Our Present, Our Future

The destination ahead of me was a daunting one.

Later tonight I would be joining Ria and her best friend Tea for dinner at their place.

Not only had Tea been Ria’s closest friend for longer than I could ever remember keeping a single friend, but she’d apparently been hinting at some mischief according to my girlfriend.

“It’s going to be fine.” Ria said, holding my hand under the table that we shared in one of the quieter corners of the school’s largest cafeteria.

I didn’t think that I’d been showing much of the nervousness that I’d felt, but I suppose Ria knew me well enough by now.

“As long as you’re with me.” I agreed, squeezing her hand and finishing the last of my food.

I’d managed to finish the group project with Marcus an hour or so ago, and was therefore delighted when Ria had said she’d be free to meet up for lunch.

Ria smiled and moved her plate out of the way, setting down a laptop in the space where it had been and quickly pulling up the recording from her last match.

She’d mentioned how she wanted to start reviewing games with me afterwards, and while I didn’t think I’d add as much as she would in the way of analysis, I was more than happy to spend the time with her.

“I should have passed it to Tillie here.” She muttered, pointing with the hand that wasn’t still attached to mine.

I scooted closer to her in order to see better, and soon after felt the warm presence of her head resting on my shoulder.

Where I might have felt awkward or abashed at the closeness not long ago, I felt nothing but carefree and comfortable now. It just felt right, the two of us being together like this.

After a few minutes, I pointed out a run I thought she could have made.

Watching her face, I could see the contemplation of my idea, before she looked up at me warmly.

“I think giving her the short passing option here was better.” She said, taking the next few minutes to explain it to me.

It was refreshing, being able to learn from someone who knew the sport so well, especially when she was so caring in her explanation and pleased when I participated, even if I was wrong.

I was generally knowledgeable when it came to basic tactics in most sports, but that was nothing compared to what Ria could offer in terms of minute specifics.

We spent the next two hours continuing just like that. Occasionally one of us would point out something, and towards the end I’d managed to see some of the things she said right before she’d spoken aloud.

On the very last play of the game, I’d even been able to point something out that she confirmed as correct, giving me the warmest smile I’d ever seen as a reward.

“Maybe you should think about coaching.” She joked, replaying the final sequence once more.

“Well, I’m learning from the best after all.”

She laughed and quickly insisted that she still had a lot to learn.

“Have you thought about what you’ll do after you finish playing?” I asked.

“It’s like you’re guessing, I think I’ll want to coach after.” She said, rubbing her thumb along the back of my hand.

“But I want to play for a long, long time first.” She added, closing her laptop and putting it away.

I searched her eyes, worried I might find some lingering concern you often saw in athletes when they talked about retirement. I was delighted, however, to find no such concerns.

“You really want to have interviews with me even after you stop playing?” I say, laughing.

“I’m starting to think you know me a little too well.” She said with a sly grin, as she leaned in and kissed me.

I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face for the rest of the time that it took us to grab all of our things and leave the cafeteria for a short study date before dinner.