The Isle Girls
Episode Six: Chemistry
Episode Six: Chemistry
“Boss! I kind of have a small problem. Well, not a small one, but a really big one that's going to keep me out of the game on this road trip. I… Um, let's just say I tore my foot up in an accident and it hurts like hell to even walk on it. I'm not going to be able to jump around on it, and I would be useless if I played while I'm like this,” said Anna Saint Preux, stepping inside the office of Maddie Grisholm as the players of Imperial Falston prepared to get on the bus to Wear, for their next match. “Let’s not go into detail about how it happened, okay? I did something stupid and paid the price for it, that's all I want to say. I'll come with the team and let the doctors look at the injury, but I'm not going to be able to play.
The match in Wear was one of the biggest of the season for Imperial, with a potential to take an even more commanding lead on the Ceynes Premiership and to widen the gap between first and third, and it was naturally very bad for them to lose their starting keeper going into it. And as expected, Maddie raised an eyebrow and didn't accept the simple explanation of it being an accident that Anna wanted to talk about. “I'll tell Rolf to get ready to play this weekend,” she remarked, making a note on the page in front of her, but then she looked up and looked Anna in the eye. “I want to know the real story behind this injury, however. You're becoming a very important player with us, and that importance comes with a certain amount of responsibility. Responsibility to keep yourself in playing condition, and to not try to hide your injuries from your club-”
“Look, I'm really not just trying to hide things for no reason, you know that that's not me and that it's never been my way to do that. But you also know that I have a number of personal problems and this injury is tied to one of those problems, and I would really rather not talk about it with someone that I haven't known for long. No offense, but I don't trust you enough to talk about this stuff with you, because only a couple of others know what happened,” Anna replied. “It's really personal and it's a little uncomfortable to talk about-”
“When something chases you to get injured enough that you can't play, it stops being personal and becomes official club business. And I assume that whatever deeply personal incident that resulted in you hurting your foot is also the reason why you have a bandage on your neck? Anna, what's going on with you? First you act withdrawn and standoffish, then you seem flat out depressed, you isolate yourself and reject all possible help, and now you show up with weird injuries? I'm concerned about you, but it's not just because of you being the best prospect on this team and our starting goalkeeper. No, I'm concerned from a human perspective, because I feel bad to watch you continue to get worse and worse without doing anything,” said Maddie, and she set her pen down and closed her laptop and turned all of her attention on Anna, giving her a sympathetic look that could only come from someone who had experienced similar things in the past.
“You don't want to know. Seriously. Why do you want to know about my personal life? You're not going to help me, you're just going to stress yourself out because there isn't much that you can do to improve anything and you're going to bother me by trying and failing to help. Just let me play football, and stop trying to act like my best friend-”
“Again, I was fine to stay at a distance until this affected you not just from a personal standpoint but from a career one. When you joined this club, I was warned by the scouting team that you had ties with the East Mob. Is that where the injuries are from? A gang fight? Because we’ll have to do something about that if that's what it is, we can't have players getting into that kind of thing. Both for safety and publicity reasons-”
Anna shook her head, giving a long sigh and lowering her head as she sat down across from Maddie. “No, it's nothing like that. It was a fight, but not a real one, really. Just a few shoves and a punch that were thrown, that's all. I only got hurt because I fell backwards through a glass table and then stood up and cut my foot on some of the glass fragments. When I say it like that, it sounds bad, but it really was all an accident and I don't want to talk-”
“So you were in a fight. Who were you fighting with? Someone that you know from the gang, or someone else-”
“What's with all the questions? You said you want to help me, but it seems like you just want to interrogate me. It wasn't with anyone special, just my roommate, Sophia Fortune. You might know her because she's Esther’s twin and there was some buzz over Sabrefell signing her, but she was suspended from there so I'm giving her a place to stay until she finds another home. There's also been some national team buzz surrounding her. Anyway, the point is that she got into an argument with me over if my problems were worse than hers and worth complaining about, and things got a little heated and she shoved me. I shoved her back, she shoved me harder, and I went through the table. She was really sorry afterwards, and she helped me get the cuts cleaned up,” Anna said, speaking slowly as she recounted the events.
“Sophia Fortune is your roommate?” Maddie asked, raising an eyebrow, and Anna realized that she was asking about their relationship status. The question was really if Sophia was just a roommate or something more to Anna, and the sad thing was that Anna herself couldn't answer that question completely. “Congratulations on getting over Jade Heller…”
“Thanks, but we don't have that kind of relationship, yet,” Anna interjected, looking embarrassed and blushing slightly when the subject came up. “I don't know if you know, but she's been my best friend for a long time and I'm letting her stay with me to repay her and Esther for letting me do the same thing before I signed for Imperial. She um… She came into my life around the same time that my last best friend died, so even though I realize she has some real problems with things like anger, I’m never abandoning her. We’re tied to each other for life, even though most people don't seem to understand why.”
