nineteen (Jonathan Toews)

five

I woke up the next morning to my phone ringing. "Hello?" I asked groggily without checking the caller ID.

"Hey Alex," Jonathan's voice rang through the phone. "Did I wake you up?"

"Yeah you did, but I should be waking up anyways," I said as I sat up and rand a hand through my tangly hair. "What's up?"

I heard shuffling on the other line. "Well I talked to Rob about the opening with the team."

I perked up. "Oh, what did he say?"

"He said that he got it approved so you can apply! He said to come in today and get an application from the offices."

"Alright, I will." I got out of bed and wrote myself a note. "I really hope I get the job. That would be amazing."

"Same here. Well I've gotta run, but I'll talk to you later Al."

"Okay see you tonight. Bye Jonny," I said.

We both hung up and I got out of bed. I got ready quickly in some nicer clothes and ate a quick breakfast. It was only a little past 9 right now and morning skate was still going on. I decided to head down to the rink now to get an application and maybe I could catch Jon.

I drove over to the UC and parked. I wasn't exactly sure where to go so I went up to one of the desks and asked. They directed me to the trainer's office downstairs.

I walked through the halls and finally found Rob's office. I knocked on the door and waited. Rob answered the door and smiled.

"Hi, you must be Alex?" He asked. I nodded and he gestured me inside. "Jonny told me you would be stopping by for one of these." Rob handed me an application.

"Yes, thank you." I took the papers from him. "So what kind of work do you do as head trainer?" I asked.

Rob sat down at his desk. "Well right now, I'm filling out their weekly reports, you know, who's healthy and who's not." He showed me what he was working on. "Usually during practices I'll be in the building, but for games I get to be on the bench. You will either be with me on the bench or near the tunnel for emergency help," he explained.

I nodded along. "Sounds exciting. Well, I'll fill these out and get them back to you as soon as possible." I gave him a warm smile as I stood up and shook his hand. "Thanks Rob."

"I hope to see you soon Alex." He stood up as well and opened the door for me.

I left the United Center, excited. I couldn't wait to fill out the application so I could finally have a job again. I was unlocking my car when I heard voices and laughing. I turned around and saw some of the players leaving from morning skate. I looked for Jonathan and was disappointed when I didn't see him among the group. Knowing him, he would be one of the last ones to leave.

I got in my car and was looking through my purse for some chapstick when there was a tap on my window. I looked up to see Patrick waving at me. I rolled the window down. "Hey Pat, what's up?"

"Are you going to the game tonight?" He asked, his cheeks red from the cold weather.

I finally found my chapstick and took it out. "Yeah, why?"

"My sister Erica is in town and wanted to see me play so do you think you could hang out with her at the game? I don't want her to feel left out or not have a good time," he explained.

I nodded with a smile. "Sure Pat, I love Erica! Is she going to sit in the box or in the stands?" I always had access to the wives/girlfriends box since Jon never really had a steady girlfriend to bring to a game, but sitting in the crowd was amazing.

"She wants to sit in the stands, is that cool with you?" He stood up so he wasn't bending over to look at me through the window.

"Yeah, sounds great. I'll text her later," I said.

Patrick picked his bag up from where he left it on the ground. "Thanks Alex, you're the best."

I flipped my hair. "I know I am."

Patrick rolled his eyes but smiled and gave me a wave before leaving. I rolled my window up and left the United Center.

---

I texted Erica later that day to see if she wanted to meet up for some drinks before the game. We met at a bar near the arena before puck drop.

I got there a little early and sat down at a table near the door. I didn't feel out of place at all in my Toews jersey; almost everyone else in the bar was wearing a Blackhawks jersey or some kind of merchandise, so they must've all been going to the game too.

Erica walked up a few minutes later. "Alex!" She pulled me into a hug. "It's been forever."

"I know right! We need to fly you out to Chicago more often," I laughed a little.

She ordered a drink and when the waiter walked away, said "So what's up with you? Anything new?"

I shook my head. "Not really. Oh! Well, I don't work at the physical therapy place anymore."

"Why not?" She furrowed her brow.

"I got fired," I said and took a sip of my drink.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. Do you need anything?"

I waved her off. "Nah, I actually applied for another job today. The Blackhawks had an open position as assistant athletic trainer so I'll be interviewing for that pretty soon."

"Wow that's great! I really hope you get the job," Erica smiled at me. "Then you can keep our boys in check."

I laughed along with her. "Actually, they've been doing pretty good lately. No drama or anything."

"Well that's always a plus," she joked. "Nice jersey, by the way," she said wth a wink.

"Thanks, I- hey, you know it's not like that with us," I protested as Erica kept wiggling her eyebrows. Being best friends with Jonathan, I was used to getting comments made about how we were "totally in love" or how we were "meant to be together", but I always brushed them off.

"I'm only joking." Erica stood up. "Come on, let's get to the UC!"

We walked the couple blocks to the arena and quickly found our seats. We had glass seats in the corner of the Hawks' zone.

It was a fun game to be at: Jonathan scored once and Patrick scored twice to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 win against Calgary. Thankfully, they would all be in good moods now.

Erica and I went back to the locker rooms and waited in the hallway with the rest of the WAGs. We talked with a few of the younger ones that we were closer with.

Finally Patrick and Jonathan came out of the locker rooms with their bags slung over their shoulders. The four of us talked for a bit before deciding to head home.

---

so oduya's back and i love stan bowman

fr think we can win this year, blackhawks 2017 champs you heard it here first!!

highkey the caps are looking great too so that would be an awesome series for the finals just sayin