Bend It Like Becker

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Chapter 13 - WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

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Becker sighed in frustration. "I just wish we could hold practice this weekend." It was ridiculous to try to put a team together with only nine practices. Correction: eight, after last night's cancellation. At least Jess and Lester had gotten in some dribbling, although that's the reason why they were in this bloody mess with the Minister in the first place. Becker didn't even want to think about what the Minister would do when he lost his wager, though he imagined they'd all have a lot more free time.

"I wish we could practice, too, but we can't," Jess said. "Everyone already has plans."

Everyone except Becker, that is, which was part of why he was so grumpy. He really didn't need more time to sit around and think about Jess - he'd done quite enough of that last night. He really needed to stop obsessing about her, but lately she was all he could focus on, thanks to this bloody match. Becker almost wished he'd been the one to run into the Minister yesterday, for he would've enjoyed giving the man a piece of his mind.

"But I think giving everyone these drills that they can practice on their own will be good," Jess continued. "And starting Monday, we...can...do..." Jess trailed off, a frown on her face. Becker realised her gaze was focussed on something behind him, and he turned to see what was causing her such consternation. Abby and Connor had just entered the canteen, but instead of joining them at their table, they had chosen to sit by themselves.

Becker didn't much care - he and Jess had lots to discuss, and he could do without Connor's smart-aleck comments. But turning back to Jess, he noticed that she seemed a bit flustered.

"I, uh, guess that they've gotten a bit used to having the flat to themselves these past few nights, but since I was home last night, perhaps they, um, want some time alone today."

Becker nodded and took a bite of his apple. "But do you think they'll actually do them?" he asked, his mind still on the drills.

Jess, however, had seemed to have lost the thread of the conversation. "What?"

"The drills," Becker explained. "Do you think the players will actually do the drills if we give them homework over the weekend?"

Jess shrugged. "Possibly. I mean, if they knew how serious the situation was, they would definitely...want...to..."

Once again she trailed off, frowning. Becker turned again, this time to see Emily sitting down with Abby and Connor. The couple was leaning across the table conspiratorially, obviously telling her something. The former Victorian suddenly glanced over at Becker and Jess and then turned away with a smile.

"Of course," Jess continued, suddenly sounding cross, "if we wanted the team to know about the Minister's wager, all we'd need to do is apparently tell my flatmates, and it'd be all over the ARC in a matter of minutes."

Becker wasn't quite sure why Jess's knickers were in a twist, but he somehow got the feeling he didn't really want to know, so he turned back to her and continued, "Perhaps we should give them some sort of motivation to do the drills. Like maybe, I don't know, have a reward? Or some sort of contest for-"

"Come on!" Jess interrupted, clearly peeved. It took Becker a moment to realise she hadn't been commenting on his suggestion but was instead focussed once again on the table behind them. He turned around, annoyed that he'd sat with his back to the door in the first place, and saw that Matt was now sitting next to Emily, engaged in a confidential conversation with the others. Suddenly all four of them turned to look at Jess and Becker in unison and then quickly looked away, resuming their huddled discussion.

But their strange behaviour is not what had caught Becker's attention. Instead, he got to his feet and hurried across the canteen to the team leader, asking, "Matt, did you just come in?"

"Yeah, I had to run an errand. Why?"

Becker gestured to Matt's wet hair. "Please don't tell me it's raining out."

He nodded. "Like cats and dogs, I'm afraid, mate."

"Dammit!"

"What is it?" Jess asked, her high heels clicking on the linoleum as she scurried over.

"It's raining," Becker snapped, stomping back to his seat. This was the last thing they needed - another cancellation. They desperately needed to run through their drills, but Becker couldn't risk having someone fall and injure themselves on the wet grass. Dammit dammit dammit! Why did this have to happen today? Why not tomorrow, when everyone else's plans could've been rained out instead?

"It's going to be okay," Jess said, taking her seat across from him once again. "We'll just have everyone over to my flat. I still have all those DVDs from the library. We wanted to start focussing more on game strategy anyway, right? So we'll just break out the Legends of Football and watch a few matches. We can learn a lot by watching, especially with Neela to help point things out. It'll be fine."