“Oh,” Maudie said simply, before awkwardly pausing and looking for the right words. Suddenly, the reasons why Anna was the way that she was were coming into focus. Her best friend had died, and her fiance had abandoned her. Most people would be bitter under those circumstances, and Anna had apparently experienced one of those things in the past and one recently. “Sorry for assuming your relationship, and I'm sorry to hear about your best friend. I think I might know who you're talking about… Was your friend that girl that died on the pitch for Falston United? Sparrow something?”
“Heather Sparrow, and yes. Her heart wasn't right, but she insisted on playing football anyway because she wanted the fame. It wasn't even about cash for her, just fame, and she wouldn't listen when I told her to not do the second trial that United was holding, after she had exhausted herself in the first. She spent about fifteen minutes out there before she had a heart attack and…” Anna started, before suddenly starting to choke up. “She died in my arms, telling me to remember her. But… That was five years ago, I think I'm doing all right in spite of it. I met Sophia about a week later, and even when I was in mourning and nobody else wanted to be around me, she attached herself to me and wouldn't go away no matter what I did. I wouldn't learn until much later that the reason was that she didn't have any friends of her own and that she thought we should stick together out of mutual pity.”
“And now, I see why, with all due respect, you're a bitter person. Your best friend died in your arms, and as if that wasn't enough adversity for you, you also got engaged to someone that later decided to abandon you for career reasons. I would be the same way as you, under those conditions,” Maddie said, before laughing softly and sadly. “You should know that for awhile, I was something like you are now. That's what I was like for the early years of my managerial career, and I never even had to go through the kind of adversity that you did. My troubles were on the pitch, because I knew that football was the only skill I had in life, but that I wasn't good enough at it to make it in Nephara. It's why I went into management, but before that, I was depressed all the time over my situation.”
“I don't think that this is the real reason why I'm bitter. The thing with Jade is what hurt me the most, to be honest,” Anna said, before changing the subject. “Now, about my foot, I'm going to see the doctors about that. But you don't have to be concerned for me because of it, because it was really just a small tussle with Sophia that had one bad accident. Seriously, she just shoved me a little bit too hard-”
“She shouldn't have been shoving you at all-”
“It doesn't matter. Like I said, we’re basically joined together for life. I tolerate her anger and she tolerates my schizophrenia and the way I act when I'm depressed. It's our unwritten agreement and that's how it's always been with us. We’re both unwanted by everyone else, and so we find comfort in each other,” Anna stated. “I promise that nothing like this will happen again and that I'll be healthy for now on. But it's not going to do any good for you to try to insert yourself in the situation. So… Now that you know the reasons why I'm going to be out, and that I'm not going to be able to play, I think I should be going. I want to see the doctors before we have to get on the busses, so I'm going to do that right now.”
But when she stood up, she was stopped in the doorway as Maddie called out to her. “Hey, wait up. I have a question for you, and if it's too personal or inappropriate for me to be asking this, feel free to tell me, but… I'm just curious, have you found someone yet? Someone to be what Jade was to you before she broke up with you? I just ask because I don't want to see my star keeper miserable all the time, and Esther says that the reason why you're miserable is Jade leaving you.”
“It's not too personal of a question, even if it is kind of a weird one. To answer that though, I have to say that I don't know. I might be getting with Sophia, but I don't know. I don't know if I can forgive her. Hell, maybe I'll go against what I've felt for most of my life and I'll give dating a guy a try, because it's going to be a very long time before I can trust a woman again,” shrugged Anna, pausing. “If you know someone though, feel free to send her my way. If Esther told you that I'm lonely… She's damn right.”
“Got it. Good luck with Sophia then… I was just curious.”
With that, Anna left and headed to the doctor’s office, but even though she was heading there, her mind was on other things. Her mind was on love, friendship, and plenty of other things that were much harder to figure out than just a simple injury to her foot, and in comparison, that didn't seem like a problem at all.
~
Anna would have to wait less time than she thought she would to begin dealing with the situations that she was currently facing, once again. As she stepped out of the office and had a new bandage around her foot, and instructions to minimize putting weight on it and to avoid exercising until the injury was better, she saw someone standing in the hallway and waiting for her. At first she saw the golden skin tone of the girl and assumed it was her teammate, Esther, but no. This girl had braids, meaning that it was the other Fortune twin, and Anna stopped in her tracks after seeing her. “What are you doing here?”
