All I Need

The sound of the clock ticking was driving her crazy. Every 30 seconds she would look around, her knee bouncing up and down with anticipation. She glances at the clock again, 2:55. The last five minutes were going to be the death of her. She knows she’s upsetting Ali with her fidgeting.

She feels a hand on her knee, immediately feeling at ease, pausing her nervous bouncing for a moment. “Hey. Stop.”

Once Ali moves her hand back to her own lap, Ashlyn’s knee resumes bouncing. Ali’s touch has always had that effect on her. In this case though, she knows that her body betrayed her and Ali wasn’t looking to comfort her at all. She looks around; at the office her and Ali are sitting in and wonders how they got themselves here. She never thought this would be their life.

Ashlyn thinks back to the day she first saw Ali.

She had been called up to national team camp in 2010, and had been a little too excited about getting the call that she arrived to the hotel for check in 3 hours early. She was finally going to meet all the women she had looked up to for the past couple years. As she sat waiting in the hotel lounge for the coaching staff to arrive so she could get her room assignment, she saw a blur of a girl rush by her and then immediately disappear. Ashlyn was intrigued to say the least so she took her final sip of tea, put down a ten-dollar bill, and made her way to the lobby. There she saw the girl that had rushed in in a frenzy lying face first on the floor, crying.

“Uh, excuse me…Miss?” Ashlyn says trying to get the girls attention. The girl is breathlessly sobbing, a mess of brown hair strewn about covering her face.

Ashlyn leans down resting a hand on her back. She feels it then. The girl immediately looks up, horrified.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I was just late getting to the airport in Germany that ended up being delayed anyways. Then while I was sitting in the airport my brother called me and told me that he just broke up with his boyfriend and was thinking about having a drink. Then, I didn’t sleep a wink on the airplane. I’ve been up for a solid 36 hours straight." She puts her face in her palms and breathlessly mumbles out, "and now I’m rambling my problems off to a complete stranger. I am so sorry.” She rubs her face with her palms, trying to rid some of the tears that have streaked her face. The girl starts to stand up but her leg is caught in the handle of her suitcase. As soon as she starts to fall, Ashlyn reaches out and wraps her strong arms around the brunette. She stabilizes her and reaches down and untangles the brunette’s leg from her suitcase.

Ashlyn stands back up, straightening out her shirt and flipping her hair behind her shoulder. She looks up to meet the brunette’s gaze. She is looking at Ashlyn with her mouth slightly open in awe. Her eyes are slightly puffy and red from crying and her nose is running a little, but Ashlyn knows that this girl is the most beautiful woman she has ever seen. Ashlyn ducks her head slightly and looks back up with a dimpled smile, “Hi, I’m Ashlyn”, she says extending her hand to the brunette.

“Hi Ashlyn, I’m Ali.  I don’t know what I would have done if I had ended up on the floor again. I probably would have just stayed there crying, not caring who came by and saw me.” Ali says with a nonchalant shrug.

Ashlyn looks at Ali and chuckles slightly, “Maybe the second time you could have stuck the landing a little better”

Ali looks at her in disbelief, “Oh, you’ve got jokes? We just met and you’re already making fun of me?”

Ashlyn shrugs, “It’s just my nature. If I don’t mess with you it means I don’t really like you.” She winks for good measure.

Ali just stares at her with her cinnamon eyes, not saying a word, and Ashlyn knows she’s done for.

Once Ali doesn’t say anything for about a minute, Ashlyn shifts uneasily on her feet and mumbles out, “In all seriousness though, I’m sorry that you’ve had such a long, rough day. It was very nice to meet you Ali, and I hope your day gets better.”

Ashlyn begins to walk away, but she feels a tug on her hand. She turns half way around to see that Ali has a hold of her hand and while looking at her feet mumbles, “Would you like to grab a cup of coffee or tea? In all my haste I actually ended up here 2 hours earlier than I needed to be..”

Ashlyn looks at Ali, whose eyes are still very interested in her shoes it seems. It clicks in Ashlyn’s head who Ali is and asks, “Ali? Like Ali Krieger?”

Ali finally looks up, with a confused look on her face, “Yeah, how do you know who I am?”

Ashlyn looks at her amused but sticks her hand out again, “Ashlyn Harris, goalkeeper. Looks like we will be spending the next couple weeks together.” Ashlyn grabs Ali’s suitcase and begins to walk back towards the lounge. “Now, lets go get that drink and you can tell me all about your long day. I’m an excellent listener over a cup of tea.”

When the coaching staff got there it turned out that Ashlyn and Ali were roommates and would spending a lot of time together. They became fast friends, and did almost everything on and off the field together. Ashlyn fell hard and fast for Ali. She knew that this girl was it for her, but she didn’t want to ruin the chances of their friendship just yet. Much to Ashlyn’s dismay Ali was an over sharer, which meant that Ashlyn heard all about the guy Ali was seeing on and off in Germany.  This reaffirmed the instinct that Ashlyn would just keep her feelings to herself. She rather have Ali in her life as a friend than not at all.

Camp went by smoothly, but in the end, Ashlyn didn’t make the cut and would go back to her WPS team, and Ali would go to play in the qualifiers for the Olympics.

The receptionist stands up, her chair screeching across the wood floors, pulling Ashlyn from her memories, “Mrs. and Mrs. Harris? The doctor will see you now.”

Ali stands up and walks out of the waiting room. Ashlyn reluctantly follows her wife of 7 years.