by Tara Wimble
There’s only two options. She can either mouth along as if she knows them and hope that no one notices, or keep silent and hope that her teammates don’t give her the look of disappointment that she expects is the one Jacque is wearing along with poorly hidden amusement. Bella presses her lips together tightly and hums along to the tune of ‘Oh Canada’ and promises that if she gets on the field today she’ll spend an hour learning all the lyrics tonight.
She coughs after the ceremonies are all finished. Whemb shakes hands with the New Zealand captain before lining up for a pre-game photograph. Jacque wraps her arms around Sadie’s shoulder and Bella smiles. This will be the first game that she watches Jacque play from the sidelines.
Bella sits down on the bench in her pinny and cheers along with the other subs as the team takes their position.
New Zealand are in their black kits and Canada are wearing white.
They’re instantly put on the defensive. Jacque, Niav, Robyn and Loretta are forced to parry a quick New Zealand attack to the backline. The first narrowly hits the crossbar after Sadie forces it out of the way. The second, they aren’t as lucky, and eleven minutes in they’re put one down after a volley from Hassett soars into the back of the net.
The whole bench grimaces as their hopeful start to the Cyprus cup takes the first hit.
Canada plays catch up for the rest of the half. Whemb gets a look in after a well placed cross from Carla but it falls straight into Bindon’s hands.
It feels like she never leans back onto the bench at all. At the edge of her seat she grinds down on her teeth after every missed shot and misplaced ball. Even as New Zealand force a second shot on goal, Bella doesn’t think for a second they won’t equalize. She’s played enough with Whemb and Oliv, and she’s watched them even before that, to know never to underestimate what they’ll do.
So when Coach Jayce calls for her to get warmed up, Bella almost ignores her.
It’s the first game of the Cyprus Cup and she’s being subbed in before the second half. She boils it down to shock more than anything when she gets the pinny stuck over her head as she hastily runs through a warm up.
Ansar, number three, the slip says; for Julien, number ten.
Flashback memories hit her as she chooses to tuck her jersey in walking up to the line, only to pull it back out as the sideline official raises the substitution board. Christina jogs from the middle of the field to the side and returns her high five. “Good luck!”
And just like that, exchanging of the guard, Bella steps onto the field as a Canadian National Team member for the first time.
She crosses herself, just because she needs all the faith and belief in herself right now, before she takes the position that Christina had occupied. Just left of Whemb, up front, making their formation a 4-3-3. She barks out the orders that Jayce had given her, updating the team on what they need to do, and then the whistle is blown for play to resume.
Her first cap is a blur of action more than a blur of emotion. There isn’t a minute that Bella isn’t running and trying to make an impact. The halftime whistle is looming and they’re still being dispossessed. Balls aren’t going Whemb’s way and the New Zealand defenders are double teaming Oliv to stop her distribution.
Bella, however, can hear the advantage playing in her head.
They’ve never played against her before.
She’s a lot stronger than she was a year ago and if Jacque had trouble taking her down when she was half the player she was, it’s going to take a lot more than New Zealand defenders forcing her to side-step to make her lose the ball.
She plays like a force of nature and when she gets going, baring down at one of the young defenders, they flinch back. Bella taps the ball forward and pounds against the field to catch it before it’s stripped from her and then she sees the golden second. That opening in the line.
Oliv is onside and Whemb is raging down the line behind her and Bella pulls back and hits the ball.
It’s a curl so beautiful that Kathryn swears by it as it skims past the defender trying to deflect it and into Oliv’s path. It’s a two touch orchestra as Oliv controls and skips it over to Whemb.
Then it’s a similar song as the goalkeeper had rushed out to Oliv only to have Whemb belt the ball past her.
Bella trips and slides on her knees to the floor in the rush of the goal celebration. 1 - 1.
She forces herself up just in time for Kathryn to catch up and slam into her. An assist to the assist. Not bad for her first ten minutes on the field.
The game doesn’t get any better than that moment for her. New Zealand fights as hard as they do but in the end there’s no change to the stalemate that was established in the first half.
