The Hockey Life - A Patrick Kane Fanfic

Part Sixty-Nine - Pushin' Me Away

PART SIXTY-NINE: PUSHIN’ ME AWAY

Wow. I quickly realized how much of an understatement it was that playoffs would be a busy time. Within the first week of games, things were already chaotic. I had started to fall behind on wedding planning, and I felt like there was no time for me to catch back up. I did everything I could. I brought my laptop with me on road trips and skipped out on leisure time with friends and family to work instead. I had to spend extra time on Jonathan and Pat to make sure their injuries really were healed and they were doing alright. To make things worse, I felt like I had no help, despite the fact that I spent most of my time with Patrick. I finally decided to bring this to his attention after game five of the first round. The Hawks had won against the Blues, 3-2, so Patrick was in a good mood. I figured he’d be fine, because of that.

“Nice one, guys! One more win to go!” I congratulated the team once they had filed into the locker room. I high-fived a few of them until I got to Patrick. He got a hug, even though he was pretty sweaty.

I let the players speak to the media, shower, and get changed. When it was time to leave, I decided to let Patrick have a few more moments to just be elated while we made our way back to the hotel. It wasn’t until we were re-packing our bags that I decided to talk to him about my issue.

“Hey, can I talk to you about something?” I wondered as I stuffed a hoodie into my bag.

“Yeah, of course. What is it?” he asked. I took a deep breath before continuing.

“It’s just the whole wedding thing. It takes a lot to plan it, and some things have deadlines. With the playoffs and everything, it’s hard to get things done. I could use a little help.”

“Maybe we need a wedding planner. It isn’t too late to hire one, is it?” I couldn’t believe it. He was completely missing the point I was trying to make.

“I don’t want a wedding planner. If I wanted one, I would have hired one a lot earlier. I want to do things myself so I’ll know that I’m getting exactly what I want,” I explained.

“Okay, well, I don’t know, then,” Pat replied.

“Maybe you could help,” I suggested.

“I don’t know what I’d help you with. It’s kind of the bride’s day, isn’t it? I mean, I’ll give you my input if you need it, and obviously there are some things I want a say in, but you know I’m fine with you making most of the decisions. I want you to be happy,” he told me as he mindlessly filled his duffel bag. I had stopped working on mine earlier in the conversation, and I wished he would too so he wouldn’t even be the least bit distracted. He didn’t understand where I was coming from and it was getting frustrating.

“I don’t just want your help with decision making, Patrick. It’s the actual work! The research, the emails, the phone calls, the outlines, the financial reports, everything!” I said, my patience slowly fading away.

“I’d love to help, Lean. It’s just that it’s playoffs, and I only have so much time,” he answered. That absolutely did it for me.