The Loneliest Stars

Chapter 28

Just wanted to thank everyone that has been reading, voting, commenting and adding this story to their reading lists. We somehow reached 13k reads. I did think that would happen. I appreciate each and every one of you :)

——————

Meeting Natalia's best friend felt like a peek into her psyche. As reserved as Natalia was, her friend was the exact opposite. She barely paused to process her thoughts before she was sharing them.

Gabe knew that Natalia had spent almost a decade living abroad in the UAE, and he could tell that her and Lima had wreaked havoc across the small city-state. They were a striking pair, physically different but both beautiful. He had no doubt that they commanded attention in any room they entered.

He had been based in the Gulf for several deployments too and had often gone to Dubai often to decompress after a mission. Life was funny that way, that their paths may have crossed unaware of each other.

"So we've won two games and y'all starting to get a little cocky and complacent with the basics. All I want you to do is focus on the basics, I need it to be a hundred percent each time, and the rest will follow," Gabe reminded his team.

"We're doing suicides, get to it."

He could hear the groans and the protests coming from the team. They needed to work on their speed and stamina, more so than working on fancy plays and techniques, that could always be taught later, but without conditioning they wouldn't get anywhere.

"Embrace the suck, Gentlemen," he borrowed a phrase from the Marine Corp. It wasn't his first time trying to turn crying boys into young men full of piss and valour.

"You see that?" Gabe pointed out to Jimmy, his coaching assistant, "His running technique is off. Work with him on that before he injures himself."

Jimmy approached the player, pulling him to the side and explaining what he was doing wrong. He took direction well, and had great leadership skills. The boys respected him. Gabe was giving himself a mental pat on the back for choosing well.

Soon, it was time to wrap up the training session and head back to the locker rooms. Gabe visited his office for some paperwork before driving himself home. Nat was insisting on going out for a birthday dinner later that evening despite his protests that his birthday wasn't a big deal, after her surprise the night before and the thoughtful present she had given him that morning, he was starting to come round to the idea of celebrating birthdays. Nat had the uncanny ability to cut through the ennui.

"Wow."

"I told you," Nat's friend said smugly, arching an eyebrow at Natalia.

She was a vision in an emerald green dress that came down to her calves, with a modest slit showing some of her shapely legs. It had thin straps and was in some sort of shiny, satin material. It curved around her body in expert tailoring and Gabe guessed he had Lima to thank for that.

He was simultaneously stuck between wanting to protect her from undeserving eyes and showing her beauty off. Sitting through dinner would be pure hell, but he was committed now. They were all ready to pile into his truck and drive to the restaurant.

"You look..." He didn't have the words. Natalia blushed under his direct gaze, seemingly knowing the words he was unable to express. "And you look beautiful too," he said, addressing Lima.

"Yeah, yeah, nobody ever notices the designer," Lima waved him off with a smile.

In his truck, with the radio providing the background setting, Natalia and Lima were bickering like siblings. The language they spoke in sounded like English, but the words sounded foreign. He had noticed that ever since Lima had arrived, Natalia was sounding more and more British.