Love can Overcome Anything

Chapter Twenty-One- New Beginnings

AN- Thank you to my reviewers: rupertgrintlovesmeandonlyme, BeckermanLover, maximum-calories, PriscillaN, Blissful Flight, smartywithch, CrazyHSMgirl, 2col4skool2, BrookieCookie490,
Maddie, i heart hairspray, jasmineflower001

Without your reviews, I would have never continued or updated my story. So thank you for the encouragement!

Enjoy!

Eric sat for the hundredth time slowly down on Jolene's beige colored couch. And for the hundredth time, he patted Jolene's back sympathetically. He had spent 3 whole hours consoling the crying and mourning Jolene. Apparently, 3 hours of his consoling did nothing to the sobbing Jolene. He was seriously surprised at how much this woman could cry. Her purple tin foil trash can was filled up with soaked tissues and was beginning to overflow.

"Hush Jolene. It's alright. Your dad is in good hands now" Eric said, rubbing her back. He hoped his words were comforting but he doubted it. He's repeated them so many times that he lost track of how many times he said it.

Unsurprisingly, Jolene burst out crying even harder. Eric sighed quietly and plucked out another tissue from the almost empty tissue box and handed it to Jolene. He had tried everything to calm Jolene down. He had run out to the movie store and bought her 3 of her favorite series but they were playing on her TV being unnoticed. He had run out to the grocery store and bought her 5 chocolate bars, a bag of chips, 3 buckets full of her favorite ice cream flavor, cookies n crème, but they sat on the table untouched.

Honestly, Eric tried everything. Unfortunately, everything wasn't enough.

o0o

Meanwhile, Bridget was having the time of her life. She loved coaching the Kickers. They were so… professional unlike the kids she coached before. They knew their stuff. All she had to do was to bark an order and they would do it, easily. She's been working the Kickers' butts off for the past 3 hours but most of them haven't broke out in a sweat yet. Well, she was doing the exercises along with them and even she hadn't broke out into a sweat yet too, so they weren't all that superior to her.

Tweet! Bridget blew her whistle. "2 more minutes, then we'll play a game for fifteen, then the days over!" She said happily. This was life. Coaching the top international soccer team in the world, and knowing that they thought she was hot was the perfect life. It must common knowledge to every young and old women that the Kicker players were attractively good-looking. Some had stunning hair, some had striking eyes, and some had a great face. All of them were really super-buff-and-fit-like-the-models-on-magazines kinds of guys. How did she know this? Well, half way through coaching, the sun was blazing so they had taken of their shirts.

Cut it out Bridget! Bridget scolded herself silently. She was an engaged lady now. She wasn't her old carefree, young self anymore. Besides, she was already engaged to the most drop-dead gorgeous attractive guy already. The Kicker players could never compare up to him. He was super fit, he was hot, he had a great personality, he was unselfish, he was kind, he was smart, he was tall, he was envied by all coaches that were coaching a smaller soccer team than him, he was a star soccer player, but most importantly, he loved her. She only had eyes for him and not anyone else. She wasn't shallow; really. She would marry an ugly (in media standards) man if he loved her and she loved him back.

Bridget smiled happily to herself. Her life was perfect right now. She looked at the Kicker players doing some soccer drills. Sure, they were half-naked, and if she was a high school girl, she would have gone straight out and start flirting with all of them but now, she was engaged to her perfect guy.

Speaking of her perfect guy, how was he doing right now? Bridget hoped that he was already back home and relaxing. She knew that sometimes, Jolene's crying could really tire Eric out. Which leads to the question to why she was here, and not there, helping him with Jolene. She already extended soccer practice because she loved coaching the Kickers, but helping Eric out would be so much more nicer and understanding.

Bridget looked at her watch. It was already past 10 minutes. She really should help Eric. She looked out onto the field and said "Come on guys! That's enough for a day! Bye!"

Bridget stepped aside as the Kicker players started bombarding into the change rooms. Finally, her day was over. She bent over and picked up her sweater and bag. She turned around and waited for the Kicker players to leave.

About 3 minutes later, most Kicker players were leaving. Bridget smiled cheerfully and went to fetch her car keys that she left on top of Eric's desk, in his office. While inside the office, Bridget heard a group of Kickers walking by. She couldn't resist, so she ducked out of view and listened to the conversation.

"Yo dude" Said a Kicker player with a low voice. "Bee is a harder coach than Eric."

