Begin Again

Chapter 22

Taking a deep breath I stepped inside the café. Slowly scanning my eyes over the people I try and find those blue eyes that makes me go weak in the knees. My eyes finally lands on him and I swear I thought my knees were going to give out from underneath me.

Taking another deep breath I headed over to him. He in the meantime has stood up and pulled out a chair for me all the while his eyes didn't leave mine. All the way over there I kept repeating to myself I mustn't lose my nerve.

"Hey" I whispered as I stopped in front of him.

"Hey yourself" was all he said back as he waited for me to take a seat.

Slowly sitting down I take in the glass of wine and the beer already on the table.

"I was a bit early so I took the liberty to order something to drink." He says

Taking a sip of wine I only nodded my head. You could slice the tension at the table with a knife so think was it. I just couldn't figure out if it was due to hostility or the sexual tension of maybe both.

So I took another sip of wine. We sat in silence for some time when the waiter forced us to start talking.

"Can I get you something to eat? Maybe a starter?" she asks

Looking over to Brandon I waiter for him to take the lead on this one.

"No, no starters we will just have mains. Can you give us a few minutes to decide please?" he says to her

Forcing a smile onto her face she nods her head and steps away from us.

"So what are you in the mood for?" he asks

Looking down at my menu I wanted to say nothing. My stomach was turned into so many knots that I didn't think I would have been able to eat. So quickly scanning the menu my eyes lands on a bacon and feta quiche.

"I think I'm going to have the quiche. I'm not that hungry." I look up and say to him

"Only the quiche? You don't want something else maybe as well?"

"No the quiche is fine thanks. Had a big lunch this afternoon." I lie to him

Signaling the waiters to come back Brandon placed our orders. He ordered the same steak that John had the night the two of us came to dinner here. Silence had fallen over the table again after the waiters had left.

Taking a few more sips of wine I decided to break the tension.

"So how is work going?" I ask him, cringing on the inside about my stupid question

"Work is fine. I'm working a bit of everywhere with the season running to an end. So I'm involved in a lot more than just the rugby. The kids are great and I love working with them so even on the bad days they make it worthwhile to stand there in the heat."

Giving a small chuckle I couldn't help but think how strange it is to hear him talk about rather coaching than playing.

"What's so funny?" he asked me

"I just still cannot believe you love the teaching more than the actual playing of the game. Don't you miss it?" I ask

"Yeah I miss it. Some days more than others and I want to kick myself for giving it up but then I show a boy how the properly hold the ball or how to pass it to his friends and the absolute delight that lights his eyes when he gets it right just makes me so much gladder for giving it up and having the opportunity to teach them."

I could see the love in his eyes. He really enjoyed teaching those kids how to play the game. It never thought I would see the day he would love teaching it more than playing.