There was a definite lightness to Amelia’s tread. She wondered if it could make her jump higher, reach that little bit farther, when a ball was aimed at her goal. In the state she was in, lovestruck and deeply satisfied sexually, she figured it just might.
She was the first to arrive at the pitch where the Darlinghurst Darlings played their home games. Granted, she was early. Warm-up wouldn’t start for half an hour. But it had been impossible to stay home for longer.
Jill had an appointment before she could come see the match. Amelia had too much unexpected-but-welcome energy racing through her to lazily linger alone in Jill’s bed. If she were less smitten, she might have harnessed it to unleash during the game, but who was she kidding? She was the goalkeeper. She didn’t have to run up and down the pitch over and over again for ninety minutes. She had to keep hawk-like eyes on the goings-on in front of her and guard her goal. Try to stop a penalty if it was that kind of game. Before Sophia had joined, Kate, their coach, who was really just another team member of the Darlings and played as center back, usually asked Amelia to execute any free kicks—being the goalie she was able to cover long distances as well as having the right technique. However, nowadays Sophia’s technique was better than Amelia’s and there was no use sulking over that—Amelia wasn’t the kind of person to put her own ego before a win for the team.
Despite the balmy spring temperature, she broke into a light jog around the pitch to keep her muscles warm. Considering Sophia’s contribution to the team also made Amelia think about Sophia’s overt flirting. Amelia had never really participated in Sophia’s banter, nor had she reciprocated the flirting. At times, she’d been downright rude, because she had the overwhelming excuse of her burnout. Now that she was seeing Jill, however, that excuse was no longer valid. And Jill was coming to the game today. She imagined how that might make Sophia feel.
Given the chance, Amelia should probably try to have a conversation with Sophia before Jill arrived. But pre-game really wasn’t the time for that. She’d hoped to seize the opportunity last Thursday at practice, but Sophia had been absent—again. Amelia picked up the pace of her jog. She hoped Sophia’s no-show didn’t mean she was contemplating leaving the Darlings—they needed her. On top of that, Amelia hoped fervently that if Sophia did decide to leave, it wouldn’t be because of her.
She heard a car pull up in the parking lot. She jogged to the entrance of the grounds and did some leg stretches as she waited to see who of her teammates was as eager and early as her.
A woman in a white T-shirt with short gray hair and impressive muscle tone in her arms stood looking at the pitch. Maybe she was someone from the other team, although if she was, she must be new to the league, which was so small that Amelia knew most of the other players.
Amelia sized up the competition while she walked up to the stranger. At first glance, she looked to be in the right age bracket for her 40+ team. Amelia wondered what position she played, although, at this point, any player would do.
“The visitor locker room is through there,” Amelia said, only then noticing that the woman wasn’t carrying a kit bag. She didn’t even have a purse on her.
“I’m here as a spectator.” She cracked a smile. “But I’m a bit early. I’ve driven down from Bondi and I wanted to make sure to beat any traffic.”
The amateur women’s league games usually didn’t attract many spectators apart from dragged-along family members and friends. Most people had better things to do on a Saturday morning.
“Supporting which team?”
“Hi, I’m Hera.” The woman extended her hand. “My friend Jill is supposed to meet me here. I’m interested in joining the Darlinghurst Darlings.”
“Oh.” Amelia shook Hera’s hand with vigor. Had Jill not said that Hera was also a former client of hers? “In that case, a warm welcome to our home ground. I’m Amelia. I’m… Jill’s—” Girlfriend?
Before she had a chance to introduce herself as Jill’s girlfriend for the first time, Hera said, “Oh yes, Jill’s told me all about you. In fact, you’re kind of the reason I’m here.” Hera ran her gaze over Amelia unceremoniously. “I hear Jill’s quite taken with you.” A grin appeared on her lips.
“Is she now?” This was also the first time Amelia had met one of Jill’s friends.
“Oh yes.” Hera’s eyes sparkled. “Did she tell you I was coming today?”
“She told me all about it.” Amelia gave Hera a good once-over in response to the one she’d just been subjected to. Soccer-wise, she liked what she saw. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. New members are always very welcome.”
“I haven’t played soccer in a long time, but because of my job, my physical fitness is not too bad.”
“Which position did you used to play?”
“Midfield, although back in the day, we all pretty much played every position. Women’s soccer has taken great strides in the past decade.”
“The fact that there are far more female pros these days has certainly increased the interest in the amateur leagues, but some Saturdays it’s still difficult to put together a full team, even in a city like Sydney.”
“I can imagine,” Hera said. “I’ve been out of the game for more than ten years myself.”
“Welcome back.” Amelia didn’t want to inquire as to why Hera had given up for so long. Even though Amelia couldn’t imagine giving up the sport—she had clung to it even during the harshest days of her burnout—she knew it was different for most other people. People who had more going on in their lives than work and soccer alone. “Jill was worried that as two former clients of hers all we would do is gossip about her,” she said instead.
“Honestly, when I was still Jill’s client, I didn’t know anything about her, apart from the fact that she loved expensive-looking artwork in her office. She doesn’t give anything away. Even her body language is really hard to decipher, although I did know from the very beginning that she was a warm and kindhearted person. That’s the sort of thing she can’t hide.”
Amelia couldn’t explain why her chest was swelling with pride. She had nothing to do with how Jill conducted herself in therapy. But to hear someone else call Jill warm and kind made her feel good.
