Disclaimer & Notes: The Bend It Like Beckham characters are lovingly borrowed from their respective copyright holders and hold tourist visas in Stonyland. Many thanks to Rhiannon Shaw and Nevada for the beta, and to the online Britspeak dictionaries I found. Any remaining errors are completely mine.
Written for bei for the 2004 Yuletide Treasures challenge.
Reunion
By Raine Wynd
She shouldn't have come. She wasn't dressed for it — who the hell showed up to a football pitch in a choli and georgette skirt suit, anyway? — and besides, Jess had no guarantee that Jules was going to remember her after all this time. It was a fool's errand, to check and see if the news article she'd read on the Internet was true or not, and Jess had better places to go, people to see, her own life to attend. She was due to meet her mother in an hour, and her mother had insisted that Jess wear something traditional for once. It hadn't been worth the argument, and besides, Jess rather liked the bright blue silk choli she'd found. Her mother would never know Jess had taken this detour, either way, and still...Jess couldn't bring herself to leave just yet.
She closed her eyes and remembered just how close she and Jules had been once, a long time ago. The easy laughter they'd shared, the football games they'd played, the secrets they'd kept between them, the passion for a sport that had changed their lives forever, the kisses they'd exchanged one glorious summer when nothing seemed impossible.
It was the summer after their last year in college. Through no small amount of conspiring, cooperation, and coordination on their part, they had managed not only to keep their athletic scholarships, but had led their college team to several victories. Their efforts hadn't gone unnoticed by the world's pro teams. Jules had already accepted the offer by an Italian team; it had taken longer for Jess and their teammates to convince Jules not to accept just on blind faith, but to look at the contract carefully and renegotiate some of the details. Jess had taken longer to decide, as she'd had a few more offers than Jules, but ultimately, she too had chosen the same team.
They were going to be together, forever.
"Do you think they're going to mind?" Jess asked Jules one evening near summer's end as she lay on the football pitch staring up at the stars. They'd brought out a blanket and some wine to toast their leaving this place; their flights departed in the morning.
"Mind?" the other woman asked incredulously, shifting to face Jess. "Mind what?"
"That we're...friends. That puts us at an advantage, you know."
"What? Have you been talking to my mum again? She's been convinced for years we've been shagging each other."
"You serious?" Jess asked, not really expecting a reply. "That's too funny. Wonder what she'd say now? I think she'd be scandalized. And I haven't said a word to your mum since last week when I answered the phone."
"She'd probably tell your mum she's been right about us all along, probably be over the moon about it." Jules reached between them for the wine bottle they'd opened earlier and took a swig. "But then she'd find something else to kick about it; I don't know how my father stands to hear it." She shrugged easily. "All I care is whether or not you mind; the rest of the world can bugger off."
Jess smiled at her friend's easy confidence. "I don't, but I don't want to let my mum find out through some tabloid, either. And I don't want to lose this chance at a career that's not being some stupid man's bride, cooing over wedding gowns and babies and houses." She took the bottle and drank. There were plastic glasses somewhere, but they'd forgotten to bring flashlights, and she didn't feel quite like letting go of Jules just yet to rummage around for them, either. The feeling of being this close was too new, too special, and somehow, it would be wrong if she let go just yet. "But I don't like making my parents unhappy; they make my life difficult when I do."
"So we won't let them," Jules promised, and kissed Jess. It was a reckless thing to be out here where anyone could find them, and thrilling, too. For a moment, Jess let the thrill race through her, let the pleasure of her oldest friend kissing her heat her blood, let herself forget she was someone with everything to lose.
Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath and stood straighter. She was a successful businesswoman now; she could handle seeing an old friend. Lover, her mind corrected, and she pushed that thought aside.
Automatically, she looked at the printed copy of the news article she'd stuffed into her purse. "International Football Star Jules Paxton Comes Home. Local Team to Reap Benefits of World-Class Coach," read the headline. Not for the first time since she'd seen the article, Jess wondered why now, why here. It wasn't as if Jules didn't have her choice of places to live or teach, and she'd made it very clear that she didn't find here all that interesting.
Her heels echoed on the hard hallway floor leading out to the field. For a moment, Jess wondered if she'd come on the wrong day; perhaps this wasn't a good time. Then she remembered the number of cars in the park had been too many for a day without a practice. She heard the noise of the players before she saw them, a coach's whistle, then a voice she'd recognize anywhere.
"Ian! You bloody idiot, you're supposed to be watching for the ball, not chatting up your teammates?!"
Jess chuckled and stepped out onto the field. She saw immediately that the players were a mix of genders, all wearing grass-stained uniforms, and that Jules stood, hands on hips, a quarter of the way down the field from where Jess was. Jess hesitated. Jules was obviously busy.
Come on, Jess, you have no reason to be nervous. She's seen you naked. Okay, so it's been fifteen years since she last saw you naked, but how much more embarrassing can saying hello be? Okay, don't answer that.
Jess took another deep breath and forced herself to walk forward.
As she got closer to the area where Jules still stood, watching the play, Jess noticed that there was a bench upon which a man in his mid-forties sat, dressed in black sweatpants and a short-sleeved jersey with the team logo on it. He leaned on a cane as he watched the action on the field and offered comments on certain players.
"You're too hard on Ian, Jules," he said as Jess walked up. "He's sixteen."
"David, when I was sixteen, I wasn't chasing girls — only a football. If he wants to go to the big leagues, he's going to have to —" Just then, Jules looked over at her companion and noticed who was standing there. Her head lifted, her eyes narrowed. "Jess? Oh my God."
With that, Jules launched herself at Jess, dodging David's cane and the bags at the end of the bench as easily as she had dodged players on a field. Jess found herself being hugged hard, kissed thoroughly, and laughing as she broke the kiss. "So I suppose this means you missed me?" she couldn't resist teasing.
"Missed you? Bloody hell, where did you disappear to? Timbuktu?" Jules didn't seem to want to let go of her. Somehow, Jess didn't mind. It had been too long.
"No, I came home. Didn't the managers tell you? My father got sick." She paused, swallowing past old grief. "He died of cancer."
"They didn't tell me anything," Jules said slowly, sounding puzzled. "They just said you'd decided to quit the team. I'm so sorry about your dad. Had I known, I wouldn't have—Oh, hell. Listen, stay put. Practice will be over in twenty minutes and we'll talk, okay? It's been too long."
"I can't," Jess answered, shaking her head. "My mum — she's expecting me."
"Come on, Jess. It's been fifteen years! Surely, she can wait a bit. I'll buy you dinner." Jules looked at her with that mischievous smile that Jess had almost never been able to resist.
"I...can't," Jess admitted reluctantly. "I'm meeting my mum's fiance for the first time."
Jules looked at her. Jess had the uncanny feeling that, just like so many years before, her feelings were completely transparent to this woman. Just like before, it wasn't a very comfortable sensation, and she resisted the urge to hug herself against the perceived invasion of her privacy. "Give me one second." Jules jogged back to the bench, spoke with the man there, grabbed a card out of a bag, and then jogged back.
Handing the card over to Jess, Jules said, "When you get to feeling trapped by your mum, ring me up. I'll come rescue you."
Jess looked the card over, then tucked it into her purse. She smiled and looked up at Jules. "I'll do that," she promised. She stood there for a minute longer, staring at the woman she'd never been able to forget. Took a deep breath, then forced herself to turn and walk back to her car, her mind tumbling with thoughts of just how long she could reasonably stay at dinner without angering her mum, and how soon she could call Jules.
12/12/04
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