Into The Storm

Chapter Three: Roommates

The second week had begun with no further incident. Mia was grateful for that. The players hadn't given her trouble after what happened, and she was sure they knew about what had happened with Matthew. Of course a new week meant that she would be dealing with...Matthew…again. She was not excited.

He hadn't shown up for the re-scheduled appointment. Mia didn't know how he was still walking around. From Jon's tests and records, she knew he was in pain. Why does he have to be such a jerk? She wondered.

She would be dealing with him soon enough. Tomorrow, Mia thought with dread. Of course that was whether or not he decided to show up. She didn't think his attitude towards her would have changed by now. Mia put the thoughts back in to the back of her mind. He was the last thing she needed to be fretting over.

Today constituted a whole new set of worries. She was going to be finding out where she would be staying, and who would be her roommates.

Mia leaned back in her chair closing her eyes for a moment; she had just sent another report. The laptop was busy downloading her files that she would need to look over that night.

Her feet were jittery, while her stomach was in knots. Mia was a little nervous about living in the dormitories, but it would be better than rushing from Stacie's flat and almost coming to work late and usually out of breath.

A beep sounded from somewhere in the room. Mia's eyes fluttered open, she looked for the source. It was sitting on top of the filing cabinet. Mia got up and retrieved her cell phone. Someone had sent her a text message.

She clicked the buttons on her phone to open it. 'Brooklyn, M: Room 226, North West Wing', it read.

That was her new address; Mia thought feeling herself become nervous once more. She looked at the time. It was four in the afternoon; she didn't have anyone scheduled for the rest of the day.

Might as well get it over with, She thought. Upon seeing that her laptop had finished its job and the main computer had sent the report successfully, Mia shut them both down and put the laptop in her bag.

Grabbing her jacket, and putting her car keys, phone, and wallet, into her bag; Mia locked up her office and took off in search of the North West Wing.

Just follow the signs, she reminded herself, as she walked around aimlessly. She had managed to find the South West Wing. Fighting the urge to call Oliver for help, she looked around to see where there was another sign. Finding one, she followed the arrows.

It was when she reached the right building, a thought hit Mia. I don't have keys, Mia thought with a gasp. No where in the text message had there been any mention of keys or where to pick them up.

Mia found the room she was looking for. The number 226 had been nailed in gold letters on a deep blue colored door. She looked at the handle; sure enough it had a key entry. Mia groaned inwardly.

Hopefully, her roommates were already in. Taking a deep breath she knocked on the door. When no one answered, Mia turned the door knob. It was unlocked. She entered the room, tentatively.

It was a spacious apartment, Mia thought in approval. She hadn't thought the dormitories would be so comfortable. Usually the hearing some one say dorm room invoked unpleasant thoughts of cramped quarters with more people living in the room than there was space.

Circling around to take in the whole view, Mia was satisfied with her luck. It seemed there were two bedrooms and a bathroom, along with a kitchen and living room.

"Hello?" Mia called out, suddenly remembering that there was probably another person or two who she would be sharing the space with. "Anyone home?"

Putting her bag onto the couch, Mia went in to the kitchen to see what food was there and what she would have to bring.

"Hello? Mia?"

Startled, Mia spun on her heel.

"Oliver?"

"What are you doing here?" Oliver looked as confused as she felt, as he walked towards her from one of the rooms.

"I got a text telling me I'm rooming here..." Mia mumbled. She walked over to him to show him the message.

"Yea...me too." Oliver said, sounding perturbed.

"How come you're living here? Shouldn't you be living with your wife?" Mia asked out of curiosity.

"She's taking care of her mom, back home." Oliver told her, sounding a little distracted.

"Back home?"

"Yea, in Munich."

"Oh...right..." Mia muttered. That made sense. She vaguely remembered a conversation with him where he had told her he was German.

"Mia...you do know this is the men's dormitory, right?" Oliver asked, shuffling his feet. "The women are all in the East wing..."

"What!"

It was starting to become clear to Mia why Oliver had seemed so confused upon seeing her. Just wonderful...Mia thought with annoyance.

"They thought I was a guy...again..." Mia grimaced.

"They what?" Oliver didn't understand.

"For some reason...every time my name is listed as M Brooklyn, I shouldn't have put it that way on my resume...and they think I'm a guy...and Felix said he'd get that fixed...but clearly...I must still be a guy. Although I don't think that's anatomically possible-"

"Wait! The administration mistook you for a guy?" Oliver interrupted her babble.

