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A/N: I realised I got the format for the tournament wrong but hey, it worked out alright anyway.
*
Charlotte's P.O.V.
"You came!".
Lily's voice echoes through the coffee shop as she jumps up to hug me, the rest of the girls waiting around and looking at the menu above the counter. "Of course I did" I reply, Lily now looking over my shoulder, "you bought all of them?" she now asks; seemingly counting them in her head. "Yes, it seems like they very much wanted to meet you, or they all just wanted to try HAO's coffee" I smile and Lily laughs.
"Talk of the devil" I add as my sister goes over to the girls and the US player appears out of nowhere, "Charlotte! How lovely to see you" Heather smiles, also pulling me into a hug, "how longs it been?" she asks and I laugh, "too long HAO, too long" I reply.
"How are you?" I ask in turn, "I'm good, nice to be back home" she says, "sorry to hear your retiring after this season" I reply and HAO shrugs. "It's alright, my body's not what it used to be and I'd always thought of bowing out over here" she explains. "Are Lotte and Alessia..." I start to ask but before I can, there's a squeal and I turn to see Georgia and Ellie hugging their England youth teammates, "they'll be here then" I smile at HAO and she nods.
"Let's get this meeting/reunion thing started" she replies and heads to the back while I walk over to the girls, "guys, let's push some tables together and get sorted shall we?".
The coffee shop is turned into a hive of activity as myself, Aoife and KB move two or three tables together, Steph and Jill go round taking peoples orders and the rest finding chairs or helping in some way or another.
Eventually we're all sat down and Lily is bombarded by questions from the girls.
"How did you find moving to UNC?" KB asks, "it's been tough, I'm not gonna lie. I miss my family and I don't get to spend the time with Haz that I missed out on. Having these two here" Lily explains, nodding to Lotte and Alessia, "has been a real help because we have done stuff together and that's been nice" she adds.
"How are you finding your soccer?" Janine asks, her, Demi and Megan all having attended uni over here.
"It's great but unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. Anson is an amazing coach, I don't think there's any other words to describe him. The girls are lovely and training is really enjoyable and the support we get from the uni and our fellow athletes is incredible" my sister replies.
HAO comes to clear any coffee cups that are finished with and its clear she wants to talk so as she goes to take the cups back, I get up from the table and follow her.
"Lottie" she says pulling me aside by my arm, "yeh?" I ask slightly confused by her secrecy; taking a quick look back over at the table. "I think there's something going on between Lily and Miss Guijarro over there. I mean look..." she says, moving her head in the direction of the table.
"She totally has heart eyes for your sister" Heather explains, "I mean... that would make sense. I wondered how Patri knew about the shop and how she found it out so quickly" I reply and the veteran looks confused. "Long story short I made up a competition/team bonding thing to find mine and Lily's favourite coffee shop, here of course" I smile, "and Patri came to me and told me she knew which one it was without any of the others having an idea" I add as HAO nods putting two and two together.
"They must have been messaging on Instagram or something" she suggests, "how else would they know each other" she adds. "Mmm. I better get back. Steph's getting restless cause she's realised I'm not there" I say and HAO nods, retreating into the back once again while I head back over to the table.
"What was all that about?" Steph asks as I slide back into my seat beside her, "HAO mentioned something about Patri and Lily that's all" I reply; "nothing to worry about".
*
The following afternoon: Manchester, UK
"Alright ladies, get your bags and let's get outta here" Twadds says loudly as our bags start coming into view, "Charlotte your's is there, don't miss it" KB shouts half amused as I put my phone away, "thanks KB" I reply, a little tired from the jet lag that seems to have caught up with me.
"Everything alright in the Patricia/Lily situation?" Steph asks from next to me, "erm... yeh pretty good. I pulled them aside before we left and they admitted they'd be in communication for a while before Patri moved here. She apologised for not telling me more than Lily, I think she was worried I was going to tell her off" I reply, smiling.
"Poor thing. I suppose she wasn't counting on starting a relationship with her assistant managers sister before she even moved to the club was she?" Steph answers, a smirk on her face, "hey, you'd want to make sure Stu's girlfriend was suitable" I retort.
"Touché" the defender replies, "although we all know Keaveny is an absolute gem" she adds and I have to give her that one.
"Ok let's go" Twadds almost shouts making me jump, "too early Jules, too early" I reply covering my ears; damn, this jet lag really has caught up quickly. "Sorry Lottie, forgot you weren't a morning person even though your job requires you to be" Twadds throws back and I just ignore her, pulling my suitcase and hauling my bags out to the coach.
As I'm putting them inside my phone rings showing Stan's name, now bearing in mind it's eight am and I know for a fact she doesn't need to be up this early today; I'm surprised she missed me this much.
"Hey Stan, missed me? You wouldn't be calling this early if you getting your beauty sleep" I smile but it's instantly wiped off my face when I hear her reply, "dad's had a heart attack... He's in hospital" she replies through tears that I want to instantly wipe away.
"Ok, which hospital?" I ask, "Freeman hospital in Newcastle. It's a specialist heart one, he got transferred from North Tyneside General" Lucy explains; "ok I can be there in two hours" I reply. "Thank you" is her answer and then she hands up leaving me feeling battered and washed out, now that's not just the jet lag talking, "do you want me to come with?" a voice says and I turn to see Keira stood next to me.
"What?" I ask, "I can come with you. Narla's at mums" she replies and I smile weakly; "that would be great thank you".
*
A/N: I know it's short and a bit jumpy but I had an idea and I wanted to put it into practise. Also I had a huge bout of writers block and I didn't know how to write about the coffee shop thing 😂
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Connections
FanfictionCharlotte Williams always wanted to be a football coach or referee. Becoming a coach was almost a no brained where as being a referee; well there's more to that than meets the eye. You see the standard of referring, especially in the women's game i...
