Page 36 of Couple Goals

‘And that’s really why you wanted to meet me? To read out your judgement of your colleagues? That’s it?’

Adriana grins over at him, but Jacob’s face has changed. His arms are folded, and it’s far more now like a judge onDragon’s Denthan a relaxed man on a date. He’s stopped eating his croissant, its lovely pockets of buttery pastry forgotten on the plate between them.

Adriana’s resolve wobbles. But then she remembers Maeve, her face twisted with anxiety on her sofa, fearing losing the position she’d worked so hard for, andis trulysuch a good fit for.

Adriana decides not to start with Maeve, in case that makes it too obvious that she’s biased in favour of her own lifelong best friend. So she starts instead with someone she fears is on the axe list.

‘First up,I wanted to describe the skills of Milo George. They joined us a year ago and sadly towards the end of last season got a grade two sprain on their ankle. They had five weeks off, and then returned to pre-season training the same week that the club was bought by you. Considering their time off, their recovery has been truly impressive. So, even though they have been, umm, onpaperlower down on the tables in our drills, and were on the bench during the friendlies, they have real potential.’

Jacob’s arms are still folded, and his face is unreadable. Adriana has a flash of her dream where the masks judge her, where she can’t persuade them to smile for her.

She doesn’t know what she was expecting, exactly. Maybe for Jacob to write things down too? To nod encouragingly? To pat her on the back and say she’d successfully persuaded him not to let go of anyone on the team after all?

She coughs and flicks the pages of her notebook. Maybe trying to start with the players in danger of being on the transfer list was the wrong tactic.

‘Well, okay, how about, actually, we start with the players who are in contention for the captaincy? I think it’s useful for me to say what, as a player, I think are the most vital qualities for a club captain?’

Jacob just raises an eyebrow.

‘Well,definitelythestrongestcontender is current club captain, Maeve Murphy.’

‘Murphy? With the blonde ponytail?’

‘That’s her,’ says Adriana proudly.

‘Isn’t sheyourMaeve? Your “best friend in the whole wide world”? Your “ride or die, platonic love of your life, soul sister from another mister”?’

Adriana flushes. She doesn’t know what is causing her embarrassment more – that Jacob is implying she’s biased, or that he is quoting, word for word, what she said on their first date as she’d happily told him all about her. She hadn’t thought he would remember anything she said. She hadn’t realised he listened so well to her, even when they were flirting and drinking.

‘I– that may be the case,’ she says, trying to recover, ‘but she is a rock-solid centre-back, consistent and respected by all on and off the pitch for her conscientiousness. She is never emotional or ruffled, just a dependable leader.’

Jacob takes a final sip of his cortado.

‘Isn’t Maeve Murphy the one who was sent off the training pitch for losing her cool with Kira Choksi?’

Adriana flinches. Shit, maybe Maeve’s fears had been founded after all.

‘Coach wanted to see more aggression from Maeve. So it shows she’s excellent at following her instructions. And she’s now doing extra training with Kira.’

‘I’m aware of the coach’s training regime, Adriana. I don’t know why you seem to think I needyouto tell me.’

‘I– I just thought…’

Adriana looks down at her only partially nibbled brownie. She can’t bring herself to answer. It had seemed to all make so much sense to her, only a few minutes ago. But now, she just feels her heart pounding in her chest,feeling hot under Jacob’s piercing gaze and realises what a bad idea this was.

‘Did you really invite me here just to say all that? To convince me to make Maeve Murphy the captain?’

Adriana looks at his face and can barely think straight. Could it be that she had just wanted to… have an excuse to see him?

‘No, of course not,’ she swallows. ‘I have pages on everyone else too!’

She turns her notebook to another page, and without looking back at Jacob, launches into her rehearsed speech.

‘Nat Basevi. Thedefinitionof a super sub. Just because she’s often on the bench, doesn’t make her any less necessary than players that get more game time. We need that burst of fresh energy in the second half, or if a player goes off with injury or–’

There’s a scraping of a chair and rustling of fabric. Jacob has stood abruptly.

‘What? Are you–’

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