Bella pants, exhausted, holding the match ball in her hand on request of Whemb. Since it’s her first game the team will be signing the ball for her to commemorate her first cap for the full national team.
They’re milling around the field still, waiting for their coaches to call them in when she spots Jacque making her way over to her. They never passed on the field during the game so this is the first she’s seeing of the tad rain soaked figure of her friend.
“You’re gonna take this.” Jacque yells as she jogs closer. Bella stares at her in confusion.
“Take this?”
Jacque plants her feet right in front of her and Bella expects the hug but gets more than that.
“Take this.” Jacque repeats and she crouches just enough to grab Bella around her lower waist and hoist her upwards. Bella’s instinctive reaction is to wrap her legs around Jacque’s ribs and squeal when the match ball almost falls from her hands.
“Jacque!”
“Congratulations!” Jacque laughs and Bella slowly relaxes in her half hold, half embrace to return the hovering hug, wrapping her own arms as best she can with the ball around Jacque’s neck. “I told you that everything would be fine.”
Bella mumbles. “When did you say that?”
“At some point in the last two years.” Jacque banters back and starts to spin them to Bella’s increasing giddiness.
She groans as Bella tightens her legs around her. “We’re gonna get you in an ice bath and then we’re going to get that ball signed and then we’re going to stay up all night braiding each other’s hair-”
Bella snorts and taps her knuckles against Jacque’s back. “As if.”
“Or we just dump you in the ice bath and then sneak away to snuggle illicitly all night.”
Bella pretends to gasp. “What about your other paramours?”
Jacque jolts her upwards again to steady her in her arms again. “Eh, I’m sure they’ll call me in the morning.”
Bella traps the ball under her arm and keeps an hand on the back of Jacque’s neck. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Jacque asks sincerely.
“You know.”
Jacque shrugs and Bella can feel her arms shaking. “I know, I wanna hear you say it.”
Bella touches her cheek, wiping the bead of sweat falling from her hair that makes Jacque turn her nose at. “For getting me here.”
Her arms hold out just for Bella’s admission and then she sets her back on the ground again. Bella keeps them next to each other, draping an arm loosely around Jacque’s waist. The pride flows from them both. Happiness that they’ve managed to get here, together, after what seemed like an almost impossible goal.
“Yeah, yeah.” Jacque rubs her shoulder and clears her throat. “You just gotta stay here with me now.”
Bella walks with her towards their calling coach. “I think I’ve got that covered.”
*
Canada (2 - 1) Netherlands
One of the things she has to get used to, being a part of team Canada notwithstanding, is definitely Imogen and her camera. Sure the US Soccer people loved to film segments to post online and help the fans get to know them but those were planned and controlled and they were all warned beforehand.
There’s none of that here.<
br />
Ginny doesn’t give her a theme or much of a warning when she pushes the microphone under Bella’s nose the day after they beat the Netherlands and asks her what the best part of having Jacque on the team with her is.
“Um,” Bella feels blindsided just looking at the microphone, let alone the camera and she’s convinced that she’s not usually this bad at improv.
It’s then, as she’s stumbling through some sweet words, that Oliv comes up behind her and places her hands on her shoulder. “It’ll be the sex.”
Bella cracks up instantly and Imogen groans. “I’m gonna have to edit all of that out.”
“Keep it.” Oliv insists. “Think of the ratings.”
Bella wipes her eyes. “You’re way too interested in our sex life.”
Oliv hangs around though while Ginny tries to put together some useable footage with Bella talking about Jacque. It’s mostly fluff and Bella twisting her compliments just enough to fit in talking about Jacque as her wife and not her best friend. It’s a wonder that more people haven’t caught on yet.
“But it’s definitely the sex though.” Oliv jibes at her once Ginny has turned the camera off. “I mean, you’re basically in the honeymoon period-”
Bella has started to learn how to play this game a little better every day and she clicks her tongue and dodges Oliv’s eyes. “There’s too much to say.”
