Sun & Moon

In a quick combination, Catalina delivered a series of blows, her fist hitting the target every time as she ducked, the trainer swinging over her head. She was light on her feet, punching hard again and ducking once more before the timer went off. Catalina dropped the wrapped fists that were held in front of her in a boxing position, panting and walking to grab water.

It was early in the morning and she was at the gym, her first day with a personal trainer in Chicago. Carly Bates was an excellent trainer so far, the woman everything that Catalina wished she could be. Carly had bright red hair pulled into a braid and sea-green eyes with long lashes. But it was the arms that were ripped with muscle, the sharp features that made her look tough and the abs that she sported easily that Catalina wished that she had.

Carly had been recommended on a health blog as one of the top trainers for athletics in Chicago. Catalina wasn’t an athlete, but what she did like to do was to box, something her brother had grown up with. She didn’t do it as a sport or as something to pursue, but as an exercise and stress reliever.

“You’ve got good form,” Carly said. She had an accent, but Catalina couldn’t place it. Something about it was slightly European, but Catalina’s ears were unfamiliar with it as she nodded, taking another swig of water before the private session was done. “I’m impressed. You’re healthy and driven, not like some of the clients I have who start at the bottom and work they’re way up.”

“My brother is one of the athletic trainers for the Miami Dolphins.” Catalina leaned against the taught rope making up the ring. “I guess you could say he practiced on me before getting into it as a profession.”

“Are all of your family big into sports?” Carly flicked her fiery braid over her shoulder, leaning against the post. She had taken off the pads from her hands that were for absorbing the shock of a punch. “I know you mentioned you’re in sports public relations when we talked on the phone.”

Catalina shrugged. “We got lucky. Both of us have had really big breaks recently.”

“I bet it’s more than lucky.” Carly pushed her self off of the post and ducked under the rope of the ring. Catalina followed her, jumping down onto the hard gym floor. “You strike me as a hard worker. You didn’t complain or say ‘I can’t’ once this morning.”

“I’m not a quitter.”

“That’s good to hear. So I’ll see you Tuesday morning?” Catalina nodded, grabbing her duffle bag off of the ground. She had already giving Carly the hefty check for their sessions that week. But it was worth it to Catalina. She wanted to be healthy and strong, especially with a frame as narrow and small as she had. “Good stuff, I’ll see you then.”

Early morning Chicago was busy and filled with cars and people. Catalina rushed out to her car, quickly skirting around the sidewalk, still paranoid about someone hitting her with a car. Ever since the accident, Catalina noted that people in Chicago drove significantly worse than the people in Miami, which she thought was both an impressive and terrifying feat.

The car ride home was filled with off-key singing and her fingers drumming on the steering wheel before she located her apartment. Catalina had taken three wrong turns and cut someone off in order to find her home by memory, her mapping of the story still a rough sketch in her head. At every turn or corner of the road, Catalina found herself thinking it was a road in Miami. Sometimes it was the way the light hit a building, or the people that walked on the corner, but for a moment she thought she knew where she was going, only to find out she had no idea.

Walking to the elevator in the garage, Catalina was reminded at how out of her element she was. It was chilly in the air, something that she wasn’t used to. It was thick and smoggy as well, which Miami didn’t have much of. Miami was hot and the air was thick with moisture, not city stink. Well- that depended on where she was, exactly.

The way the apartment building was set up was unique. It was a tall building with a lobby at the bottom and a parking garage with an elevator that could take you to your floor but only with a key. All apartments in the building were large and took up heavy amounts of space, which is why as tall and wide as the building was, the apartments in it didn’t match the number of housing options that it looked to hold.

Catalina and Erin were on the thirty-first floor of the sixty-floored building. Their view consisted of other buildings and lights. It wasn’t the best view of the entire skyline, but it was high enough and wide enough to appreciate the lights burning at night with big-city purpose.

