LIA'S POV
«Oh my god Tabea, I can't keep doing this!» I raise my voice, perhaps the first time in my entire life, at least in front of her.
She has never heard me talk this angrily before, and she seems to be deeply hurt by it, somehow.
«What do you suggest we do, then?»
«Let's maybe call it a day, okay? I won't follow you back to Germany, and that's a promise.»
I take my jacket and my sunglasses, which I have left on the counter, and storm out of the apartment.
December has passed now, and with it went my relationship with Tabea. She has just retired from professional football and is studying to become a policewoman back in Germany, but I have decided to stay here in London, putting an indefinite end to our long-lasting relationship.
It's the last days of January, and I haven't stopped crying since the day I went back to our house to find it empty of any memory of her. She has vanished from my life, along with every beautiful moment of us. My heart has been shattered, and with my injury the one thing that I would have helped me heal – football – time seems to have stopped.
Maybe I just should have gone with her, to avoid the inevitable heartbreak that she has left me with. But would it have been fair to me?
«Wally! Earth to Wally!» Leah shouts, a little bit too loudly, making me turn to her. «Mate, it's the third time I've asked for the salt.»
«Sorry» I barely smile, doing as she has asked.
«You need to come down from the clouds» Jordan pats me on the back of my head. «You are a bit messed up.»
«I'll be fine.»
I hear someone opening the front door, followed by some cheerful chattering, so I make my way over there to greet the newcomers.
The Aussies are just a step inside the house, chuckling about someone falling, when they greet me with a smile. I hug Lydia and Steph, and finally meet the new girl, Caitlin. I wave at her politely, trying my hardest to make a smile appear on my face despite the awful times I'm going through.
«Hey Wally, how you doing?» the first two girls ask me, hugging the hell out of me.
«Fine, how are you?»
«Good. Cait, this is Lia. Wally, this is the new girl, Caitlin.»
I shake her hand, then take from her hands the bottle of wine she has brought to the dinner.
«Leah and Jordy are in the kitchen, Kim, Katie and Manu are on their way.»
«Viv and Lisa?»
«On a date.»
Danielle and Beth tell us to join them on the couch while the house owners finish cooking our meal, so I sit down next to the latter and wait for someone to start a conversation.
«So, Lia, I see that you've finally met the third Aussie» Beth smirks at me.
«Yeah, so?»
«She is cute, isn't she?»
«Where are you getting with this?» I ask, already knowing that something is off.
«There's a bet going around that you two will fall in love» Danielle enters the conversation, suddenly.
Beth and I are both annoyed, but from different reasons. While she tells her girlfriend that she wasn't supposed to tell me about it, my mind drifted once again towards the last woman I have fallen in love with.
«Hey» Caitlin shyly says, pulling a chair closer to me. «Mind if I join you?»
I shake my head, and gesture her to sit down.
«I'm happy we finally got to meet, everyone has been talking about you in training. How's the leg?»
«Recovering. We'll see.»
We start taking about injuries and training, then football. The conversation is not as interesting as we make it appear to be, so as soon as Katie, Kim and Manu enter the door, I am happy to escape Caitlin's intense eyes.
«Oy, so you've met her!» Katie chuckles, referring to the new Aussie, who has got back to her conversation with Beth.
«Not you, too, please» I sigh, helping her with her coat.
«I think you'd make a great fit» she nods, with her thick accent. «But anyway, what's there to eat?»
«Pasta, so let's move to the dining room, okay?» I say, raising my voice to get everyone's attention.
In fact, Leah and Jordan bring out the food a few minutes later, making everyone really happy, especially after a week of hard training and recovery.
As we are eating, Leah and Jordan try to make me part of any random conversation, but I avoid answering completely. I'd rather listen than talk, so I stay quiet except for the few times a question is pointed directly at me.
«Anyone wanna play truth or drink?» Danielle proposes.
«Guys, there's training tomorrow» Kim tries to warn us.
«It'll just be a few shots, we'll be fine. Caitlin, you start.»
«Uhh...»
She can't come up with a good question and doesn't know who to talk to, so Jordan whispers one in her ear.
«Hey, that's cheating!» Leah protests.
«Okay then... Leah, did you steal Jordan's fuzzy socks?» Caitlin spits out, still not convinced enough about her question.
Leah pours herself a shot of whiskey and moves on, but Jordan still throws her a murderous look.
The game is starting to get interesting, as most of the girls are tipsy and the questions are getting more and more stupid.
«Is it my turn again?» Caitlin mumbles.
She has drunk the most, because she's new and everyone's attention is rightfully drawn on her. I have only taken one shot, and answered to my questions normally without hiding anything – not that I have much to hide.
«Yes» I smile at her.
«Okey dokey!» she exclaims. «Lia. If you're single, how did your last relationship end?»
My heart freezes in my chest, as I think about Tabea. I don't wanna drink, but I also don't wanna tell her the painful truth. Ultimately, I decide that I'd rather stay sober and focus better tomorrow, so I drink some water and start explaining everything to her.
«...so that's it. Next day she was gone, back to Germany.»
«Woahhhh» Jordan sighs, with her head on the counter and lost eyes. «Messed up.»
«I know» I weakly smile. «It's gotten late, I should go. Does anyone need a drive home?»
Beth and Danielle are gonna sleep here at Leah's and Jordan's, since they are way too wasted to go home. Two of the Aussies are gonna drive together since they live next to each other, Kim and Manu are giving Katie a lift, so I look over at Caitlin. She's closest to me, so I smile at her and tell her to come with me.
«Thank you» she says, with a shy smile.
«No problem.»
She is still very tipsy, and sometimes can't hold in a cute laugher, making me smile as well, genuinely for the first time in months.
«This is your place, right?»
She nods, and gets out of the car, only to walk drunkenly to the front door.
«Wait, let me help you.»
I open the door to her house and accompany her inside, just to see a bunch of unopened boxes laying on the floor. I understand that she has just moved in, but this is giving me depression just by looking at it.
«Stay» she turns to me, suddenly. «Stay here with me.»
She takes my hand and gets closer to me, but is not aiming at my lips. She is just lacking love and care, so I caress her hair and nod slowly.
«Fine» I agree. «Go put on your pajamas.»
She runs to the other room acting like a happy little girl, making me chuckle. She's way too cute for this world.
23/03/2023
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LOVE ON THE PITCH || Woso oneshots
FanfictionWoso oneshots :) DISCLAIMR: English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistake I made in this book. I don't speak many languages used in this book, so I apologize if the translations are wrong. Also, be aware that there might be unusua...
