Wherever You Are

Chapter 6- Deals

'We've been in talks over the past few weeks, with not only the Red Stars players and staff, but also our own players and staff. We've negotiated a player trade between us, that is if you're still willing to sign with us,' the broad, dark haired man whom I found slightly intimidating told me. He wasn't the easiest on the eyes, he was brooding almost, his presence had you highly tense the entire time. I'm not sure if it was his voice, or the way he presented himself, but something made you scared of him.

'Who is the player leaving, if I say yes?' I asked, I needed all the facts before my signature went on that paper.

'Meg Morris, Chicago's second choice. They would have preferred Kling, but neither us as a club or Meghan herself wanted it that way. You're highly valued here Miss Press, Tobin's sweet talking probably got this started,'

'Meg? I'm going to have to speak to my club briefly outside, I'll return with an answer in five minutes,' I bartered, as long as my club was happy, and I didn't feel like I was leaving on bad terms, I was prepared to go.

************

'I want to sign with you. I'm ready to be a part of this team,' I announced briefly upon re-entering the conference room.

'The deals yours, all you need to do is sign on that line,' With a shaky hand I scrawled my signature along the uniform dotted line atop the page, then again at the bottom

*********

As I drove out of the Chicago Red Stars office car park, I realized exactly where I wanted to be. Tobin was where I wanted to be, she was where I wanted to be. I wanted Tobin to be a part of my family, I wanted to be by her side everyday until the end. I wanted to be with her when we won, and when we lost. When she was upset and when she was happy. I wanted her when she was sleepy and I wanted her when she was energetic. I wanted sleepy "good mornings" and I wanted passionate "good afternoons." I wanted to be able to roll over in the middle of a difficult night and calm down to her steady breathing. I wanted her in every way a human could possibly want something.

It was becoming problematic to say the least, here I was trying to concentrate as hard as I could on the road, only to have Tobin invade every crevice in my mind. Her voice just playing on a loop, I didn't mind it, it passed the time in between the boundless amounts of city traffic.

What I did want right now was to probably be curled up half asleep on the couch, lazily draped in a blanket watching cartoons in her apartment. What I wanted wasn't a thing, it was a human, I was going home. The thoughts circled my mind like hungry sharks around prey, they didn't leave even as I walked into the Chicago city airport,

I was set to arrive late tonight, I had been texting Tobin continuously for the past hour or so, updating her on today's events, thoughts, fears and excitement. For some reason she quite happily put up with my useless rambling and replied with equal enthusiasm. She told me she'd be waiting patiently (well maybe not so patiently) for me and we could sleep in for as long as we liked tomorrow morning, the perfect idea. I smiled lightly as I boarded a plane and got comfortable in my seat a familiar feeling by now. 

Deciding on a nap for the last two hours of the flight I let myself doze lightly while dreaming of her, cloudy wisps of old memories weaved their way into half real dreams made better with imagination. A soft kiss on a cheek, the gentle clasp of her hand on mine, even the nervous hand movement as she'd brush some hair out of my face and tuck it behind my ear. She'd take me into the kitchen, soft music playing in the background, her hand placed chivalrously on the small of my back, the other holding mine tenderly, she'd lead me in a rhythm of her own, but one I was soon to adopt. My dreams shifted one last time to the middle of a beach, puppies hanging around our feet as we walked hand in hand along a sandy pathway of an unknown journey.