"Yea...it's a pretty sad story." Mia mumbled.

"Well, we can get this straightened out, right?" Mia didn't understand why he was rushing her out.

"I'll go with you. Let me just grab my-" Oliver's words were cut off by the door opening.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Great...just great..." Mia heard Oliver mutter, as she turned to face the newest occupant of the room.

"Hey Olive - You've got to be kidding me! What the hell is she doing here?"

Feeling the color drain from her face, Mia took a step behind Oliver, and stared at the ground. Why me, why me, why me?! Mia found caught herself asking fervently. Under any other circumstance, Mia would have been thrilled to see her favorite player. Matthew just happened to hate her.

So that's why he was rushing, Mia realized. Oliver was probably trying to keep her out of Matthew's firing line.

"She's one of our roommates." Oliver told him, after what seemed like forever. At this Mia's head shot up.

"But-" Mia was silenced by the slight shake of Oliver's head. Clearly, arguing with him right now was not going to help her. Just like not listening to him last time had ended up with her in tears.

Mia peaked over to see Matthew shoot a glare in her direction. She looked down once more.

"How can she be our roommate, you do know that she's a girl, right?" Matthew asked, coldly.

She had given him a heart attack. Standing there, an apparition of his desire. He had just been thinking of her when he turned the door knob to enter his room. Clad in jeans, and a long sleeved blue shirt, the green eyed girl was standing there in his room!

What is she doing here? Matthew wondered, playing up to his cold facade.

She didn't look so thrilled to see him, judging by the way she stood behind Oliver. She clearly remembered their encounter last week. Maybe he should have been nicer to her? Matthew scoffed at the idea.

"Well, apparently she's with us. So be nice or else." Oliver didn't sound as though he was joking. He clearly remembered their last meeting too.

Matthew watched as the older boy left to get something from one of the rooms. The girl just stared at the floor.

Matthew felt remorse momentarily wash over him. He must have done a number last time...she didn't even peak at him. He wanted to say something to her, but bit down on his tongue. He wasn't here to fall in love with someone; he was here to become the best football player ever.

Love didn't matter to him. At least he didn't think so. He hadn't loved any of his other girlfriends. And I don't love her, Matthew argued adamantly. So why am I thinking about her? The question couldn't be answered.

"Alright, let's go." Matthew watched Oliver come out of the room, and pull the girl along behind him.

"We'll be back soon. Mia's stuff is on the couch." Oliver told him, as he pushed Mia out the door before him. He's going to warn me, Matthew thought. Oliver could be so predictable.

"Don't do anything stupid." Oliver said, in a voice so low, that only Matthew could hear him. With that Oliver closed the door, but not without a final meaningful glare.

"Some friend you are..." Matthew muttered, knowing it was useless, as the door shut. After the incident last week, Oliver had made sure to give him grief.

"Must you always act like such a pompous ass in front of her?" He had berated Matthew. Apparently Mia hadn't told him what had brought tears in her eyes. That had surprised Matthew. He would have bet she was going to tell on him to both Oliver and Felix.

That girl...Mia...she was bringing out a protective side in Oliver, Matthew thought resentfully. Oliver had always had a protective nature, it was one of the reasons Felix put Matthew and Nathaniel with him. Of course this was not the same one Oliver used when he was with the guys or when he was with Ariana at a party and some drunken guy looked at her. This was different, he wasn't protecting his wife or his friends. It was like he was protecting a sister...

Like how I used to protect- Matthew stopped the thoughts from forming. Instead he sat down on the couch, curious to see what the girl had left behind. Oliver was not going to like this. Not like he's going to know, Matthew thought deciding to rebel.

He opened her bag only to find it filled with papers, her keys, phone, laptop, and her wallet. Matthew didn't have any interest in her papers. He knew the laptop probably was password protected, so he took the phone and wallet from the bag.

He switched on the phone. A text message was still on the screen. So she really was supposed to be rooming with them, how odd, Matthew thought as he read the message. He searched through her phone. There were pictures of flowers, a school, a few of the sun rising. Squirrels? Matthew laughed as he saw those and a few other animals. There was a picture of some guy, Matthew didn't bother to pay much attention to it, but as he switched to the next picture, he went cold.