“I followed Esther because I wanted to talk to you and I wanted to officially apologize for what happened before. Like I said, I didn't mean to hurt you, and… Uh, I got you something to show that I really do want to make up for it,” Sophia said, and she went into her backpack and pulled out an orange box that looked like the kind that held shoes. “I know you've been complaining about the gloves that you have, so I stopped at the sports store and got these. They're the latest model, I think. Look, I'm not saying that everything is going to be fine now, but I wanted to extend the olive branch.”
“How did you have the cash to buy these? You don't even have a job, and it wasn't that long ago that I was stealing things to keep food on the table for you. Did you steal these?” asked Anna. “Looks like I'm a bad influence on you.”
“I did what I had to do. You can do a lot if you dress up like the staff from somewhere, and so I just got a shirt like the ones that the employees wear and I walked out with the box in my backpack after going into the back, where the storeroom is. Everyone wasn't paying much attention, and I know it was a risk but… It worked out alright. There's also something else that I want to talk to you about, though-”
“Shoot.”
“Well, uh, it's about us-”
Anna shook her head, slowly starting to back away. “Are you going to go on now about how you love me, or something? Isn't it a little soon to confess that again, even though you're the reason why I have this bandage on my neck and why I'm out of the next match with a foot injury? Maybe you should work on just getting our friendship back up to what it was before, before you think about stuff like this.”
“But Anna, our friendship is the reason why I realized that we should be something more. We're already as close as most couples are, and even closer than that actually, and you aren't with Jade anymore! Why can't you just give it a chance and see what happens? Can't you see how special you are to me, even if I don't express it well and sometimes I get mad at you because of it and because I can't take it when you turn on me?”
“Why? Why? That's all I have to ask. What's the point of doing this? You said yourself that we have a close friendship, let's not ruin it-”
“Because you need someone to replace Jade and I also need someone and you're the only one that accepts me for who I am!” said Sophia, her voice rising slightly with emotion. “There's really only two people who have accepted me, you and my sister, and I can see that you're barely hanging on and that you need me! At first I blew up at you for complaining about your problems, because I thought that mine were bigger and that I was being ignored, but that's wrong and I can see that clearly now. I think it would do both of us good to give each other a chance as a couple and see what happens-”
“I don't think I can ever do commitments again after Jade left me after three years together. I don't think I can ever trust another female in that way after what she did to me.”
“Then don't commit! That's not what I'm asking for, what I'm asking for is a chance! Even a small one, like a week of being together, or something. And if it goes well, we can keep going, or we can stop if it doesn't go good and it's going to mess up our friendship.”
Anna paused, looking at the desperation on the face of her best friend. “Why me? Of everyone, why did you decide to attach yourself to me? The only reason why I'm the only one to accept you is because I'm also the only one that you treat decent.”
“I don't know, okay? All I know is that we both played for Falston United at the same time for a reason. I had been there for about a year and I was all alone, only having my sister at my side, and then you showed up… There were a bunch of players who were joining the team, but out of all of them, you were the outcast. You were like me, really. You were mourning Heather and cutting yourself off from everyone else, and you reminded me of myself because I was isolated in the same way but for different reasons,” Sophia started to explain, her voice still thick with her emotions. “And at first you wanted nothing to do with me, but it wasn't like I had friends, and I had nothing to lose by trying to change your mind. It's fate, Anna. It's fate that I hung around you for weeks straight until you finally opened up to me and became my friend, and it's fate that we've stuck together ever since. We're meant to be together, and as more than friends.”
There was some silence, and then Sophia spoke up again and looked Anna in the eye. “You've been heartbroken since Jade left and it's been affecting everything from your career to your relationships with others and your family… Just let me try to help you, let me try to fill the void that she left. I can't promise that I'll be her but I can promise that I'll be more dedicated to you than she ever was, and that I won't ever just leave-”
“Just make me forget. Make me forget her,” Anna said, and that was when she wrapped her arms around Sophia and pulled her into a tight hug and then into a kiss, allowing the shorter forward to push her into the wall, where she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach Anna’s lips. It was more than one year of sexual tension dissolving in a few moments, and for both girls, it was very satisfying. For Anna, feelings were being brought back that she didn't think she would feel again after Jade left her. And for Sophia, feelings that had been there for a long time were finally being realized.
