the aesthetic value of your emotions
Another week and another day for Wynter at Melwood. While some of the boys were doing interviews, others commenced with training. The french girl, on the other hand, was a different story. After the match against Liverpool, Wynter was advised by Claire to step out of the public eye until she would make an appearance again during the international break that was soon closing in and so all training for her since the previous week took place indoors if training was opened to the media.
She sat alone on her usual couch in the gaming room as she skimmed from channel to channel on the flat-screen placed in front of her. Although her brown eyes were glued to the screen, her ears failed to give their full concentration as to what was being played. However, they perked up at the mention of Wynter's name. She leaned back in her seat, turning the volume up.
"We're back here on MNF to discuss the whole controversy that happened during the Manchester City v Liverpool match. During the first half of the game, Liverpool's Wynter Reyes received two yellow cards from the referee, which ultimately led to the player receiving a red card so she was sent off for the rest of the match. Many football fans, not just Liverpool fans, have called out the ref and the Premier League for allowing this to happen all over social media. Majority of people believe that Reyes didn't deserve her red card. What are you guys' thoughts?"
"I think like the majority of people, I think Reyes didn't deserve the red card. She did absolutely nothing wrong to get it. I think out of all players on the pitch that should've gotten the card is Stones! I mean, he was the one who repeatedly tackled Reyes, so I think the match just had extremely poor refereeing overall."
"Personally, I believe the whole incident is an important case that the Premier League should take into account. Like, I know a lot of people associated with football will have a hard time agreeing with what I'm going to say, but the truth is that the referee's attitudes towards Wynter were targeted at her, not Liverpool and we first got a glimpse of it at the start of the game when he didn't shake her hand. To people who think everything was "miscommunication" or whatever, they need to understand that what the ref did was unacceptable and shouldn't be tolerated in football."
"What about the Premier League? Do you think they should handle the situation? And how should they handle it?"
"They should definitely handle the situation but in the correct way – perhaps gathering Reyes' side of the situation first any other. It all happened under their watch so yes, they must do something about it. Handle it in the way they would handle any other discriminatory actions such as racism towards players.
"It's honestly not even that difficult, but I feel like the Premier League are currently lacking the want to actually take action into this case. It's a real shame because Reyes doesn't deserve the backlash she's getting from fans who believe she's the reason why Liverpool didn't win the match."
"I agree with that. . . Whether a player's this or that, everyone should be treated the same and if that doesn't happen, the Premier League and the FA should conduct the same actions for all players or staff, not prioritise one's protection and safety over the other simply because of their gender. . ."
As the player appreciated the support that they displayed through their words, she wished certain statements weren't true. The Premier League are currently lacking the want to actually take action. It hit, hard. Fortunately, she didn't come into this football industry naively believing that absolutely nothing would come her way.
She'd first hand seen the way in which certain players were treated by the fans, staff and the FA and with the uniformly brutal treatment she received from just being an athlete, she didn't expect any better for herself in a male-dominated sport.
Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Jürgen, who offered Wynter a smile once he spotted her. "Hello, Winnie," his eyes diverted over to the TV screen. "Oh, I see you're watching the replays."
She nodded. "Yeah, I am. I actually didn't get a chance to watch the match last week so I'm giving it a watch now."
"Well, that's good to hear. Is it okay if you come with me to my office? I just have a few things to say that you'd probably like to know," he asked.
"Yeah, no problem."
When the pair reached the office and got quickly situated, Jürgen dove right into the topic. "Alright, first off, how are you today?"
Wynter's eyes glanced around the office aimlessly, her fingers clasping together on her lap. "I'm okay, I guess. I'm getting better, I think. I know I'm supposed to wait another two weeks to train with the boys but I think I'll be ready after the break."
"That's good. As much as the boys do for the club, they need you back on the team," Jürgen mentioned. "Anyway, why I called you here. I don't know if you know about this yet but earlier this week LFC wasn't pleased with the treatment you were given last week so they made a complaint to the FA."
"So what did they say?"
"They reviewed the match that we had against City and just today, they permanently banned the referee from refereeing in the Premier League."
Her face lit up. "Wait, really?"
