beautiful mistake - joe burrow

105

Preparing for the Super Bowl felt like a dream, and Elle couldn't really realize it until the team said goodbye to the fans at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday night before departing for LA.

Wearing gray training outfits with matching hats designed especially for the Super Bowl, the team boarded the plane Monday morning and headed for LA. The mood was exuberant. Everyone was looking forward to it and for Elle it felt more like a school trip.

Already the whole week you couldn't steal the grin from anyone's face and everything, really everything, just felt better. Not even the one or two rumors that popped up on Twitter, in which some wannabe detectives were starting to take notice of Joe and her relationship, could dampen Elle's spirits.

They had used the joyful, exuberant hug and the footage of Elle holding Joe's cigar as evidence, but Leila was convinced that even if they were right, of course it was far too little for other people or even the press to jump on.

The time in LA was wonderful. The team was allowed to train on the UCLA courts and Elle and ATs were also allowed to spread out in their rooms. They worked at full speed, after all they didn't want any of the players to miss the Super Bowl, but also didn't want to put them at unnecessary risk on the court.

She spent the evenings with Joe and a few teammates, or with the ATs, or with just Zac and Nick. They went out to dinner, sat in their hotel common room, played cards, chess, or just chatted.

Since they were, in theory, officially on a work trip and none of the other players were allowed to have their partners with them, Joe and she had agreed with Mike, Zac and Paul before the trip that they would definitely sleep in separate rooms in the evenings and even though the three supervisors never checked this, of course, and made it the couple's own responsibility, Elle and Joe stuck to it.

They knew themselves that they would be better focused and better start their work day if they didn't share a bed. Still, Elle missed having Joe next to her at night.

She was used to them being apart for a maximum of one night during the week, and that only when they had an away game, so this week was already unusual for her.

In the last few days she had also taken part in a small special mini-series of Celine's show, called "ElleA" (I hope you check the pun), in which she talked to Celine every morning for five minutes and told her the latest news about the team and herself.

It was Saturday night by now, in less than 24 hours the Super Bowl would start and Elle was already excited, but she was much more excited about something else. As of noon today, her parents were in town.

Elle had given them the two tickets provided by the club as a surprise, paid for their flight and the hotel, so that her dad, whose dream it had been forever to see a Super Bowl live, could finally fulfill his longed-for wish.

When she had presented them with the gift, her dad had hugged her tightly and Elle felt like he had to really pull himself together so he didn't start crying while he told her how proud he was to see his daughter on the sidelines in the Super Bowl.

Joe's parents would also be at the game tomorrow, and since the two couples got along so well, Joe and she had not only put them in the same hotel, but had arranged with them to go together.

"Elle, my child, hey," as Elle arrived outside the restaurant with Nick, whose wife and daughter would not be arriving until tomorrow and she was therefore dragging him to dinner with her parents, her mother pulled her into a tight hug, beaming, and gave her a kiss on the cheek before greeting Nick as well and Elle was pulled into a proud, strong hug by her father.

The four entered the restaurant where they were shown to their reserved table and studied the menu before ordering drinks and food and starting a conversation.

"We met Robin and Jimmy briefly in the lobby earlier and they told us they were also on their way to have dinner with Joe. The restaurant is close by. So why didn't we all go out to eat together?" her mother asked.

"Well, Mom, you know that the public doesn't know that Joe and I are together and since Joe is pretty big in the media right now and I'm not unknown to most people now either, we have to be pretty careful about showing our faces in public. And in LA it's especially difficult, there are cameras lurking everywhere" Elle explained to her mother.

"But you are such a beautiful couple, sweetheart. Why don't you want to show the public how happy you make each other?" her mother inquired further.

"It's not that easy, unfortunately. We don't know how people would react to it, especially the NFL. We were lucky that the club reacted so positively and supported us. We can't be sure the others will be as supportive"

"Why wouldn't they agree? What could happen then?" her mother looked startled.

"Well, Joe is theoretically Elle's patient, her jurisdiction. The NFL could see a risk in Elle's impartiality or her judgment based on affection. Worst case scenario, it could cost her the job" Nick intervened.

"The job? Just because you're dating the quarterback?" her mother was stunned.

"Don't worry, Lauren. Zac, myself and the whole organization would never let it get to that, of course. Your daughter is doing far too good a job for that" Nick reassured her.

"I hope so, Nick" her father grumbled as Lauren turned back to her daughter. "Do you guys plan on making it public then?"

Elle shrugged. "we haven't talked about it in a while, but well, we're getting more careless, which we don't mind. I imagine we'll be official by the start of next season"

When their food came, they changed the subject. At first, they talked about the chances the Bengals had tomorrow and the strengths and weaknesses of the Rams. However, since Lauren couldn't really join in on the topic, Nick and Harry then started telling stories from their college days together.

Later, Elle and Nick said goodbye to Elle's parents and hailed a cab back to the hotel, wishing each other a good night before everyone went to their rooms. Elle made a quick phone call to Leila and Celine while she got ready for bed.

After a few minutes on Instagram, she was about to put her phone on the side when she got a message from Joe.

Good night, hope you can sleep despite the excitement! P.S. My parents missed yours at dinner today

Elle had to grin, she quickly typed a reply, explaining that her parents had asked about his too and she wished him a good night as well before putting her phone on the side and wrapping her arms around the pillow.

We're getting closer and closer to the Super Bowl!

WHO-DEY 🧡