Erin was home on the couch looking over her things for the next day. She taught a second grade class and Catalina thought that she was extremely good at it, from what she could tell. Erin was always supplied with interactive things for the kids, encouraging them to read amazing books and learn their times-tables at their own pace. Catalina could have used a patient teacher like Erin when she was going to school in Miami.

“Nervous for your first Monday at work tomorrow?” Erin asked, not looking up. The orange feline that belonged to her was in her lap, pressing his nose into her knee. Catalina knew the beast was named Pumpkin but she preferred to call it whatever particular name was on her lips. Which included: Satan, Lucifer, and Brat, anything of the sort. “Big day.”

“Normal nerves,” Catalina informed. She was nervous. Not the kind of nervous where you were scared that you were going to mess up, exactly. It was the kind of nervous she wasn’t sure what to expect from the other reps in the building and she wasn’t fond of being the new kid- not to mention that Catalina was without a doubt the youngest person there, with the least amount of experience. “At least, I think it’s normal nerves.”

“Probably.” Erin looked up her green eyes cased in behind dark-framed glasses. Her brown hair was piled on top of her head, some pieces falling against her milky-white neck. “Just remember how much you’ve worked for it and you’ll be fine. You’re young but you’re good at what you do.”

It was like Erin had read Catalina’s mind. She wasn’t so much worried about the job itself as she was not being taken seriously or being taken as someone who had done shameful things to climb to corporate ladder. That wasn’t what it was at all, though some people looked at Catalina, her job and her bank account and couldn’t put it together.

That was probably what made Catalina angry the most in life. People who didn’t think that young women could come out swinging into the work force. There would always be speculation on why she got a powerhouse job at twenty-five. They wouldn’t care that she was accredited in public relations, and they definitely wouldn’t care that she had graduated with a 4.3 GPA and over three-hundred hours of internship work. No, they saw the face, the age and instantly wondered who she had slept with for the job. Which is why Catalina avidly worked to prove every single one of them that she was worth the acknowledgement of her achievements.

Pouring herself frosted flakes into a bowl without adding milk, Catalina sat on the couch next to Erin, careful not to lay her sweaty body all over the furniture. Erin watched her with a careful eye and Catalina grinned, a silent promise not to get it filthy with her sweat.

“You are the only person I know who likes frosted flakes without milk.”

Catalina shrugged, tipping the bowl and filling her mouth with the sweet cereal, crunching on it. With a mouthful, she said, “I can’t help it that I’m weird.”

“So ladylike.”

In response, Catalina made a jerking-off motion with her left hand, proving just how ladylike she could be in the presence of her roommate. Erin giggled, shaking her head and going back to checking her agenda and course schedule while Catalina crunched happily on cereal.

The Sunday morning was peaceful, as living with Erin had always been. Well, on Catalina’s end. Erin was a good roommate who cleaned, kept her things in order and who never stepped on anyone else’s toes because she was extremely good at being considerate of others. Catalina tried her best to be considerate but sometimes her loud voice or her habit of interrupting sentences could be annoying. Or her obsessive compulsiveness about random parts of the house such as her bed sheets and the order of her shoes.

Hours later when she was showered and with her hair drying via air, Catalina busied herself with returning phone calls and answering emails. Public relations was a job that did not stop. There was no days off- not many, at least- and Catalina didn’t really get to pick and choose her busy days. The girl taking over her position with the Dolphins was still transitioning and Catalina had promised to give her whatever information she needed.

All was generally quiet in the house shared by the two girls.

*

Adam Rogowin was a polite man. He was fast-paced and talked rapidly but articulately as Catalina, nodded her head, making mental note of the few things that he said of importance. He was the Senior Direction of Public Relations for the Blackhawks and one of Catalina’s overheads. She hadn’t met him face to face until that Monday morning, but she had talked to him on the phone multiple times, already used to the quick movement of his sentences and subject changes.

The offices of all the staff and PR team were within the United Center building, though Adam had just informed Catalina that they were getting building permits to move the growing offices to the lot next door to the center. The office portion of the building was filled with all sorts of people working for both the Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Bulls.