"No way man. She's coaches exactly like Eric, but the difference is that Eric coaches out of strategy while Bee just coaches."

"Well, no duh, Eric knows the strategies for beating the other teams. Bee doesn't know any of that"

"Not her fault. She never coached an international team before."

"The TOP international team"

All the Kickers burst out laughing.

"Still man, Eric is one lucky dude"

"Joe, are you still hanging over Bee?"

All the guys laughed.

Their laughter slowly faded away as they walked out of sight. That was a slightly useless and boring conversation. Bridget stood up from where she was hiding and brushed herself out. Maybe Eric had cleaned his home but he has definitely not cleaned his office yet.

Bridget picked up her car keys and began to go home. The conversation that the Kicker players said wasn't interesting. She knew Eric was a better coach than her. It was because the Kickers were his team. He had handpicked them from across the world, coached them, and brought them up to the top soccer team in the world. He knew all their weaknesses and strengths.

Speaking of Eric, she really should give him a hand at helping Jolene. But first, a quick stop at the convenience store.

o0o

"Ugh" Eric groaned. He quickly cooled off by splashing his face in cold water. Eric stared at himself in the mirror in Jolene's washroom. Were there wrinkles on his forehead? No way! He couldn't grow old now! He was still young and fresh. Eric frowned at his image in the mirror. He suddenly remembered something.

-Flashback-

"Eric Richman" The Kicker's doctor, Dr. Sanders had called.

Eric walked into the inspection room for his monthly checkup with his Kicker players.

He went through all the tests, and check ups then he left the office. Eric walked slowly to his car and sat down in the driver's seat. He rubbed his forehead vigorously He was so stressed out. It's been 2 weeks since the first summer he had met Bridget and he still couldn't get his mind off her.

He messed up with her… badly. The worse thing was that he still loved her. He tried everything to get her out of his head but it wasn't working. He went to a gazillion clubs. He met quite a few pretty ladies but he went no further than kissing with them. Every time he kissed them, all he could think of was Bridget. And how swiftly her blond hair moved whenever she was running, how her long legs… argh! He needed to stop thinking about Bridget. Now!

He seriously needed to get Bridget out of his head. It was amazing how one woman could drive a man to endless nights of not sleeping.

Eric's cell phone vibrated against his muscular leg. He took out his cell phone from in the pocket of his cargo pants where it was resting and answered it.

"Hello?" He said

"Hi Eric. This is Doctor Sanders. I was just evaluating your test results and everything seems to be in tip top shape."

"That's good" Eric said. He tried to sound interested but he had the same conversation with Dr. Sanders every month.

"Yes. But there is one thing that worries me a bit."

"What?" Eric's ears perked up.

"You seemed stressed today. I can see it in your forehead. If you haven't noticed, whenever you get stressed, there will probably be one or two little wrinkles on your forehead. To avoid this, I advise you take a break from coaching. Or to take a little vacation to clear you head of whatever's stressing you."

Eric quickly glanced at himself in the back mirror. Indeed, there was a puny small wrinkle on his forehead. "Bee" Eric muttered conclusively to himself.

"What was that?" Dr. Sanders asked.

"Oh, uh, nothing really. Thanks for the advice doctor" Eric replied

"Very well then. I'll see you next month" Dr. Sander's had said.

Eric shut off his cell phone. He dropped his head onto his hands. He needed a break. All this stress was going to kill him. That's when he thought of a genius idea. He should go on a vacation to Los Angeles. He always wanted to go to Los Angeles.

Eric booked his flight and before he knew it, he was on an airplane to Los Angeles.

Eric looked out the window as his plane was landing in Los Angeles. "So this is the city full of celebrities and such" Eric quietly said to himself.

As Eric was getting his luggage from the luggage belt, he was pushed off balance by a huge luggage. Being a 'jock' as his old high school friends called him, he quickly regained his balance. Eric picked up the huge heavy luggage and handed it to the person without giving a thought about it.

He put the luggage on the person's cart and for the first time, took a real look at the person. She was a girl, a really pretty one. She smiled and said "Thank you. The luggage was so heavy and I accidentally lost my grip on it. Sorry for almost pushing you over. My names Kaya" She flashed her pearly whites at Eric.

Thus, the beginning of a relationship between Eric and Kaya.

