The Captain's Armband

25. The date - Part 2

The host smiles at us. "You ready to be brought to your table?"
"Yes, we are." Leah says while she grabs my hand and pulls me closer.
He brings us back inside and brings us to a table for two, at the window, with the same wonderful view as on the rooftop. Overlooking the waters and the city lights, a small fireplace nearby and soft music playing from the boxes on the walls. It's truly romantic.
"Leah, I'm so impressed."
"Good. That's what I was going for."
"I mean it, how did you manage all this from England?"
"I have my ways. You deserve the best."
I give her a shy smile. She puts her hand over my hand, rubbing it softly.
"I never thought you would be such a romantic." I tell her.
"Well, this is the Leah outside of football but I have to be honest, you bring out the best in me."
"Stop it."
"I mean it. Ever since I met you, I feel different. I want to be better, do better."
I'm speechless. I look down with a shy smile. I'm so in love with her and I'm going to tell her that tonight.
"Can I get you ladies something to drink?" The host says while handing us the menu's.
"I would love two glasses of your best champagne please." Leah says.
The host nods and walks away.
"Champagne? Leah, that's very expensive."
She smiles at me. "Baby, don't worry please, I've got it all covered."
"I don't want you to pay for everything."
"But I will pay for everything anyway." She sticks out her tongue which makes me laugh.
The host comes back with the champagne and gets our orders.
"On more dates to come." Leah says as we toast.
"Definitely."
"Before we continue this lovely date, I wanted to talk to you about something." Leah says. She looks serious.
"Ok, go on."
"How are you feeling now, about Jordan and everything that happened? We haven't talked about it yet but I feel like we should." She takes a deep breath.
"Well, I had a lot of time to think about it, there isn't anything that can change the way I feel about you. As long as we agree on being honest, I think we're good."
"I couldn't agree more. I can't promise you it will be pretty all the time but I can promise you it will be the truth."
"That's all I'm asking for." I give her a smile.
We stare into each other's eyes. The room around us is vanishing, all I can see is her and her beautiful eyes. The waiter comes to our table with our food, it looks really delicious.
"I can understand it feels a bit weird for you that I'm still living in the same house."
"It's ok, really. I try not to think about it too much."
"I think things are going to change soon."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I've heard some rumours."
"What did you hear?"
"Between you and me ok?"
"Of course."
"I think Keets will leave us for United, Lisa will stay at West Ham permanent and two others will probably leave and I think we will buy a striker and a winger, this means there will be a massive change in the housing we currently have, maybe it's time I talk with Jordan about it, see who of us will move to another household, maybe we can trade or something."
I give her a smile. "You don't have to do this for me, you know that right?"
"I'm not doing this for you. It's time to move on for the both of us. We will still see each other at the club and play together obviously but I think this is the right thing to do and with all these changes, this is the right time."
"It sounds like the right time indeed."
It feels good to talk to her about this. I've been thinking about it way too much, I'm glad she took the first step to talk about Jordan. That means something, she thought about it too.
"This view is amazing." She says as she looks outside the window.
"It truly is. I love Amsterdam by night, all the lights, it's so pretty."
"How was your food?"
"Delicious. How about yours?"
"Very tasteful. I'm glad you liked it too."

