“Let’s head inside, dinner will be ready.”
Megan believed in her ability. She fought hard every single day to be the best she possibly could be. The work ethic instilled in her from a young age remained—always be the first to practice and the last to leave. If she wanted to be the best at her game that was the sacrifice required. Whilst others maintained their social lives, she trained intensely and furiously until her ankles swelled. The team had stopped inviting her out on the weekends. At first it bothered her, but that ultimately was what separated the all-stars from the role players. Megan had the ambition and drive to make it to the WNBA. The rest of the team had the ambition to make basketball a career, to play as long as they could, or to simply be a starter.
One of the girls—Brianna—already knew what it felt like to grace the league and then fall from that same grace. Megan had unsuccessfully attempted on numerous occasions to gather insight and information that might help her better ride the wave when the time came. Brianna was a woman scorned—one bad season and the dream was over. After that, she’d lost all motivation to try and avenge. Now, she walked around with a chip on her shoulder and everyone else had to take the brunt.
In three months’ time, Megan would go into her third season as a Manchester Mystic. In that time, they’d won the WBBL cup once, but never made it past the quarter-finals of the play-offs—that was her Achilles heel. Ultimately, she knew that her performance in the play-offs is what would get her the opportunity she longed for. The stat lines she produced were in the top 5% in the league, but that became insignificant if the production of a title didn’t follow.
Megan dragged her exhausted body into the kitchen, pulled a large bottle of water from the fridge and slumped into the diningroom chair.
“You’re both sweaty, do you have to sit directly on the furniture?” Amanda pleaded.
Michael looked at Megan, they both shrugged and nodded at each other in unison.
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Who won, anyway?”
“Me.” Megan smiled proudly.
“A pure stroke of luck. She pulled out a mean spin move. It had tobe a fluke.”
Megan launched a cushion at her father. “I hate to break it to you, Dad, you’re just getting old.”
“We’ll see in tomorrow’s rematch.”
Amanda pulled the casserole from the oven and plated it up for three.
“Darling, did you say you wanted to fly out to New Yorkon Monday?”
“Yeah, it’s Sofia’s birthday on Tuesday, so I’d like to surprise her.”
“Okay, I’ll book some flights for you later. I had a quick glance, but I wanted to double-check. Will Candice be going?” Amanda queried.
“I told you we broke up, Mom.”
“I know, but I wasn’t sure if it was like a real break-up or just a temporary one.”
“Why would it betemporary?”
“Well, you didn’t seem sad about it.”
“Fair point, but no, it’s definitely a real break-up.”
“Has that been awkward? At practice?”
“A little, but the season is over now and I think Candice is going to play in Francenext year.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. She was anice girl.”
Megan decided to take the plunge and tell her parents she was gay a year earlier. She had been ready to set off travelling around America with Candice—it had seemed the right time. As expected, and predicted by Julie and Nancy, her parents had accepted the news without so much of a flinch. Megan was fully aware not everybody was that lucky. Candice still refused to have the conversation with her parents back in Philadelphia. After seeing their reaction to her cousin, she figured it would be ten times worse when it was their own daughter.
Since that day, Megan felt closer to her parents. Being able to divulge all parts of her life with them meant she could be her true self and that brought her great happiness.
The relationship with Candice ended abruptly after almost fifteen months together. A cheating scandal that she was yet to discuss with her mother. Megan found out Candice had been speaking to her ex-girlfriend, who recently, and conveniently, moved to England. The messages proved to be rather provocative, which made Megan’s decision an easy one. The ordeal brought to light something Megan had been struggling with for months—she’d been coasting, comfortably drifting along because that was the easiest thing to do. Candice had told Megan she loved her on numerous occasions, and eventually Megan told her what she wanted to hear, but deep down she knew she would never reciprocate the same feelings. The cheating simply gave her the push she needed to end things. Candice was distraught with her choices, trying to redeem Megan’s trust over a number of messages, phone calls and surprise gifts. Little did she know, nothing would change the wayMegan felt.
Amanda checked her digital calendar. “We have an important meeting on Tuesday, but we will fly out to meet you onWednesday.”
“Sounds good. Are we still going toNashville?”
“Yes, the plan is to stay in NYC for a few nights at your Aunt Julie’s, head to Nashville for about a week, then fly to Miami to look at some potential real estate options.”
