Fandom: Bend it Like Beckham
Title: Going Pro Part 3
Author: crystalkei
Beta: crazywriterchic
Rating: Teen
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, they belong to someone else with way more money and creativity than me.
Summary: Jess has graduated from university and Joe's got an offer for her to play. But who wants to play professional football for your ex-boyfriend? Part 1 , Part 2 ,

 

Chapter 3

 

Going back to practice was painful, but not as painful as I thought it would be. Over the weekend most of the girls seemed to forget my drama and had some of their own. A new club had opened Saturday night and there was plenty of fresh gossip for the team to chat about instead of me and Joe and our embarrassing display.

 

Joe, too, had backed off. The assistant coaches ran the majority of practice while Joe worked with individual players, training and refining their technique. Luckily, my technique was refined. When I needed correcting Reilly or Graham would take me aside. Whether they knew or guessed what happened between Joe and me, I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t ask.

 

Joe and I made it through the summer with little or no daily interaction. The routines of my life were settling in nicely, and I began to feel comfortable again.

 

I started receiving overly cautious emails from Jules; Joe must have let her in on our altercation. At first the emails were just a bit more pleasant than usual. My lack of communication brought on apologies and sob stories. Sometimes I would read them; sometimes I deleted them right away. I just wasn’t feeling very forgiving.

 

The season would be starting soon and I was thrilled. It was easy for me to be frustrated during the off season because there was no goal to work towards. I enjoyed matches and the rush of energy and adrenaline they brought.

 

I was also looking forward to a tournament that I helped coordinate. My former coach at Santa Clara had suggested it, and I took the information to Coach Reilly and then to Joe. It took months to prepare, but the work I did was with my former coach. Emails exchanges did most of the work and it gave me something else to focus on besides practice.

 

September came and went and October blew in with cold air, but all I could think of was the trip back to California. My friends still at college made plans for my visit and my old team mates were sending me emails often expressing their excitement for both my return and the exhibition tournament.  

 

The club could only afford to take fifteen of the twenty members of the team and one coach. Of course, Joe would go, but the other five members of the team that didn’t get to travel were displeased. The most vocal of them being Liz the showoff; she whined and argued with any coach that would give her a moment. Then in the locker room she boasted that she was better than some of the other girls going and whine some more. I was glad to finally get on the plane and be rid of her for a while.

 

Once we got to the States, we had to get off the plane and go through customs. Most of the team was excited for a walk around, but I hated customs. It was always a hassle for me. I looked Arab, and Americans had a problem with Arabs. Sad as it was, I’d grown used to it. Having made the trip more than ten times back and forth to California, I recognized most of the customs people.

 

“We need to send you through a secondary screening,” the lady droned. She looked like the kind of person that was very unhappy with her job.

 

“Okay,” I said politely.

 

“It’s that way,” she instructed.

 

“I know. I’ve done it a few times before.”

 

I reached for the door on the smaller office but was stopped by Joe. He grabbed it for me and held open. Then he followed me in and I glanced at him questioningly.

 

“Got to make sure my players make it through customs,” he explained nonchalantly.

 

“I’ve done this before,” I snapped. “I’ll meet you back at the gate. Won’t even get lost, I know where I’m going and everything.”

 

Having someone search your bags and ask you stupid questions about where you’re going are never fun, and more than that, it was embarrassing. I didn’t want him to see me being interrogated, even if it was politely done.

 

“Sally’s leading the other girls,” Joe said. “I’m fine with you.”

 

“Ms. Bhamra?” a kind woman in a blue blazer called for me. I smiled and followed her back to a cubical. “You’ve done this a few times, right? You look familiar,” she asked politely.

 

“Yes, I attended Santa Clara University, so I’ve done this a fair number of times, I understand the process. Go ahead and start,” I tried to sound polite, but it was a little annoying.

 

“Is that your boyfriend out there?” she asked, trying to make small talk as she rummaged through my suitcase.

 

“No,” I said quickly. “Just my coach. I play professional football, I mean soccer, now.”

 

“Well, you’ve got something good to look at while you practice,” she remarked. “He’s very good looking.”

 

“Yes,” I tried not to roll my eyes. “He is.”

 

She finished searching my bags and then moved onto the long list of questions. It took about twenty minutes and then I went out to meet Joe.

 

I was shocked to see another customs agent searching through his bag and asking him the same questions. I waited for him at the door and then we walked out together. I didn’t know what to say, so we just walked for a while.

 

“Why did they do that to you?” I blurted out. He turned and looked confused.

 

“You mean the secondary search?” he asked. “Terrorists come from Ireland, too. I’ve got a pretty common name and I’m sure somewhere there’s a Joseph Sullivan who’s been arrested a few times.

