A Lucky Break

Tour

Leah's POV:

After a day of training on the pitch and in the gym, I make my way back to the Colony to meet out new team member. I'm waiting just inside the main building, scrolling through my phone when the door opens, revealing Joe and a girl I haven't seen before. The football world is small, and the pool of goal keepers is even smaller, so I thought I would've at least recognised her. I stand up as Joe walks over and the girl follows. "Thanks for coming. How are you feeling," he asks.

"Thanks for the invite. Yeah, not too bad, not a bad session today," I say with a laugh.

"Brilliant. Well, this is Hayley Jones, newest Arsenal goalkeeper," he introduces me.

I stick out my hand, which she grabs, and pull her into a hug, "I'm Leah. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she says quietly. Joe was right, she is shy.

"Ok Leah, head up to the canteen and we will be there soon. Then you can do the tour if you want," Joe tells me.

I nod back, "Sounds good to me."

After waiting upstairs for about 15 minutes Joe leads Hayley through the doors of the canteen. "Alright, all yours. I'll be in my office if you need anything," he says as he walks back out of the room.

"Ok then," I say. I can tell she is nervous so I wrap an arm about her shoulder, "No need to stress. I guess Joe has told you that you'll be staying with me."

"Umm yeah, sorry, I know it's probably not very convenient..." she begins.

"No, no, it's going to be great. Think of me like a big sister for the time being," I say with a smile.
She gives me a small smile on return, "Ok."

"Ok then, let's get started. Speak up if you have any questions, whether that's about football or me," she nods for me to continue. "So, this is the canteen. We have breakfast and lunch here every day that we have practice. The foods good and there's coffee if that's what you're into. I don't drink it so don't know what it's like," I ramble as we walk out the door.

"Do you have strict meal plans," she asks as she looks around.

"Nah, it's usually just eating healthy. The food they give us is well balanced, you know, eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, oatmeal for breakfast and then lunch is a selection of a few different veges, something with rice or pasta and some type of meat. Just sensible eating," I explain. "We also have protein shakes, smoothie or bars after we are finished on the field or in the gym."

"Sounds nice," she says quietly.

I just smile at that before continuing down the stand to the changing room, "This is the changing room. Everyone has their own locker so you keep your boots in her during the week and all our training kit gets washed for us so it's ready for the next day. "

"You don't have to wash it yourself," she asks, amazed.

I laugh, "Nope, which is nice considering it can get really muddy, especially the goalies. You don't want to take that home." I make my way to my spot and open my locker, "This is mine but it's nothing special."

"Is that your dog," she spots the photo of Bella I have stuck at the back of my locker.

"Yeah, her names Bella," I say with a smile, pulling out the photo and giving it to Hayley to look at.

"Cute," she whispers before handing it back to me.

"Do you have any pets," I ask as I close my locker back up and look towards her.

"Yeah, two house dogs," she says pulling out her phone and showing me her lock screen. It shows her laughing with two black dogs licking her face. "But we live on a farm so we have eight working dogs."

"Eight dogs," I say wide eyed.

"Yeah but they stay outside and don't cuddle like normal pets do," she says with a laugh.

-

As I am finishing the tour I feel like Hayley has opened up a lot since the beginning. I now know where she's from, about her family and friends, favourite foods and what she likes to do for fun. As we are walking back to the building from the training pitch, I realise I haven't given her much information about living with me. "Oh yeah, with you sharing my apartment, I just have a few questions. Just admin stuff not stress," I add when I see her face tighten with nerves.

"Ok," she says tentatively.

"When do you want to move in, you can bring your stuff over whenever," I say.

"Umm... I don't know. I go back home next week for Christmas and then I'm coming back the day before the New Year. I don't know I'd that helps," she laughs nervously.

I think for a moment, "Why don't you start moving stuff before you leave and then it's easy to just come back and it all be there."

"Ah, yeah, ok. I don't really have that much over here. Just a couple of suitcases," she explains.

"That's fine. I have everything you'll need. Your bedroom already has a bed and wardrobe. You can leave clothes here so you can bring more back since you're going to be here a while," I wink at her.

She laughs, "I guess so."

"I also have a girlfriend that stays over quite a bit, if that's ok with you," I ask. "She's on the team so she won't be a stranger, but you can let me know if you need your own space."

"Ok that's fine. It's your apartment," she says.

"It's our place now," I say as I chuck my arm over her shoulder, pulling her into a side hug and we are both laughing as we enter Joe's office.