Weekend Goal

Chapter 14: Game Plan

Since I was stuck on the bench with Sanne last week and after what she told me about Cooper and him losing the club I haven't been able to think about anything else. Part of me doesn't want to believe it's true - despite the awful results last season I was under the impression that Bobby and the rest of the board members had Cooper's back. But it's true, after spending the whole ninety minutes on the bench, I went to find Bobby and see what he had to say about it. He said it's something the board had been discussing for a while, they thought that last season was just a minor blip, that the team would bounce back, but it just hasn't happened.

That's also true - the start of this season has been worse than the last, but it doesn't have to be that way, I mean it could get better if Cooper would just get his head out of his arse. Over the years I've doubted myself a lot, but there's one thing I've never questioned and that's my dedication and ability when it comes to the beautiful game. Even Sanne who's barely seen me play said that I was pro material; if she only knew. I had my choice to make - pro football or Jacob - I don't regret my choice, but of course, I've often thought what if?

Cooper and I aren't exactly best friends right now, we're not even friends at all, but there's no way I can let him lose the club! What about Sage and Aimee - they've been through enough - and the rest of the girls? Where will we go if we don't have the club, and football and the team? And what about me? I can't bear to lose another thing that means so much to me, that's why I've invited Sanne to the café, we need to figure out what to do.

The café closed twenty minutes ago, but still, I wipe the already clean tables over and over as I wait for Sanne to arrive, I'm nervous my stomach feels like it's constantly flipping over. Out of all of them on the team, I think Sanne is the only one with enough sense to help me come up with a plan and to be honest, she is the only one who is speaking to me. The little bell above the door rings and I turn expecting to see Sanne, but it's Willow - what the hell is she doing here? Is it some sort of set-up?

"What do you want?" I ask as she walks nearer to me, I know she's not here to make amends, even if she was, I don't think I's accept her apology anyway. I'm not scared of her, but the way she's striding towards me is kind of intimidating.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," she says with a smirk. "I never thought I'd see the day, I mean, it's taken a while, but almost everything you ever cared about is gone, just like that," she clicks her fingers and gives me the biggest smile ever.

I want to say something back to her, but I'm frozen. Her breath is warm on my cheek as she leans in and asks me how it feels to have everyone hate me. She takes a couple of steps back and I suddenly find my voice, "you're a real bitch you know that?" Pathetic, I know.

Willow lets out a loud laugh and knocks over the vase of flowers and sugar bowl from the table I'd been cleaning when she's walked in. "And what are you going to do about it?" she asks as she walks out of the door.

It's hard to believe that she was once my best friend; it's even more difficult to believe that she works in women's shelter - she's the reason those places exist. I'm tempted to lock the door behind her just in case she comes back, but then Sanne wouldn't be able to get it and we wouldn't be able to save the club. Do I even want to save the club? It would be so easy for me to walk away from the club, and this café, this whole town, there's nothing here for me anymore. I clean the mess with shaky hands when I hear the door open again and I'm so relieved to hear Sanne's voice. "Do you think you could make the tea or whatever?" I ask while keeping my back to her, I can't face her just yet, that run-in with Willow has really got to me. "I just need to finish cleaning this mess and I'll be with you."

Eventually, I sit at the table opposite Sanne, I can't avoid her forever, it was me who invited her here in the first place. I've already decided that I'm not going to mention Willow; it's not that important. I go to pick up my tea, and then realise that I'm still shaking so I don't bother, I don't want to draw attention to myself. I take a deep breath, "before we start, I just need to apologise to you. We got off on the wrong foot and that's totally my fault. I was a bitch, it was a tough time for me and that doesn't excuse my behaviour, I know that. But that's done and finished now and I'm just really sorry, okay?" I'm aware that I'm rambling, but I can't stop myself.

"It's okay," she says putting her hand on top of my shaking hand.

"So, after you told me about the rumours last week, I spoke to someone and it's true -last season was awful, this one too. Dwindling crowds, loss of members and a lack of money coming in, the club can't sustain that. The harsh truth is that Cooper has a month at the most; if he doesn't turn things around, he's out the door."

"Wow! I mean, would it be a bad thing, to have a club without Cooper?" Sanne asks.

And I totally understand where she's coming from, she's only known him a matter of months and he's been a dickhead the whole time. But the club is everything to him and he's been good to us in the past; it's like something changed in him over the summer. "Honestly, I don't know. If we were talking about the Cooper from a year ago, I'd say a hundred per cent a club without Cooper would be a bad thing. But these days I don't even know."

"So, what do we do?" Sanne asks pouring us both another cup of tea.

"The way I look at it we have two options: try and appeal to Cooper's better nature or let him go."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, before Sanne asks, "how do we try to talk him round, what do we say?"

"Well, I could talk to him or you could. Or we could talk to him together. Tell him what we heard, that it's not a rumour if he knows I spoke to Bobby he might listen to us. He loves this club more than anything or anyone; he won't want to lose it."

My phone vibrates on the table next to us and Jacob's name flashes up on the screen, "do you mind if I take this? I'll only be a minute," I say. Sanne nods and I go to the kitchen for a moment of privacy - I don't want to cry in front of Sanne.

When I return Sanne is on her third cup of tea and the crumbs on the table give away that she took my absence as the opportunity to eat two of the muffins I set out for us.

"What's the other option?"

"Cooper fucks-up once too often and he's sent packing. The team might fold or we might get a new coach. We could get a new coach and the team still might go under, some of them don't like taking orders or instruction. All I do know is that whatever path we take, Willow needs to go."

"What do you think Rose?" Sanne asks before taking a bite out of a cupcake.

"I don't know. The team has always been a place for everyone, somewhere we belong. It's been part of my life for as long as I can remember, for every good and bad thing that ever happened to me the team and the club was always there for me. But things have changed. After this season I won't be playing anymore. For the last year I've been helping Bobby out with the little kids on a Tuesday night and once the season ends I'm going have my own team. Girls, sixteen and seventeen-year-olds, girls who were like I was and needed somewhere to belong."

"You're really going to quit?" Sanne says, putting the cupcake down.

"I'm not quitting. I've given so many years to this club, I've been here since I was four and I'm thirty-one next birthday. I literally had one week off to have a baby, when your stepdad is the coach you have to train even if you don't feel like it. They thought I'd go pro, but how can you do that with a baby in tow? So now I want to help girls seize that opportunity when they're given it. It's the right time for me to hang up my boots for good, but whatever you want to do about the Cooper situation, I'll help you."

We sit quietly for a minute or two, the only sound coming from the ticking of the clock and the radio playing in the kitchen. "Cooper in or Cooper out, you decide," I say and go to the kitchen because I just really need some cheese. Sanne sits quietly while she contemplates her answer and what we should do.