Jacque walks around the corner the moment Oliv suggests that she starts from the moment Bella found herself being seduced into Jacque’s bed. Bella can play the game, but Jacque invented it. “I think you’ll remember well enough.” Jacque jokes. “If not, ask Sadie.”
Ginny laughs in bursting gasps and Jacque wraps her arm around Bella’s waist, quite protectively, as Oliv pretends to tip her invisible hat to that remark.
“Fair play, Liresch.”
It ends there but Bella has a feeling that the war for details definitely isn’t over and to win as well as Jacque expects her to? Well, she’s gonna need an hour with Google.
*
Canada (2 - 0) Russia
The locker room after a win is a dangerous sort of place to be. Especially after a semi. It’s rowdy, it’s loud, and everyone’s in good spirits. So not dangerous in the traditional sense but there’s some danger associated. Like, for instance, Oliv and her big inappropriate mouth.
“So,” Oliv ends up collapsing onto the bench where Bella is taking her shorts off and Jacque isn’t blind to the obvious looking she does. “-I’d totally understand if you both wanted some time to yourselves tonight. Just say the word. Let us know.”
Jacque pulls on a clean shirt. “In other words, you have two keys so be prepared for us to ruin your night when you feel like it.”
Sadie cracks up from the opposite bench.
Bella ducks her head with amusement but doesn’t say anything.
“That’ll be fine, thanks though.” Jacque says as she absently fixes her hair up a bit.
Oliv puts her hand over her heart. “Abstaining for the tournament. Wow. So committed. So proud.”
Sadie can’t keep out of it at this point. “It’s more to do with the fact that she wants to be able to leave bed in the morning I think. Training after spending the night-”
Jacque shoots her a glare as Jan bursts out laughing. “Really?”
Bella doesn’t help matters at all by staying silent and continuing to change. Especially when she’s wearing a neon pink sports bra. Jacque snaps her fingers at Oliv again.
“You know most high class athletes abstain during major competitions.” Jacque tries to explain.
Bella reaches over and messes with the back of Jacque’s hair. “It’s a daily struggle.”
Oh, now she’s chooses to talk? Jacque thinks. Always at the most inopportune of times. Bella winks as if that will appease the look of ‘seriously’ Jacque throws at her.
“Oh yeah.” Jacque shrugs, trying to put an appropriate amount of discomfort in her tone. “Every day I’m just like ‘I wanna jump her’ but you know, soccer so.”
Kathryn stands up and gives a small round of applause. “A hero of our time.”
Bella swats at Jacque, as if she was the one who started this, and Jacque pulls at her waist moving her away from Oliv a little. She knows if Oliv stays too close things will escalate even more than it’s started to.
“It’s really hard.” Jacque ignores Bella’s rapidly blushing face to lift the front of Bella’s shirt. “I mean, look at her.” Bella pulls it back down but it’s too late. It’s open season on the married couple now.
“I take that back.” Kathryn claps even harder. “A damn saint.”
Jacque apparently didn’t move Bella enough out of the way of Sadie and she’s tipped onto Jacque’s lap to the amusement of the rest of the team. Thankfully she’s wearing pants.
“You’re such an asshole.” Bella’s laugh is light and she’s scrunching her nose as Jacque hugs her on her lap. “The worst wife ever.”
“Yeah, tell me later.” Jacque is selfish for a second as she wraps her arms around Bella. They’re just playing a part now, one that they’re killing apparently, but Bella could just as easily get up and leave. When she doesn’t, Jacque tries to disguise the smile on her face.
Sadie whistles. “Later Bella. Just wait until later.”
“Rein it in, Sadie.” Bella warns with a smirk. “We’ll be kicking you out remember?”
“Ohhh.” Oliv yells out before attempting to mimic awful bad 70’s porn music. “Bow chicka wow wow, chicka uh chicka--.”
“Oh God.” Jacque just buries her ever reddening face into Bella’s back and prays for a miracle.
