What The Heart Wants

Crossing A Few Bridges

A lazy Sunday for the Hearts kicked off with Cari and Katie having brunch at the Green Eggs Cafe in Northeast Philly. After receiving their beverages and ordering food, the two of them launched into "the talk".

Katie: I guess I should ask this off the top. When did you come to realize you wanted something more with me or Morgan?

Cari: Probably around the midway point of our one season together under Randy (Waldrum, former Houston Dash head coach) in South Bend. You and I had already built a bit of something by the point Mo landed at Notre Dame, but she tapped into another side of me that we hadn't touched in that first year-plus. I could have the deep, heart-to-hearts with you about life, the universe, and our places in it, and I could be goofy as heck with her. I know you and Mo have popped off on how that Night of the Shivering Captain made you feel, but I've never told either of you what it did to me. Sitting, laying, being held between the two of you as you tried to defrost me, I got this feeling of contentedness, like everything I wanted in my future existed in the two of you. Now, I'm still dating Nick at this time and Mo is still with Riley, so I didn't think of moving on it and testing the waters. I get drafted by the Dash, head off to Houston to start my rookie season, and upon coming back for graduation, both of you are out of my grasp. I have kicked myself off-and-on for the better part of three years for not saying something when I had the chance. I also didn't stay in touch with you after leaving Notre Dame for the NWSL, so Mo's transfer to Southern Cal took me by surprise and your buried feelings for me never came out.

Katie: Not that I think I would have been able to disclose them to you while you were still attached. Our middle women brought me to speed on what happened at Moe Brian's night-before-the-wedding roast at the O'Haras, so I know you've been carrying a torch for me strong enough that others have noticed it. As things started to go south in Chicago, I came to the conclusion that I needed to shore up my non-soccer life should my playing career come to an end before opening day. Yeah, I was technically home, but there was nothing really holding me there, except maybe my parents. This is one of those places where being an only child sucks, where everyone you grew up with moves on and you don't have an anchor to cling to like a brother or sister. Once the rumors about Paul shopping players in order to fix our midfield problem began swirling, I reached out to Jen and kvetched a little about what I was facing, not thinking about the fact that Kristie was in Philly and therefore was probably getting first-hand accounts from her sister of the turmoil. She dropped your name into the conversation, I told her and Danny about how I had felt for you, and in a matter of days, the wheels of the trade machine turned and I end up moving to Sky Blue.

Cari: And decided to take a detour there to come see me?

Katie: I wasn't the one who came up with that idea. It was my former Red Stars teammates who suggested I stop there on the way to Jersey and come to Heart-to-Heart and surprise you. I shocked Mo, then got her on-board with the plan to announce my appearance.

Cari: Will you have dinner with me on Friday night, just the two of us? Go somewhere sort of fancy, make a bit of a deal out it, and see if the sparks are still there.

Katie: Only if you promise to let me PDA you after Saturday's game, action to be determined based on how today and Friday go.

Cari: Wow. Talk about being forward. Consider it a deal. Want to come back to my place for a bit? Lindsey and Emily are supposedly on a group thing with Steph, Ali, Jen, and Danny to indoctrinate the newcomers to the wonders of the city.

Katie: I would love to spend more time with you.

The two former college teammates finished up their meals and went to their cars, with Cari stopping at Katie's to give her directions before giving her a tight hug and walking down to her vehicle.