All or Nothing

Chapter 4

Days slipped by without John's presence, Aimee heard on the radio that City were playing Paris Saint-Germain in France.  They lost.  Something that was almost an alien concept to this high-achieving squad.  Aimee hoped John was okay.  She noticed he didn't play again, that must be frustrating for him.

In John's absence, Rosie and Hattie become firm friends.  Aimee loved watching them together, giggling at things only four-year-olds wound find funny and sharing their deepest secrets.  They made quite the comical duo; Hattie, easily the tallest in the class, and Rosie one of the smallest.

On Thursday, he was back.  Aimee swore he had somehow become even better looking.  He was wearing skinny jeans today, not many guys could pull skinny jeans off, but he did. 

"Hey Stranger!"  She greeted him with a beaming smile, any intentions of keeping her distance instantly forgotten.

"Hi," he smiled back.  "You're a bit early, aren't you?"  He joked.

She smiled sheepishly, "I've turned over a new leaf I'll have you know!" 

And she had, not wanting to run the risk of leaving Rosie waiting ever again, she had cut back on the number of delivery slots she offered. 

"Glad to hear it," he smiled.  "How you been?" 

It had been 10 days since John had seen Hattie in person, FaceTime conversations were no substitute to having her in his arms.  Of course, he was excited to see her, the day had dragged by, but when he saw Aimee walking towards him, he realised he was glad to see her too.

The girls came out of school holding hands, Hattie, on spotting John, had let go and left Rosie trailing behind her as she rushed to greet her daddy. 

"Can Hattie come to the park with us?"  Rosie was bouncing up and down with excitement. 

"I said we could go to the park after school if you ate your lunch," Aimee reminded her of the promise she had made in the car that morning, she had been certain she would never have to fulfil it. 

"I did!" Rosie said proudly. 

Aimee didn't quite believe her, but she also didn't want John to think she didn't trust her daughter, she resisted the urge to look inside Rosie's lunch bag. 

"So can Hattie come?"

"Would you and Hattie like to come to the park with us?" Aimee looked up at John, she didn't expect him to agree; it had clearly been a while since he had seen Hattie and he probably had plans.  Plus, the footballer mansion he undoubtedly lived in probably had a play park even better than the village one in its back garden. 

"What do you think Hats?" John cocked an eyebrow at Hattie.  "Shall we go to the park with Rosie?"

"YES!" The two girls squealed; Rosie was still bouncing, and Hattie now joined her.   Aimee wondered how they could have so much energy after a full day of school.

"It's nice here," John observed as they made the short walk to the park past neatly manicured gardens. 

"I like it," Aimee agreed. 

"Have you always lived here?"  He enquired; being famous made meeting new people slightly awkward.  They usually knew plenty about him, his history available in seconds through a quick internet search.  It made him feel vulnerable being so exposed when he knew nothing about the other person. He still didn't know her name.

"No," Aimee shook her head. "My friend works at the salon."

"There's a salon?" John laughs: the village was so small that this was news to him.