Page 346 of Well Played

Maeve went over and hugged the gentleman who in his early seventies had been working at the stadium grounds, even before the stadium was built. Paddy O’Mara, the head maintenance and grounds keeper for the stadium was considered by all the Mournesmen their biggest fan. He never missed a game home or away, and he was proud to boast that all his sons and grandsons played for Down; even his two great grandsons were just starting out on the children’s teams this year in Armagh.

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Now I wanted to let you know, I left you a little surprise in the box where you’re sitting. It’s a personal thank you from Chairperson Devaney and the whole staff at Down GAA.”

“Thank you, doll. I know all of us are grateful for all your hard work to make this game and the participation in the festival such a success. We’re all here for anything you need personal or otherwise. Enjoy today, you earned it,”

Before finding her seat in the Down GAA staff box, Maeve wanted to take just a peek at the field where the warmups were going. Walking through the players tunnel out onto the grounds,she was confronted with the players from both teams in small groups stretching and executing short running sprints to loosen up their reflexes. A few were even practicing tipping up the ball with their toe to give themselves extra running yards to avoid a penalty for taking more than five steps to keep position of the ball.

A referee whistle sounded, along with an announcement the warm-up practice was over, and for people to make their way to their seats, since the game would be starting in fifteen minutes. To avoid the coming stampede of players heading to the locker rooms, Maeve stepped to the side, and waited for the path to clear so she could make her way to her seat. But just as she was ready to step away, she saw Liam jogging towards her in the tunnel.

He stopped in front of her, as she signaled good luck to him. Without any forewarning, Liam grabbed her upper arms and pulled her into a rock-hard embrace, bending down to claim her mouth with his. The unexpected assault took her breath away, and instinct triggered her to instantly wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing into the length of his body, holding on to stay upright.

The mind melting kiss ended as quickly as it has happened, and as Liam pulled away from her, looking like a man possessed; with what, she wasn’t sure. Releasing her, he headed into the direction of the locker room without speaking a word.

After that, Maeve was a walking zombie. She didn’t remember even making it to her seat, or that both Oonagh and Shane, who she’d invited as her guests to sit in the box for the game, couldn’t get her to focus and acknowledge they were standing there.

“Jezus Maeve, what the bloody hell is wrong? Are you having a stroke or something? Answer me damn it! Shane, get me a bottle of water.”

“What for?”

“For Christ’s sake, just get me a fricking bottle of water!”

“Here.”

Oonagh took the bottle of water and poured a bit of it into a cup.

“Don’t make me do this Maeve … you better answer me quick!”

When she received no response, Oonagh tossed the contents of the cup at Maeve’s face. The ice-cold water instantly did the trick as Maeve woke up from her trance and began sputtering from the water dripped down her face.

“What the hell? Oonagh why did you do that?”

“Because for the last five minutes you haven’t uttered a word to both Shane and me trying to get your attention. What happened?”

“He kissed me.”

“Who kissed you,” Shane replied.

“Shane, quiet! Now Maeve, what are you babbling about? Who kissed you?”

“Liam.”

“Don’t joke with me,” Oonagh responded. “When did he kiss you?”

“Just now as I was making my way to our seats. I was standing in the tunnel watching the warmups and I gave him a good luck signal, and the next thing I knew we were lip locked.”

“Damn girl, was it any good … I mean the kiss?” Shane blurted out.

Oonagh roared at Shane. “For the love of God, would you fecking shut your gob?!”

Shane raised his hands in defeat and sat himself back down in his seat, mumbling under his breath that she didn’t have to be mad at him, he was just trying to help. Besides, the players were now on the field ready to start the game. Within minutes,he was so absorbed in the game, he forgot about what had just happened only moments ago.

Oonagh handed Maeve a stack of napkins to dry her face, and she continued rambling at her about more details to what had happened.

“Your guess is as good as mine. I was just standing there, and he just walked over and planted on one on me. I didn’t even think he was in the least bit interested any more after meeting up for drinks last night.”

“Wait a minute, back up. What happened last night?”

Maeve spend the next couple of minutes filling Oonagh in on her conversation with Liam. She wasn’t sure what to believe any more. At this point she just wanted everything to be over with, and not having to keep opening old wounds as her feelings and emotions were continuously toyed with.

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