eyes at her sister’s naivety. “Did you really think that you were going to be able to keep something like that from me?” she arched her brow questioningly.

“I was hoping to, yeah,” Lily nodded simply, taking a seat on the closed toilet seat and watching as he only sister got ready.

“You need to try harder then,” Lucy smiled secretively. “And calling a joint friend of ours, probably not a good idea,” she advised her. “Not to mention, it doesn’t hurt to get out of the province either, country even,” she added, knowing that what she was revealing would get her sister’s mind spinning.

“Wait a minute,” Lily said slowly observing the other woman closely. “You were arrested?” she exclaimed, her voice bouncing off the tiled walls. “In College or Chicago?”

“Well, obviously not in Chicago,” Lucy deadpanned. “I would have been fired on the spot.”

“North Carolina?” Lily arched her brows so high Lucy thought they might disappear into her hairline. “You got arrested in Chapel Hill? And I didn’t know about it?”

“I may or may not have gotten arrested for public indecency in Durham,” Lucy licked her lips slowly.

“You didn’t,” Lily said, the amazement in her tone almost insulting.

“We’d been playing Duke, and it was one of the senior girls’ birthday, so the whole cheer-squad was sticking around after the game instead of heading back home,” Lucy turned around and leaned back against the sink as she looked at her sister. “We managed to sweet-talk our way into one of the frat houses and we were drinking and hanging out and then someone got the brilliant idea to go somewhere else. Long story short, I along with three other girls on the squad got caught flashing out boobs beside the highway leading into town,” she smiled sheepishly. “Nothing more, nothing less.

“How come I didn’t know this?” Lily demanded.

“Cause I didn’t want you to,” Lucy replied simply before turning back around and adding some finishing touches to her hair. “I need to get dressed.”

“You can’t just drop that on me and then leave,” Lily called after her as she walked out into the bedroom and began rummaging through her closets.

“Watch me,” Lucy called back over her shoulder.

“Luce!” Lily whined as she trudged after her.

“I'm not telling you where Patrick lives, I'm not telling you where he’s taking the Cup and I'm definitely not telling you anything more about my escapades down at UNC,” Lucy stated smiling as she turned to look at her friend. “Now help me pick out something to wear.”

Rolling her blue eyes at her sister, Lily still walked over and helped her pull out items of clothes from the closet, spreading them out on the bed.

Ten minutes later Lucy was pulling on a pair of white denim Bermuda shorts that fit perfectly around her hips and her butt along with a loose fitting black top with colorful flowers on it. Fastening a long necklace with a couple of charms on it behind her neck, she dug out a pair of edged pumps from the bottom of her suitcase that was still laying on the floor at the foot of the bed, filled with shoes.

“Do you really need all those things when you're just going to interview him for a couple of minutes?” Lily asked skeptically as she saw the number of elastic folders and see-through plastic files her older sister was putting into the large beige Michael Kors tote that stood on the edge of the bed. “I mean, it’s not like you don’t know what to talk to him about.”

“It’s not just for me,” Lucy just barely refrained from rolling her eyes. “I have to meet up with Danny before the interview and there is a lot more to a ‘simple interview’ than just sitting down and talking to him,” she pointed out. “Especially when the NHL is involved.”

“Right,” Lily nodded understanding. She’d heard about that, that her very own sister who’s interviews and clips usually ended up solely on the Blackhawks website and then their page on YouTube, would be going national as the NHL wanted this summer’s BlackhawksTV videos on their site.

“Don’t be a baby and I might call you later,” Lucy smiled at her as she unplugged her phone from where it had been charging and dropped it into the bag. Grabbing her keys from the vanity she picked up her bag and pulled open the door to her room.

“As in party, later?” Lily perked up like a dog who heard the rattle of the food bowl.

“Yes,” Lucy rolled her eyes as they both walked along the upstairs corridor. “And now I really need to get going,” she said as she glanced down at the watch loosely wrapped around her wrist.

“Don’t forget to call me,” Lily called after her as the older of the two walked down the stairs and she stayed behind on the second floor, planning on going back to bed. It was way too early to be up on summer vacation.

“Yeah, yeah,” Lucy waved her hand up at her sister as she reached the ground floor and headed out the front doors.

Climbing into her car she was soon turning out on the main road and drove away from the house. Stopping by one of a handful motel in the city, she picked up one of her closest co-workers at Blackhawks TV; a cameraman named Danny, and they proceeded to grab some breakfast at the closest Tim Horton’s. It was a first for both of them, following the Cup around in this fashion, so they spent their time talking through the day that lay ahead of them.

