Into The Storm

Chapter Two: Making Things Difficult

"So how did it go?"

Mia heard as she opened the door. She saw her best friend lying on the couch. Stacie Rosen lay on the couch, her brown hair trailing behind her. Her brown eyes questioning Mia, as she walked in to the room.

Stacie had been a permanent fixture in Mia's life, since she had moved to England. They had both graduated from the same program, but had studied with different mentors. While Mia had decided to work outside the university, Stacie had been offered a job in her mentor's research group. Stacie was only two years older than Mia, at twenty four.

"It went...well." Mia managed to say, dumping her folders and bag in a corner as she joined her friend and sat on the couch across from her.

"Doesn't sound like it went well." Stacie smiled knowingly. Mia sighed.

"You know how there's love at first sight?" Mia started. "Yea, what about it?" Stacie asked, instantly curious.

"Well, I now know there is definitely an equal and opposite reaction. Hate at first glance." Mia stated, glumly. Stacie burst out laughing, upon hearing this.

"You are joking, right? Who could hate you? You're so goodie goodie." Stacie asked, after her laughter had subsided. Mia glared at her.

"Aww, you poor dear! So what happened?" Mia slumped back on to the couch. It was clear her friend still thought of it as a joke.

"I'm serious! I got introduced to the players that are a part of my roster...and one of them hates me!" She told her. It frustrated her that someone could immediately hate her. He doesn't even know me! She thought instinctively.

"Oooh! Who's on your roster?" Stacie asked excitedly, getting up and into a sitting position.

"Oliver Fields, Nathaniel Madonia, Jason Roberts...thirteen other guys and...Wait for it! Matthew Rossi!" She told her friend, not trying to keep the excitement from her voice, she still couldn't believe she had gotten him...of course there was that downside...

"Hey, you got your favourite! Yea! So who's the one who hates you immediately?" Stacie asked sounding intrigued; she was oblivious to the expression on Mia's face. Mia smiled at her bitterly.

"Rossi..." She told her friend, looking at the carpet. It only took a snort to make Mia look at Stacie. The older girl was trying to control her laughter.

"Some support you are!" Mia huffed.

"Sorry...but it's like you were asking for it!" Stacie tried to stifle her laughter.

"Okay...well did you tell him he was your favourite?" Stacie asked, once she had gained some control over herself.

"Yea! It was the first thing I said to him!" Mia blurted out, feeling stupid.

"Well, honey...maybe that's why he didn't like you? Maybe he thought you were some weird rabid fan girl?" Stacie tried to reason, all the while struggling to keep a straight face.

"It's not funny! He looked like he wanted me dead when he found out he was on my roster!" Mia said, sounding exasperated.

"Uh huh...well he probably gets people gushing over him all the time, so I don't think it helps when his new sports doc does the same thing. He probably thought it was unprofessional or something." Stacie sure knew how to put salt in a wound, Mia thought miserably.

"Whatever...Oliver said it was probably because he has a five game ban." Mia tried to rationalize.

"Who's Oliver?" Stacie asked.

"Oliver Fields."

"Yea he's probably right, he knows Rossi more than you and certainly more than I." Stacie didn't sound as thought she believed it.

"Thanks a lot, Stacie!" Mia groaned.

"No problem!" Stacie's cheek earned her the well aimed cushion Mia threw in her direction.

"What's up, doc?"

Mia turned to face a smiling Oliver.

"Nothing. What's up?" Mia asked in return, as she hung up her lab coat. She wouldn't need it today since she had no appointments scheduled in.

He was dressed plainly. Jeans and a collard shirt. Mia looked over at the bulletin board on the wall, where a sheet of paper had been stuck with a tack. There was no training today, so what was he doing here?

"Not much. Felix told me to help you settle in, and I came to help you set up the system." He nodded towards the open laptop and the humming computer.

Mia sighed in relief; Felix was very good at knowing what she needed. Mia had just been thinking about asking for help. Lucky me, she thought. Clearly things seemed to be going in her favour today, and she had yet to run in to Matthew.

"Yea, I could definitely use the help." She muttered, putting in the last file of papers in to the filing cabinet against the wall behind her.

Oliver sat in front of the computer, typing things in.

"How do you know about the system? I thought it was staff only...and besides don't footballers have better things to do?" Mia asked, looking over his shoulder as he worked.

"I'll let you get away with that one, but I will have you know that I helped Felix make everything electronic. Apparently I'm not your typical footballer...I don't think my wife would have married me if I was." Oliver chuckled.

"You're married?" Mia asked in surprise, turning to face him. He didn't look that old. Her eyes flickered to his left hand. Sure enough there was a gold band on his ring finger. Why hadn't she noticed it before?

