Little Do They Know

Chapter 55 - Splitting And Meeting

Jackie: Brads, we need to talk. Call me when you land.

When we landed in New Zealand, to play our first to group matches, I knew I had to call her. I knew I couldn't leave this situation unattended to. But I also didn't know what to expect. I didn't know how I felt let alone be able to explain those emotions to someone who was currently in a different country to me.

I was staring at my phone, when a calming presence walked up behind me.

"Everything okay?" A person with a Boston accent asked me. I turned around to see Kristie looking over my shoulder.

"Want the truth or a lie?" I laughed.

"The truth Brads, always the truth."

"I think me and Jackie may be over," I said, looking down at the ground, trying not to make eye contact with Kristie.

"Why do you think that?" she asked me, and I flipped around my phone to show her the message.

"Don't assume anything, Brads," Kristie said, trying to instil something in me, "it could be anything."

"I don't know Kris," I replied, "it had been weird recently. It was like we were on a different wavelength." Kristie thought for a second, before responding.

"Maybe, then, this may be a good thing. Give each other some space and when you get back to England, it can be a time to sort everything out."

"I am not sure I am going back to England," I responded.

"Really?"

"I've had a few offers, from different clubs."

"That's incredible Brads. What's stopping you then?"

"Her."

"Oh."

"Listen, Bradie, I know this may be tough to hear, but you are one of the best strikers in the world. You are an incredibly talented and gifted player. If Jackie loved you enough, she would let you go and be that incredible player, without her. That's what Indi did."

"What do you mean?"

"When Jill got offered that opportunity at Wolfsburg, she was about to turn it down. She was going to stay at Arsenal and be with Indi. but, Inds didn't let her. Indi made her go, without her, and they broke up in the process, but Jill got to go and live out her dream, and become the player Indi always knew she could be. That is love right there. That is true love."

"What if it's not true love?"

"Then maybe it's not meant to be."

Kristie gave it to me how it was. She didn't fluff about, but rather told me the truth, and I appreciated it more than she realised. I knew that that was what I needed. Someone to give it to me straight.

We landed in New Zealand prior to our first group match against Brazil. We knew we had one of the tougher groups in the competition, but we weren't going to let that scare us. We had to go out there and do what we needed to do to get the win, and come top in the group.

As I got into the hotel room, with Tierna and I both falling onto our beds, I was glad to be back with my normal roomie.

"I've missed you T," I said to her, as we lay on our beds.

"All is right in the world," she answered, and I smiled.

As Tierna left to go downstairs, I knew I had to ring Jackie. I had to get this scary ordeal over and done with.

The phone rang several times, before a response on the other line.

"Hey," I heard a voice say over the phone.