needy | dele alli

four.

'so tell me about yourself zara.' asks dele before he takes a sip of his drink.

'well what do you want to know?' she says with a smile as she leans closer to him.

'you know, favourite colour favourite film, all that kind of stuff.'

'favourite colour? wow you really know how to catch a woman's attention don't you dele.' she says laughing slightly.

'i like that.'

'like what?'

'your laugh, it's very infectious.' says dele with a smile.

'you mean obnoxious?' says zara with a scoff while dele still watches her with a smile.

'would you both like another drink?' asks the bartender suddenly pointing to their empty glasses.

'oh yeah sure, i'll take another one please.' says zara with a small smile.

'me too.' says dele.

the bartender takes away their empty glasses before giving them another drink.

'anyway mister footballer, enough about me trying to tell you my favourite colour which is yellow, by the way. tell me about you.'

'i've told you about myself already.'

'no i want to know the real you. i know about your whole football career about you playing with mk dons england and all that. i want to know bamidele jermaine dele.' she says looking at him.

'you must be serious then if you used my full name.' says dele jokingly but then notices by the look on her face she was serious.

even though they've both been speaking to each other for a few weeks, they haven't gotten to know each other in depth. they are moving slowly as they are both quite busy. but as they both together now, with no rush, they are going to use this opportunity.

'well as you know already i was born in milton keynes to my father who is yoruba nigerian and my mum who is just white. my dad fucked off to america a week after i was born. from there i lived with my mum who had alcohol problems until my dad came back until my life and took me to nigeria for a couple of years. then i went back to the uk and when i was thirteen i lived with this family who kind of adopted me if you get me. like they looked after me and brought me up and made me the footballer i am today but they never properly adopted me.'

'and funny story, around two years ago, my dad tried getting in contact me once i started making a name for myself in football which i find quite funny. couldn't be bothered to raise me properly but as soon as i get money he's there. i don't even like using the name "alli" anymore. i only use it for legal reasons and all that, otherwise i'm just dele.' he says with a shrug.

zara just looks at dele, slightly shocked at everything he's just said. it's quite a lot to take in suddenly. dele is such a funny and friendly person, she never expected him to have such an upbringing. but it just shows he wasn't going to let his parents affect it, as now he's a famous footballer.

'you okay?' asks dele looking at her concerned.

'yes, that was just a lot to take in. i'm sorry to hear about it all. sorry about your parents being shitty and not being there for you. it must be tough to not have a proper family.

'you don't need to apologise about it, it's not your fault. but i guess in some ways i'm thankful for them because in some way it's thanks to them that i'm who i am today. i consider my closest friends to be my family so i don't need family.'

zara just smiles at dele, still feeling bad about his childhood and the fact he's never had a proper family. she grew up with a loving kind hearted family, being half italian, she used to spend her holidays in italy.

'thanks for opening up to me dele, i really appreciate you trusting me with something so big and it's probably pretty secretive for you. especially from someone you don't know that well.'

'hey, you don't need to thank me. i should thank you for listening to me. and thank you for spending some time with me it's been nice talking to you these past few weeks. it's nice to get to know someone who is real, who isn't fake.

they both just smile at each other before talking for the rest of the evening.

• •

'i had fun tonight.' says zara as they walk down the hallway to her apartment.

'me too.' says dele with a smile.

'would you like to come in for a drink?'

'oh i couldn't, i've got training tomorrow after lunch and poch would kill me if he found out i'd be drinking.'

'of course, no worries! i forget you're a professional footballer who has a strict diet.'

'but we'll do this another time yeah?'

'i'd like that.' she says with a smile before kissing his cheek which takes him by surprise.

'night dele.' she says with a smile before going into her apartment.

'see you soon zara.' he says slightly stunned before she shuts the front door.

dele just stands there for a few seconds but finally realising that did actually happen. he grins suddenly before walking back to his car.

shit part but you know what can you do