Becker sighed. "It's not the same as actually practicing," he grumbled.

"No, but it's better than nothing, yeah?"

Becker nodded reluctantly. Since nothing seemed to be going to plan, he couldn't help but wonder what more could go wrong?

No, he daren't think that - as Connor would be quick to point out, that was a surefire way to jinx it!

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If Jess thought lunch had been bad, the evening was more like her worst nightmare!

It hadn't started out so bad. She left work early so she could make sure her flat was up for having company. She pushed the couch back a bit, moved over assorted chairs around the telly, and tossed all the throw pillows onto the floor so there'd be plenty of places for everyone to sit. She then began to tidy up the kitchen and put the kettle on so it'd be hot when the others got there. She threw some crisps in a bowl, put some chocolates (not the good stuff, of course) on a plate, and washed off some strawberries to snack on. Connor and Abby hadn't bothered to do the dishes while she was off at Becker's, so she quickly washed them. She was just rinsing the last glass when the first knock came.

It was Becker. He still seemed annoyed at the rain but was clearly trying to make the best of things.

"The others will be here shortly," he said, shaking the rain out of his hair, which still somehow managed to look perfect. "Lester even agreed to stop by, though he has some function he must attend later so he'll be leaving early."

Jess listened to Becker's comments as she continued to dart about, rushing upstairs to the loo to make sure fresh towels were on the racks before hurrying back down to straighten up the books on the coffee table.

"Jess, stop stressing - everything looks fine," he insisted. "Remember, this isn't a dinner party, it's a...bloody football practice. Just relax."

Ironically, that was the most relaxed she'd been all night. Because immediately afterwards, Connor and Abby had returned home, and the nightmare had begun.

Jess was just trying to be a good hostess, to make sure that everyone was comfortable and happy. Yet every time she offered to top off Becker's tea or handed him the crisps or even LOOKED at him, it was as if she were an animal in a zoo performing some sort of mating ritual for everyone else's amusement. When Becker finally insisted that she sit down, scooting over to make room next to him on the couch, she thought she was going to die of mortification. Didn't they see how awkward they were making things? She'd never seen so much wink-wink-nudge-nudge between her friends before, and they weren't exactly being subtle about it. If Becker ever did have feelings for her, they were surely gone by now after all this scrutiny.

At least the "practice" went well, even if she didn't learn a thing herself due to her preoccupation. Neela helpfully pointed out how the players on the telly were working together, how their passes were a perfect demonstration of the drills they'd been practicing, etc., so that everyone could see how their newfound skills would fit into the actual gameplay. It was a bit crowded as they all circled round the telly, but everyone could see and seemed to be enjoying themselves. It wasn't as useful as a real practice would've been, but it was definitely better than cancelling it all together.

After the first match, about half the players begged off, having other plans for their Friday night.

As everyone stood and started collecting their things, Jess offered, "Anyone who wants to stay longer is welcome." She tried to ignore the suggestive smile Abby was giving her as she continued, "We, uh, have lots more footy we can watch. And we can order takeaway - there's a brilliant Chinese place not far from here."

"How are their prawn crackers?" Becker asked with a smile.

"You tell me," she smiled back. "You've had them before - it's the place I always order from."

Becker nodded and sat back down. "Then I'm in."

Under ordinary circumstances, Jess would've been thrilled to have more time to spend with Becker. However, the eager anticipation in the room was palpable, making her almost wish that Becker, too, had other plans for the evening just so she didn't have to deal with the continued insinuations of their friends.

"I'd like to stay as well," Emily said, turning to Matt, "if that's amenable."

Matt shrugged. "Fine with me."

Emily smiled and turned back towards the others. "I'm quite enjoying watching the matches - the goalkeeper for The Blues is much better than the Manchester United one, isn't he?"

"That's sacrilege, that is," O'Rourke called back over his shoulder as he headed for the door with the other soldiers.

Jess let them out and then returned to the living room to take stock of who'd stayed behind. It was just as she'd feared: only her "friends" - the ones who'd been tormenting her all evening - had remained behind.

