Never Really Over

Chapter 26

A brace! In the World Cup no less. It was more than John had ever dreamed of. The buzz was like nothing he had ever experienced before. His eyes scanned the crowd, a sea of England fans in white and red before him roaring back at him as he celebrated his second goal. Suddenly, he was grabbing Kyle's shoulder and asking urgently, "Did you see her?!"

"Who!?" Kyle frowned and shook his head as they made their way to line up ready to go again.

"Beth!"

"What?!" The lines on Kyle's brow deepened.

"I think I saw her!" John looks at his friend with wide eyes filled with wonder over the prospect of Beth being here in Russia. He had agonised over whether or not to invite her, he wanted her with him for the biggest moment of his career but in the end, he had decided against it; it was too much to ask of her to expect her to put her entire life on hold for weeks to be here for him, especially when they were not actually together. "Did you see her?" There was an air of desperation in John's words as he desperately wanted Kyle to have seen what he had. He wanted it to be true, he wanted her here.

Kyle screwed up his face so dramatically it looked like he was entering a gurning competition. "Mate, there's 40,000 people in here; you honestly think I can pick your bird that's not your bird who I've met precisely three times out of the crowd?!"

John supposed that was fair, he had only seen her for the briefest of seconds himself, but he was sure that the girl he had just seen in a white kit that matched his, who had her fists in the air as she screamed along with him as he celebrated, was Beth. His brain had worked more slowly than his eyes, and by the time he had realised he had thought he had seen her; he couldn't find her again, she was lost in the mob.

Are you here???

He had messaged her as soon as he got back to the dressing room at full time.

Told you, I'm always watching. You were amazing, I am so proud of you x

But are you here?! I think I saw you!

I'm on holiday x

Her cryptic replies drove him to distraction but the post-match celebrations that followed, then recovery and prep for the Belgium match left him no time to dwell on things. Match day had arrived again before he knew it. He played 45 minutes then spent the second half not concentrating on the game like he should be but scanning the crowds from his seat on the bench in the hope he might catch sight of Beth again, and then he would know for sure if she was there or not. At full time, he sought out Roberto, congratulated him on Belgium's win, exchange pleasantries before finally asking what they both knew he had been building up to all along, "How's Beth?"

"She is well," Roberto had smiled warmly at John. "I am sure you hear from her more often than I do."

John wasn't so sure about that; his contact with Beth was infrequent, he had heard from her on his birthday, the day he had departed for Russia and on the day of England's opening match, but their conversations were always short, and he was always the last one to text back.

"Is she here?"

"She's on holiday."

If it wasn't pre-programmed into his make-up to respect his elders then he might have challenged Roberto on this, because now he was convinced Beth was here, but for some reason she did not want him to know. He did not question his former boss, instead letting the agonising continue as he stuck to what had become his Russian routine, chilling with his teammates after dinner before retiring to his room early, catching up with Georgia then, before he turned out his light, reading the good luck card Beth had sent him. It was his most prized possession here; if there was a fire at the hotel, he was saving that card even if he died doing it. Inside, Beth had reminded him that only seven games stood between him and being a World Cup winner, in her distinctive penmanship she had listed seven reasons why she knew he could do it, listing various different occasions where he had overcome obstacles or fears, from matches, to the time they rode Oblivion at Alton Towers, to him trying sushi ('this was my favourite ever day' – she had written in her swirly handwriting). #7 simply repeated what she had told him the last time he had seen her 'You can do anything'. He desperately wanted to prove her right.