The Fated Match

Theo

I don’t normally get involved in peoples lives without there being a really good reason or if someone actually wants me, but something just felt weird. When Elle had her hearing with the board of directors I found Michelle crying.

I’m not one to ignore a crying woman so I went to see what was wrong. Hearing her story of how her father was suffering from a terminal illness was heartbreaking for me. what made it even more heartbreaking was that Elle didn’t believe it.

I confided in Tina after that initial talk with Elle and I was able to find out that both of them didn’t believe Michelle and it pained me that they didn’t give Michelle the benefit, but I can’t force them to believe something.

Even if it wasn’t true I would have liked it if the girls were able to side with Michelle whatever the cost. They were friends at the very beginning, but Michelle didn’t want to be friends after I started to pursue in Elle.

I felt uneasy after hearing about what happened to the boys at the gym. I also saw a big shift in how the boys were around Michelle.

This led me to do some investigating myself, which is quite something considering I have a lot on my plate right now. But I didn’t want this gap between me and Elle to get bigger. Lord knows id be making a huge mistake.

“Oh, hey Theo what are you doing here,” Thomas, one of the swimmers said as I entered the sports hall. I knew that the sports teams would often chill out down here after training.

Scott and George turned hearing my name. They ran over Scott was holding a basketball in his hands.

“collecting intel” I chuckled. The boys looked at me weirdly.

Scott started dribbling the ball between his feet. It wasn’t long before we started to dribble between us, casually shooting hoops.

“I’ve spent way too much time on her Theo could you not just give me a break” Scott groaned as soon as I mentioned her name. I could tell from his expression he was tired of it.

“talk about bros Scott, the man needs help with his woman,” George said quickly dunking the ball into the hoop.

I smiled, my woman. I’ve got a long way to go before I can start calling Elle my woman.

“Ah, so you’re trying to get back into Elle’s good books. Well, good luck with that, Elle is complicated it’s like getting into an encyclopaedia” he said grinning.

Weird analogy but I’ll accept it.

“We all know that Michelle was sad about her father, we would believe it if we didn’t see them together the other morning” scot decided to tell me.

“even when you have a terminal illness you might not recognise it boys” I should know, my mother had cancer for 2 years and nobody could even notice it. Her son didn’t and that’s saying something.

Scott turned to George and sent him rushed look.

“We know for a fact that her father isn’t ill. I know we should’ve just left it, but coach was beaten up seeing you with her” way to make me feel better.

“yeah we felt bad for Michelle so when we saw them we wanted to give our respect, but Michelle kicked us out before we even had the chance,” Scott said his eyes rolling back almost like he was thinking about that specific moment.

That does seem rather odd.

“Michelle’s dad does not have any illness, the mans the healthiest he’s been in years” these words di not come out of any of our mouths.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Tina joined us in the hall, her hair tied up in a high ponytail and sweat dripping down her forehead. She looked like she was just at the gym.

My mouth hung open.

The next I know Michelle was bursting through the doors, she looked scared and she was searching for someone her eyes locked onto Tina she seemed to realise that I was already here.

“I can explain,” she said her voice high pitched.

“so, you did try to jeopardise the boy’s fitness for your own cause” she may think I’m furious about her lying to me but I 100% do not agree on messing with the boy’s career.

I can see why Elle was so pissed.

She bowed her head, it looked like she was feeling guilty but with Michelle, you just never know.

“I can’t even look at you,” I said running a hand through my hair.

I walked straight passed her and left her.

I grabbed my phone and searching through my messages.

Alright mate? I’m in Manchester come meet us

Joshua winters was an old friend of mine. We both played for West Ham, but he moved to Spain to play big time and I haven’t seen him in ages.

I guess this is the perfect thing to do to be able to get my mind off this shit. I quickly got into my car and headed straight for Manchester it was only 2 hours away and I kind of wanted to drive and clear my head.

My mind couldn’t concentrate on anything else. Knowing that Elle was right all along with kind of sucks, but she never really did believe Michelle and she was confident that Michelle was crazy.

Even though she was right, something just didn’t sit with me. There was a chance that she could have been wrong about Michelle’s dad, but she didn’t even give her a chance.

What does that say about Elle? Do I see myself with a future with Elle? I love her passion, her kindness, she is beautiful inside and out, but this is a side of her that I just don’t like.

I don’t want to lose Elle, fate is not something I believe in but what are to odds of me and her having a connection with her grandfather, our tattoos.

