The Assistant - A Patrick Kane Fanfic

Chapter.11 Trickery

 "Déjà vu, huh Laura?" Clint said with a slight smirk. Him and Sidney both shared a laugh before walking off to leave her alone. Soon enough Laura felt that familiar presence behind her. Turning on her heel she realized she was face to face with Patrick. An inch between them both. His eyes were fixated on her. "We have got to stop meeting like this," She said quietly, surprising herself. He smiled and those dimples appeared. "I'd say you very much enjoy it." Laura laughed and looked down. "Are you sure it's not the other way around?" She retorted. "Well I certainly won't deny it," he remarked. Laura looked back to his icy blue eyes, his gaze wavered for a moment before he was called back by someone on the ice and he skated off. She blew out a breath and a second later she was being turned around by a pair of hands on her shoulders. "That was quick," Sidney said quite amused. "What were you expecting Sid?" Laura asked, walking around her cousin and away from the benches. Sidney jogged a little to catch up with her and continued. "I was expecting an announcement of pure devotion, that's what." Laura furrowed her brows and said nothing as they continued walking by the Plexiglas boards. "They're looking over here right now, you know?" Sidney added taking a quick glance towards the ice. "Then let them." Laura snapped, picking up her pace. "I thought you were happy about coming here?What's wrong now?" Sidney pressed. Laura knew exactly what was wrong. She just couldn't come out and say it. "This is just - confusing." She responded hastily. Sidney snorted. "Yeah, and I'm stupid." Laura hated her cousin for these reasons. She always knew how to push her buttons or how to guilt her into confessing stuff. "This is just not easy to explain, okay, Sidney. I want a lot of things and they just can't happen." She blurted. By now they were near the doors to exit the rink, when Sidney stopped. "Do speaketh." She demanded more than asked. "It's just that this thing," Laura gestured from her, over to Patrick. "Isn't all that possible. I need to stop,take a step back, and get real. We're leaving in three days." Sidney rolled her eyes. "Uh hello, heard of long distance maybe?" Laura stared. "Uh hello, heard of not happening maybe." That was the last of their conversation until they got back to the hotel twenty minutes later.

 Laura looked up from the TV when her phone suddenly rang. "Whaaaaaaat?!" Sidney complained. Laura and her had made up over candy earlier so now they were on speaking terms. "It's Patrick." Laura said, a little glad and shocked at the same time. "Well answer it!" Sidney spat, shooing her away. Hopping up Laura pressed talk and took the call. "Hello?" She asked, although she already knew who was on the other end. "Oh, hey, uh, it's me, Patrick." He replied. Laura meant to further speak but shut her mouth as Patrick continued. "You and your friend left in a hurry today. I was just wondering if everything was okay?" A slow smile crept onto Laura's lips. "Oh, everything's okay. We just thought we'd get out of Clint's way earlier." She replied as she tried to piece together a reason that made sense. "Well that's a relie- really good thing." He stammered as he corrected himself. Laura giggled silently and cleared her throat. "Thanks for asking anyway," She said, still smiling. "Yeah, no problem." Patrick answered. There was a sudden awkward silence between them. "Not that there ever hasn't been." Laura thought. "How much longer are you going to be in Chicago for?" Patrick asked."We leave this Saturday." Laura answered quickly. She could hear a small sigh on the other end. "Two full days to impress huh?" Patrick spoke silently. "Laura, are you doing anything tonight? If you're not, I mean I'd like to hang out. If you want." His sounded all jittery. "Yeah, I'd like that too," She replied. "Great then! I'll be around later to pick you up." Laura absently talked some more before hanging up. "Another date, am I right?" Sidney called from her bed. Laura nodded, but her mind wandered somewhere else.

 True to his word, Patrick called five hours later, letting her know he was waiting for her downstairs. Laura hadn't been exactly sure where they would be heading, and seeing as the weather was starting to get colder with Autumn already starting, she settled for something comfy, warm, yet pleasing to the eyes. Satisfied with her choices, Laura stepped out of the bathroom and got an approving thumbs up from Sidney. "Now. You're hurr." She said pointing to Laura's hair. Laura shrugged, but Sidney gave a disapproving shake of her head. "Nah-uh, Get over here."

 After a few minutes of painful hair pulling and braiding,  Laura stood in front of the mirror with an exquisite, loose, waterfall braid, ponytail kind of thing. "As much as that hurt, thanks." Laura said smiling, admiring her cousins beautiful work. "Where would you be without me." Sidney joked, accepting the compliment with her usual sarcasm. Laura grabbed Sidney's black Keds and her own black bag, and headed out the door with a wave. As she stepped out of the elevator and adjusted her cream coloured scarf for the thousandth time, she saw Patrick. "Ready to go?" He asked with a warm smile. "More than I'll ever be," Laura replied.

 After a laugh filled drive to the United Centre, Laura and Patrick found themselves walking inside the rink, reminiscing of memories long past. "I remember once when I was little, it was the first time I'd been to the Vancouver PNE. I wanted so badly to ride the Hellevator! But I've got a thing with heights, so it never really happened." Laura admitted sheepishly. Patrick looked at her from the corner of his eye. "You're afraid of heights?" She shrugged indifferently. "Hm." He added. Pretty soon Patrick had given Laura a whole tour of the Arena. "You really seem to know this place inside out, huh?" Laura noted, impressed. "Yeah well, when you've been playing in one place for the entirety of your professional career, you learn a thing or two about the home rink."

 They both  realized that time was flying by quickly and Patrick revealed that he had more places to show Laura. "Come on,it'll be fun! I really just need for you to see this stuff before you go. Please?" Laura could never say no, and Patrick was just too convincing. So the two set out once again to see Chicago.

 They arrived at a very tall building. Taller than Laura had ever seen. "Jeez, what is this?" She asked looking up to get a full look at the place. "This is Willis Tower Laura. At one point it was apparently the tallest building in the world." Patrick explained as they entered the lobby. "You really do your research." Laura remarked. Patrick smiled. "You gotta give me credit for trying." They were greeted by a receptionist who pointed them to the elevator before returning to her phone call. They followed her directions and soon found their place.Patrick pushed the button to call the elevator and they waited. "So, how high are we going exactly?" Laura asked, hesitantly. "You'll see." Patrick replied with a sly grin. The elevator doors opened up and they stepped in. Patrick pressed one of the floor numbers and Laura immediately knew she was going to hate this. "We're going higher than I'm gonna like, aren't we?" She asked, already knowing the answer. "There's 108 floors in this thing. I wouldn't do that to you." He answered with a straight face. Laura sighed with relief. Then Patrick laughed and spoke again."We're going to the 103rd floor. Skydeck." 

Oh gosh this chapter took forever! I was actually planning on extending it more, but that's a heartbreak I'll save for the next chapter,(Did I just slip a clue?). Anyway - thanks so much for over 1,000 reads on this story! I appreciate you taking the time to come back and read this. As always, if you liked this chapter, remember to vote and comment!