Audrey Baker has always dreamed of being in the Spurs Ladies first team, and when she does make it, she believes her work is cut out for her. But her journey to the top is filled with tears, failure, fear, and, well, love.
This time, he called me. Ten minutes after I came home, he called me. He called me! It was so surreal. We were talking so freely again. I was lying across my bed dreamily. I don't know how long we were talking for: I'd lost all concept of time. It was better that way; I don't think I'd ever been quite so happy. For the first time in I don't know how long, life was bordering on easy. Being a woman in football wasn't easy, because allegedly it's a men's sport. But now I was on top of the world.
I heard a knock at the door. I was surprised to see Avery- I hadn't seen her in weeks. I let her in and she took her shoes off at the door, something she never did. "Harry's trained you well," I observed. "Yeah, he's really high-maintenance, surprisingly," she said, clearly not noticing the sarcasm in my voice. "So, are you like a thing now?" "I guess you could say that." "Oh, Ave. I'm so happy for you." I put my arms around her. She smelled different, in what way I wasn't sure. She was acting different: less laid-back. I chose not to mention this to her; I didn't want her to be upset. "What about you?" "What do you mean?" She narrowed her eyes. "I saw you talking to that guy the other night. Bit taller than Harry, Asian, right?" I had already decided not to say anything to anyone until things really took off. "Yeah, nothing much happened since," I said carefully. "He left quickly 'cause one of his mates got pissed." She nodded. "Well, anyway, I haven't seen you in ages." I hummed softly. "I guess you've been so happy with Harry." I meant it passive aggressively, but I don't think she picked up on it. "Yeah, I really think he's the one." "Oh, you found him!" Avery had dated a lot of men in her time, none of them exceeding a month or two. "Yeah. Thank you for getting me talking to him." "That's okay." I didn't like the tone of this conversation. She left half an hour later in a shiny grey Mercedes. I was actually thankful when she left. It would take time for us to reconnect, but I knew we would.
I checked my phone again too see a very welcome message. I want to see you again. How's Sunday? I felt my heart flutter a little, and I replied, Yes! What time? Response was imminent, something I honestly found attractive. Have got NLD at the emirates, kickoff 1:30. Meet me there. I spent a long time considering whether the kisses were due, but I decided against it. Best to play safe. I didn't tell Avery yet. I didn't tell anyone, to be perfectly honest. This was about me.
The next day, I got an unexpected delivery sent to the training ground. Karen gave it to me, tellings he didn't know what it was or who sent it. I was a little tentative to open it, so I moved away from other people to do so. Inside was an ID card with my picture on it that allowed me into games at no extra cost. A note fell out: Don't worry about tickets, this will do it. You can sit with Poch at the touchline and I'll even blow a kiss to you on the pitch. hms x I literally couldn't believe it. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I managed not to tell anyone, even though my teammates kept asking me why I was smiling so much. I said some things about the Championship and Leicester and London Bees. I really had no idea what I was saying.
Come Sunday, I was tingling with excitement. Comepletely free entry to North London Derby, an event I haven't been able to get tickets for for years. I spent a ridiculous amount of time picking my outfit the night before:
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It wasn't the brightest of outfits, but I loved it nonetheless. I came into the stadium and scanned my card, and the security guard let me in like I was someone that mattered. I was shown to the touchline area with all the comfy seats- it was hard not to feel a little superior to the other fans. We had an amazing turnout; it always is packed on derby days. It was a beautiful day with perfect conditions for the match. All the fans were singing songs for their respective teams and the atmosphere was amazing.
The first half was intense, with no side keeping the ball for too long. The possession at half time was pretty much half and half. The score then was 2-2, with Lloris just tapping a penalty out of the way. Lucky. Heungmin scored a goal himself and sprinted across the pitch to where we were standing, stopping briefly to get in his handshake with Aurier. Pochettino patted him on the back and he came to me and put his hand on my face. "You came," he said, breathless. "Of course I did." He gently tapped the side of my face before running onto the pitch again. It was just another time when I felt so incredibly special.
At half time, he took me into the changing rooms. "You look so beautiful," he said, pulling on the hem of my shirt a little. I put my hands on his arms. "You don't look too bad yourself," I said, unable to stop myself from laughing. "Hey, I'm all sweaty," he said. I didn't care, and told him so. Some of his teammates raised their eyebrows at us as they passed. I don't think they knew. I gave him his towel from his bag and watched him dab his forehead with it. He kissed my cheekbone again and left to get the notes from Pochettino.
He scored again in the second half and the stands went mental, but I may have been the loudest, something I usually am not. After the game I headed into the changing room with the lads. In the tunnel, Heungmin came up behind me and swept me up into his arms. He carried me into the changing room while they all cheered. Everyone was in this amazing, excitable mood. He set me down and passed me the keys to a Range Rover. "Go wait in the car. I'll get changed and come get you," he whispered in my ear. I left with a spring in my step and found his huge dark bruiser of a car and sat myself down in the leather seats. I felt like an absolute queen there.
Twenty minutes later, Heungmin tapped on my window, smiling. I stuck my tongue out a little through my teeth as he got in the drivers side. He kissed my lips so gently I barely even felt it, but the adrenaline coursed through my veins as he did. "Where are we going?" He raised his eyebrows mysteriously and smiled. "You'll see." We drove for a long time, into a part of the city I'd never seen before. It had a pretty little gate and a gorgeous botanical garden. "This," he said, taking my hand, "is the Kyoto gardens. I used to come here when I started here all the time." "It's beautiful." And I meant it. The afternoon sun lazily glowed onto the lake, a soft, warm wind floated through the leaves. We sat down together on a bench and just talked. It was nice; we didn't have to think of a topic, we just picked up where we left off. We had what may have been the best sushi I had ever had. Every second became the best moment of my life.
