~~~Ch 4~~~
The crowd cheered and Liz and her teammates ran off the field, exhausted after the extremely difficult game. It had been a hard-earned win and it had left Liz absolutely worn out. Most of her teammates quickly passed her on their way to the bench. Liz lagged behind, not looking forward to the 'meet the team event' that had been planned for them. It wasn't that she didn't want to meet the fans, she did. They were the reason she was still playing soccer and not married with a couple of kids by now. It was just that usually after a difficult game, all she wanted to do was crash someplace and fall asleep. But as they were required to attend all publicity events, she would have to stick it out for now and put on a smile for the fans.
~~~
All the crowds were suddenly making Max a little nervous. Ryan was pulling him towards the field, having heard that the players were going to stick around to meet fans, sign autographs, and take pictures. Apparently, though, he and Ryan weren't the only people to want to meet the players. A mob of people pushed and shoved their way down to the field, almost knocking Max off balance several times. He unconsciously gripped his small son's hand even tighter, making the little boy yelp and then attempt to pull free.
"Daddy…that hurts. Let go…" Ryan whined, still trying to pull away.
All of a sudden, a teenaged boy crashed into Max causing him to lose his footing on the steps and let go of Ryan's hand in an effort to stay standing. It was only for a moment, but a moment was all it took for the small boy to disappear from his sight. He stopped in his tracks, trying to scan the crowded steps for any sign of his son and yelling "Ryan! Where are you?" No one seemed to notice though, as they continued to stream past him. Max was frantic now. How could he have lost his four year-old on his birthday? He began to search for security, hoping they might help him locate Ryan. A few of them seemed to be congregating by the entrance to the field, most likely trying to control the already unruly crowd. Max allowed himself to be pushed in the direction of the gate.
Once he finally made his way onto the field, he turned to talk to security and instead noticed a petite brunette sitting off to the side and playing with a small boy. Realizing the boy was Ryan, Max took off to confront the woman and get his son back.
~~~
Liz had been trying to avoid the crowd by sitting off to the side, hoping that no one would notice her. However, someone had. A small boy, who she guessed was only three or four, had come running up to her, by himself, and obviously very excited to have found her. He introduced himself as Ryan Evans and when asked where his parents were, he said that his dad had gotten lost and would find him in a minute or two. She had figured that she might as well talk to him, since he had been so excited to meet her, before she took him to security. Especially since he told her that they had come to this game for his birthday.
They had only been sitting there for a minute or two when she looked up and saw a tall dark-haired man coming towards them…and he didn't look too happy.
"What the hell do you think you're doing with my son," he yelled as he came to a stop in front of them.
Liz quickly stood up and unconsciously smoothed out her wrinkled uniform. "I…um.." She stuttered for a moment, then, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, she looked up to see one of the most attractive guys she had ever met. She smiled self-consciously and seemed to finally find her tongue. "We were just waiting for you."
For his part, Max was sure he must have been dreaming. The girl that stood in front of him couldn't be real. She was too beautiful, too perfect… He was so caught up in his little daydream that he forgot why he had been angry a moment ago. Suddenly, he realized that she had spoken to him and seemed to be looking for some sort of response on his part.
"I'm sorry did you say something?" he asked distractedly.
She laughed and repeated herself. "I said that my name's Liz and that Ryan and I were just waiting for you to come get him. I also asked your name."
"Max. My name's Max," he said. He remembered that a moment ago, he had been angry because he thought that this person had kidnapped his son. Somehow though, he now knew that this was not the case and that she would never do something like that. "I'm sorry I yelled before. I didn't mean anything by it. I was just going a little crazy thinking that I had lost Ryan here. Thank you for finding him and taking care of him, by the way."
"Don't worry about it. I can't even imagine what it would be like to think you have lost your child. I don't think anyone would be very pleasant in the situation. And I didn't really find him…he found me. I had planned to take him straight to security, but he really wanted to talk to me and I thought that it wouldn't hurt to just talk for a minute or two…and then, well, that's when you showed up," Liz said, shrugging her shoulders and smiling.
"Yeah, well thanks anyway. I'm glad he was with you and not some crazy person who would have kidnapped him or something."
"You just met me. How do you know I'm not one of 'those crazy people?'" she asked playfully.
"I don't know how I know…but I do. I just know you're not like that."
"You do huh?"
"Yep."
"Daddy…" a small voice interrupted.
"Yeah buddy what is it?" Max said, suddenly remembering his son's presence.
"I have to use the bathroom…" Ryan whispered loudly.
"Oh…geez…I'll take you in one minute okay?" he said, turning back to Liz. "I gotta go take him to the bathroom. It was really nice meeting you though Liz….?"
"Parker, Liz Parker. Pleasure was all mine. Maybe I'll see you guys at another game soon…?"
"Definitely. Ryan absolutely loves soccer. We'll be back."
"Great. Well have a great birthday Ryan. Bye Max."
"Bye Liz," Max said, as he finally allowed Ryan to pull him towards the nearest restrooms.
About halfway there, Max looked back and noticed that Liz was still watching their retreat. Definitely coming to more games…real soon, Max thought to himself as he turned back around with a genuine smile on his face for the first time in a long while.
TBC…