We talk for a bit before the host comes to our table. "You made reservations for the Exclusive lounge, correct?"
"That's correct." Leah says.
"Follow me, please." The host says as he starts walking.
We get up and follow him.
"Exclusive lounge? What is that?" I ask Leah.
"You will see." She gives me a smirk.
We walk through the building, on the other side of the restaurant is a lounge area with big sofa's, fireplaces and live music. There are other people but it's not too crowded.
We take a seat on the big sofa, Leah sits close to me, putting her arm around me.
"This band is great, I've looked them up, they play mostly soul covers."
"I have to be honest with you, I don't know how I can ever top this."
"You don't have to top anything. All I care about is you, as long as you are on the date, I'm good."
"God, Leah."
She smiles at me. "You know, there is something I want to share with you."
My heart starts to race.
She clears her throat and sits up so she can look into my eyes. "From the first moment I saw you, sitting there in Sarina's office, I knew there was something about you, something that attracted me, that intrigued me. I couldn't keep my eyes off of you and I wanted to get to know you." She stops and looks down, having a shy smile on her face.
I hold her hand. "Go on." I whisper.
"When we said goodbye and I saw you leaving, not knowing if we would talk to each other again, it broke me. I had to face my feelings at that moment. I had to admit to myself that what I'm feeling is real. Well, what I'm trying to say.. Dani, I'm in love with you."
I can't hide my smile. "Leah, I'm in love with you too, you are the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep."
I can see she is relieved. "You have no idea what it does to me to hear you say those words."
"I am a little scared though. I've never felt like this before." I admit to her.
"That's okay, I'm scared too." She gives me a smile.
We both take a deep breath and look into each other's eyes, the band jamming in the background, the fireplace that gives us warmth, it's all so perfect.
"You know, I really want to kiss you but I know you don't like being openly together in public."
She comes closer. "All I wanted to do all day long, is kiss you." She puts her hand on the side of my face, her thumb softly stroking my cheek. She pulls me closer. I can feel the butterflies in my stomach and my heart is racing so fast. This feels like a first kiss. She comes closer and I feel her lips pressing onto mine, they feel so soft. She gives me a kiss again, this time her lips are partly open and I can feel a little of her tongue, god I've been longing for this. We open our mouths and kiss each other, our tongues show how much they have missed each other, all these feelings rushing through my body.
"God, this feels so good." I whisper while holding her head close to mine.
"It sure does." She whispers. She gives me another kiss before leaning back.
"Your kisses are amazing."
She gives me her typical, shy laugh and looks down.
"You know, I was really nervous this morning." She says.
"I was too."
"I kept packing and unpacking my bag, I was so indecisive, nothing looked good enough."
"Well, you did a good job because you look stunning tonight."
"Thank you babe. Shall I get us another cocktail?"
"Would love one, surprise me."
She nods and walks over to the bar. I can't believe it, it feels like I'm dreaming. Leah is in love with me. The incredible, talented, sexy, beautiful Leah Williamson. I feel like the luckiest girl alive.
She comes walking back with two cocktails. "It's not a Mead Special but I think you would like it."
I start to laugh. "How did you remember?"
"I have a confession to make." She gives me a soft smile.
"Okay."
"I watched the Get To Know Dani and Questions clips of you a lot, like really a lot."
"That so cute." I give her a smile.
She looks into my eyes and smiles back.
"I watched all your games as well, I'm glad they show it on YouTube. You have been killing it babe."
"Yeah, two hattricks in a row. I'm feeling good, getting the call-up and training with all of you really helped me perform better."
"I don't mean to disrespect but I think you are way too good to play at Ajax or in the Dutch League for that matter."
I shrug my shoulders.
"I mean it, you are so talented Dani. You need to challenge yourself in the games, this league isn't a challenge for you anymore. Have you ever considered moving to another league?"
"Of course I have thought of it or maybe even dreamed of it. I used to say I only wanted to move to the Bundesliga because I wanted to stay close to my dad..."
"And?"
"And now.. I don't know. Maybe the WSL is an option as well, I'm just scared I won't get to see my dad that often anymore. He is all I've god and I'm all he's got. With his work and my training schedule, it's going to be tough and the plane tickets aren't cheap and my dad can't afford to skip work too much."
She gives me a smile and hold my hand. "You need to follow your heart. Listen to how you feel about the offers that might come your way, talk about it with your dad, talk about it with me, I will always support you, no matter what league you will go to, even if it's on the other side of the world."
"So, if the NWSL would come with an offer I couldn't refuse?"
"I would support you all the way. I would never stand in the way of your career."
I smile at her. "There haven't been any offers yet and the transfer window isn't open till January so we shouldn't be talking about this just yet. Who knows, maybe there will be no offers at all."
"Trust me when I say, there will be offers. I've heard about the scouts and I have seen you play. But no pressure, you still got until January to think about what you want to do."

I get up from the couch. Leah looks at me with questionable eyes.
"Can I have this dance?" I ask her and I see she gets a big smile on her face.
She holds my hand and gets up. We walk over to the dancefloor and start moving to the music.
Her body close against mine, her hands touching my back and shoulder, our bodies guided by the rhythm of the music.
"You're so sexy when you dance like this." She whispers in my ear with a raspy voice.
"Oh god, your raspy voice give me tingles all over."
"Hm, does it now."
"It sure does." I say while I exhale in her ear.
"Fuck." She whispers.
I smile. "I love how our bodies respond this strongly to one another."
"Me too, I've never felt this before." She gives me a soft kiss on my cheek.
"I wish this night would never end." I whisper to her.

To be continued..