Cooking up a storm

Part 3

August 7th
Abigail's POV:
After spending a good 10 minutes squealing like a high school girl I obviously followed Alessia back because that's the friendly thing to do, right?

I'd been doing a bit of work from home and going through some plans as I had meeting with each of the players throughout the week so we could sort their meal plans out. After doing this for a bit I decided to go a walk for a hot chocolate since I had nothing better to do. I got up and flung some leggings and an oversized hoodie on with my panda dunks to match, grabbed my AirPods and off I went.

As I was walking through a park area I seen familiar face walking towards me, just my luck it was the blonde I'd just stalked on Instagram. "Oh Alessia hello!"
"Abigail hey! what brings you out"
"Please call me Abi, Abigail sounds so serious and formal" I laughed. "I was just out a walk to grab a hot chocolate if you'd like to join me?" I ask hoping she'd say yes.
"Yea that actually sounds lovely!" She sweetly replied
We walked to a cute little coffee shop whilst just talking generally about Manchester United and what we both did before joining the club, I often go to this coffee shop as it's run by a lovely older couple who always have a nice chat with me whenever I'm here because apparently I'm their favourite regular which always makes my day! Once we'd arrived as per usual the woman behind the counter, Julia, sees me come in and comes round to greet me and give me a hug, "miss Abigail its lovely to see you again, me and Peter have missed you"
"Julia how many times please call me Abi" I laughed "but yes I missed you both as well even though I was in a few days ago" I smiled and from the corner of my eye I can see Alessia next to me giggling at the interaction.
"It seems you've brought a celebrity this time, Alessia Russo it's a pleasure to meet you" she gushed
"Julia and Peter are massive Man Utd fans they watch you guys as often as they can, they were actually one of the first people I told when I got the job apart from my family in Scotland of course!" I explained
"Aw that's amazing it's so lovely to meet you Julia, from the welcome I've had I'll be here more often" Less cutely replied making Julia smile even bigger.
"Right you 2 sit down and I'll come over in a few minutes and get and order from you, Abigail your usual table is free for you so you pair get yourselves comfortable and I'll be over soon"
Once we sat down and got comfortable we both look at each other and just giggle, "okay that might've been the cutest greeting I've ever seen between you guys, how did you find this place?" she asked
"It was about 6 years ago and I'd just moved to Manchester for university and I'd finished unpacking my flat and decided to go a wander around the area and found this hidden gem, anyway I come in and instantly was greeted by this lovely couple who I'd found out own the cafe and yea I've been coming here for my hot chocolates ever since!"
"That's so cute omg, she seems amazing and I've only been here 5 minutes" she exclaimed
"Yea she's like my Manchester mum"
"I can see why but I'm going to have to go back ... hot chocolate really! Are you not a coffee fan" she questioned
"I am not I've never found a coffee I like but for a girl in the job I'm in I'm an incredibly fussy eater" I said
She laughed at me over the table, "your just like Tooney then I can see why you get on so well now"
"She just gets how good hot chocolate is!" I say while shrugging my shoulders
"We'll I've got an idea, how about you order me a drink and I'll order yours I'll bet I can get you a coffee you like"
"Okay you've got yourself a deal Russo!"

After a few minutes of discussing what to get Julia comes over to get our order, "hello ladies are we ready to order?"
"Yea we definitely are" I laughed
"Abigail I'm guessing your having your usual, a regular hot chocolate?" She assumed but before I could answer Alessia chimes in, "actually could Abi get an iced caramel mocha?" She smiled at Julia who just looked at less like she had 2 heads
"Hold on how have you managed to get her to have something other than hot chocolate I've been trying for years!" Me and Alessia just laughed
"I'm not that bad I just love your hot chocolate so much Julia, but Lessi here is certain I'll like this so here we are" I replied
"Well miss Alessia I am impressed, Abi you better bring her back!" She said and I blushed which Alessia noticed as she giggles at me.
"I'll try my best, anyway can Alessia please get a regular hot chocolate please Julia!"
"I should've known, yes of course my dear I'll get those for you now!" She smiled at us both before heading back behind the counter, I turned back to face the beautiful blonde in front of me.
"So "lessi" nicknaming me already are we?" She teased me
"Oh sorry I hadn't even realised I said it" I blushed again
"Hey it's cute I like it but it's not as cute as you when you blush" she teased looking into my eyes
"I get it I'm shy and easily flustered" I replied giggling
"Okay okay I'll move on, so what made you move to Manchester for university?" She asked remember I told her earlier
"I think I just wanted a change and I'd known for a while what I wanted to do and moving to England would allow me the best opportunities to achieve what I wanted but as supportive as my family were it was heartbreaking leaving them and still does to me when I have to leave after a visit" I finished a looked at her and I could see she was genuinely interested in what I was saying which made me smile at her
"I get that completely I went to America for university on a football scholarship at UNC and it was the best decision I've ever made but I missed my family and friends a lot, so after the 4 years I knew I wanted to come back to the UK and I was lucky enough to have Man Utd want me, which in itself was unreal but my family are massive utd fans to when they heard I was not only coming home but joining utd they were buzzing" she talked so passionately about her journey and how she loved America which made me a little jealous as she made it sound like heaven.