At the moment, the two were completely oblivious of everything that was going on around them, only focused on each other. And when they broke away from each other, unwrapping their arms and looking into each other’s eyes, they both couldn't keep smiles off of their faces. “Let's go somewhere more private, before we have to get on the bus,” Anna said. And so, it could be said that it had finally happened. They were together, to some extent. And finally, Anna was moving on from Jade.
But would it be enough to get her career on track again when she returned?
~
On the bus trips, Anna would usually sit next to one of her defenders, Tomas, and they would often talk about the next opponent and how they would have to coordinate their efforts to get a clean sheet. This trip to Wear was supposed to not be an exception, especially because the opposition had a deadly counter attack and could score goals quickly from a defensive formation, but somehow, Anna ended up sitting next to someone else. Before Tomas could sit next to her, Esther did, and she didn't look happy. “Hey, we need to talk.”
Anna pulled her headphones off and shrugged, nodding and wondering if the conversation was about earlier. “Sure, that totally sounds ominous and not like you want to talk about something good, but let's talk. What's up?”
Esther kept her voice low, and looked around to make sure that nobody was sitting behind them to listen in. “I'm going to be honest. I followed Sophia when I knew she wanted to talk to you, and I listened to the entire conversation. I watched you two make out, too, and you were too distracted to notice me. And then I watched you run off for privacy afterwards… I'm not here to judge you, but I am here to warn you. If you hurt my sister with this relationship, there's going to be problems.”
Anna had always been slightly intimidated by Esther, and so when she issued the warning, she bristled and looked away. After all, she was the bigger of the two Fortune sisters, and she had always been the one that acted like the older sister. While she was also friends with Anna, their friendship was a little different than her and Sophia’s. “I wouldn't do that, not intentionally at least. You know that sometimes I say a few things that I don't mean, but I'm not going to intentionally do something to hurt her. Even when she became the reason why I have this injury, I didn't lash out at her and try to get revenge. I can't say that about many others… That I would never do anything to hurt them, I mean, but I can say that about her.”
“I know, but make sure that you're careful if you decide to go for anything more than being best friends. Even the idea of you two being… Friends with benefits, that bothers me because I know how unstable she can be. You have to know that she's a jealous type of person when she's in a relationship, and she's going to envy it if you have a close friendship with anyone else. I know that because I'm the one that she's always confided in about relationships. And obviously, she's easily hurt when it comes to you.”
“I learned that the hard way,” Anna muttered, instinctively scratching the bandage on her neck. “Look, she's my best friend, it's not like I don't know these things about her and it's not like I'm not best friends with you, too. Why are you bothering with telling me all of this as if I'm some stranger who hasn't spend time around both of you, every day? I lived with you two. I know what I'm signing up for.”
“But do you know that she's just a kid? Really. She's twenty one, just like you and me, but she's really just a kid at heart. Some people mature slower and she's one of those people. She's been after you for a long time and I'm just afraid of what it's going to do to her if she finally gets you and then it doesn't live up to what she thought it would be, and if you do something that would hurt her,” Esther sighed. “What are you even going to do when she moves abroad to another club?”
“First of all, I kind of already realized that, but as I told Maddie, we’re still stuck together because of the way that we became friends. We were there for each other before anyone else was, and we both made an unspoken agreement to ignore each other’s flaws for the sake of having someone to be friends with. Second, we’ll cross that bridge if we're even still together when that happens. I have to admit, I'm not sure I would trust her to be by herself abroad and to be loyal, but whatever. We haven't gotten that far yet.”
Both girls were silent, until Esther spoke again. “Right. I don't know if I would trust her either in your position, but at least you can know that no matter what she does on nights out to town, her heart is still with you. Oh, and one more thing. There's something else that I wanted to talk to you about.”
“And what would that be?”
“The national team. You may have heard some buzz about it, but I can confirm now that it's more than just rumors. Your own manager, Maddie Grisholm, is actually pretty involved and is set to join the new team as the assistant manager. But I'm set to talk with the man that's supposed to become the head manager, former player Eli Shan, when we arrive in Wear,” Esther explained. “I think that you need to come to this meeting with me and talk to Eli about getting on the team. You would have been a fringe selecrion earlier, but after making so many highlight reel saves, they definitely are looking into you. You want to have a big break? This is the way to get it. The team will be in the Campionato Esportiva, and you might be starting on it.”
Anna nodded, silently dreaming of what it would be like to play for a national team, one that was truly representative of these isles. “Sounds like a plan. It's not like I'm going to be able to play on the weekend, anyway. I might as well do something useful and work on moving forward with my career. A national team, you say? I never thought I would hear those words associated with the Ceyne Isles, but now that we are getting one, I'm going to fight like an animal to get into it. That's what Heather would have wanted…”
