Sunday, August 30, 2009

Chapter 1

I looked down at my organizer checking the entry for 11:00 am for probably the tenth time. Then I looked up at the clock and saw the minute hand had only moved one more minute to 11:17. I sighed and closed my organizer knowing that Gia wasn’t going to show. I wish I could say I was surprised but I wasn’t. Gia was a pretty deeply depressed and lost girl. I’d had a few sessions with her and was starting to think we were making some good progress but obviously not if she hadn’t shown up today.

I was the school therapist at a Chicago high school. It was a difficult and thankless job. I went home frustrated more often than not and it was a rare day when I left school with a smile. Nonetheless I loved my job. It was a job I had worked hard for. I hadn’t exactly taken the easy road to get there. I took a wrong turn somewhere down the road as a teenager and would have been lost forever if it hadn’t been for my school therapist when I was in high school. That was exactly what I was trying to be for these kids now.

I ran a hand through my hair wondering if Gia was even on school property right now. I considered calling the study hall monitor where Gia was supposed to be and decided against it knowing that there was no way she was just sitting in a classroom somewhere. I wrote a note in Gia’s file about her absence from the session and put it back into my file cabinet. That was when I heard a knock on my door.

“Come in!” I called hoping to see Gia poke her head around the door. Instead it was Isaiah Jackson, the school principle.

“Kristen told me that Gia was a no-show,” he said referring to the secretary and closing the door behind him. I shrugged and sighed.

“I really thought I was making progress with her. I know she came to school today, I checked. I guess she ducked out at some point.” Isaiah looked around my office before sitting down in one of the chairs.

“I know that you have infinite hope for some of these kids, but we can’t help all of them,” he told me. I refused to believe that. Everyone could be helped as long as you found their trigger. Each person had something, some button that could be pushed.

“I can help Gia, I know I can. I just need her to talk to me.” I started to rub my temples feeling a headache coming on. It hadn’t been an easy morning.

“Gabrielle, you can’t keep doing this. I’m glad that you care so much about all of these kids. Lord knows most of them don’t have anyone else that will care. That still doesn’t mean that you have to do it. Go ahead and leave early today if you want and get an early start on your weekend.” Without waiting for a response he got up and left my office.

He knew I would never leave early. I just couldn’t do that. There could be someone in the school who needed me. I had scheduled appointments and I also had students that would stop by on their own asking for advice or really just needing someone to talk to. Just this morning a student I never expected to meet with came into my office in tears telling me they just found out their mother had cancer and didn’t know what to do about it. I couldn’t risk leaving and not being there for a student that needed me like that.

The rest of the day went by like it usually does. I talked to a few more students, made some phone calls, and got some work done. I was relieved when I heard the bell signaling the end of the school day. I ignored the shake of the head and the look of concern Isaiah gave me when he saw me leaving an hour after school had let out.

“Where is my sweet boy?” I called out walking into my apartment.

My dog Loxley came running around the corner from the bedroom. I put my stuff down and knelt on the floor to pet him. He was wagging his tail so hard his whole backside was shaking. I gave him a kiss on the top of the head and he responded by licking my face.

I walked into my bedroom and changed out of my work clothes into my running gear. I put Loxley on his leash and we walked to the park a couple of blocks over. Once there Loxley and I broke out into a run like we did at least three times a week. Running was a nice release for me. Once we were both sufficiently tired we went home where we both had dinner and watched TV.

I spent the rest of the night watching movies and hanging out with Loxley. I may not lead the most exciting life ever, but after my teenage years that was completely fine with me. I’d had my share of excitement back then and I’d be fine with never having any of it again. I was still thinking about Gia and wondering where she was when I drifted off to sleep. I was awoken the next morning by the ringing of my phone.

“Hello?” I answered groggily.

“Gabby, it’s Officer Monahan. I have a Nathan Oliver here and he’s asking for you.”