-End Flashback-

Eric smiled at himself. He remembered that on that day, the instant that Kaya had introduced herself, he had thought to himself that this was the girl to take his mind of Bridget. Indeed, she had taken his mind of Bridget until he went to coach again. The reunion, as he called it. He knew Bridget was coming but he really wanted to take a break from coaching the Kickers. The Kickers weren't a big famous soccer team until after the third summer, where he finally took all his time to coach them and bring them to the top of the international soccer team.

Eric went out of Jolene's washroom and walked back into the living room, fully expecting Jolene to still be crying.

Much to his surprise, she wasn't crying. Instead, she was laughing! Eric froze mid way. He frowned. Something was definitely wrong with this scene. He had left the crying Jolene to go to the washroom 5 minutes ago and now, 5 minutes after, she was laughing.

Eric gasped in surprise as he found himself being tackled to the floor. He whipped his head around to see who it was. Of course, he should have known. It was Bridget.

Bridget laughed happily as she got up from the ground. It was really fun tackling Eric to the ground when he wasn't looking. She held out a hand to pull Eric up. He took it and let her pull him up.

"You took so long in that washroom! Jolene and I were beginning to think that you drowned in the sink." Bridget explained happily.

Just as Bridget told Eric this, Jolene burst into many uncontrollable squeals of laughter.

Eric looked from Jolene to Bridget. This was so weird. He spent 3-4 hours trying to console Jolene but she wouldn't stop crying. He left to go to the washroom, came out and there, Jolene was sitting there all happy. Eric sighed silently. Life was sure tough on him.

Bridget noticed Eric's tired look and laid a quick kiss on his lips. "I decided to come and help you out"

Eric smiled gratefully at Bridget. She was his savior for the day. He honestly thought that if he spent 20 more minutes with Jolene, he too would burst into frustrated tears. Eric walked to Jolene, who was still trying to control her peals of laughter, and said "I'll see you soon okay?"

Jolene nodded and Eric and Bridget left Jolene's house together.

o0o

Bridget sat cheerfully on Eric's stool in his kitchen. She popped a juicy cherry in her mouth. Eric was in the shower. She waited patiently for him to finish.

Pretty soon, Eric came out to the kitchen looking all clad in a white t-shirt and jeans. His hair was wet and tousled, but it still looked perfect anyway. He pulled another stool over and sat down on it. He gazed at Bridget for a few moments. She looked so beautiful in her jeans and white shirt. Well, she always looked beautiful Eric thought to himself. And she was all his.

Bridget looked at Eric. He was just staring at her. She threw a red cheery at him. "Who are you looking at?" Bridget said teasingly.

Eric broke out of his thoughts and came back to reality. He laughed and popped the cherry that Bridget had thrown at him in his mouth. "You. You have a problem with that?" He replied teasingly.

"No." Bridget replied, laughing.

Eric gazed at Bridget again and said "Listen Bee, I was just thinking…"

Bridget averted her full attention to him.

"Since we're going to get married and all that jazz, I was thinking that maybe it was time for you to move into my flat."

Bridget froze, cherry mid way into her mouth. Was she ready for this? Could she really leave her house and move in with the man of her dreams? Bridget mentally whacked herself on the forehead. Duh! She would love to.

Eric looked at Bridget, who was all deep in thought.

She then replied "Yes, I'd love too."

Eric smiled and said "Come on then! Let's get you all packed!"

Bridget smiled mischievously and said "But…"

He waited for her to continue,

"But there has to be one condition."

"Yes?" Eric asked cautiously. Bridget was known for her crazy ideas.

Bridget laughed and threw another cherry at Eric. This time he caught it with his mouth. "I want to rearrange this place a little bit."

Eric sighed in relief. This wasn't so bad. In fact, he was glad to allow Bridget to rearrange his home. It would be her home too, from now on.

"Sure" He replied.

Bridget grinned and said "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Go where?"

Bridget laughed and replied "To the store dummy!" She grabbed Eric's hand and half dragged half pulled him out of the door.

Eric stumbled then regained his composure. He stopped Bridget from pulling him out of the door. "Why do we need to go to the store?" Eric asked, afraid of what the answer was.

Bridget laughed some more and replied "I want to repaint the place and buy some new furniture!"

"What?"

"Yes! You said I could rearrange the place. I need it to look more… what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yes. Feminine."

"What?" Eric asked, shocked. His married friends had warned him of the 'crazy-wife-and-re-decorating-things-trend' but he had laughed them all away, thinking that Bridget would never do that. They had warned him to prepare living in a house painted pink and purple but he still laughed them away, saying that they were ridiculous. Now, Eric made a mental note to believe whatever his friends say.

