where it goes

chapter 2

Jamie Tartt was many things, but a romantic? Not exactly. Besides Keeley, he hadn't really had a long-lasting relationship. But, he had recently begun to realize that he is capable of having one and almost worthy of deserving one. Well, the morning after he met Mandy, he still couldn't stop thinking about her.

She almost seemed familiar, like he had seen her somewhere. But Jamie couldn't really put her finger on why.

"Mandy Donnelly, right? Maybe she's online somewhere," he shrugged, pulling out his phone as he started his blender. He liked to start each morning with either morning sex or a smoothie. Lately, he'd been drinking more smoothies.

He typed in Mandy's name, not expecting there to be many relevant hits since she had such a common name.

But, instead, he was met with search results of Mandy's face and body clad in football gear. He carefully read each headline, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to understand what he was reading.

Mandy Donnelly (19) from Stanford University has joined the Women's American World Cup Team!

Another year, another Stanford championship thanks to Mandy Donnelly (20).

Mandy Donnely calls it quits from soccer, ending her short-lived professional career at 21 years old.

"What the fuck?" Jamie shook his head and drank his smoothie, cringing as he clicked each article and tried to read while also getting his bag together for training. I might as well just ask 'er. Oh fuck, I'm gonna be late again, he thought before running out the door to his car.

Luckily, Jamie made it to training with enough extra time to bombard Mandy or Ted with questions, but he didn't want to do it alone. So, he did what he thought was best; He sent a screenshot of his search results to his fellow Greyhound mates.

It didn't take long for all of them to receive the text and grow increasingly confused as well as intrigued.

Unluckily for Mandy, Beard and Ted had no idea any of this was going on, so nobody was able to actually get ahead of it all and warn her.

It ended up being Dani, who asked Ted as he was making announcements about training.

"Uh, Coach, is it true that Mandy there," Dani pointed to Mandy who was once again, lounging in Ted's chair, "played in the Women's World Cup?"

Mandy froze. She usually just tuned these kinds of conversations out. She'd hear the whispers on public transit or from an occasional uber driver. But this time? She had virtually nowhere to run, honestly. The only thing that saved her from complete embarrassment was Higgins walking in to ask Ted a question.

She thought she had avoided the situation until Higgins so kindly asked the same question Dani did since Isaac had also sent the text to Roy, who was standing next to Keeley when he received it. Word travels fast in Richmond.

Mandy shook her head and stood up as Ted tried his best to avoid answering. "Uncle Ted, it's alright. It's been 2 years now, I think I can handle this."

She took a deep breath, diving deep into her memory of press tours to keep her composure. "When I was at Stanford, I was a great forward. They recruited me to the Women's American World Cup team when I was 19, and though we lost, it was a great time. I kept playing at Stanford till I was 21 when I hung up my boots and decided to work in communications instead. Transferred schools and everything."

Everything was going great, actually, until Sam asked a question that Mandy hated answering, "Why did you stop playing if you were that good?"

"That," Mandy responded with a fake smile plastered on her face, "is something that I will only reveal if I have enough free drinks in my stomach tonight."