Met by Coincidence...Separated by Destiny...

Is it all worth it?

Hero's point of view..

"You are telling me that you want leave of absence for a month for reasons best known to you..?"

I just sit and nod. I wish I could tell Coach Dumfrey that I want this time off to win my Ex-Girlfriend back, the girl I am madly in love with, but for obvious reasons, I can't. So all I do is sit and nod while Coach Dumfrey looks at me with a shocked face.

"Hero, we have a Championship to win this year; you cannot just leave for a month from mid-season. That's not how things are done here. At least give me a reason so that I can tell the upper management."

It seems without a reason, Coach won't let me off that easily. But what can I tell him? Family emergency? Is it good enough for a month of leave? Also, do I need a month to convince Jo to give me another chance? Well, if I know my girl, even a month will be less to convince her.

"Coach my grams isn't well. And my mother can't look after her all by herself. One month will give my mother some time to look up alternatives."

"What about your father?"

"Out of the picture for a while now.."

I can't tell my Coach about my lovely family history. That's the best explanation I can give. Plus, grams is not well so it's not like I am telling Coach Dumfrey a full lie. Partial lie, yes.

"Fine. You can have this time up. But when you return, I want you in full shape. Also, you will have to cover all the pending gameplay within a week post your return. Are you OK with this?"

I nod again. It seems my tactic of nodding worked on Coach Dumfrey. I pick up my training kit and leave the coach's office.

Walking out of the gym, I find David already waiting for me in his black Mustang. He presses his horn to catch my attention as if his black Mustang isn't enough to do that in the first place. Getting inside the car, I put my bag in the back seat and got comfortable in the passenger seat.

"Unbelievable.." David sighs hard while starting his car.

"What's your problem?" I had to ask. David isn't the type of guy who would look frustrated. I have never seen him acting this way.

"You are going away for a month. Kandra isn't responding to my phone calls and I just don't know how I will resist the brutal practice sessions without my buddy and my..I don't know what to call Kandra."

Ohh..so she has a name. "You never told me the girl you are fucking has a name.."

I laugh at David's confused expression. We hit the highway. In less than 2 days I will be with Jo. The thought alone makes everything right for me. David agreed to join me for the road trip. We have a long 4-day weekend coming up starting tomorrow which means David had ample time to drive me to Stanford and drive back to Duke. When I told David that I would be taking one month off to win my girl back, he thought I had lost it. He thought Casey and I would work out, but she was a distraction, and I knew that from the start. The fact that Jo never moved on and I, on the other hand, got sexually involved with another girl seems so wrong.

The 2-day road trip gives me time to think about what happened last week. Jo just walled away the moment I told her that I was having sex with Casey. I was expecting some type of reaction from her but on the contrary, she just turned and walked away. That part scares me the most. What if she's just done with me, with us? At that very moment, I knew I had to do whatever it took to get Jo back in my life. And that explains the one-month time off from college and team practice.

For someone like David, he would say it's too risky to risk everything you worked so hard for a relationship about which you don't even know where it stands. And maybe to some extent, I am scared about that as well. Before Jo, I only had one thing in my life. And that was Basketball and my dream of the NBA. And getting into Duke was a stepping stone towards that dream. But then this stubborn, loving, caring, faithful, beautiful, selfless- blue-eyed girl came into my life who changed everything. Every single memory of us consumed me after I ended our relationship. For a moment everything changed. After meeting Jo, after having her in my life, she became my number one dream. The dream of having her in my present and my future- as my girlfriend- as my lover- as my supporter, and someday as my wife and then as the mother of my children. But I let her slip away because I was too afraid that she was willing to sacrifice her dreams for me and the fear that someday in the future she would regret her decision, and would regret us.