A Storm Is Brewing

Ice Cream

Leah spent the next few weeks showering me with more love than ever, reassuring me about things I didn't even need to be reassured about. She would tell me not to doubt myself about whether the baking tray needed to go through the dishwasher again or not, not to doubt myself about that new shirt for work, and not to doubt myself about whether or not that new lipstick was working for my complexion (it wasn't). This reminded me of the burger disaster that I'd told Teddy about, but it didn't annoy me like the burger story had. I was older now; I was used to Leah's silly little ways of loving me, and I loved her even more for them.

Some things had changed, like our ability to just drive around chasing the sunset when we needed a break. Some things hadn't, like our ability to always know when we did need that break and find ways around our issues. It was strange to look back on the times that seemed so unimportant back then and realise just how important they were; it wasn't until I was at this point in my life that I realised that.

Flashback:

When I returned from that last-minute trip to London, there was no doubt in my mind that Leah would be someone that I would fall in love with. Her ability to be so cool yet so uncool was the main thing that I noticed that weekend. From the decorating of the apartment to the nervous look in her eyes as she kissed me to her apprehension when we first slept together the day that I left, she had the most conflicting personality traits.

She promised to see me soon; I had expected that she meant during the next break in her football schedule. I found myself googling Arsenal matches and England matches to try and decipher when she would have a break in her career. The first thing that annoyed me was that the men's fixtures were the ones that appeared, as if the women's didn't matter. The next thing that annoyed me was that there were no breaks. Between matches, there were tiny little windows of a few days, and it didn't take a genius to work out that those would likely be filled with training and recovery.

We would send texts throughout the day and spend evenings on the phone, constantly talking about how much we wished we could see one another. I couldn't attend her games, though, which pushed most weekends out of the equation, and even if I took time off throughout the week to visit her, she'd be out for most of the day. Making this work seemed impossible.

It's only been three weeks, Sophie.

It was exactly three weeks later when Leah showed up on my doorstep, clutching ice cream in her hand. I'd told her the night before that I was really struggling with the details of a case I was handling, one that included a little baby, and she'd decided that she couldn't support me enough over the phone.

Even then, she was awkward.

I'd been in the bath when the doorbell rang. I climbed out and wrapped a towel around me as quickly as I could. Looking back on it, I probably shouldn't have answered the door in a towel, given that I didn't even know who it was, but I panicked, thinking that it could be Rhys and that something terrible was wrong. The second I flung the door open, I could see Leah's gaze going from my face to the towel, her mouth parting slightly as she tried to find words to say, and her left hand moving to cover her eyes.

"Shit! Shit! Sorry! I just came to - I came to give you this. Here!" She pushed the ice cream in my direction.
"You came all the way here to give me ice cream and leave again?" I chuckled.

Her hand stayed over her eyes, a sigh leaving her body as she realised how awkward she was being.

"No - obviously. I came to see you - but you're obviously trying to have a - relaxing night, and I didn't know you'd be in a towel - I can come back. When you're dressed. That's not what I came for."
"Or - you could come in? I could go put some clothes on?" I chuckled harder.
"Why didn't I think of that?
"Come in, you idiot. I'll go get changed; lock the door behind you."