Chapter 8

The next morning, I woke up early, got out of bed and had a long shower before going down for breakfast. I remembered quite a few faces from last night. I had a full English and then checked out of the hotel and drove back to my cottage. The medal and the certificate took pride of place on my mantelpiece.

I did some work on my laptop to give me head start the following week, but then I started to think more and more about Sarah. My curiosity got the better of me. So, I googled her name. There were quite a few entries about her, it turned out she had once been a star in the local and national netball scene. Well, that explained the gorgeous legs. She was still involved with the coaching of a local team as well by the look of it.

There were a few photographs of her on beaches, in a two-piece bikini that had the juices flowing, to be honest.

She was single according to her Facebook page and there were no obvious signs of a bloke. I spent some time looking at her online stuff then realised I was getting a bit weird, so I logged off and went to bed early with a good book and mug of tea.

I went to work the next day and took some ribbing off the guys, just light-hearted banter. I just think they were all a little jealous about my award. I kept looking at my mobile phone hoping Sarah would call or text but no such luck.

I decided on the way home that I needed to work on my fitness; I had let myself go over the last few months. Therefore, every day after work I did a five-mile run. After each run, I did my usual series of repetitions of sit-ups, crunches, squats, and press-ups. Sarah obviously looked after herself and I did not want to look like a sofa slob if and when we got to spend some time together.

It was Friday afternoon before she sent me a text message.

Hi, do you Fancy a coffee sometime over the weekend?

I spent all of five seconds thinking about the offer before replying with a simple Yes please, just tell me where and when?

An hour later she sent the name of a coffee shop in town, the time of our meeting was 9.30 on Saturday. That Friday evening, I ran a longer route and did double reps of my exercises. I also had a crafty wank thinking about the lovely Sarah.

On Saturday I woke at six, did a run before having a shower and shave. I drove into town early and was browsing in a bookshop when my mobile chirruped to tell me I had a text message.

Sorry cannot make it, having car trouble X I was a little annoyed so did not answer for a good ten minutes and then I realised I was being churlish and sat on a bench to compose my reply. As I sat down my phone rang, it was Sarah.

“Hi, “she said, there was an obvious sadness in her voice.

“Hello, sorry to hear that you are having car trouble “I replied trying not to sound too disappointed.

“I thought when you didn’t reply you were pissed off with me,” she said and I sensed an edge to her voice.

“No, I was in a shop at the checkout so could not reply” I lied, “I was just about to text you back when you called!

“Look please don’t think I am forward, but would you like to come over,” she said, “I have to wait in for the repair guy, but we could have a coffee at mine?”

“Only if you are sure, Sarah,” I said trying not to sound too eager.

“Cool, I will text you my address, it should take you half an hour or so,” she said and hung up.

I headed back into the bookshop and picked up a few novels I had been looking at and paid for them before heading to the car. I did not want her to see that I have lied and bought nothing.

As I walked to the can park my phone chirrupy at the arrival of a text message. It was her address; I recognised it as a village not far from where I lived. As I walked back to the car park, I saw a florist shop, so I grabbed a bunch of flowers.

The drive was good as the weekend traffic was quiet. I had programmed her address into my satnav, and it took me straight to her house. I knew which was hers as a big yellow truck with the name of a well know kerbside car repair company was outside the house and some blokes arse was sticking out from under her bonnet, that is the hood for my American readers.

Sarah met me as I walked up to her garden path. She was carrying a mug of steaming hot tea

“Wow, that’s good service!” I said as she smiled at me,

“It’s not for you silly,” she said and pecked me on the cheek “it’s for Danny here”

The guy from the repair company came out from under the bonnet and took the tea off her.

“Thanks, Mrs, “he said and took a good glug on his brew. His mobile phone rang and he turned away to talk to whoever had called him.

Sarah turned to me and smiled.

“I am so sorry about this, “she said and the look in her eyes told me she meant it.

I walked to the car, got the flowers out and gave them to her, her eyes light up and she hugged me.

“Wow they are gorgeous “she purred, “You are so thoughtful”

Danny ended the phone call and turned back to us.

“Right, we have some good news and some bad news,” he said and took another mouthful of tea.

“Okay let’s have the good news” Sarah replied with a smile.

“You need a new part but it’s cheap and easy to replace,” he said.

“And the bad news?” she asked.

“We can’t get one until Monday,” he said and drained his teacup before handing it back to her.

“Oh well that’s that, thanks for coming out” she replied.

“No worries, the office will be in touch to arrange the repair, “He said, and with that, he closed the bonnet of the car and picked up his tools.