It was an optional skate, and although he usually didn’t go to those, Patrick chose to go today. He hadn’t really planned on getting on the ice, just doing a bit of off-ice drills. Of course when he got there and saw that guys were really just kind of goofing off he decided to throw on the gear and join in.

At the end they decided to play a little game of “mustache boy.” Each player went down one-on-one with the goalie and the last person to score had to grow a mustache. There were only ten of them there so he knew he needed to step it up. All but Patrick Kane were stopped by Huet and it was on to round two. Again he was stopped and found himself with just six of them left for the third round. Luckily this time through, he scored and managed to escape the mustache. Cam Barker wasn’t so lucky and had to grow it out.

“Hey, Barks, I hope Alanna enjoys mustache rides!” Jonathan Toews called out across the locker room while they were all in there getting dressed.

“Alanna’s way too classy for mustaches,” Adam Burish responded.

“If Alanna’s so classy what the hell is she doing with Barker then?” Patrick asked getting laughs from all the guys.

“You can all go fuck yourselves,” Cam replied while laughing. “She’s going to dump my ass the minute I tell her.”

“You know you should never join in a voluntary game of ‘mustache boy.’ Breakaways are not your strong suit,” Andrew Ladd joked. “You brought it on yourself, man.”

After a few more jokes at Barker’s expense Patrick headed to get some lunch. As he was driving he noticed that his car was low on gas and pulled over into a convenience store to fill up. After filling the tank he decided to just go in and grab a pre-made sandwich for lunch since he was already stopped. It wasn’t until he was inside that he realized the police were there.

As he walked to where the sandwiches were he could hear an argument going on. He looked over to see an attractive woman with her hand on a teenage boy's shoulder arguing with one of the employees. The police were standing there listening to the argument and cutting in every now and then. He chose a buffalo chicken wrap and got some of the cream of broccoli soup and walked up to the register to pay.

He wasn’t trying to eavesdrop on the argument but couldn’t help overhearing what was going on. Apparently the boy had stolen something and the employee had called the cops. Instead of arresting the boy the cops had called this woman and she was now offering to pay triple of what the boy had stolen to keep the owner from pressing charges. Patrick grabbed his food and started towards the door.

“Holy shit, you’re Patrick Sharp!” he heard someone call. He turned to see the teenage boy looking at him with a smile on his face and then realized all eyes were now on him. Great.










“Look, I know what Nathan did was wrong and I’m willing to pay you back for all that he tried to take,” I pleaded with the owner of the convenience store. So far he wasn’t having any of it. I looked over at Officer Monahan and his partner for support.

I’d gotten to know Quentin Monahan over the years. He’d arrested a number of students that went to my school. Since those students didn’t have anyone to fight for them I’d stepped up to be that person. Every time they got into trouble and Officer Monahan heard about it he gave me a call. I honestly think he has a bit of a thing for me because I couldn’t believe the stuff he let some of these kids get away with.

Nathan on the other hand was one of the troubled students at school that I was currently counseling. His father was a drug dealer and his mother was addicted to cocaine. Neither one gave a shit about their son or what he was doing. Years of no parenting and living on the street had turned Nathan into a juvenile delinquent. He was a nice kid that just had no guidance. He came into my office without a problem and talked the whole time but I think he did it more to get out of class than because he wanted help.

“I still can’t believe that instead of arresting this thief like you should be doing you called some kind of school counselor down here to bail him out of trouble,” the owner spat at Officer Monahan. This argument had been going on for about 20 minutes and didn’t seem anywhere near a resolution. Customers were in and out and I was becoming thoroughly embarrassed.

“I’ll pay you double the cost of what Nathan stole,” I offered. I was just met by an angry glare instead of an answer. I sighed and upped my offer. “Fine, triple it. That should be more than fair.”

“This is not how the justice system is supposed to work!” the owner yelled out in exasperation. I groaned feeling like I was running out of options. Officer Monahan gave me an apologetic look as he reached for his handcuffs.

“Holy shit, you’re Patrick Sharp!” Nathan suddenly called out. I turned from Officer Monahan to see who Nathan had just yelled at. A man had stopped halfway to the door with what appeared to be his lunch, looking at us in shock.

