Chapter 2

The following morning, at the sound of her alarm, Cara’s thoughts jumped back to the previous evening.  Pinching herself, she realized she wasn’t dreaming, she actually had dinner with him.  Pulling herself together, she found a suitable outfit for work, not her first choice, but it would do since she hadn’t been to the dry cleaner to pick up her clothes.  She put much more effort into packing a bag for the Penguins game that evening.  She left for work, barely able to contain her excitement.


That night, headed to the gate clutching the small ticket envelope.  The usher led her down to her seat, and when she sat down, she looked around her and gasped.  She was seated in Section A, on the blue line.  “This is practically on the ice,” she whispered in disbelief.  She watched raptly, jumping when the players careened into the glass, as it seemed they were about to land on her lap.


Midway through the second period, an usher came to her seat, and handed her a manila envelope.  She opened it, and a note and lanyard slid into her hands.  “I’m so glad you came, see you after the game.  J.”  She looked at the lanyard and hanging on the bottom was a locker room pass.  She watched the rest of the game, caught up in the excitement.  When time expired on the third period, the Penguins had trounced the Canadiens, 4-0.  It was a great game all around, a shutout for Flower, and 2 goals for Sid.  Cara was caught up in the thrill of the game and saddened that it was over.  She searched for an usher to help her find her way to the locker room.  Following him down a long set of hallways, she felt her heart start to speed up.  The usher stopped and motioned to a wood bench in the family lounge, “You can wait here Miss, the gentlemen will be out in a few moments.”
As she waited, she paged through emails on her Blackberry, trying to distract her mind.


After a little while, a voice made her jump. “Look at you, so hard at work.  Did you enjoy the game at least?”
She looked up and saw Jordan standing in front of her, his blond hair still damp from the shower, dressed in a hoodie and faded jeans, a backwards baseball cap on his head, and her breath caught in her throat.  He looked so perfect, she felt like touching him to make sure he was real.


After a moment, he held out his hand and asked “Are you ready, I was hoping we could go out for a while.”
“That would be great, I would love that”, she replied.
Taking her hand, he led her down a hallway and she felt a breeze.  As they stepped out a door, she looked at a parking lot filled with Beamers, Escalades, and other designer cars that most people could only dream of driving.
“Wait here” he said, as he sprinted off.
Moments later a black Escalade pulled up at the door, he appeared at her side and opened the passenger door for her.  Once they were in, he pulled out into the lingering post-game traffic. 
“Did you enjoy the game?” he asked, peering at her nervously.
“Jordan it was awesome, those seats were incredible.”
They rode in silence for a few minutes, until Jordan turned off a side street and put the car in park.  Cara looked around and realized there were at a back entrance of a South Side bar.  Jordan saw the confusion on her face.
“The bar owner is a good guy and friend of the team.  He lets us come here and slide in the back so we can have a little peace and quiet.”
After turning the car off, he opened her door and extended his hand.
“My what a perfect gentleman” Cara said laughingly.
“Well, with four boys, my mother was determined that we could all have manners” he replied with a smirk, “of course, I’m the only one she succeeded with.”
“Really, I would have thought that you were her only failure” Cara replied laughing.
Jordan feigned a hurt look for a moment and then started to laugh.  Cara was amazed at how easy it was to joke around with him.  He made her feel so comfortable; she could hardly believe that it was really him.