VIRAGO

vorfreude

vorfreude (n.) - the joyful anticipation that comes from imagining future pleasures

She was awoken abruptly on Christmas Eve to a phone call, and Nash reached over her to try and shut it off, but she rolled over and got to her phone first.

"Hello?" She greeted, her morning voice groggy and deeper than normal.

"Hi there, sorry to bother you so early. Is this Samantha Reed?" A man asked, and she sat up in the bed so she would not fall back asleep.

"This is she. May I ask who's calling?" She asked, looking at the time. It read five in the morning, and normally during the week she would be up running by now, but she was home and it was a holiday, so she went and ran whenever she was naturally awake.

"This is Vlatko Andonovski with the US Women's National Team, and I wanted to call you to invite you to our January camp in LA." He responded, and she almost dropped her phone right then and there. She grabbed Nash's leg and he tensed up, putting his hand over hers.

"I, uh, I gladly and gratefully accept your offer, coach." She responded quickly at a loss for words.

"Good, I'm glad to hear. I will send you some more information and the official roster will be posted later this week. See you next month." He said, and then they said their goodbyes and she hung up. She was awake now, and when she set the phone down, Nash finally sat up.

"Everything alright?" He asked, and she turned to look at him, excitement jitters taking over as she wrapped her arms around him in the biggest hug.

"I just got called into camp." She told him, and that was when he squeezed her just as hard back.

"Holy shit! That's amazing!" He exclaimed, and he pulled away to kiss her repeatedly. "I guess Merry Christmas?"

"Merry Christmas indeed." She responded. She knew she was not going back to sleep now, for her adrenaline was pumping and she was used to being up this early anyway. "Come on."

"Where are we going? It's five-fifteen." He groaned, chuckling and laying back down.

"Celebratory run?" She answered like it was not even a question, and she heard him groan again. "Come on, when's the last time you ran?" She asked, knowing the answer had been since November when his season ended.

"Dammit Sam, you're really gonna be the death of me. You're also the only person I know who would go on a run to celebrate anything." He commented, and she threw her shirt off at him.

"Maybe you'll get a little something after as a reward." She told him, walking almost naked into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

"God I love this woman." He grunted under his breath as he stood up to get changed into sweatpants and a sweatshirt. She came out a few minutes later, her teeth brushed and she was changed into a long sleeve shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She was pulling her hair up into a bun as he slipped by her to brush his own teeth, and then they snuck out of his house. He ran after her, and she let a loud laugh as they decided to run the trails instead of going on the road. They more goofed around instead of going for a decent time, but once they hit three miles, they decided it was time to turn back. They decided to race back the last half mile, but Nash tripped in front of her, causing them both to fall and roll down a short hill into a bank of snow. At that point, they were both laughing and not caring about their ruined run.

"This is cold." She commented with a laugh as she hoisted herself over him, looking down at him.

"Yeah, I can't feel my ass anymore." He answered, getting them to laugh even harder. She finally got to her feet and helped him up, and they both ended their runs on their watches, deciding that they would just walk the rest of the way. By the time they were back, it was only six A.M., and they also knew the rest of his family was still asleep and would be for at least another hour or two.