Jurgen nodded, folding his arms. "Yes, it wasn't just the club themselves. It was also pressure from other players, fans, the media, pretty much everyone."
"Okay," Wynter's brows furrowed, deep in thought. She glanced back at her football manager. "So, what happens from now then?"
"Well, as I said before, the FA received a lot of pressure from everyone to take action about what happened. So what they're doing now is creating a campaign, specifically for you, and they want you to be apart of creating it," Jürgen explained in short.
Wynter sucked in a deep breath, taking in Jürgen's words. "Hold on, so like the #NoRoomForRacism campaign but like a campaign that's based around sexism and inequality against women in sports and they want me to be apart of it?"
"Exactly."
"That's a bit lazy of them, isn't it?" she scoffed, leaning back in her seat. "They're basically saying we can't protect you from the abuse so you've got to protect yourself from it."
"I'm sorry it has to be this way for you, Winnie," Jürgen voiced, a sympathetic look on his face.
"It's not your fault. You don't need to apologise. . ." Wynter sighed, pushing her braids away from her face. "It's just so frustrating having to go through this yet again. I just wish the FA took this situation into consideration before they decided to bring it to me like this."
"All of us at LFC wishes that too," Jürgen got up from his seat and came from behind his desk so he could sit beside Wynter. "The players, staff and the youth academy are all on your side on this but all we can do now is put even more pressure on the FA to take further investigation into the situation. As for you Winnie, all you should be doing is preparing yourself for the break so you can come back to the squad in the next two weeks time," he gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, to which was returned by the player with a determined nod.
. . .
With his eyes focused on his phone, Trent walked through the hallways of St. George's Park as he made his way towards the screening room. A hearted smile danced across his facial features as he exchanged messages with Wynter. He placed a satisfied grin on his face before he entered into the screening room where most of his teammates were.
He sat down next to Jadon, who held a smirk on his face. Trent frowned, confusion slowly arousing his body. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Jadon laughed as he shook his head. "Why am I? Why did you just walk in here with such as huge-ass smile on your face like you just received a blowjob or something?"
"Okay, first off, that's definitely not why I'm happy," Trent felt his cheeks heat up as he spoke. "I just am, okay? There's no special occasion for anything."
"Sure, Trent. I'm going to let it go, for now," the younger player taunted, soon turning his attention to someone else.
"Fine with me," Trent muttered to himself. Just when he thought he'd received the last straw of the frivolous questions, his ears picked up Jesse's voice. "What?"
"Isn't that your girlfriend?" the Man Utd player exclaimed, unintentionally gaining the attention of every player in the room.
Trent's nose wrinkled up in confusion but it soon fell at ease when he placed his attention on the large TV screen. The screen displayed Wynter arriving at Clairefontaine, oversized sunglasses effectively blocking the lazy, early sunlight. While she made her way towards the building, she sent the camera her signature wink before she continued on with her stride.
"Here, we can see Wynter Reyes entering into Clairefontaine's training grounds with a bright smile on her face. It's quite clear that's she has used her week-long suspension to turn things around for herself. I'm sure the French fans will be delighted at her return to the pitch again. . ."
"Uh, no. She isn't," Trent admitted, scratching at the nape of his neck.
"Really, 'cause from what I've seen online, you two seem like a legit couple," Marcus commented to which a few players agreed with nods and yeah's.
"I mean, if you two aren't together, that means I can take my chance on Reyes," Jesse smirked, attempting the wind up the scouse.
"What? Of course, Trent and Winnie are a thing! It's just not official yet. Ain't that right?" Daniel said, turning to look at Trent for a certified answer.
"Uh, um—" the scouse stuttered on his words, fidgeting with his fingers. "Well, we're getting to that stage and stuff but we haven't actually, you know. . . kissed before."
Joe glanced up from his phone with a surprised look. "What?! I thought you two have at least past that stage by now. Dang, you two are slow."
"It's not my fault. Winnie can be a very reserved person at times so obviously she has her limits. All I can do is respect them and just wait until the time's right," Trent shrugged.
"Awe, what a gentleman he is," Ross cooed, which lead to the scouse sending him a glare. "Nah, but on a serious note, I think you should shoot your shot the day of the match. Just to get it over with so you two can actually start going somewhere."