Unlike most people in Chicago, Lucy had touched, hoisted, hugged and even kissed the Cup before this summer. She’d drank champagne from the bowl of the most coveted trophy in all of hockey as she’d dropped by the city of Pittsburgh when the Penguins had won it just a year prior, to congratulate Jordan.

She’d had a good feeling that morning and using one of the many favors people owed her, she’d managed to get into the jam-packed Joe Louis Arena for the beyond sold-out Game 6 and she’d seen firsthand when Jordan had hoisted the cup over his head. He’d quickly caught wind of the fact that she was there, not really hard to do thought, and she’d been dragged along back to Pittsburgh.

The trip hadn't been that different from how this current summer had started actually, but back then it had been fun and games. She could drink champagne from the Cup and party as hard as she wanted without anyone as much as raising a brow. Here, now, she had to work. She had to be professional and conduct an interview like she wasn’t still star-struck by the mere sight of the Stanley Cup.

And sipping her coffee, she didn’t even want to think about how Danny was currently feeling considering how much more she’d been around the trophy. They were friends, but by no means did they know everything about each other. She did however know that he was Chicago born and breed, and had been a hockey fan since he was a child. She could only assume that he was feeling just as relieved and excited as the rest of the city she’d left just a couple of days earlier.

Both of them up to speed with what was expected of them, what they needed to do during the day, what intros to make, what shots were absolutely crucial to get, they climbed back into Lucy’s Audi and headed off to the first stop of the day; The Thunder Bay Airport and the arrival of Lord Stanley’s Cup.



The first couple of hours passing in a blur of handshakes, interviews with people who were close to Patrick, kids of all ages and health’s, during which both of them had kept a respectable distance without neglecting their jobs, Lucy felt ready to go to sleep when they headed across town to what had been labels as Patrick’s favorite lunch restaurant. Also the place where she would be conducting the first part of the interview.

Walking out on the back patio together, Danny quickly excused himself to find a good location and set up, and Lucy lingered by the door, surveying the large area that was littered with people. Some she knew, some she’d never met before. The slight smile across her lips grew as her blue eyes landed on the man of the hour.

Approaching the group of three who were talking leisurely it was Abbey who spotted her first and within seconds the slim blonde had her wrapped in a tight hug.

“Liam told me you were back,” the blonde grinned widely. “I almost didn’t believe him.”

“A few days now,” Lucy nodded as they parted and was practically accosted by the same man, once boy, who truly knew how to make her tick like no other.

“See-through top?” Patrick exclaimed scandalized as he rounded the woman who was one of his oldest and closest friend’s younger sister, and the only staff member at the club’s TV-channel who’d yet managed to beat him in an on-the-road prank war. “Bra and tattoos on display?” he added in mock outrage, running his fingers over the black, see-through lace that made up the back of the top she was wearing, trailing the signs inked onto the skin on the back of her neck, along with tugging on a shoulder strap of her black bra.

“As long as Liam stays where he is I'm fine,” Lucy smiled up at the taller man. “Hi Patrick.”

“Tigger,” Patrick pulled her into another tight hug. “It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s been less than two weeks,” she reminded him before turning back to his girlfriend. “How is everything going?”

“It’s been going great,” Abbey replied smiling.

“This is my day,” Patrick butted in, patented smile plastered across his lips.

“Everything has been going amazing so far,” Abbey shoved her boyfriend in the side. “Tony has done a really great job.”

“I guess we should be asking you if it’s been a good day, right?” Patrick joked smiling. “You’ve been through this before.”

“Actually,” Lucy forced herself to remain smiling as she pushed away the thoughts that immediately appeared at his words. “This is the first time I'm seeing it in this setting,” she said, practically able to see the wheels turning in his head as she words registered and he realized what she meant.

“Right,” he sobered up immediately, realizing his mistake. He was friends with Liam, he knew that she’d avoided the city during the summers, but he wasn’t especially close to the Staal’s so her dealings with them had pretty much passed him by. He did, however, thanks to his friend, vaguely know about what had happened those years ago, what had made her stay away even if a friend of hers had managed to bring home the most coveted trophy of all.

“So are you ready for this?” Lucy had been in situations just like this numerous times during the years, it was really only the setting and the people and the time that changed. “To tell me everything you’ve been doing so far today, purging every feeling you’ve experienced?” she arched a brow at him, smile still across her lips even though it wasn’t quite as genuine as a few moments ago.

“Better you than anyone else,” he told her with a smile that made up Lucy’s mind as the two of them said a momentary goodbye to Abbey, Patrick kissing her cheek before they walked across the patio and over to the semi-secluded corner where Danny had already set up.

She was going to do her job, and then she was going to call her sister despite their brother’s warned and after that she was going to party the night away with everyone else.

Just like she should have been able to do the previous summer.
♠ ♠ ♠
Lucy

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