Catalina had already been introduced to Alice in charge of Media Relations and her intern Sarah as well as other members of the team. Everyone was extremely friendly- and older than her. She knew everyone would be older than her, but she was also extremely pleased to find that Alice working in Media Relations was also twenty-five, having the job right out of college after having interned with the Blackhawks. It made Catalina feel less uptight.

The office she had also helped her relax. It was white based with red and black accents for the team itself. Behind her desk, a large banner with the championship years hung, the Native American symbol stitched beautifully into the cloth. An iMac sat humming on her desk and there were already office supplies, none of which she had to provide herself. Catalina smiled when she saw a small welcome card on the keyboard as well.

“Though it was a somewhat unusual request,” Adam said, hanging out be the door. “We’ve got almost all of the players heading up to talk to you today. Anyone not coming up shouldn’t be an issue anyways.”

“Thank you, I know it’s a bit inconvenient.”

“But smart. Knowing who you represent personally is a good idea.” Adam checked his watch as Catalina set her things down. “I’ve got a meeting to go to. Alice is across the hall and has been asked to help you with whatever you need. She’s going to go over all of the social media plans with you as well. One of the guys should be up shortly.”

“Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

Adam waved to her before vanishing out of the door and leaving Catalina in her new office alone. She didn’t sit around awkwardly. Instead she got on the computer, getting right to setting up all of her email and accounts on the computer. She also pulled out all the files she had in her bag, setting them in the empty desk drawer. They were organized alphabetically and faxed to her from the office itself so that she had all players’ public relations history and information.

Catalina’s job was simple. It was monitor behavior and stories, to fix any problems that media relations or even event relations had, and to make everything run smoothly despite whatever she was busy doing. She was the crises unit, which meant if there was so much as a blip in an event, she had to be on it, regardless if it was about a player or not.

The one thing that was ambiguous with her job was where she could end up. Though there were specified positions and each had a special task force, everyone in the communication sector of the team was trained the same way and had the same schooling and lessons. They could all do one another’s job if they had to, which is what made possible for Catalina to be ask to do anything. But that’s what she liked about it, the fast moving and switching jobs.

Someone knocked on the doorframe as she was drinking her coffee, careful not to burn her mouth. She looked up at the man standing in the doorway. He was in a t-shirt and sweatpants, presumably just coming from doing something downstairs in the arena. He had brown hair and brown eyes to mix in with a handsome face and kind smile. He was much taller than Catalina, even from the doorway with an average but muscle frame.

Standing up, Catalina smoothed down her cream colored dress. “Hi, come in. sorry to interrupt whatever it is you’re doing today.”

“No, no problem at all.” He walked into the office extending his hand to shake Catalina’s already outstretched one. She gave him a firm shake before sitting back down, smiling beatifically at him. “Jonathan Toews, though you probably know that.”

“I did,” she smiled. “Catalina Suarez. I swear I won’t take more than ten minutes, I just wanted to talk to everyone for a few minutes so I know what to expect and so I know how I can help you all.”

“Well I don’t get into much trouble, if that helps?”

Her expression was dry as she put a manila folder on the desk. “Car accident on a Tuesday morning three years ago after a long night of drinking at the bar.” He gave her a surprised look and she grinned. “Though there were no pictures of you drinking at the bar. Your teammates confirmed it when talking to Brad Waltz, the guy before me.”

“You’re good.”

“I’m good,” Catalina agreed. “Something like that is easy to spin if there aren’t pictures. If there had been.” She shrugged. “It would be a lot harder on me. I’m not here to tell you not to have fun. I myself have plenty. I just have one small piece of advice.”

“Alright,” he laughed good-naturedly, scratching the back of his neck. If he was intimidated, he didn’t show it. She did, however, sense his surprise at her forwardness and cut-to-the-chase attitude. “I can use advice.”

“Life will be easier for both of us if you do things like your mother is watching you.”

Jonathan seemed to think about this, pursing his lips. Catalina leaned back in her seat, sipping on her coffee. She didn’t want to be a hard ass, but her life would be so much easier if each player took her seriously and they didn’t do something stupid. Thankfully, she was dealing with a team who was maturing and who didn’t have multiple young ones.