"Are you guys sure?"
"Hell yeah, or else one of us will," Jesse mentioned, earning a deliberate shove from Trent while the rest of the boys laughed at the banter that went on.
"Please, go on and try me."
. . .
After Wynter got a few hours to settle in at Clairfortaine, she fell into a conversation with Oliver in one of the many lounge areas. They were in discussion about particular topics between each other when a loud voice abruptly cut shut the conversation short.
"Winnie!"
"Oh Dieu," Wynter's eyes widened as she turned to the Chelsea player. "Oli, hide me from whoever is calling my name," her voice came out muffled as she dug her face into his side.
Oliver simply laughed, rubbing her back. "Sorry, Winnie but they're already here," Wynter let out a groan as she turned her head to catch sight of Ousmane, Presnel and Corentin with giddy smiles on their faces.
"Why are you guys looking at me like that?" her face screwed up, shaking her head slowly.
Corentin sat next to the forward, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "So, we were in the canteen and we may have heard Walnut talking to Antoine about you and one of your teammates in Liverpool."
"Wait, Ky?" She was confused as to why Kylian was placing another player, also her teammates's name in his mouth. What exactly was his deal?
"Yes, him. Please, keep up, Winnie," Presnel rolled his eyes, she mimicked his actions. "Anyway, about your teammate, Trent is it?"
"Sure?" Slowly, she nodded her head.
"Are you two a thing or something?"
Wynter believed that she might as well spill the information to her teammates now rather than later. "I mean, we've admitted feelings to each other, but other than that, we're nothing else at the moment."
"Oh my gosh, I can smell the drama cooking up," Ousmane let out a laugh, rubbing his palms together.
"What? What is it? Stop playing games with me and just tell me!"
"Alright, alright, calm down," Corentin allowed his laughter to die down before he continued. "Let's just say Kylian isn't the happiest about you finding a bird in England," he explained.
The french girl thought for a brutal second. Kylian's words from a few weeks ago and Corentin's recent statement didn't connect in her mind. She couldn't bring herself to comprehend as to what was going on with the young prodigy. One minute, he claimed all things were perfectly fine between the pair and then another minute, he cried to Antoine about the business that wasn't even his own.
"Where is Kylian, like, now?" she asked as she unclasped herself from Oliver.
"Oh, probably still in the canteen. He came in just when we were leaving."
"Alright, I'll be back in a few."
She ignored the hollers of her friends as she strutted out of the lounge area. Wynter made it her mission to find Kylian. She peeped into different rooms, asked around if anyone had recently seen him since he ended up not being in the canteen after all. After a tiring fifteen minutes of marching around the training grounds, Wynter finally found the teen in the indoor swimming pool.
"Hey, Winnie—"
"Cut the crap, I'm not in the mood for it right now." Luckily, she wore shorts so she placed her sliders to the side and dipped her feet into the chlorine water.
He swam to the edge of the pool and sat next to Wynter, who was left unphased by the small water droplets that slid down his muscular figure. "Woah, what's wrong with you?" he asked.
"Why did I hear from Demi, Corentin and Presko that you were talking to Antoine about my teammate in England?"
"I just wanted to know what is going on between the two of you and I knew Antoine would know, so I asked him," he shrugged. "Plain and simple, Winnie."
"Wait," she exhaled deeply, rubbing her temple in attempts to make of the situation in front of her. "Why didn't you just ask me? I would have told you."
"Honestly, it doesn't matter. Like everyone else on the team, I just want to make sure my best friend is safe with whoever she's getting it on with," he explained. "Nothing less, nothing more."
"Are you sure?" she questioned him, carefully.
"Yes, I'm sure!" he chuckled, swinging his feet slightly in the water. "Not everything I do has some hidden meaning behind it. Listen, I know after we talked the last time, it was still a bit edgy between us but it's all good now. I was just curious, that's all. Plus, I'm not exactly familiar with these Brits so I asked Antonie 'cause I knew he would be the only person who properly knew about your bird."
For some unknown reason, Wynter decided to let go of the discussion rather than digging an even deeper hole. Maybe it was the fact that she lacked vitality in her body or she actually believed the PSG player's way-too-calm words though nonetheless, she let the conversation fade away.
