44. Nicole
NICOLE
I’ll never get over the awe I feel every time I come to a soccer match. It’s a luxury I couldn’t always afford. We always had the games on the TV at home. I mean, my dad was watching to see if he won his bets. But me, I watched it because I loved the game.
There was a beauty to watching good soccer being played.
An elegance at watching these strong men glide around a football pitch with a ball seemingly attached to their feet.
They instinctively knew where their teammates were and were able to get the ball where they needed it without so much as a glance up. It was just bewitching to me.
When I became a journalist and was able to bag press tickets, I jumped at every chance I could to attend a game.
But coming here tonight, knowing that Owen’s playing and these players have become friends of mine, is another feeling altogether.
It’s not just my first game since I became Owen’s but it’s the first time they’re facing Highgate since the epic loss last season which cost them the league.
The fans need this win, the team needs it and I want it so badly I can taste it on my tongue.
It’s the first home game since Lucky was taken, and it feels different being here now.
Even though we’re in the executive box and away from the majority of the crowd my senses are on high alert.
I’ve scoped out the exits, submitted the security guards' looks to memory in case I need to give descriptions of them to anyone, all while chewing on my bottom lip furiously.
Lucky’s unaware of my twitchiness, completely absorbed with the atmosphere, and the awe in his face almost makes me relax a little.
A small smile from Edie eases my nerves a fraction as she leans back and squeezes my knee.
I know she’s nervous for Jaxson, the same as the rest of the significant others, but she also knows my fears about Lucky too. She lived the ordeal with me afterall.
Lucky sits next to me on my right hand side and Emilia and the rest of her family sit on my left.
Edie’s in front with Angie. Butterflies start to flutter in my tummy for an entirely different reason as the team song plays over the speakers.
The crowd erupts into song and chills run through my body.
The atmosphere is electric. Everything feels heightened to me.
Maybe it’s being at the stadium, in a box reserved for the players’ families.
Or maybe it’s because this is the first time I’m seeing Owen out there on the pitch knowing he’s mine.
“Dere dey are mumma. Dere’s Daddy.” Lucky stands up on his chair and shouts at the top of his lungs ‘Lockheart’s my dad.’
Pride surges through me with how much he loves him. Our group laughs as I tug him down off his chair and my eyes hone in on Owen. He stretches a few times, jumps and hits the crossbar with his gloved hands, and then stops and looks straight to where we’re sitting.
He can’t see us, but he knows where we are. And just knowing he’s aware of us makes my heart beat a little faster. The little part of me that doubts how much he loves me is getting smaller and smaller with each passing second.
The game gets underway and I watch each play as it unfolds. We’re a better team and tonight we’re dominating on the pitch. They’ve barely had a shot on target and, whilst I’d love to see my man in action, I’m glad he’s not being used. My man. I like thinking of him as mine. It feels right.
While I’m busy deliberating over my terminology in my head, Ramos has scored.
Everyone around me jumps up cheering and I join in a couple of seconds later.
The atmosphere is electric and I’m absorbing every second of it.
For a brief moment, I took my eyes off Lucky and let his hand go.
Panic flows through me when I realise it and I quickly glance at Lucky, making sure he’s still next to me.
He grins up at me and, even though a sense of dread is washing over me, I school my face into a grin.
I can’t take this away from him. I stare into the back of Edie’s head, counting the curls in her messy bun.
Angie turns around, as if my anxiety summoned her, and throws me a worried look.
I motion with my head toward Lucky and she nods in understanding.
“Hey Lucky, want to sit next to me? It’s a better view from here.
Plus Edie keeps gripping my hand tightly and I don’t want bruises, little dude.
” A small smile and a nod of my head lets him scuttle to the chair in front, between Edie and Angie and already I’m at ease knowing I can have eyes on him all the time and between those two, no one stands a chance at getting to him.
I didn’t want to grip his hand tightly the whole way through the match and let my fears and worry transfer over to him and ruin the game for him.
I sit back in my chair and try to focus on the game, chewing on my thumbnail, but instead find myself reliving Lucky’s abduction again.
My breathing starts to spiral and instead of letting it get out of control I keep on counting.
I let the air fill my lungs as I clear the negative thoughts from my head while counting slowly and concentrating on nothing but that.
After a short while I’m able to focus back on the game, and just as I do, another goal is scored. Jaxson this time. Edie cheers the loudest as Angie wraps her arms around Lucky. He’s safe. Now it’s time to zone in on my man again and watch this team smash their rivals.