"Yea. Six years going on a hundred...shh don't tell her that!" Oliver said, looking over to her. He looked amused at her surprise.

"Wow...umm so how did you learn the computer stuff?" Mia said with a laugh, trying to steer the conversation away from his personal life. She wasn't one to pry.

"When I was signed here, I took a few correspondence courses in programming and stuff. I've always liked working with computers." He said with a shrug.

He clicked one more thing, before turning to face her.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"All set up. So when you have your appointments, all you have to do is fill in the forms here, and send it in. It's the minimal paperwork approach. Oh and if a player isn't fit or doesn't show up, you put them as undeclared and the system sends them a text and email...so they'll check in with you." Oliver gave her a shortened version of the manual on her desk.

"Shouldn't I know what you just did?" Mia asked, looking at the screen which was now showing a weekly calendar.

"Do you really want me to break it down for you? I could go through all the different codes and components." Oliver grinned.

Mia held her hands up in defeat.

"Forget I asked. I get it...you don't want to reveal your magic. So what do I do now?" Mia asked, shaking her head.

"Well we could start by scheduling in your appointments for the week. Do you have the list Felix gave you?"

Mia went to the filing cabinet and fished for the paper he was referring to.

"Yea, I've got it." She said, holding the paper for them to see.

The two of them sat down by the computer and filled in the schedule.

The week had been going slowly. Mia was going to be seeing all the players. As excited as she was to be working...there was something still terrorizing her. Every time she thought of the last person she would be seeing, she could feel her stomach knot.

Mia leaned in to her chair, as she checked her email. There was a newsletter for the staff. She immersed herself into the reading it. There was a knock on her open door. Mia turned to see who it was.

"Hey doc!" It was the brown haired boy. "Hello Nate." She said without thinking. Nathaniel looked at her amused. "Sorry...is it okay if I call you Nate?" She asked him. Nathaniel laughed, his hazel eyes held warmth. "I don't mind. As long as I can call you Mia, doc." He laughed.

"Alright. That's fair." She told him. It was easy to talk to him. Mia got to work, as she chatted to Nathaniel. They seemed to become fast friends.

The other players weren't as friendly as either Oliver or Nathaniel, but at least they weren't after her blood for no reason.

It was when she had met Jason, that she felt a little uneasy.

She had been going through her files, when she had heard a low whistle. Mia had whirled on her heel. Her lab coat whirling to a stop behind her as she stood embarrassed in front of one of the players.

"We don't get many pretty doctors around here." He said, looking her up and down. She didn't respond; it would have been unprofessional to acknowledge his comment. Instead she shrugged. Mia felt uncomfortable; she pulled her lab coat a little closer around her.

"You must be Jason." Mia said, at last, as she looked over her clipboard.

"At your service." Jason said, bowing.

Mia groaned inwardly, this guy was a piece of work. She wasn't looking forward to seeing him in the future...that much was sure.

"Alright...it says here that you are having some sort of shooting pain in your shoulder?"

"You have no idea! It kills every time I try to move my arm. I think I might have broken it." Jason told her, as he watched her every move.

"…Well let me have a look at the X-rays Dr. Lever sent me…I'm sure you didn't break it." Mia sighed, as she went through her files to get them. He was still watching her intently. This is going to be a long day, Mia sighed in exasperation.

The tick-tock of the clock was the only sound in the office. Mia looked up. He's late…half an hour late, she thought in annoyance. She rifled through her papers again, while sitting at her desk. He was due to get his foot injury checked, that's what Jon had told her. Jonathan Lever was another team doctor who took care of the guys, they shared half of her roster. She only had to take care of their injuries…luckily. Yet even that was a problem.

Where the hell can he be? She wondered. It wasn't like he was off playing, and she knew he was aware of his appointment. Matthew Rossi sure knew how to be one gigantic pain in the-

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Mia turned in her chair.

"What's up, doc?"

Mia smiled. It was only Oliver. He had his jacket hung over one shoulder. Clearly, he was done for the day.

"Are you expecting to find me eating a carrot? Like Bugs Bunny?" Mia asked out of curiosity. Every time he saw her in the office, it was always 'What's up, doc?'. Even Nathaniel had a habit of saying that.

"I could buy you a basket of carrots; it would make playing the part more realistic." Oliver laughed. Mia shook her head; Oliver was by far the kindest of the players she had met. He was always checking to see if she needed anything.

"So, Mia, when are you done here?" Oliver asked, coming into the office.

"I only have one more appointment, and then I'm finished for today." Mia replied, checking her schedule on the computer.

"So who is it?"

Mia couldn't hide the small frown from appearing on her face.