“Right, I will be off” and he jumped into his truck and drove off.

Sarah turned to me

“oh well that’ the rest of my weekend off ruined,” she said.

“How come?” I asked.

“Well one of the teams I help to coach are in a tournament today and I was going to watch a few games”

“Okay, where is it lets go,” I said with a smile.

“But it’s at the Six form college in Felpersham,” she said, I knew the place it was an hour’s drive away

“What time do they start?” I enquired.

“There first game is at three o’clock, “she said looking at her watch, “I planned to spend the morning with you and then drive over to watch them”

“Well, if you don’t want to miss the game get your cute ass into gear,” I said with a smile.

“Are you sure?” she said and bit her bottom lip. That alone sent shivers down my spine.

“Yes, come on woman” I laughed and got a playful punch on the arm for my trouble. She put the flowers in a vase with some water and gave me another peck on the cheek.

“They really are gorgeous” she smiled, “You are spoiling me!”

“Right are we off the Felpersham?” I enquired.

“Right give me ten minutes” and she ran upstairs. I checked out her bookshelf and record collection whilst I was waiting.

When she came down, she looked a million dollars. A short skirt showed off her strong ebony legs and a t-shirt that was tight enough to show her amazing rack. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She did not seem to have move make up on but to be fair she did not need it. She also had a cardigan as she said it might get cold later.

She slipped her feet into some colourful, trendy trainers and picked up her bag.

“Right let’s go,” she said and took my hand before leading me to the car. I pend the passenger side door for her and admired her legs as she stepped into the car.

The journey was amazing; we listened to music, talked about life. She told me some tales of why people call out ambulances and we giggled at some of the weird ones. It was if we had known each other for years.

She guided me into a college on the outskirts of the town. We parked up and headed to the sports hall. The place was packed, there must have been a dozen games being played at the same time.

We found the court where her team was playing, they had played one quarter, and they were losing by quite a bit, we watched the rest of the game from seats in a temporary stand. I am not sure I understood the rules completely, but it was fast-paced and quite exciting, plus the fact there were fourteen very fit teenage girls running around.

Sarah did try to explain the rules and positions to me but to be honest, it was lost on me. Her team came back in the fourth quarter and won by two goals. It was a knockout competition, so they were into the next round.

The final whistle was blown, and the team celebrated.

“Right do you fancy a beer before the next round?” Sarah asked.

“That sounds good to me,” I said with a grin, I was simply happy to be spending some time with Sarah.

So, we walked out of the sports hall and over to a huge marquee. Inside there were loads of tables, there was a bar set up at one end and several stalls selling burgers, hotdogs, and stuff.

We queued up and I got a beer, Sarah had a small cider. Then she led me over to meet a few of her friends from the netball club. I was then introduced to a mixture of coaches plus moms, dads, siblings, boyfriend, and girlfriends. To be fair it was a bit overwhelming, I just said hello and made small talk as they all talked netball tactics.

We had time for another drink before the girls next game was due to start. The tannoy system told us the game was about to start and headed out and took out places in the stand. The first quarter was a low scoring one with Sarah’s team losing by two goals. They came back in the second quarter and outscored the opposition by six goals. The last two quarters were great to watch as they blitzed the other team who seemed to be well of the pace.

We celebrated with the other fans before heading back to the marquee, Sarah told me she was hungry, so we ordered burgers, fries, and bottled beers. We found an empty table on our own to eat.

“Well, this a bit different to our last meal together,” she said as she dipped a fry into ketchup.

“Yes, it’s not how I saw our first date going,” I said and took a sip of my beer.

“SO, this is a date, is it? “Sarah asked and gave me a stern look.

“Err. Well...” I stuttered but she put me out of my misery.

“I am teasing,” she said and stole a fry off my plate. We ate, chatted, and drank our beers and it all felt so good and so natural.

The rest of the day seemed to fly past, the team won the next game after a tense fourth quarter and that put them into the quarterfinals of the tournament.

They played well in the quarterfinal and led that from the start and won by six goals.

That meant they had a slot in the semi-finals and the fans were on top of the world. That was until the opposition was announced and it turned out they had been drawn against one of the top teams in the area.

They did well but to be fair even to a layman like me it was obvious they were being outclassed. They were neck and neck until the fourth Quarter then the other team put the afterburners on and scored four quick goals. That gave them a three-goal lead and that was how the game finished.

As the final whistle was blown, Sarah excused herself and headed down to the court to chat with other coaches and the players.

By the time she came back the seats around me were all empty.

“They are a bit annoyed, “Sarah said, “but I told them they did well to get the semi”