“Nathan, stop it. This is no time for anything like this!” I hissed at him. He was about to get arrested and he was excited to see…..well, I didn’t know who Patrick Sharp was. It was then that I noticed that the owner seemed to recognize this Patrick Sharp too.

“Yes, that’s me,” the man replied looking around at all of us, obviously a little uncomfortable.

“Dude, can I get an autograph?” Nathan asked rushing over to him.

“Nathan!” I yelled out at him. “You’re about to get arrested and this man probably wants to go home and have his lunch.” Nathan looked back at me sheepishly.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sharp, I don’t usually have Blackhawks come into my store. I’m very embarrassed that it’s today of all days. Would you mind signing something for me?” the owner asked. What a schmuck. This Patrick Sharp guy obviously just wanted out of the store.

“Not a problem,” Patrick said taking a pen from the owner and signing a piece of paper that he was handed. He looked over at me then and he must have sensed how stressed out I was. “How about I give you a couple of tickets for Thursday’s game and you let this kid go.” I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I looked over at the owner who didn’t need much convincing.

“Really? That would be fantastic,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. Hell, I probably could have bought him half the tickets in the rink and he wouldn’t have obliged for me, but since there was a hockey player offering he was all over it. Patrick took the man’s name and promised to have tickets ready for him at will call. Without a word the owner turned away from us and walked back into his office.

“Does that mean I’m off the hook?” Nathan asked. I glared at him and he turned and looked down at the floor.

“I guess we can go now,” Officer Monahan said. I tried to smile at him but knew that it wasn’t much of one.

“Thank you for calling me. I’ll take care of him,” I said. He tipped his hat at me and he and his partner walked out of the store. I turned to Patrick. “Thank you so much for that. I’m so sorry that you got involved.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault,” he told me. The three of us walked out of the store at the same time.

“Dude, I am a huge fan. I can’t believe that I’m talking to you,” Nathan gushed as soon as we got outside.

“Well, thanks. We always appreciate fans,” Patrick said to him.

“Nathan, my car is over there. I suggest you get in it immediately,” I ordered handing him my keys. He turned and got into my car without an argument. I turned back to Patrick. “I am so sorry again and I don’t know how to thank you for what you did for him in there.”

“Well, you can start by telling me your name.”

“Gabrielle,” I told him holding my hand out to him.

“So you’re…..” he paused for a second trying to guess my relationship with Nathan. “You’re brother shoplifted?”

“I’m actually his school counselor and yes he did,” I said as if that made any sense. I could tell by the look on his face that he was confused. “He doesn’t have a family to help him out so I kind of take care of it.” I don’t know why I felt I had to explain it to him but I did.

“Well, you two should come to a game sometime.”

“Oh, that’s really nice of you, but I don’t want to inconvenience you any more than I already have.” He smiled and when he did that I suddenly realized how good looking Patrick was.

“It wouldn’t be an inconvenience at all. I’d give you tickets for Thursday but I’m guessing you don’t need to be there at the same time as that guy,” Patrick said pointing back at the store.

“No, I never need to be around that asshole ever again,” I muttered. He laughed then as my cheeks turned red. Way to make an impression, Gabrielle.

“We have a game on Saturday at home. I can get you tickets for that one if you’d like.”

“Yes! We can go to that one!” I heard Nathan call from the car. I turned back to him, glaring. He’d obviously rolled down the window and was listening to the conversation.

“I guess we accept. Thank you so much.”

“It’s really not a big deal. Here, just write down your name and phone number and I’ll have the tickets waiting for you.” I looked at him suspiciously.

“You didn’t ask the store owner for his phone number,” I accused narrowing my eyes at him a little. He laughed.

“You noticed that, huh?” I laughed at his response and wrote down my name and number for him.

“I wrote it down just in case something happens before Saturday,” I explained. He smiled at me and I walked back to my car thinking about what exactly I was going to do with Nathan.