 

“Oh,” I sighed. “It didn’t even occur to me…”

 

“You look the part and I sound the part,” he interrupted me. “Let’s forget about it.” I nodded and tried to think of some way to change the subject, but this had been the first time we’d said more than two words to each other in months.

 

“You know, its funny us traveling like this,” he started.

 

“Why?”

 

“After you ditched me, I had this grand plan,” he explained. “I was going to hop on a plane and come and get you. I’d apologize for all the jealousy, all the fighting, grovel if I had to.”

 

I stopped walking and he walked a little past me, but came back, smiling. I wasn’t smiling, I was speechless. My mouth must have been open because he pushed my chin up so that my mouth closed.

 

“Don’t look so surprised,” he shook his head, his smile fell a little, but not all the way. “You always act like I didn’t love you, but I did. More than anything.”

 

It made me want to cry. I spent all my time forgetting and burying the feelings, but he was bringing them back. It was wonderful and frustrating at the same time. I leaned in a little. I wanted to kiss him and hoped he’d meet me halfway. Instead he shook his head again, but this time there was no hint of a smile.

 

“That isn’t good for our professional relationship,” he said. “Let’s go.”

 

He started walking and I just stood there for a moment. The people in the airport passed with little regard for me standing there. I took deep breaths, pulled myself together, and followed him back to the gate.

 

We traveled by bus to the University and were greeted by my old coach. Coach Levi set us up in the dorms and told us about a tournament mixer the next evening. All the girls cooed and giggled, excited to meet American boys. I just wanted to take a shower.

 

Since there were fifteen of us, my former coach arranged for me to have my own room while others had to share. I dumped my things, showered, and laid down to take a nap. A knock at the door signaled I probably wouldn’t get the nap.

 

Two familiar faces greeted me and I smiled. Samantha, my former team mate and Nina, a girl I’d met in an Asian studies class. These two had been my family away from home. They flew at me with hugs and squeals of glee. Samantha was tall and brunette with a pixie-like face, while Nina was small, with black hair and round Asian face.

 

“So, we passed this incredibly hot Irish guy and I told Samantha that had to be Joe,” Nina blurted out. “It was wasn’t it?”

 

These girls had been kept in the loop on all things since I’d left. Many emails had been sent to keep them abreast of the goings on. I sighed overdramatically and shook my head.

 

“What is it with everyone telling me how good looking he is, today?”

 

“What?” Samantha cut in. “Did Coach Levi mention it? I bet she’d love to get some coach on coach lovin’.”

 

“Dirty!” Nina cried. “She’s old, ugh. Have some taste, Sam.”

 

I laughed. It was nice to be back and surrounded by friends. I didn’t realize how isolated I’d been at home.

 

“We are so skipping out early on the mixer,” Sam told me. “There’s a party over at Alec’s and Ian has been bugging us to get you there. He still likes you, you know.”

 

“Ian or Alec, because if Alec is looking, I’d be interested,” I joked.

 

“No, Alec is still madly in love with his fiancé,” Nina broke in. “But Ian is still head over heels for you.”

 

“Yeah, but you know how I feel about him. He’s just so pushy.”

 

“Maybe we should invite Joe?” Nina suggested. Her smile widened as she spoke.

 

“Not a good idea,” I told them. Then I relayed the story from the airport. They both took on a dreamy look as I finished.

 

“Nobody ever offered to fly over an ocean to come and get me,” Samantha whined. “Can I date him?”

 

“No!” I said louder than I’d intended. Both girls started laughing at me. “What?”

 

“You’re still in love with him,” Samantha gasped through giggles. “Just admit it.”

 

“I am,” I said. They both stopped laughing and looked surprised. “There’s nothing I can do about it. This career, playing football, it’s more important.”

 

“I love it when you call it football,” Nina teased. “I just love your accent. I wish I spoke like you did. Say ‘bloody hell,’ wait, say ‘schedule.’”

 

“Bloody hell,” I repeated for her. “You lot are going to ruin my schedule. I wanted to nap. This jetlag is going to kill me.”

 

“Your first game isn’t until tomorrow morning,” Samantha said. “You’ll be fine. Of course, this could be my secret way to secure a win for my team. Keep you up, get you all messed up so you won’t be able to lead your team to victory.”

 

“Worried?” I asked with a smile. “Think my team will crush you?”

 

“You are playing for a professional team now,” Nina answered. “Why wouldn’t Sam be worried? Listen, what have you got to wear tomorrow night?”

 e

“I brought a few things, but I suppose you want to go shopping?”

 

“You are getting paid to play soccer now, right?” Nina asked.

 

“Knock, knock,” a male voice called from outside the door. Samantha got up to get the door. “Let me in,” he said as he pushed past her. “There’s some guy out there giving me dirty looks.”

 

“Hi, Ian,” the three of us said.