After that chat Julia comes over with our drinks and winks at me as she leaves to which I laugh and shake my head
" I hope you're ready to be a coffee lover" she said
"Well see Russo, are you ready for the second best hot chocolate of you live, behind mine of course!" I bragged
"That's a bold statement Evans, I'll need to try yours one day to compare"
"That can very much be arranged"
"Okay let's try them at the same time and give our reactions" I giggled at her excitement and agreed, we counted down and as much as it pained me I actually enjoyed the coffee
Well you've only gone and done it... this is the coffee I need in my life, I've been waiting for this day!" I say dramatically
What can I say I have great taste Abi, but I've got to say as far as hot chocolates go this is like heaven, you've no chance of beating that"
I laughed "challenge accepted"
We got our phones out and were sitting in a comfortable silence when I decided to take a photo of Alessia and her hot chocolate for my instagram story, I captioned it "the best in the world... and some footballer" I tagged her and she noticed the notification and clicked to see what I'd posted, she opened it and laughed, "some footballer wow I recall you asking me here" she laughed
She then decides to take a photo of me and my coffee which I posed with, she showed me the photo but not the caption. A few seconds later I get a notification, I quickly click to see the photo she took with the caption "just maturing her tastebuds with my favourite coffee"
I gasped and laughed, "so that's why you ordered that"
"Of course because if you didn't like it I would've drank it" she shrugs while smiling at me
"Sneaky Lessi very sneaky"

We both continue to finish our drinks whilst learning more about each other and our life growing up, I learned a lot about her like how close her and her family are which is amazing to hear because she deserves a loving support from her family, she learned that I am also very close with my family back home and we speak everyday and visit as often as we can, she also learned that I have a big brother, Conor, that's 2 years older than me with a wife and baby girl, Maya, my niece who she asked to see a photo of and gushed when she seen her.

After awing at our family and telling stories from our childhood we decided to get going as we were the only customers left and didn't want to leave poor Julia too late, as we approached the till I went to pay "Abi no let me"
"I asked you hear as I recall you saying so it's my treat love"
She blushed at the name, "fine but ill get the next one"
I smiled at the thought of her wanting to see me again out with work.
I went up to the counter to pay Julia and as always I gave her a tip to which she tried to decline but I wouldn't let her, she came round the counter to give me a hug goodbye when she whispered in my ear, "you keep her Abigail I've not seen you smile that much since I've met you"
"Julia were just friends but don't worry I'll bring her back to meet Peter"
"We'll see how long your just friends for sweetheart I can see these things" I laughed and pulled away
We walked over to Alessia who was waiting near the door, she looked up from her phone just in time to be pulled into a massive hug from Julia who said, "Alessia again it was a pleasure to meet you hopefully I'll see you again soon with young  Abigail here" she pointed at me
"You definitely will, hopefully next time I see you I can meet Peter as well" I sweetly said
"Aw he'd love that he'll be so jealous when I tell him" I laughed
Well Julia I'll see you soon we better get going" I smiled, as me and Alessia got out the door I looked in the window I Julia winked as me as we were walking away, I knew what she meant.

As we walked back to the park we met we stopped as we were about to head different ways
"I had a lovely time today Lessi thank you"
"You don't need to thank me silly I had a great time, I'd love to do it again soon" she looked at me
"That would be amazing"
"Perfect, we'll I'll see you tomorrow Abs!"
"Oooo new nickname" I teased
"Well since I have one i thought it was only right"
That's ever so thoughtful of you!" I exclaimed dramatically
We hugged and said our goodbyes and headed to our own houses.

Once I'd got back to my flat I got changed back into my pyjamas and made some dinner before properly settling in for the night. I went up to my room at about 8:30 not realising how tired I actually was until I got under my covers, my first day business really catching up to me I fell asleep almost instantly not checking my notifications before falling asleep deciding I'll do it tomorrow.

A/N:
Sorry for not uploading the past few days I've been very busy but WTH was that game on Saturday it was unreal... the magic trio scoring for UTD as well and of course Less had to bag the winner! Unreal! But can we talk about the wholesome moment between leah and Viv fixing her hair before she went on🥹