Page 31 of Always on My Mind

“I don’t know if I’m right for it,” she argued. “I’m not a social media manager.”

“You do socials for the magazine,” Niamh said. “It can’t be that different for a football club. And Nelle needs someone to cover the women’s team.”

“Who was covering it before?”

“No one.”

Tessa blinked. “No one?”

“Rebecca posted to our pages herself after getting some graphics from Nelle,” Niamh explained. “But now that we’repromoted, Rebecca says she shouldn’t have to. Plus, we’re playing in the big stadium, so we need more marketing to fill the seats.”

Tessa shook her head and got to her feet, disappearing into the kitchen to avoid her flatmate’s pleading eyes. Unfortunately, Niamh followed. Tessa didn’t look at her and reached up to the cabinet for the ruse of making herself something to eat. But to her dismay, her side of the cabinet held only a jar of peanut butter and a half-finished box of biscuits. Niamh’s side was bursting with crisps, crackers, dried fruits, and nuts—everything a young footballer could put away and burn off the next day in training. Tessa’s stomach rumbled. She needed to get to the grocery store.

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she opened up her banking app. Her eyes misted over at the number and she cursed her measly salary at theLondon Pursuit. Especially since her next paycheck wouldn’t come through for another week.

She slammed the cabinet and faced Niamh, who eyed her with a raised brow.

“Fine,” Tessa said with a frown. “I’ll give it a go.”

“Yes!” Niamh cried, pumping her fist in the air before yanking Tessa into a hug. “It’ll be fun to have you at work too!”

Tessa wished she could say the same. She adored Niamh, but the thought of seeing Jamie again already had her stomach in knots. Maybe with the amount of other people around, it wouldn’t be too bad. Jamie would be another face in the crowd. Even though Jamie’s face always managed to hold Tessa’s attention. At the party, she hadn’t been looking. Knowing Jamie was there, though. . . Tessa wondered if she would be able to keep herself from seeking Jamie out. She would have to give it her best shot.

The September morning sun warmed Tessa’s face as she walked out on the pitch with Nelle, who Tessa found business-minded but friendly. Billie had always said good things about Nelle, so Tessa hadn’t been nervous to meet the Stanmore head of social media. The job seemed simple enough—take loads of pictures and videos at training, edit things down to fifteen to thirty-second clips, and post three times a day. For forty pounds an hour, Tessa wouldn’t complain.

The men’s team were running a drill with the goalkeepers, while the women’s team played a four-on-four match on their side of the pitch. Tessa remembered Niamh complaining the first day about training with the men, but she hadn’t said much more since then. Tessa assumed that meant it was going smoothly.

It seemed to be as she observed from the boundary. Tessa focused on the women’s team, her eyes finding Jamie in spite of herself. Jamie had always moved with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine. Her muscles and joints created a familiar dance as she dribbled the ball away from her defender and passed it up to Zahra, who scored after one touch. Their side cheered and exchanged high fives. Jamie’s radiant smile made Tessa’s breath catch.

“I really appreciate you doing this,” Nelle said as they came to a stop on the touchline. “With the men’s season already underway, I had no idea how I was going to manage the women as well.”

Tessa shook her head to clear it of Jamie’s laugh. “Oh, sure, yeah. No problem. I’m sure I’ll have loads of content by the afternoon.”

“If you’re ever stuck, do the question game,” Nelle said.

“The question game?”

“When they’re going into or coming out of the locker room, have a question prepared to ask each player as they pass you. ‘Which club d’you think will win the league this season?’ ‘What footballer has inspired you the most?’ ‘What artist would you want to see open the Champions League final?’ Stuff like that.”

“Does it have to be football-related?”

“No, it could be anything.”

“So. . . I could ask who their celebrity crush is?”

Nelle giggled. “I love that. Can I steal it for the men’s team, too?”

“Better yet, let’s ask them all together and post to both pages,” Tessa suggested. “If everyone’s training together, we can show that on social media.”

“Brilliant!” Nelle agreed with a grin.

Even though Tessa wouldn’t be working with them directly, Nelle still introduced her to the men’s team. She knew Jordan already, but the rest of them she had never officially met. The manager was especially warm, with joy-reddened cheeks and a friendly smile.

Tessa disclosed to Nelle that she was Niamh’s flatmate and had already met most of the women’s team at their housewarming. After being introduced as the social media assistant, the women embraced Tessa. Most of them, quite literally, pulling her into quick hugs before they returned to training. The only person she didn’t know was Rebecca, the manager, but she was nice enough, albeit focused. She greeted Tessa with a professional handshake, thanked her, and then was off to say something to her goalkeeping coach.

Jamie approached last. Tessa’s shoulders stiffened at Jamie’s outstretched hand, but she refused to let anyone around know there was tension. She forced a small smile and wrapped her fingers around Jamie’s palm, doing her best to ignore the shooting warmth that went up her arm the moment they touched. A quiet gasp from Jamie told Tessa that she felt it too.

Jamie cleared her throat. “Nice to see you again.”

---