Lose Yourself

11. Stubborn Strikers

Auba would have thought he was used to being ignored by now.

After everything he and Laca had put each other through, he thought they were past this, but as he watched his so called best friend laughing and joking with their teammates after blatantly avoiding him, he was forced to concede that no, they were not, in fact, past this. Auba was aware that his emotions must have been obvious on his face, and that not all of his internal monologue was entirely rational, but he was past the point of caring. He couldn't help thinking that they'd tried. But clearly, Laca had decided that he couldn't move on from what had happened, and instead, was moving on from Auba. Jordyn had told him he needed to sort it, and when Hector sat down beside him, it was clear that he shared her sentiment.

"I know what you're going to say," said Auba.

Training had, in fact, finished for the afternoon, but the weather was starting to grow warmer, and most of the boys were making the most of the sunshine.

"If you know what I'm going to say, then why haven't you done it yet?"

"What?" Asked Auba.

"Talk to him!" Exclaimed Hector. "Fix your problems! They're not going to go away by themselves, and they certainly won't if you sit here sulking."

"Hector," Auba sighed, shaking his head. "I hate to break it to you, but I think this is past fixing."

Hector was stunned into silence for a beat.

"How long has this been going on for, exactly?"

That was a question Auba was decidedly not prepared for, and he merely shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. You don't need to worry, Hec, I won't let this affect how I play, and Laca is clearly fine, so..."

"I don't think you understand how heavily we rely on your chemistry these days," Hector told him. He eyed the tall Gabonese with a critical expression. "So much of what we have is built around you two idiots and your jokes with one another. So this better be pretty damn serious for you to just give up on it. You're not just giving up on Laca, you know. You'll be giving up on us too."

"Don't make this into such a big deal," Auba shook his head. He stretched out his hands, and rose to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Hector asked him.

"Home?"

The Spaniard sighed in resignation, but said nothing, and after a moment, Auba walked away.

Jordyn was buzzing with thinly veiled excitement as she tugged open the door to the coffee shop on Sunshine Terrace. The bell jingled as she stepped through with a pep in her step, and smiled pleasantly at the customers, some of whom recognised her with a wave. Had they known the Australian girl a little better, they would undoubtedly have been surprised. Lia, when she caught sight of her friend, was sufficiently impressed.

"What happened to you?" She asked in passing, as Jordyn joined her on the other side of the bench. She then moved immediately on to serve the next customer, and Jordyn shook her head with a smile, knowing Lia hadn't expected an immediate answer anyway.

The blonde passed through the kitchen, saying hello to Ally on the way before entering the back room. She dumped her keys in her pigeon hole, and slipped out of her coat, hanging it on one of the hooks. She pocketed her phone in her jeans, before returning to aid Lia. There was already a few orders stuck to the side of the coffee machine, and she removed the first one, immediately getting to work.

"You're in a good mood today Jord," said Lia, bumping into her friend playfully as she finally finished attending to the line of customers wanting to order, and began to take out plates for some of Ally's muffins.