Chapter Three
October 2007
Finals year was daunting for Lydia after breezing through her placement year where she’d enjoyed being a part of the workforce. The placement year had been designed to give students a competitive edge when it was time to tackle the graduate job market, but Lydia felt it had been so much more than that. It was like a breath of fresh air, putting what she’d learnt into practice at a charity organisation where she was working alongside the media and communications officer. She was responsible for interviewing members of the public, authority figures, putting together articles and media releases, and she worked with a team who were welcoming and kind.
Now she was back at university for her final year, the stress had already kicked in. The students on her course and every other had kicked things up a notch, not quite so relaxed as they’d been in years one and two, but instead, disappearing to the library to study without being told, turning up to every single lecture, even when it was the morning after a big night out.
But today, Lydia and her friend Sally, who was studying the same course, were taking a break. They’d handed in their Health Psychology assignment that morning and it was time for a breather and because Sally was Sally, they were heading over to the rugby ground to ogle the guy she’d been dating since the first week of term.
‘He must be good in bed,’ said Lydia as they approached the sidelines of one of the dedicated rugby pitches.
Sally grinned conspiratorially. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘Because it’s starting to rain, it’s getting muddy and it’s cold. And here we are, on our day of relaxing, freezing our tits off at the edge of a rugby field.’ She turned away when a guy grinned at her as though she was here to eye up the talent, namely him.
‘You’re in there,’ joked Sally.
‘Not a chance.’ Lydia pushed her hands into the pockets of her jacket. October could be mild but today the wind whipping around in the open air lowered the temperature enough to justify the winter coats that most of the onlookers had on today. Not that there were many as mad as they were. ‘So is he?’ She looked sideways at Sally.
‘Is he what?’ She waved over at Greg, all coy smiles, still in that first-few-months-of-a-new-relationship stage.
‘Is he any good in bed?’
‘Lydia!’ She feigned shock but added, ‘He is, as a matter of fact.’
Another player said hello to Sally and another after that.
‘You know most of the team,’ Lydia noticed. ‘If Greg dumps you, you could have your pick.’
‘God, no thanks. He’s pretty tame compared to some of them. Look at him.’ She discreetly nodded over to a chunky guy, hands on hips at the side of the pitch. He had a missing tooth when he grinned, and he looked like he needed a damn good wash. Most of the other players were beginning to get muddy, but Lydia wasn’t sure this guy could use the game as an excuse.
‘Definitely not my cup of tea,’ Lydia concluded. ‘Talking of which, let’s go to the city after this, find a café and really chill out.’
‘You’re on.’ Sally’s gaze was back on the field.
It didn’t look much like a proper game to Lydia and Sally confirmed they were actually doing practice drills. She seemed to know quite a bit about it and it wasn’t a bad activity to watch, especially when the wind died down. They watched the players as they went through different routines. They galloped side to side around the pitch, they ran in a funny way with their knees up really high, they passed the rugby ball in different sequences, and it was varied enough to hold the girls’ interest.
‘I’ll just have a word with Greg.’ Sally grinned like the proverbial Cheshire cat when her boyfriend jogged over to them and Lydia smiled a hello and then moved away from love’s young dream. ‘Hey, watch it!’ she called when a rugby ball hit her in the shins and put mud all over her jeans.
‘Sorry about that.’ The culprit apologised verbally but looked as though he found it all somewhat amusing. ‘You’re at a rugby pitch, it’s usually pretty muddy.’
‘For the players.’ She turned away but his voice got her attention again.
‘I’m Theo.’ The same guy held out a hand but she didn’t return the gesture. ‘Too dirty for you?’ A smiled played on his lips at the choice of words and Lydia almost laughed. ‘Did you enjoy the session? You’re Sally’s friend, aren’t you?’
‘Friend and housemate, yes.’ She wasn’t sure why she was offering him the extra information. He had a big streak of dirt across his cheek, the same deep brown as his hair that had tufts on top, from the training session or styled that way she wasn’t sure, and eyes of almost the same shade danced playfully as he willed her to spill more information.
‘Do you have a name?’ he asked.
‘Doesn’t everybody?’ Amused, she turned and began to walk away, calling over her shoulder, ‘I’m just not telling you what it is.’ Flirting was fun, especially when up close Theo was actually quite cute. She’d never been out with a rugby player before. Her last boyfriend had been a tennis player, the one before that had only been interested in spectator sports.
Sally caught her up quickly enough. ‘I saw you talking to Theo.’ With a knowing smile, she said, ‘He’s gorgeous.’ She turned round to face the pitch, walking backwards away from the players now, and then turned back to Lydia. ‘He’s watching us walk away you know. Oh, you do know!’ She looked more closely at her friend. ‘You like him!’
‘No I don’t.’
‘You so do!’
‘I don’t need any distractions this year, Sally.’
‘Oh bollocks. Final year is shit, you need something to take the pain away. And I’d say Theo could be just the man to do that.’