Sadie stops Oliv. “No, it’s definitely a little louder than that.”
At this point everyone seems to be thankful when Coach Jayce walks into the locker room. Oliv chokes off on the sound effects and Bella hides the victory behind a huge smile. Jacque’s thankful that one of them is finding this all so funny.
Her tolerance gets even thinner when Bella doesn’t get off her lap while they run through the post-game points. There’s no end to the amount of suggestive movements that Sadie attempts to make while their coaches back is turned or to the amount of people having the time of their life watching Jacque and Bella have to endure it.
Finally coach leaves and Jacque thinks she can breathe a sigh of relief because obviously Bella should be getting off of her lap. But, of course, she doesn’t follow the natural flow.
Sadie breaks down into giggles, doubled over, and Oliv goes over to act like a child with her.
“You two--” Sadie can hardly get two words out. “Coach--” Still just too overcome by whatever it is that’s going through her brain to speak clearly. Oliv starts trying to take her through breathing exercises and it looks like they’re trying to give birth to something in the corner of the locker room.
“Okay that’s enough.” Jacque yells out from behind Bella’s back.
Oliv can’t even help herself. “Things Jacque never hears for 500, please!”
“No, she doesn’t.” Bella piles on and Jacque actively starts to wish for a portal to take her away from this room. Because once Bella starts actively participating it all goes downhill. “You two keep making fun of her, but really, she could probably teach you a few things.”
Sadie quirks her eyebrow, suddenly interested past just teasing. “Oh?” She walks closer to Bella, Oliv follows but everyone is listening while pretending not to. “Tell us more about our little Jacque’s studliness.”
Mentally Jacque is banging her head back against the locker but in the present she tries to stay calm, Bella has taken this to a place and now she has to follow.
“You couldn’t even handle knowing.” Bella teases.
“I could.” Oliv pipes up, looking to Sadie for confirmation. “We totally can handle it. Tell us.”
And then they start begging and pleading and Bella feeds into their energy. Spouting off details about their sex life that has Jacque screaming for escape in h
er head, and what the hell, she’s not even flexible enough to do that last thing even.
“Bella--” Jacque warns from where she has been mostly silent. “I think you broke them.”
Oliv and Sadie are shockingly silent. So is the rest of the locker room, everyone who stuck around anyway, and from behind Sadie’s back Jacque can see Kathryn actually physically bowing down to her.
Slowly a smirk pulls across Sadie’s face, she peeks behind Bella to Jacque. “See, I knew she was a freak. I knew it. Good call, Sadie.”
Jacque can’t even begin to get into the fact that Sadie is now congratulating herself for things but she’s glad things are moving into the pride stage and away from the gruesome details because there’s only so long she can listen to Bella talk about all of the imaginary sex they’re having, while sitting on her lap, before she bursts. She’s only human after all.
Of course, Bella can’t leave well enough alone and so she throws out her final parting shot.
“Why do you think I married her so quickly?” She turns to Jacque and winks. “Had to lock this one up before other women got to her.”
A resounding chorus of cheers and laughter spreads through the remaining members of the team but everyone starts to disperse away from the locker room towards where the bus is waiting to take them back to the hotel.
Bella finally stands up and gives her a knowing look like, ‘look how good I did’, and Jacque can only resolve to smile back and promise herself a cold shower when they get back.
*
The locker incident is bubbling away in the back of her mind as a funny memory dulled only by the lengthy shower she took. It was noted by Sadie of course but by the time they’d gotten back everyone had started to wind down and after Jacque had finished, Sadie was well on her way to sleeping.
That was hours ago, or it feels like it.
“What’re you doing out here?” Bella whispers.
Jacque stops looking at the little lapping waves in the pool to face her. “Why are you awake?”
Bella shrugs. “I saw you from the balcony.”
Jacque shuffles over and pats the ground beside her. She’s stuck her feet in the pool even though it’s cold. Bella takes the bait and sits down. “And you decided that you’d sneak out past Oliv to come and see me. Oh honey.”