Kylian jumped back into the pool. "Now, while you're here you might as well go for a swim," he grabbed her arms, Wynter's eyes widening at his sudden grip on her wrists.
"Wait, Ky, no—" It was too late. The striker pulled the forward into the pool, causing Wynter to let out a yelp as her body came in contact with the cold water. When their bodies resurfaced to the surface of the water, she sent Kylian a glare, who concealed his mouth to halt the withdrawal of a laugh. "Je te deteste tellement."
Kylian simply laughed as he shrugged her comment off, wrapping his arms around her smaller frame, pecking her cheek. "Je t'aime aussi."
. . .
Wynter let out a heavy sigh as she exited the away dressing room, preparing her body to be devoured by the usual british weather. A blue neckwarmer placed over her lips to somewhat secure some source of warmth within her upper body. Just as she went to move towards the tunnels, a hand got ahold of her arm. Once she recognised the player, her lips turned downwards.
"Oh, no. I just got over it. I'm not going back onto this topic again," she ripped her arm out of his grasps, soon attempting to fall astray from the defender though he blocked her path before she had the chance to escape.
"No, no. I know you probably hate me a lot right now and I don't blame you for that but I honestly just want to apologise," John pleaded to the girl before she'd the opportunity to dash.
When he tried to inch closer, Wynter held out her palm so then he would stop in his tracks, keeping a firm distance between the two. "Really? Is Jordan forcing you to apologise to me? I just talked to him yesterday about what you caused," she scoffed, folding her arms.
"No, he isn't forcing me. I'm here speaking to you, willingly. Please, just listen to what I have to say," when she didn't argue with his words, John let out a low sigh before he continued. "Look, I'm so sorry for the stunt I pulled two weeks ago. I'm so sorry I got you suspended. It was stupid of me and I shouldn't have tackled you the ways I did. If I knew the ref had that attitude towards you, I wouldn't have done what I did."
Noticing the honesty in his words, Wynter allowed her cold exterior to fall. She exhaled, adjusting the France NT hat on her head. "Okay but. . . why did you do it? Like, why? The first tackle okay but a second tackle and on the same player? Clearly there's something wrong there."
John glanced down at his shoes, his hand rubbing over his opposite elbow. "I don't know. I guess I wasn't having the greatest week. Pep was coming at me to play well against Liverpool and obviously, that didn't turn out well."
"Wow! You think?" she huffed, letting her arms relax by her sides. "Look, John. I'm not one to dwell on the past or hold grudges so I'm going to be an easy person here and say I forgive you."
"Really?" his face lit up.
"Yeah," she nodded. "It happened two weeks ago, it's irrelevant to me. I've moved on from it."
"Thanks for forgiving me, I appreciate it. Uh, is it okay if I, um," John hesitantly held out his arms.
She rolled her eyes before she gestured for John to inch closer. "Bring it in." After the pair shared a short-lived hug, Wynter glanced up at the defender with a lopsided smile. "Promise I won't get tackled during this game?"
"I promise," he laughed, pulling her in for another quick hug.
Once both teams had completed their warm-ups, the players were scattered all over the hallways of the stadium awaiting the moment in which they would get into formation for the match. With much time to spare the french player wandered the hallways rather bored out of her mind. When she saw a group of English players in a bunch, she stopped in her movements.
It soon came to the french girl that one of the players in the huddle was most certainly Trent. His back exposed to her front as he chatted away with his teammates. The young player let out a soft chuckle as she aligned her tan eyes with Joe, who faced Trent. Wynter sent Joe a knowing look to which was carefully returned with a subtle nod, a tight smirk painted across his face.
Without a second thought, Wynter ran towards the players before she gracefully jumped onto Trent's back with ease. She felt the scouse's arms automatically grab ahold of her thighs as her lips neared his ear. "Sup."
He rotated his head to catch sight of the female-forward. His eyes instantly lit up. "Winnie."
"Why do you seem so surprised to see me? You know we have a match against each other right?" Wynter giggled, snaking her arms around his neck.
Trent glanced down, his cheeks mixing his usual melanin with faint blush. "Yeah, I know but you kind of put me off by coming from behind me."
