The Endless Search for the Perfect Pitch: Phone Call to Success

Chapter 64: Christmas Eve

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

I woke up to a bright room. Ben wasn't beside me so I rolled out of bed and looked outside to see a fresh blanket of snow. That explains why it's so bright. That's why I'm up at 8. I never could sleep when it was light outside.

I walked into the kitchen to find Ben making waffles. I grabbed a mug and poured myself some coffee. I sat it down on the counter before running to get a sweatshirt. I threw on the first one I found. I instantly knew which one I put on. It was Ali's but it had the unmistakable smell of Ashlyn's cologne. Then I ran back out and sat at the bar.

"Well good morning." Ben said and sat a plate of waffles, eggs, bacon, fruit, and yogurt in front of me.

"Damn. This looks great." I said.

"Well duhh. Breakfast of champs. Eat up."

"Yes sir. What are we doing by the way?"

"I don't know. I was thinking take a run and then drive to an indoor field." Ben said.

"Sounds great."

We ate and played with the dogs. It took a long time, but eventually we got ready. It was pretty chilly out so I layered up. Nike pro leggings under my USA training sweats, Nike long sleeve, Nike quarter zip and I was ready. Ben wore Nike leggings, Nike basketball shorts, a long sleeve and a sweatshirt.

We headed out. Ben played Christmas music as we ran. It was actually really pretty today. We made sure to stay on the salted parts of the street so we didn't slip on the ice. We ran into town and back. It was about a 5 mile run.

We went back inside and changed for the gym. We shredded our layers and put on clean tshirts. I wore my same training sweats, tshirt, and sweatshirt. Ben wore the same thing except a tshirt instead of a long sleeve.

Ben drove to Kingdom Sports Center. I had played indoor, AAU, and summer league here. There were a few people here. Not many though. The indoor field was open. We walked in and laced up. I had a pair of Mercurial Proximo X's and Ben had a pair just like mine.

I rolled out all the balls from the bag. Ben set up the dummies and cones. We warmed up and then I served in long crosses while Ben was on the end of them working on finishing.

"Hey I thought I'd find you here." I heard a voice and turned around.

"Coach Jackson." I said. Travis Jackson was my old trainer. He helped me train all throughout high school and a little bit of college.

"How have you been?" Coach asked.

"I've been good. You?"

"Pretty good. Figured you could you a little help during the off season. Gotta get you ready for the NWSL draft."

"True. Thanks."

"Sure. How are you Ben? Heard you got picked up by Sporting KC."

"Yeah. I'm pretty stoked. For her. Not me." He said and smiled. Ben was always so humble. Way more than me.

"Well you guys ready to get to work?"

"Yeah. Lets do it."

We trained for a good two to three hours. We earned quite a crowd. Some of the people knew who we were, well at least who I was.

"Well if it isn't Liana." A familiar but cold voice said. The crowd went away so I could see who it was.

"Bricen." I said. Ben was holding my hand at the time so he gently squeezed it. "It's okay. I'm all yours."

I could tell that he relaxed as soon as I said that. I walked towards Bricen with Ben as my heels. "What are you doing here?" Ben asked immediately. I put my hand on his stomach so he would calm down.