 

Ian was far taller than Joe. He was very built with shaggy blonde hair and brown eyes. He had the look of the all American surfer guy, except his thing was football, the American variety. Dating him while Joe was watching was tempting because he was the anti Joe. Tough, beefy, over confident, and not very bright, but he was nice- pushy, but nice.

 

He sat down on the bed beside me, “Did you miss me?”

 

“How could anyone miss you?” I joked. “You’re huge.”

 

“Very funny,” Ian said sarcastically. He put his arm around my shoulders and laid his head on top of mine. “You know you missed me.”

 

At that instant another knock at the door signaled the arrival of Joe. He knocked, but he didn’t wait for the door to be answered, just let himself in. Then he glared at Ian.

 

“If you don’t mind,” Joe started. “My players need to get some rest before our first match in the morning.”

 

I shrugged off Ian’s arm. “It’s not a big deal Joe,” I told him calmly. “Ian was just leaving and so were we actually. Nina and Samantha wanted to do some shopping.”

 

Nina and Samantha smiled, like the flirts they were, at Joe. Samantha held out her hand to him, “Samantha,” she introduced herself. “This is Nina, that’s Ian. You’re the ex-boyfriend Joe right?”

 

Joe shook her hand but turned his evil eye on Ian as she mentioned ex-boyfriend.

 

“I’m her coach now,” he said without taking his eyes off Ian. He was jealous, and I was enjoying it. “We’ve got some strict policies about men in the women’s rooms. You might want to find somewhere else to spend your time.”

 

“That’s cool,” Ian brushed it off and turned to me. “Some crazy rules, you’re playing professionally, and this is what you put up with?”

I enjoyed Joe being jealous and kicking Ian out, but I didn’t like Ian enough to torment Joe further by playing some crazy girl mind game so I just sighed and shrugged my shoulders.

 

“What’s a girl to do? Guess I’ll see you later,” I said as I shoved him politely out the door. Then I turned back to Joe. “You’re a bloke as well, better remove yourself. I’m going shopping with my friends. I’ll be back at a reasonable hour.”

 

“That’s fine,” Joe said; his countenance instantly relaxed. “It was nice to meet you two, bring her back in one piece, can’t have my captain out tomorrow.”

 

After we left the room and Joe behind Nina started going on about the Joe versus Ian fight.

 

“He still loves you,” she explained. “Why else would he care that Ian was there. You really have no rules about men do you?”

 

“Just that I’m not supposed to date my coach,” I told her with a smile. “I thought he was going to go spare when he saw Ian in the first place.”

 

“It’s a fight I’d pay to see,” Samantha cut in. “They are such polar opposites. Ian’s size should give him the lead, but if Joe’s not messing around, I think he’d kill him. Let’s start taking bets.”

 

“Oh, I bet we can use Alec’s backyard!” Nina added. “Let’s do it, tomorrow night at the party. I’m going to call Alec.”

 

“No!” I grabbed her phone from her hand. “You can’t do that, it’s fun to talk about, but really, give it up.”

 

Both girls looked put out, but soon their attention to purchasing new clothes.

 

How did I end up with these girls as friends? They were both very different from me, but we’d met my sophomore year and been friends ever since. They pulled my feminine side out and I balanced their insane need to do crazy things. I wasn’t sure how they fared without me here.

 

We spent the evening shopping, and true to our promise to Joe I was in early so I could sleep off the jetlag. I woke in the morning ready for the first match. I wasn’t nervous at all, it helped that we were playing my old team first.

 

It worked out that Sally and I were both team captains. She knew the ropes, but I was a bit better at getting results from the girls. We had the team warmed up in no time, and soon it was time to get started. The game was going well, with us in the lead, causing my old team to push a little harder.

 

During the last half the score was close and I was passed the ball. A new girl from my old team got a little overexcited and tackled me to the ground. She was immediately pulled from the game, but I didn’t mind.

 

A former teammate helped me up with a smile and offered her apologies. The ref called for my penalty kick, but Joe called for a time out. I couldn’t figure out why, but I went to meet him on the sideline.

 

“So, who’s that Elmo fellow?” he asked.

 

This was about Ian? I started to see red. How was a girl supposed to play like this?

 

“I’ve got a penalty kick and you’ve called a timeout to discuss your jealousy issues?” I growled. Joe smiled nervously.  “Bloody hell, his name is Ian and we dated briefly, may I go kick the ball now, Coach?” I asked incredulously.

 

“Thought you didn’t have time for dating while you were here,” Joe asked, this time with a bigger smile. He was jealous, but he was also enjoying teasing me.

 

“It was nothing serious,” I said, trying to stay calm. “Now, if it’s okay with you, I’m going to go, hopefully, bend the ball into the net, past my good friend Samantha. Cross your fingers,” I said smartly while I crossed my own fingers.