There staring at him was a gravestone, on which was engraved: Maximillion Brooklyn. The dates on the stone told Matthew the person had only been eighteen when he had died.

Matthew exited the album. He felt horrible for having invaded her privacy. What had that girl been through? He wondered as he put her things back in to the bag, no longer curious to go through her wallet.

Getting up to the couch, Matthew decided to put his own things away. He walked to the rooms.

"Ms. Wheldon, are you telling me that the entire women's dormitory is full?" Felix asked, loudly.

"Yes, Mr. Pettyfer. There are no more available rooms. Each one has the maximum number of occupants." The secretary replied.

Oliver and Mia exchanged looks. They had been waiting for Felix to sort this out, for the last half an hour. It seemed as though Mia was stuck rooming with Oliver and the nightmare named Matthew.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Felix asked once more.

"Yes sir, I am. I've checked all the listings and everything. There are no available rooms in the East wing." The secretary told him firmly.

"I don't understand how this could have happened." Mia heard Felix mumble to himself.

"Alright, well Mia, it seems you are going to have to stay with Oliver and Matthew. I'm very sorry about the mistake. I still don't know how this could have happened." Felix turned to tell her, running a hand through his hair.

"I understand." She muttered. It could have been worse; she could have been stuck with two horrible roommates. Now at least she had Oliver and one horrible roommate.

"Oliver, how many rooms are in the apartment?" Felix asked.

"Two."

"Matthew's the other roommate, right? You and Matthew can share one room; give the other one to Mia. I'll have someone bring up and extra bed." He told them.

"Yes, Felix." Oliver didn't sound like he minded the situation.

As they walked out of the office and in to the hall, silence fell on them.

What is he thinking? Mia wondered.

"Umm...so we're roommates?" Mia started hesitantly.

"Yea."

They were silent once more.

"Mia..."

She turned to look at him. He was serious.

"I know Matt can be difficult...he's not actually that bad, he's just testing waters with you...but he'll come round soon enough. In the meantime...I think it would be best if you left him to his own devices."

"What about his appointments?"

"He'll come running when he's desperate and in a lot of pain."

Mia snickered as she turned to face Oliver. They had reached the room.

"Besides...he has a five game ban, so I don't think Felix expects him to be your top priority."

"Alright..."

"Ready?" Oliver asked, looking over at Mia.

Mia shrugged. It didn't really matter if she was ready or not, Matthew wasn't going to act any nicer towards her.

"Ready as I'll ever be...when I'm the target..." She muttered under her breath. She heard Oliver chuckle.

She walked in to the room behind Oliver. Her things were still on the couch, but Matthew was no where to be seen.

"I forgot to ask...but isn't there a key to the room?" Mia asked, remembering the key lock.

"Yea. I'll get you one. Now it finally makes sense to why we have three keys." Oliver chuckled. Mia followed him in to the kitchen area, in one of the cup boards were three keys on a key ring.

He pulled one off and handed it to her.

"Don't lose it." He told her, sounding like an elder brother.

"I won't." She promised.

As Mia returned to the couch, Matthew came out of the room.

"She's still here? I thought you were kidding about her living with us." Matthew wasn't thrilled, but Mia caught him limping as he walked to Oliver.

He's really hurt, she thought, as she watched Oliver hand him the other key.

"Felix said she's staying with us. It's probably so his number one player gets the proper medical attention he needs." Mia couldn't help but quietly snicker as Oliver spoke.

"Oh and just so you know...me and you are sharing the large room, while Mia gets the other room. Felix is sending the extra bed for you."

"What!" Matthew sounded indignant. "Why do I have to move because of her?"

"Because Felix said so." Oliver said, a distinct finality settling about the situation.

There was a knock at the door. Mia breathed a sigh of relief. Matthew wouldn't be able to get in a word edgewise now, she thought as she got up to answer it.

"Mr. Pettyfer sent this for you guys. Where do you want us to put it?" Two guys stood in the hall holding a bed.

"In the second room." Oliver directed them. They followed Oliver as he led them to the room.

Mia was careful not to meet Matthew's gaze as she walked back to the sofa.

"This doesn't change anything." His voice was so low; Mia could barely make out what he had said.

Mia heard him walk over to the rooms.

"You should really get that foot checked out. It could get worse." She said quietly.

There was no answer.