“And you’re sure you don’t want to coach?” Sophie said. She was already coaching and had made it clear that was what she was going to do when she retired in a couple of seasons. She was excellent at it and she loved it. Two important factors.
“I’m sure. It’s not for me.”
But what was? Commentating on a few matches here and there was hardly going to sustain me.
Sophie looked at Nikki and they shared a look. “We know you’re going through something here and you’ll be fine in time. But is there anything we can do to help?”
We used to see each other every day. Me not being around anymore was likely an adjustment for them too. Yes, I was struggling but it was nothing for them to worry about. I appreciated them being here more than I was able to let on.
“I don’t think so. You being here is already helping. I’ll be all right. Just need some time to figure this out.”
“You will,” Sophie said.
Nikki got the milk out of the fridge. “But in the meantime, why don’t we go out for a hike soon? We could drive somewhere nice and then go for a pub lunch.”
“Sounds great, I’d love to.”
Sophie smiled in agreement too and then handed me my cup. “You had a good time in Greece, then?” She took a sip of hers. “I saw the pictures on Instagram.”
“It was amazing. So beautiful. Vicky’s friends were all great. I liked them a lot. And I met someone, too. A friend of Vicky’s who was staying in the villa. We spent loads of time together. She’s so interesting, honestly. Things moved pretty fast if you know what I mean.”
Sophie’s eyes widened. “Wow, that’s so cool! Are you like dating, already?”
“No, we’re still getting to know each other. I haven’t seen her since we got back. I’m not exactly on top form. We’re texting a lot. Her name’s Rona Gibson. She’s a music producer and used to be in that bandSculpt.” I left out that Rona was on my mind every hour of every day and that I felt like something was beginning with us.
Nikki was already googling her on her phone. “She’s cute. Looks intelligent.”
“Let me see.” Sophie looked over Nikki’s shoulder at a more recent picture of Rona online. “Yeah, she’s hot. Yeah, I remember her in that band.”
Nikki eyed me closely, as if thinking something.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh come on you can’t say that. What is it?”
“I didn’t know she was your type.”
“I don’t have a type, do I?”
“Okay well then maybe I just always assumed you’d get with someone again who was also in football. She seems different, that’s all. Like she lives in a totally different world to you, I would think.”
I hoped Nikki wasn’t suggesting Rona was too good for me or we weren’t suited. I liked that Rona was different to the sort of people, mostly footballers, I normally hung out with or dated. It was part of the attraction for me. She was opening up my world to something new and I liked that, and I’d loved hanging out with the whole group and reconnecting with Vicky in Greece. Maybe expanding my friend group was exactly what I needed. It wasn’t like I didn’t have the time now, and all my football pals were focusing on the current football season and World Cup qualifying matches.
“I think what Nikki is trying to say,” Sophie glanced at Nikki, “is that Rona sounds great and she’s really excited for you. We both are.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Nikki backtracked. “That’s what I meant.”
Sophie took a sip of coffee. “Will you keep us posted?”
“I will.” I found myself smiling. Chatting to Rona was the one thing keeping me going at the moment, although I could never tell her that. She wanted me to be this famous footballer who was at the start of something new and exciting when the reality was very different. I was at the startof a new series on Netflix and part of me was just fine with that.
But I had to pick myself up at some point. I had this match to commentate on and I was going to be seeing Rona very soon. Nikki was right in the sense that I hadn’t dated anyone outside of football in a long time. It was a new direction for me. All I had to do now was see if there was something genuinely there between me and Rona or if we were just getting caught up in the moment due to all the sun, sea and nakedness. I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like seeing her again back in grey old London. Part of me wished we could stay on Greece forever and not have to deal with real life. I didn’t want her to see me like I was at the moment, that’s why I’d dragged my heels a bit about when we were going to meet up. But I couldn’t make a woman like Rona wait. I needed to get my shit together.
“Do you guys want to stay for lunch? I can whip up an omelette if you don’t mind waiting for me to clean up a bit and cook?”
“Honestly thought you’d never ask, mate,” Nikki said. “I’m fucking starving.”