“I only had two and a half sessions with her, so…” Amelia snickered.
“God, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for those.” Hera had an easygoing smile. “Just to see Jill squirm a little. I can’t really picture it. She’s always been the very image of someone holding it together at all cost.”
“Between us, she doesn’t always.” Amelia was probably speaking out of turn a bit, but it was fun to talk about Jill like this, with someone who knew her. She would introduce Jill to Dawn and the rest of the team later today.
Hera gave a hearty chuckle. “That’s good to know.”
The sound of more cars pulling up put a stop to their banter about Jill. Sophia was the next person to enter the grounds—and she wasn’t alone.
“Let me introduce you to a few more Darlinghurst Darlings,” Amelia said, while her gaze was drawn to Hera’s impressive biceps again. She did say her job kept her fit. Had Jill mentioned what she did for a living? When Amelia’s gaze flitted from Hera’s arms to Sophia, she couldn’t help but notice that Sophia was walking hand in hand with the woman she’d brought.
After she’d introduced Hera to Sophia and vice versa, Sophia, while ostentatiously holding up their joined hands, introduced the woman as ‘her new squeeze’ Yasmine. Things must be moving quickly then, Amelia thought, although she was also happy for Sophia. And for herself because she wouldn’t need to have an awkward conversation. Sometimes, things miraculously solved themselves. How utterly amazing when that happened.
More women started to arrive and while they warmed up, Amelia kept an eye on the entrance, waiting for Jill to arrive.
She only showed up a few minutes before the referee blew the whistle to start the game, leaving no time for the Darlinghurst Darlings’ keeper to claim a good luck kiss.
The Darlings won the game three-nil—Sophia scoring twice, quite possibly doing her best to impress her ‘new squeeze’—which allowed Amelia to keep a clean sheet in front of Jill. Perhaps she had also managed to impress her new squeeze. The difference between Yasmine and Jill being that Jill didn’t run up to Amelia after the game and jump into her arms as though she were the second coming.
She and Dawn were set to meet Hera and Jill at the pub after they’d showered. Dawn seemed to be stalling. It took her forever to blow-dry her hair, which was something she usually didn’t even bother with after a game.
“Although I can’t wait to meet Jill, can we have a quick word before we join the others?” Dawn asked after Amelia had exited the locker room.
“Of course.”
They stayed behind until they were alone, Amelia patiently waiting, although she was eager to throw her arms around Jill and celebrate the Darlings’ victory with her.
“Did I miss the message that made today bring-your-new-lover-to-soccer day?” Dawn’s voice was all cynical bitterness. “I knew Jill was coming, but I had no idea Sophia would be bringing that girl. Did you hear? She’s still a student. Studying philosophy, apparently. Whoop-de-doo.”
Amelia threw her arm around her friend. “Maybe you should have brought Cindy.”
“She was supposed to come with the kids but Julian threw up all night. So much for your update on my life of glamour and glitz.”
“Aw, Dawny, what’s going on?”
“Just one of those days, you know.”
“At least we won,” Amelia said.
“That we did.” There was some vigor in Dawn’s nod. A win always managed to boost their morale.
“And we might have a new team member,” Amelia added.
“If you don’t whisk her away for your new team.” Dawn sounded deflated again.
“Hm.” Amelia sensed it wasn’t the time to push Dawn on leaving the Darlings and starting the new team with her. “So what are we going to do about this jea—”
“Melly,” Dawn interrupted her. “You know I love you and I want to support you in whatever it takes to get you going again, but I’m not sure I can ever leave the Darlings. They’re my—our—team. We started it. We came up with its ridiculous name and everything.”
“Okay.” Maybe this wasn’t about Sophia after all.
“Just… don’t rush into anything. You’ve been through a lot and probably had all sorts of ideas running through your head. Trust me, I know how appealing a crazy, out-there idea can be when you’re going through a rough time.” She let her back fall against the wall. “I know this whole Sophia thing is utterly ridiculous and I know it’s ludicrous that I’m jealous of her twenty-two-year-old girlfriend. But still, it offers me some sort of comfort. She’s a thought I can turn to when the kids have been screaming their heads off all day long or when Cindy is short with me because she’s tired. Maybe it’s similar with you and the new team. It’s a shiny new thing that offers distraction when you should actually be focusing on what you already have.”
A knock came on the door. “Are you decent, ladies?” Steve, the caretaker of the ground, shouted from behind the closed door.
“Yes,” Amelia and Dawn answered in unison.
“In that case, I’d like to lock up. I have somewhere to be. If you don’t mind.”
Amelia and Dawn gathered their belongings, said goodbye to Steve, and headed to the pub, which was only a few minutes away. Amelia used the few minutes of walking, and unexpected silence, to process what Dawn had just said. Maybe her friend was right. Maybe she should appreciate what she had—the team they had built and kept going through good times and bad—instead of wanting something new that, realistically, didn’t even have that much chance of success.
When they arrived at the pub, Amelia clasped eyes on Jill sitting with Hera, both of them nursing a glass of wine. Warmth blossomed in Amelia’s chest because now, she had someone to mull things like this over with.
“Lovely to meet you, Jill,” Dawn said. “I’ve been Amelia’s best friend forever and I’m here to answer all your questions.”