“I think I can do that.”

“Good.” Catalina grabbed a blank sheet of paper and a pen, sliding it over to him. “Write down any social media you use, I don’t care how infrequent it is and we’re done.”

“That easy?”

“I would like it to be.”

With all of his things written down, he stood up, waving his hand to her and nodding his head. She acknowledge him leaving with an inclination of her head before going to her email and answering someone contacting her about the possible car accident that some people had seen Patrick Kane a part of. Catalina luckily already had the press release available from the director and sent it over, disclosing small amounts of information, not including the name of the victim, which was herself.

Funny how the world worked.

The first six hours of her day were filled with quick visits from players and phone calls left and right. By one in the afternoon, Catalina had answered at the least ninety emails and have been on the phone over twenty times, one of those times using her tough PR voice to chew out someone for not getting proper credentials to sit in the press box, and then proceeding to chew out whoever had let them in without a proper press pass. Everyone who wanted media coverage was supposed to file the correct paper work and be approved by Alice in Media Relations. It was that simple.

Catalina was behind her computer screen, unable to see the door when she heard the knock at her door. “Come in,” she said loudly, covering the phone as she spoke to the visitor. She turned her attention back to the phone. “I don’t care what they told you, if you do it again you’re going to lose your job because you’re not about to make mine more difficult.”

Slamming the phone in the receiver, Catalina pushed the chair out to see Patrick Kane settling himself in her seat. Instantly her skin felt hot and her heart began pounding in her chest. She leaned back in the chair and drank from the bottle of water on her desk, trying to busy herself before he looked up at her.

When Patrick did look up at her, she sucked in a sharp breath and held it there. At first his face was open and smiling, quickly contorting to confused and bewilderment. Catalina smiled at him, a bit of taunting in her lips as she replaced the water bottle on the desk, swallowing the water.

Patrick was in a Blackhawks sweatshirt and athletic shorts, nothing fancy. A hat was twisted backwards on his head and his blue eyes were filled with some sort of degree of anger. Catalina was surprised to see the anger there. In fact, his face twisted into nothing short of annoyance.

“Is this a joke? Are you stalking me?”

“No, I had a scheduled meeting with you.” Catalina realized that Patrick didn’t like being surprised. She quickly turned her amusement to business, straightening and putting a folder down in front of him. He was scowling at her. “I’m Catalina Suarez, I’m doing crises relations which includes anything any of the players do to cause a problem.”

“But you’re the girl I hit with my car.”

“Yes, that did happen thank you for reminding me.” Catalina picked up a box of Chinese food, tilting it towards him. It was filled with lo mein, her favorite. He didn’t even look at the box, his eyes focused only on her. “Chinese? I ordered too much. They put way more in these things than they do in Miami.”

“Okay, I’m confused.”

“On what part? The food, or…”

He frowned. “You lied to me.”

“Actually, I didn’t. You didn’t ask where I worked and I didn’t feel like telling you amid a medical issue that I worked with your team. I thought it would be awkward.” Patrick shifted in his seat, visibly uncomfortable. “I see now that this is probably rather awkward. Perdon.”

“I’m not a fan of liars,” he said slowly, watching her carefully. He didn’t look at her with the same flirting gaze as he had in the hospital, which Catalina had to admit was somewhat disappointing. “Phrase it how you want, but you could have told me you knew me.”

“It’s besides the point, now. The point now is that you know who I am and I know who you are, and I just wanted to have a meeting to make this job easier for us, and easier for you to deal with us.”

“Is that so?”

Her smile was beatific. “Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do in front of your mother,” Catalina said, leaning back in her chair. She took a bite of her food, chewing it and swallowing it completely. “Keep to that and I don’t have to come down on you and the media for surprise bad coverage. Okay?”

Patrick stood up, casting a wary glance at her. “I don’t know how much I trust you.”

“You don’t have to trust me. You just have to listen to me.”