Wynter thought for a moment before she nodded, a smirk settling over her lips. "Okay, fair enough."
"Uh, I'm sorry. Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" Jesse emphasised his last few words.
Trent sighed, though a grin broke out on his face. "Winnie, these are my other teammates; Jesse, Marcus, Jadon, Mason and you already know Joe."
"Hey," Wynter said softly, her shy nature now shining through for everyone to see.
If the scouse knew what embarrassment was destined to come his way, he would've already legged it with the forward on his back, but he remained oblivious to his friends' intentions. "You know, he talks about you a lot to us," Jadon mentioned, a playful look on his face.
"Huh, is that so?" Wynter decided to play along with the English boys' games. "I hope only good things."
"I mean—"
"Oh, don't even try to deny it, Trent! Wynter can do this, Wynter can do that! The boy practically gushes about you whenever you come up in a conversation," Mason added, giving the scouse a slight nudge.
"Exactly, like the way he speaks about you, sometimes I'm convinced that he may be in love—"
"Alright, alright. I think she gets what you guys are trying to say." Trent said, his cheeks instantly transitioning to a faint pink. Though, he was clueless to the fact Wynter's cheeks replicated his own.
"Oh really? Well, it's a good thing I like him too." The scouse didn't get a chance to respond to her slick comment as she planted a kiss on the corner of his ear, sending his body feeling all sorts of emotions at once. The boys laughed at the sight of Trent's stiff body stance.
"Holy fuck, y'all are adorable. It's not even funny. Too bad I missed my chance."
"You wouldn't have even gotten a chance, Jesse." scoffed Marcus.
All while the boys continued to bicker with each other about the lovers, with Wynter still launched on his back, Trent wandered over to a more secluded area of the stadium where the two could recommence their conversation without the constant teases of his teammates.
Once Trent finally set Wynter back on the floor, he spoke up again, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about my friends. They can be annoying sometimes."
"No, it's okay. I like them, they're funny," Wynter smiled, rolling her eyes. "You haven't met my teammates yet so you don't even know the actual definition of annoying."
"Anyway, why did you come over?"
"Oh yeah, I just wanted to say you can stop giving John a hard time," when the scouse's face scrunched up, she placed a hand on her hip. "Oh don't act clueless Trent. Hendo told me what happened the other day when you guys were training."
"Oh," he got a flashback of the tackle he presented John with the day before in training. "That was an accident. I didn't purposely do it," Trent defended himself though the french girl could easily see through his weak, dead lies, which is why she quickly let it go. The quick twitch of his lips curling up gave it away.
"Okay, okay. We'll go with that answer for now."
"Aye, Winnie! C'mon, it's time to get ready for the line-ups," she heard one of her international teammates call her name.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there in one second!" Wynter called out before she turned back to the scouse, sighing with a hint of fatigue. "Well, I guess I'll see you again out on the pitch."
Just as the french girl pulled a 1/80 turn, she felt Trent grab ahold of her arms, ultimately spinning her body around to face him again. Just as she went to protest against his actions, she felt the scouse's soft lips press up against her own. At first, she remained stiff, her body caught off guard but within a few short seconds, she indulged herself into the intimate session between what some would now describe as the young couple.
Her lips meshed with his in a rhythmic tone. Their giddy hands carelessly roamed each other's body and face. The inaudible sound of their affectation for the other player finally being expressed through a long, overdue peck. From the petty arguments to the amazingly, late-night dates, the pair found themselves in a position where their infatuation for each other no longer needed to be kept hidden in the shadows of unshed emotions.
What felt like an eternity, reluctantly, the pair pulled away from each other's touch. Tight grins cast across their faces, glints of tenderness shone through their dark eyes. Unfortunately, the sweet moment was cut short when they heard someone from afar shout at them.
"It's official, guys, they are a couple!" Joe announced which was soon followed by a wave of hollers from the England NT.
"You two are definitely in love with each other."
"Wow, Trent. I'm not going to lie, I didn't think you had it in you."
Her head fell against his chest, her voice coming out muffled. "We can never be left alone for more than five minutes, can we?"
Trent's arms branched around her waist to pull her closer, laughing off his friends' attendance. "I guess we can't."
———
[ edited—12/07/20 ]