So despite the tasty food and the interesting match on the telly, Jess simply couldn't relax. When, in the middle of the third match, Becker's arm casually dropped onto her shoulder, she practically jumped out of her skin. While it was just a friendly gesture, she could practically feel all eyes in the room upon them, making it mean far more than it should. Becker seemed to sense her discomfort, which only made him try harder to help her relax. His hand began to tenderly stroke her upper arm, a gesture that, under the circumstances, only made her tense up further. He must've noticed, for his hand moved up to her shoulder and gently began to rub it.

Good God, could it get any worse?

"Jess, your shoulders are in knots," he exclaimed worriedly. "Here, sit on the floor and I'll give you a back rub."

Yes, apparently it could. Everyone in the room turned to the couple and gave them knowing smiles, and it was clear to Jess that a backrub would never work for what ailed her.

"No, I'm fine," Jess said, feeling her face burn with embarrassment, wishing he'd just drop the subject so she could go back to pretending to watch the game.

But Becker was insistent. "Don't be silly, Jess. C'mon. Your muscles are so tight, you obviously need-"

"No, really," Jess insisted, trying to scoot away from him before he made things even worse. "I'm fine. I don't need you to-"

"We should probably be going," Matt said, standing up suddenly. "It's getting late, yeah?"

"But Matt, we're in the middle of a match," Emily insisted, gesturing to the telly.

Matt shot her a look, which included a subtle nod towards Jess & Becker, and Emily was instantly on her feet.

"Oh yes, we should be going," she said. "Thank you for a lovely evening, Jess."

"We'll, uh, simply show ourselves out," Matt said, grabbing up their coats and heading for the door before Jess could even get up.

Jess wondered if she should be documenting all this for her defense at the future manslaughter hearing.

Thanks to their not-so-subtle exit, Becker, too, glanced at his watch. "It is getting late," he observed.

"Oh, Becker, there's no need for you to leave," Abby said. "It's a Friday night. Stay as long as you'd like. Connor and I were...just going to bed."

"We were?" At Abby's look, he corrected, "Oh right, we were. Are. Going now. See us going? G'night, then. I guess we'll...see you two lovebirds in the morning."

Really, why didn't the ground just open up and swallow her - it'd be so much kinder!

Luckily Becker hadn't seemed to hear the comment, muffled as it was by Abby shoving Connor up the stairs. Instead, he merely stated, "I really should be going."

"Absolutely!" Jess said, jumping to her feet, eager for him to leave so she could get on with the killing of her flatmates.

He must've noticed her eagerness for he frowned.

"Not that I'm trying to get rid of you or anything! I'm sure you'd just like to get home and get some sleep, yeah?" Jess said, hoping he wouldn't feel like she was pushing him out the door, even though that was exactly what she was doing. "It's been a...busy week, and I'm sure you have lots planned for the weekend."

He frowned again, and this time she wasn't sure what she'd said wrong.

"But practice went well, yeah?" she continued. "People seemed to learn quite a bit from watching the matches. And hopefully we can start applying all that next week."

Becker nodded. "I can't believe it's only a week away. We simply don't have enough time."

"Well, we could always take the team through an anomaly somewhere - that could give us a couple million years to practice before the game...which just might be enough time for us to get good."

Becker laughed. "I don't think we're quite that desperate."

"Not yet anyway, yeah?" Jess teased as she walked him to the door. "Well, g'night then."

He stood at the door a moment, a frown upon his face, as if he were contemplating saying something, before he simply offered, "Goodnight, Jess."

After closing the door behind him, she sprinted up the stairs, ready to have a word or two with her flatmates. However, the door to their bedroom was closed and she didn't feel like bursting in on them - after all their prurient interest this evening, who knew what the two of them might be up to, and she'd had quite enough humiliation tonight. She sighed, surveying the living room, and decided she'd wait to tidy up till tomorrow - it wasn't like she had any other plans for the weekend. She went into her room, changed into her pyjamas, and was just heading for the loo when she thought she heard a quiet knock on the door. She walked down the stairs and peered through the peep hole.

"Becker!" she exclaimed as she opened the door to him. "What is it?"

He gave a frustrated sigh before saying simply, "My car won't start."

...

to be continued