United in Break-Up

Chapter 9

"Good training, girls! Strong defensive work and there were also many great approaches in the game structure - especially the goals were very beautifully played out!" Jonas shouted. The players applauded each other, beaming with joy. Such praise of the head coach was very welcome at the end of the first training camp of the pre-season. Almost a week they were now together in the sports hotel in the north of England and even if this time was very exhausting and hard for them, all the players knew that they would need such a preparation for a victorious season. "If you want, we'll take this afternoon off from training, maybe have a nice team evening together instead since team spirit is also very important for a successful team. Just please don't forget that tomorrow at 10 o'clock the departure is back towards London!" The women were noticeably happy about this unexpected free time for them and already started to make plans for the evening on the way back from the training pitch to the hotel.

"Cool, then we can finally go out and celebrate a bit today!" laughed Beth, who had a bit of a reputation as the party animal of the team. "Yeah, definitely! I really need that too after this hard week. Let's first go into town for some drinks and then maybe on to the club?" asked Leah. In the town where the players were spending their training camp, there were various restaurants and pubs, but only one really noteworthy good nightclub, so the plan suggested by Leah was something that the other players quickly agreed on. They wanted to meet in the late afternoon to first go out for a bite to eat and then move on to the pubs and to the club in town.

Vivianne wasn't a big fan of parties, but when she saw how Beth was looking forward to the evening and the night, she couldn't help but get infected by her anticipation. The last few days had been a bit strange for her since she had that one conversation with Lotte at the breakfast table. Lotte had suspected that Vivianne was interested in Beth - and that Beth was interested in her, too. An interest that could go far beyond friendship. From that moment, Vivianne found herself looking at her friend with slightly different eyes. It's not that she would stare at Beth while showering or watch her while changing or something like that - instead it was rather Beth's little actions that captivated Vivianne more and more. She liked the way Beth would wink at her for fun when their eyes met by "accident" in a room. She liked how Beth held doors open for her and waited until she walked through, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. She liked how Beth would gently and proudly pat her on the shoulder appreciatively after scoring a goal and send her a cute grin. Those were actually many things Vivianne hadn't paid much attention to before, but which she now clearly noticed on closer inspection - and above all, Lotte seemed to be quite right, Beth definitely had something of a little puppy in love, and to be honest that was very cute to Vivianne.

When Beth came out of the shared bathroom after showering and getting ready to go out, she wore a pair of black tight jeans that accentuated her toned legs, a white crop top that exposed her equally toned stomach and a chic black blazer to go with it. She looked drop dead gorgeous in Vivianne's opinion. "Didn't your mother teach you that it's rude to stare at other people?" laughed Beth, "At least close your mouth while you're doing it, please, your jaw has just literally dropped to the floor, Miedema!" Vivianne felt caught and realized that she was blushing a bit - but she didn't really care, all in all Beth just looked stunning. "Sorry, but you just look fantastic, wow! You should wear something like that more often!" said Vivianne, feeling a little bit caught. Even though it felt like a bit of pathetic attempt to save the situation to Vivianne, Beth smiled at her anyway. "Sure, I'll wear that outfit again next time during practice, but only for you!" she replied in a very sarcastic tone, "But thanks anyway, you little suck-up!" Vivianne had to laugh at this typical kind of humor from Beth, but still hoped that the Englishwoman knew that she was quite serious about her compliment.

After Vivianne also got ready for the evening, the two women went downstairs to the lobby of the hotel to wait for the others. When everyone was there, they headed into town, where they booked a table at a cute little Italian restaurant. As they entered, Vivianne was about to sit down next to Beth when she pulled her chair back and waited for the Dutch woman to take a seat on it. "Look at you, Meado, you charmer!" laughed Jordan over to them and Vivianne couldn't help but laugh along, it was really very cute how much effort Beth was putting in to make her feel good and it was inexplicable to her why she hadn't noticed that before. Vivianne looked around the table and shot Lotte a little grin - the other woman returned her gaze with a silent "Told you so" kind of look.

After the women placed their orders, conversation flowed well and the food came on relatively quickly. It tasted good to all and also the one or other glass of wine was already drunk. The conversations began to revolve around the upcoming international break, which the players faced after the training camp. Definitely not the best timing in terms of their recovery after an exhausting week, but most of the players who played in the national teams of their countries were still looking forward to playing for their country again and seeing their other teammates. Vivianne met with the Dutch national team in Amsterdam, while the English national team was scheduled to play in Manchester.

"So, Viv, speaking of the national teams and sitting here in this Italian restaurant - shall we say hello from you to our all favorite half-Italian? It must be pretty hard that you don't get to see Russo for so long because of the training camp and then because of the international games. I hope your young love can take that at all?" asked Jordan jokingly, directly addressing Vivianne. The Dutchwoman thought she heard a soft choking sound next to her and perceived that Beth had put her cutlery aside. She also noticed another pair of blue eyes staring at her - Leah's. She, too, seemed eager for an answer. "Sure, you're welcome to do that, but we're actually a long way from "young love" at the moment," Vivianne simply replied. She couldn't help but realize that Beth next to her exhaled noticeably and exchanged an indistinct look with Leah - what was that all about? But, well, let's see what the evening holds for all of them...