“To the Darlinghurst Darlings!” Amelia raised her glass to her teammates gathered in the pub after the game.
Usually, after a loss, she’d be much more down in the dumps, but it was the day after Christmas and these women had shown up for her—that was what it felt like, anyway. Even Jill had donned the Darlings’ kit and tried her best. The team had welcomed four new members, with varying degrees of ability, but that could be worked on. In the end, they only played for fun. Even though she was the coach now, Amelia could see her team for what it truly was: a bunch of women coming together to have some good old-fashioned fun. And she’d be able to use her knowledge of soccer in the professional arena soon enough. A surge of excitement ran through her at the prospect. She started her new job next week.
“Maybe I would be better as a forward,” Caitlin said. “Defense doesn’t really seem to suit me.”
“Maybe you’d be better as the PR person,” Sheryl said. “Mouthing off next to the pitch instead of all the moaning you do on it.” She flashed Caitlin a smile.
Personality-wise, Amelia liked the new additions to the Darlings. Sheryl and Caitlin had known each other forever and—even Amelia wasn’t immune to this—Caitlin did bring a touch of glamour to the team. Hera, although in her fifties, had been a soccer revelation. It had been seeing Hera play that had convinced Amelia to not start her own 40+ team, because women like Hera—and like herself—could still add so much value to a team like the Darlings, despite their mature age.
Amelia knew that Jill had only joined the team to please her, making her the most likely new team member to be the first to quit. But Hera had told Amelia that, come the new year, she believed her ‘very sporty’ friend Liz might try out for the team as well. Now that the Darlings had some new blood, Amelia fully believed in the team again. Now that she was the coach, she could hardly feel like her position on the team was in danger. In hindsight, Amelia could even see that her position had never been up for discussion at all. It was her brain playing tricks on her, casting everything in a dark veil of doom. A veil that had started to lift once she had started therapy and had gradually disintegrated into what was barely a translucent layer of almost-nothingness.
“Once you start your fancy new job,” Dawn said to Amelia, “you’ll be able to transform us into near-pro-level players.”
“Amelia’s a scientist,” Hera said, “not a magician.”
They all broke out into laughter.
“I’ll do nothing but my best for you,” Amelia said, meaning it from the bottom of her heart. Dawn’s allusion to her new job made something in her stomach clench. It wasn’t only excitement mixed with inevitable nerves. It was the simple fact of having a job, of being able to go back to work fully energized, ready to tackle the day, to get back into a routine. To be a functioning person in society—albeit still the same old capitalist one—again. Although, of course, Amelia had no idea how she would feel once she was on the job. On paper, it sounded like it had been created especially for her: a soccer-mad scientist.
After the new year, she would begin a brand-new career as a sports scientist for a professional club, Sydney Football Club. She would use her knowledge of biochemistry and her love for analytics to make both the male and female teams perform better. Getting the job was like a dream come true. It meant soccer and science during work hours and soccer and Jill after hours. Amelia couldn’t even have dreamed up a life like that.
“Don’t start neglecting us because we’re only amateurs,” Sheryl said.
“The Darlings will always be my first love,” Amelia said.
“Good to know, darling.” Jill put her hand on Amelia’s knee.
“Soccer-wise, I mean.” Amelia quickly kissed Jill on the cheek. In response, Jill leaned into her.
“A shout-out to Jill, ladies,” Hera raised her glass. “For surviving her first game.”
“To be honest, it might be my last.” Jill bumped her shoulder against Amelia’s. “Sorry, darling. I’m not sure it’s for me. I’m not competitive enough.”
“Yes, that’s probably the main issue,” Hera said.
“Not my issue at all,” Caitlin said. “But the other team’s players were just so damn fast.”
“I think it was more that you were a bit slow,” Sheryl said.
“What do you think, coach?” Hera asked. “Will you draw up a personal fitness schedule for each of us? Going for a run three times a week and things like that?”
“Just show up for practice and every single one of you will automatically improve,” Amelia said.
“If you’re so keen to improve your fitness,” Dawn said. “I have two kids at home who require a lot of running around after. Everyone’s very welcome at our house any time for an advanced fitness session.”
“Maybe Amber can teach a class in post-match yoga,” Kristin said.
Amelia listened to her team’s banter—because the Darlinghurst Darlings felt like her team again—with a wide smile on her face. Jill’s hand was still on her knee.
In a few days, on New Year’s Eve, she would have someone to kiss passionately at the stroke of midnight. Someone she would wake up next to on the first day of the new year—a new year that could only be infinitely better than the last. The next Monday she would start her brand-new job. The weekend after her first week at her new dream job, the Darlings would be playing against the current leaders of the league. Amelia wouldn’t be surprised if, against all odds, they’d start the new year with a big win. Because that was how it felt since she and Jill had kissed the first time, even though she’d still had alarm bells going off in her head: as though the odds had turned in her favor again. As though everything was possible again, the very opposite feeling to what she’d experienced for the better part of the past year.
She curled her arms around Jill, leaned into her, and found her ear. “Thanks for playing for my team,” she whispered.
“You do know you can make me do anything you want,” Jill said. “If you ask me in that sultry voice of yours.”
“Good to know,” Amelia whispered in Jill’s ear, making sure her voice dipped into its lowest register possible.
Thank you so much for reading Jill & Amelia’s story! I hope you enjoyed the return to the Pink Bean universe.
If you enjoy this style of lighthearted lesbian romance, do check out my sultry age-gap romance If You Kiss Me Like That