Bridget laughed harder at the look on Eric's face when he heard her say feminine. "Eric" She said. "I'm only joking. I wouldn't even want to live in a place full of feminine stuff."

Eric sighed in relief.

"All I meant was that I wanted to repaint some of the walls, maybe cream colored, or whiter, or light blue. We'll decide it later. Then I was planning to buy some new furniture to match, a little redecorating, and stuff that I would need."

He frowned confused. "What stuff could you possibly need?"

Bridget arched an eyebrow. Could men be really this shallow? "Are you sure you want to know?" She asked.

He nodded, still confused at what Bridget would need.

Bridget laughed and said "I need stuff such as... I don't know… tamp-"

Eric cut her off with a quick cough. "Oh! That stuff! Sure, we'll go buy some. But don't you have any at home?"

Bridget shook her head. She was running low with them. She then started laughing again.

Eric looked around him. "What?" He asked. For the past 15 minutes with Bridget officially 'living' in his home, she had been so confusing.

"You… you're turning red!"

"I'm not!"

"Well, before you were"

"Okay, let's just go shopping and forget we ever had this odd conversation."

"Yes"

Bridget dragged Eric out the door and pushed him in his driver's seat. She ran to the other side of his car and plunked herself down on the passenger seat. "Onward! To the furniture shop!" She said in a joking commanding voice.

Eric sighed and put his keys into the car. Bridget was going to make his life so interesting. He was scared to see what crazy thing Bridget would demand after this. He highly doubted that his life would remain boring with her in his life. He only prayed that his flat wouldn't turn into some girly girl pink with fluffy pillows kind of flats.

o0o

Eric quickly scanned the shelves in 'The Paint Store' to see if they have snow white paint. Bridget had suddenly decided she wanted to paint the washroom white on the north and south walls and tile the east and west walls. They spent 3 hours looking for the 'perfect' furniture, as Bridget called it, and then they spent another 2 hours looking for the 'perfect paint'. He wasn't really enjoying all the shopping but he knew Bridget loved it so he didn't say a word. He would do anything to make Bridget happy.

Eric had left Bridget back it his flat, or their home, while he ran to find the paint that Bridget wanted. She called her idea the 'fast inspiration'. While he was running to find the snow white paint, he also dropped by the bank to combine their bank accounts. Together, their money and savings would let them to have a great life. Well, to be honest, Eric had the most money, being the coach of the top international team and all, but he was too modest to say anything about it to anyone.

Eric quickly scanned the shelves again until he saw the paint Bridget wanted. He quickly grabbed it and went home.

o0o

Bridget carefully rolled up the sleeves Eric's shirt. His shirt was a bit too long for her, but she liked it anyway. It skimmed her thighs. She was wearing Eric's shirt over her clothes because she didn't want paint on them. She got Eric's permission first anyway, so she didn't mind getting paint on his shirt.

She started very carefully. One stroke, then a second one over it. It was fun to paint Eric's living room. She couldn't wait to see the results. Bridget hummed cheerfully to herself and turned on the radio. She sang along with this popular song.

20 minutes later, Bridget sat down on the floor. She was half way done. It was a little tiring, but she was an athlete, and was used the kind of muscle endurance. Bridget put her hand down to support herself when she accidentally put her hand in the bucket of paint.

Bridget lifted up her hand, which was covered in paint and laughed happily at herself. She wiped the paint on Eric's shirt.

"I thought you said you could paint" Came a deep baritone voice.

Bridget turned around to face Eric. "I said I could paint, but I didn't say I was neat at it"

In reply, all she got was laughter.

"Here, let me help you" Eric said, picking up another paint roller and dipping it in paint.

Bridget laughed at Eric's remark. She pretended to be thinking. "Hmm, that phrase sounds familiar"

And once again, all she got was laughter in reply.

So together, for the rest of the evening, the happy couple painted and redecorated Eric's whole flat, not knowing how it would look like in the end.

AN- This isn't my usual good ending but I couldn't find a way to stop this chapter. This chapter's already my longest one yet, 8 pages on Microsoft Word. It was hard to find time to write this chapter because I have started studying for my final exams and it's very time consuming. I had to get a little 'kick in the butt' by one of my reviewers to update because I took so long.

I really do appreciate your reviews because they make writng worthwhile and it gives plenty of encouragement. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will be full of... let's say... life changing events and big surprises.

Please review!

Love,

OrchidPrincess