𝙄𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙌𝙪𝙞𝙚𝙩 𝙈𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 - 𝘊𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘥

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙎𝙞𝙭. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬

"Everyone you may leave." Jonas finishes off our usual weekly team meeting. I let out a long sigh, thankful to be able to leave the room and finally be able to get physical and run around again. As I go to leave, Jonas stops me at the door. "Elena, may I talk to you in my office?"

"Oh, yeah." I nod and follow him down the hallway to his office. I have an idea what this interaction will be about. The room feels smaller than usual, the air thick with anticipation.

Jonas sits himself behind his desk and folds his hands together. "So, I wanted to talk about your contract. It's coming up to expiration, and we need to make some decisions. How are you feeling about staying at Arsenal?"

"I... I'm not sure yet." I hesitate, my eyes flickering to the window.

"Not sure?" He raises an eyebrow at me. "You've been doing well here. We'd love to keep you, but if there's something on your mind, now's the time to talk."

I take a deep breath before speaking. "It's not that I don't love the club. I do. But... I've gotten a few other offers."

Jonas leans back in his chair, nodding thoughtfully.
"It's normal. You're a great player; of course other clubs are interested. Do you have those offers with you?"

I pull the folder of papers out of my bag, my hands shaking slightly. "Yeah. Here."

I hand over the documents, and Jonas scans through them."I can see why you're considering your options. There are some good offers here. But... you know we value you, Elena. Arsenal wants to keep you, and I'm sure we can come to an agreement that's best for you." He says after a pause.

"I just need some time to think." I say, my voice quiet.

Jonas nods, handing the papers back to me.
"Take your time. We don't need an answer right now, but don't wait too long. We're heading into the transfer window, and I need to know where your head is at. You're important to this team."

I say, taking the papers and standing up. "Thanks, Jonas. I'll let you know soon."

I step out of his office, feeling the weight of the decision hanging over me

"You're really thinking about leaving?"

I freeze , looking up to see Caitlin standing there, hurt and confusion written all over her face.

"I don't know yet." I say, defensively. "I'm just... weighing my options."

Caitlin steps forward, her words trembling. "So, what? After everything, you're just going to walk away?"

"It's not like that, Caitlin. I have to think about my career. My future." I frown and clutch the papers tighter.

"Your future? What about us? Are you going to throw that away too?" Caitlin says, angrily.

My eyes widen. "There isn't an 'us' anymore, Caitlin. You made sure of that."

Caitlin flinches, her face tightening in pain. "I know I messed up." Her voice breaks. "But I've been trying, Elena. I've been trying to fix things, and you-"

"You think this is just about you and me?" I cut her off, shaking my head "It's not that simple. This is about my entire life, my career. I can't just stay here because of what we used to be."

Caitlin's eyes start to well up with tears, her breathing unsteady. I don't think I've ever actually seen her cry before. "You really think I'm the reason you'd leave?"

"No. But... you're part of why it's so hard to stay." I say, my voice faltering.

There's a long, painful silence. Both of us standing in the hallway, the noise from the rest of the team somewhere in the background, but in this moment, it's just the two of us. The weight we carried and our unresolved feelings pressing down on us both.