My thoughts were so deep that I hadn’t realised that I was already in Manchester. I parked up at the bar we agreed to meet at.

As soon as I entered I found the boys sitting in a booth in the corner. Joshua and Ilya were laughing extremely loud and had people watching them.

“Theodore my mans,” Joshua said getting up, he already sounded drunk and Ilya wasn’t far behind his eyes all glassed up.

This just has me remembering the countless times I looked after these idiots.

“Does your wife know you’re across the country shitfaced?” I asked Ilya hugging him after josh. Ilya lives in Scotland with his wife and new-born baby, I haven’t seen him since the gender reveal he did.

“unfortunately,” I jumped out of my skin hearing the voice of Sarah. She wrapped her arm around me going in for a hug. Sarah was the sweetest girl, coming from Ireland she managed to lock down Ilya.

“oi, Theo mate let go of my wife” Ilya pushed his hand in between me and Sarah. Sarah rolled her eyes but stepped back.

We all sat down in the booth. I girl brought round a few drinks; I gladly took a beer. I took a sip before leaning my head back.

“what’s got you so worked up Theo,” Sarah asked as we watched the other boys throw darts. I would be crazy to think of getting a meaningful conversation with those two.

“nothing’s changed has it Theo” Sarah whistled “still got women fighting for you” she grinned at me.

I smiled, there was a time when Sarah fought for my attention but as soon as Ilya walked in she was completely in love with that idiot.

” This is different, I actually like this girl but I don’t know if I agree with her actions” Sarah leaned back ” you don’t have to agree with everything, lord knows I don’t agree with half the things that Ilya says or does” she chuckled casting a brief look over to her husband.

Wise little Sarah, there is a reason as to why she’s a therapist.

“she probably saw how this other girl was around you and just didn’t believe a single thing. Girls don’t miss this kind of stuff Theo”

She does have a point, there was always tension between them both.

“if you don’t like her actions then you don’t have to pursue anything, but she deserves some sort of apology. Even if she didn’t have any sympathy you never really listened to her or believed” it pisses me off how much sense Sarah is making at the minute.

Indeed, I didn’t even spare a moment to believe Elle, I just shoved her opinion to the side.

When the boys were clearly out of it I helped Sarah get them into her car. She wrapped her arms around me “you know what to do Theo” she whispered into my ear. I stood still just watching her drive away from the bar.

I breathed in the fresh night air. My hands found my phone in my pocket. I pressed on her name and pressed the phone to my ear.

I wasn’t surprised when it kept ringing almost like she was never going to pick up. Seconds before I planned to stop trying she picked up. I heard her breathy voice say hello.

“You were right,” I said to her. I caught the sound of her moving around.

“right about what, Theo you can’t start a conversation and expect me to know what you’re talking about” I was relieved she didn’t seem angry or pissed at me, but it wasn’t the happy friendly tone I was so used to.

I found pure joy in knowing that Elle trusted me to open up. When we met she had this hard exterior and it took time to finally crack her.

“Michelle, you were right about her dad he doesn’t have cancer. I should have listened to you Elle I’m so fucking sorry” I was met with silence on the other end. I heard her whisper to someone.

My ears tried to listen in, where was she.

“you don’t have to be sorry; you were just being a good guy I can’t blame you for that” is this my lucky day or what.

“where are you now?” she said from the other end of the phone. She could probably hear the cars around me and the sirens in the distance.

I looked around “I’m in Manchester actually,” I said. She was silent yet again probably trying to figure out why the hell I’m in Manchester.

“oh okay, well I’ll see you around I guess” she wasn’t telling me something, either that or she’s trying to be reserved.

I’d go for the latter.

“I think we need to talk when I get back” once again, silence.

“is something wrong?” she asks her voice filled with worry and suddenly I felt shit.

I didn’t want to say it over the phone, I needed to be a real man and say it to her face, she at least deserved that.

“No, but we need to think about us. I can’t tell you now it needs to be said face to face” as soon as the words left my mouth I felt even shittier.

Elle is not stupid. “yeah okay you’re right. I’ll see you tomorrow then” her voice became weaker, quieter. I heard the faint sound of someone asking her what’s wrong when the line was cut off.

I stared at her name on my phone.

Who the fuck was that?

Thank god I didn’t do this tonight; lord knows what shit would come out of my mouth if I did.