 

Running back to the field I had to calm myself and clear my head. Joe made this so difficult. I hoped that he wasn’t like this during all our matches.

 

We won the game and after I changed and showered I went to find Joe. He was chatting with another coach when I found him. He excused himself and turned his attention to me.

 

“You cannot do that again,” I scolded. “If I have to spend an entire season worrying about your feelings, we are going to have a big problem.”

 

“What did I do?” he asked nonchalantly. “That time out was needed to cool your head.”

 

“All you did was heat my head up,” I told him. “You’re lucky I didn’t miss the kick because you had me spun about.”

 

“This isn’t easy for me, you know?”

 

“What?” I ground out. “You’re kidding right? You told me back in June that we could do this, work together, and we’ve had nothing but problems. You are making it harder on yourself.”

 

“How’s that?” he asked irritated.

 

“By kissing me, by not kissing me, all of that!” I dropped my voice so no one around us could hear. Joe grabbed my arm and pulled me quickly under a bleacher, out of the way of the crowd. I pulled my arm from his grasp and huffed, “What?”

 

“You think it’s a good idea to have this conversation in front of every coach and player at this tournament? We’re the professional team here; let’s not give the university teams anything to talk about besides your football skills.”

 

We stood staring at each other for a moment. My shoulders were heaving with anger but he was completely calm. That just made me more frustrated and I finally cracked. I started to cry from the stress of the last two days. My hands covered my face from embarrassment, and I felt Joe hesitantly put his hands on my shoulders. I didn’t shrug him off this time. I was torn between wanting to run away and wanting him to hold me. Then I remembered the thing that had made me hate him more than anything previous. I tensed and he started to pull away.

 

Wiping my eyes, but keeping them on the ground I asked, “Why did you sleep with Jules and not me?”

 

“You don’t really want to talk about that,” he told me.

 

“Yes, I do,” I shot back, frustrated.

 

“Did she tell you what happened?”

 

“Why not me?” I asked a bit desperately. It had been a sore spot while we dated and it burned to know that he slept with Jules on a whim.

 

“Jess,” he sighed. He sounded sorry. “You were special…”

 

“Special like not as pretty, or not as sexy, or what?” I interrupted.

 

“It’s not as if I didn’t want to,” he told me. “Believe me, I wanted to, still do, but, I just couldn’t…” he hesitated and then started again. “I’ve dated a few girls and I even loved some of them, slept with a few of them as well, and you are too special for that.”

 

“You’re not making sense, just tell me why!” I demanded harshly.

 

“I didn’t want you to regret it,” Joe answered firmly. I tilted my head and looked at him skeptically. “You were not just another shag, and you certainly weren’t someone to forget in the morning. I loved you, love you still, and if you had regretted it because of your upbringing or your parents or what not, I couldn’t live with myself.”

 

His shoulders slumped but he looked a little better for telling me, like a weight had been lifted. It dawned on me the pressure he must have been under. Joe had always been a little leery of my parents and their very traditional ways. Memories of me pressuring him about sex and the fights we had over it flooded my mind. I began to buckle under the weight of the guilt. Joe caught me and I fell into him and buried my face in his chest.

 

I ended our relationship years before but I always blamed him. Of course he was jealous of me going back to school! I seemed like a girl desperate to rid myself of my pesky virginity while he spent painstaking time trying to keep it intact.

 

Joe held me close and let me cry, he whispered unintelligible things into my hair, but soon asked, “Jess, what’s the matter?” he had no idea why I was crying, but he comforted me still.

 

“It’s my fault,” I mumbled. “I blamed you and it’s all my fault! You had every right to be jealous and I blamed you and I was the reason it didn’t work out, I’m so sorry,” I babbled on.

 

Joe started to laugh; he pulled me out of his chest so he could look at me.

 

“There’s no way I come out of this completely blameless,” he said with a smile. “We had plenty of fights that had nothing to do with that. I recall one being about how often you tried to call and I was unavailable. Drinking with my mates is not a reason to miss a transcontinental call from you.”

 

I smiled and wiped tears from my eyes, “Well, now I feel much better,” I said sarcastically. “What do we do now?”

 

“I’ve got to go check when our next match is and I’m sure your friends are looking for you. How did you end up with the girls most opposite of your personality?”

 

“Not what do we do this instant,” I said. “I meant what do we do,” I gestured between us. “What about us?”

 

“Well, nothing for it, I suppose,” he said matter-of-factly.  “I’m going to go. You okay?”

 

“Yeah,” I smiled awkwardly. “I’ll see you later.”

 

“Right, your friends invited me to some party after tonight’s mixer, you don’t mind if I go do you?”

 

“Nah,” I answered nonchalantly.

 

Part 4