"Rossi…" She muttered, turning to see Oliver looking at her schedule from over her shoulder. She hadn't even heard him walk over to her.

"He's late." Oliver observed.

"Yea…"

"He's probably not coming…" Oliver said rather quietly. She had guessed that much already.

"You could always cancel his appointment and re-schedule him later." The suggestion was reasonable.

"Do you know where I could find him?" Mia asked suddenly.

"He's probably in the lounge. It's in the West Wing." Oliver told her. "Why?"

"I just want to straighten things out with him. I'm not going to wait for him every time." Mia shrugged, trying to be more confident than she felt.

"I don't think it's such a good idea." Oliver frowned. "Just tell Felix, if he doesn't show up to the next appointment."

"Isn't that what he's expecting me to do?" Oliver didn't answer.

Mia grabbed her phone, shoving it in her lab coat pocket. She checked for her keys. Mia couldn't understand what had possessed her to go through with this. I'm not going to be bullied by some soccer player! She thought indignantly.

"Mia…" Oliver didn't sound like he approved. As she left him in her office, she heard him sigh. "Fine…I'll come with you." She heard him shut her office door.

Boredom was not something he was used to. He switched the channels on the television once more. Matthew was not enjoying himself. His foot hurt from Jason clumsily stepping on it while they were playing. Idiot, Matthew thought viciously. The clumsy oaf always managed to fall on him, step on him, or hurt him some other way. It was no secret he was jealous, Matthew knew how much Jason hated when he was dropped from the first team. It's not my fault I'm better, he thought smugly.

Glancing at his watch, he saw he had successfully missed his appointment. What's she going to do about it? Cry to Felix? He thought. As he moved to sit cross legged on the couch, pain shot through his right foot. He instantly regretted not going for his appointment. Maybe I should have gone...and apologized...he thought for a moment. Nope, not going to happen, his mind retorted.

As if someone had felt his pain, Matthew saw her. Mia...he thought dumbly. She didn't seem too pleased to find him in the lounge. Who could have told her about- Matthew stopped in mid thought. Oliver!

Behind Mia, Oliver came to a halt. I'm in trouble, Matthew noted, masking his face with a stony expression.

"What do you want?" Matthew asked, icily.

"You missed your appointment. Dr. Lever told me you injured your foot." Mia squeaked. Damn it Jon...did he have to tell her? Matthew looked at her. The girl looked terrified to be in the same room as him.

"Yea, so, what of it?" Matthew tried to act nonchalant. His foot was still pounding with pain.

"You can't just not show up to your appointment and expect me to sit around and wait for you!" She sounded angry and annoyed.

Matthew hid his amusement. Her anger was like that of small kitten. Matthew saw Oliver inch closer behind her.

"I don't expect you to wait for me. And I really don't care if you do."

She didn't look too happy with his response.

"Mia...come on let's go." Oliver was trying to avert confrontation.

Matthew could care less. He wasn't going to have some new rookie doctor tell him what to do. He stood up, the pain shot up his foot again. Matthew tried to hide the grimace on his face. The last thing he needed was her sympathy. As he took a slow step forward, Mia took a step back, moving closer to Oliver.

"If you don't show up for your re-scheduled appointment tomorrow, I will go to Felix." She seemed to have come up with an ultimatum. Hadn't Oliver told her that it wouldn't work with him? She can't even threaten me properly! Had he not been trying to scare her, Matthew would have laughed.

"Alright you want to play it that way?" Matthew was a little amused. She had guts to try and threaten him.

"Matt..." Oliver's voice was warning him. What did Matthew care? He had nothing to lose.

"I'm not playing a game with you. You have to show up...or else." Matthew could see she was nervous. Clearly her mentor hadn't prepared her to deal with stubborn players. Matthew moved closer to her.

"Or else what? You'll go to Felix?" He inched closer to her. She watched him carefully.

"I don't care if you go to him. The worst he'll do is not let me play...which doesn't really matter right now. The last resort would be to change my specialist. So I wouldn't be on your roster...but I'd still be around."

He moved closer to her, trying to scare her a little bit more. It would be better if she stayed away from him...at least for now.

"If you get me in trouble...I will make your life hell." He whispered to her. Her eyes widened with shock. Matthew knew he was out of line. The moment the words slipped from his mouth, he wanted to retract them.

I'm definitely going to have to skip tomorrow's appointment too, he told himself. He could see her eyes start to water.

Matthew knew he had done enough damage. With that he carefully walked out of the room, trying to keep a limp out of his steps. He averted Oliver's gaze.

"Mia, are you okay?"

Matthew heard Oliver ask the girl. Matthew walked faster, so he wouldn't have to hear her response.