Page 181 of Off the Pitch

“Not really,” I said. “And by that I mean no. I was hoping you’d take pity on your poor starving brother-in-law and feed me.”

“You’re neither poor nor starving,” Lara said, but she still retrieved a tin of biscuits and held them under my nose. I loved the British tradition of biscuits with everything. “Have a biscuit.”

I took a couple, and the cup of coffee Marina handed me, before settling onto the plush window seat amongst a mountain of colourful cushions. I loved Marina’s taste in décor—the bright colours everywhere, the mountains of flowers, and that warm feeling that enveloped you like a giant hug. It always made their house feel so welcoming, and I’d always felt at home here. I was half tempted to ask Marina to do my little flat and give it the makeover it so desperately needed.

Despite the fact that I owned properties across the world, most were rented out, and the one I called home was a tiny little flat in Lisbon I’d bought in my early twenties. I didn’t spend a lot of time there, for various reasons, but it was the one place in the world I’d always gone back to. I’d been there a few weeks ago and realised just how dated the interior was starting to look, and even though I could have it renovated in the blink of an eye, I wanted to keep its old charm and not just strip it out into something stark, cold, and modern.

Marina would be the one person I’d trust with it. She was an interior designer by trade and owned a small firm with several other designers. As soon as she’d handed me my coffee, she disappeared back to her office, mentioning she had a last-minute project that needed wrapping up before the holidays.

Sofia took a handful of biscuits and then said something about getting back to a game she was playing, leaving Lara and me in the kitchen. Lara squished onto the window seat next to me, curling her feet up underneath her. I’d never wanted children of my own. I was happy enough to indulge Lara and Sofia, but it struck me then that I hadn’t seen her in nearly nine months, and I realised how much I’d missed her. Chatting on WhatsApp or Instagram wasn’t quite the same.

“So, how’s everything? Did you apply for university in the end?” I asked, taking a sip of the hot coffee and savouring the tang on my tongue. I gave a happy little sigh. Hotel coffee had nothing on this.

“It’s okay,” she said with a shrug. “I applied, but I’m not sure I’ll go. I just… I don’t really know what I want to do with my life if I’m honest. I keep trying not to think about the future too much.” She gave a weak laugh, and I opened my arms, pulling her into my side and pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

“Did you tell your parents that?”

“No. I don’t want to disappoint them.”

“They won’t be. I’m the family disappointment, remember?”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true though,” I said, keeping my voice as light as I could. “Anyway, you don’t have to decide now. Go travelling for a while. Do fun things. Enjoy your life!” I was only being half-serious, but Lara gave me a sad look.

“We can’t all be you.”

“I know, but I refuse to let you be miserable. I’ll always be here for you to bounce ideas around with though, and if you decide you want to try different things, then I’ll help you. I know enough people to give you a hand if you want it. And I’m not trying to brag,” I said quickly, spotting the look on her face. “I just want you to be happy.”

“Thanks.” She smiled. A little feeling of warmth floated across my chest. I loved fewer people than I could count on one hand, but Lara was one of them. “I’m happy you’re here. Are you staying for Christmas?”

“Maybe.” I hadn’t really given it much thought. I had a hotel booked in Hawaii if I wanted to escape over the holidays, but nothing was set in stone. It wouldn’t be hard for me to cancel it. “If you want me to stay, I will.”

“I do. I know you love jetting all over the place, but it would be cool if you stayed for a bit this time. Even if it is cold here.”

“I’ll stay because I love you,” I said, taking another sip of coffee. “Anyway, sometimes my travels are for work. I have to fund them somehow!”

She laughed. “Oh please! We both know you don’t need to work another day in your life, and you’d still have plenty of money to do whatever you wanted!”

I said nothing, and just took another sip of coffee. I wasn’t going to argue because it was true. I’d been lucky to make a few good investments when I was younger, helped a couple of friends set up various projects that we’d then sold for more money than any of us needed, and begun the cycle again. It meant my life was never dull, and being a backseat investor allowed me to spend plenty of time doing what I wanted with my life without having to put in too much work. I was currently helping some friends develop a new travel app—they coded it, and I funded it and tested it in various locations across the globe. There was no sense in having a travel app that didn’t work while you travelled.

They’d had quite a lot of interest so far, and it seemed to be doing well. I gave it another year before I’d take my share of the money and find something else to occupy my time. I just wasn’t sure what. Everything seemed to have become a little tedious lately, and I needed something different to interest me again. Perhaps I’d take a break and just spend a year travelling instead.

“You know,” Lara said, “you could do something useful with all that money of yours instead of just getting wasted and sunbathing on different beaches with cute boys.”

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but there wasn’t really anything I could say. Lara had once again called me out. “I knew I should never have let you follow my Instagram.”

“I’ve seen worse. Stop trying to change the subject.” She elbowed me in the ribs. “I’m serious. You could make a difference, you know. I know you hate hard work, but it could actually be fun. It would be a challenge at least, and you like those.”

“Sometimes,” I said, swirling my coffee around. Perhaps a challenge would be fun. It would certainly be new, since I tended to aim for the easiest route possible through life. “Okay, I’m listening. What do you think I should do?”

“I’ll send you a list,” Lara said with a wry smile, looking up at me with honey-coloured eyes. “But maybe you could do something for the environment? I mean, surely plastic waste washes up on your exotic beaches sometimes? Think of all the beautiful turtles who die because they think plastic bags are jellyfish! Or the baby turtles who can’t find their way to the ocean because of light pollution from bars and get run over! They didn’t ask for this. And we won’t exactly have much of a future when climate change destroys us all. That would ruin all your life plans. So, maybe start there?”

I smiled. Lara hadn’t exactly picked something simple, but it didn’t make me want to run screaming. I didn’t know much about the subject, but I knew it was an issue. “Sure. I’ll look into it. For you.” I had a friend in Buenos Aires who’d mentioned she had a start-up that was looking into oceanic plastic recycling and another friend who knew someone trying to develop biodegradable alternatives. I’d met them both at a party last year. I’d make a few calls and see what I could do. And if nothing came of that, then maybe I’d look at funding something myself. If I could find the right people, it shouldn’t be too hard to get something off the ground. A little flicker of curiosity fanned to life in my chest. Perhaps this was just what I needed.

“If I’d known I had this much power over you, I’d have asked you to buy me a pony when I was six,” Lara said, taking another biscuit from the tin on her lap.

“I would have happily bought you a pony if your dad wouldn’t have murdered me. I’m too pretty to die young.”

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