If Only Tonight

Blurry Dividing Lines:
Chapter Forty Three: Out Of Control

"Well, well, well...I was wondering when I would find you Doctor Brooklyn." The slimy voice was coming from outside her office.

It had been a whole weekend since Mia had seen the player, and still he insisted upon coming to her office against Felix's rules, only to harass her. His increasing presence made her uneasy. Already this season she had seen him more than all his trips to annoy her last season.

"If you don't leave Roberts, I'm calling Felix. Besides, I thought your last offer for truce was over?" Mia pulled out her cell phone.

Jason sneered at her.

"I'm so scared. What's Felix going to do? So how about one last chance at making peace?" He asked, nonchalantly.

"What is it that you want from me, exactly? I told you that I wasn't going to agree to any of your idiotic treaties?" She asked, exasperatedly.

"You know what I don't understand...why hasn't Felix spoken to me yet? I wonder...is it because you haven't told on me? I really want to know why that is..." Not answering her question, he smirked at her.

"You can't be stupid enough to risk your career over being caught by Felix talking to me?" Mia asked him, pointedly.

"I haven't been caught." He answered, coming closer to lean in the doorway. "Why is it that you won't give me a second chance, when you gave one to Rossi?"

Almost falling out of her seat, Mia looked up to face Jason. She was shocked that he had noticed anything between them.

"What are you talking about?" Mia feigned ignorance.

"If I remember correctly, you and Matty weren't close at the beginning of last season...when you first started here." Jason gave her an all-knowing look. "There is that one picture with you and Matt...and he seems to be telling you off. Yet now you two act so cosy now. One might think you two were more than friends. I'm sure Felix wouldn't like that."

Stung Mia glared at him.

"There is nothing between me and Matthew. We're only friends because he apologized. You didn't...instead you spread rumours about me." She told him, angrily.

"No I didn't apologize...but I think there is something deeper going on here. Maybe you think you can get him to fall in love with you. Is that it? You fantasize about being with him?" Jason taunted her. It sounded as though he were getting angry with the idea.

Not knowing how to respond, Mia kept quiet. How many times was she supposed to tell him that there was nothing between her and Matthew? When she didn't say anything Jason carried on.

"It's so obvious what's going on. You prefer to be with him, of all people. He is the most obnoxious, arrogant, self-obsessed player - ." He started to rant.

"No he's not. All of those words describe you." Mia said vehemently, cutting him off. She had had enough of him talking rottenly behind Matthew's back.

Jason stared at her. A desperate look in his eyes. Mia scrolled through her cell phone's contact list blindly, having put one of her hands behind her back.

"Was it the icy blue eyes that did it for you?" He asked her, the question coming out of no where. "Or was it his rejection that turned you on?"

"Get out, Jason!" Mia raised her voice, not wanting to hear another word.

Almost at once, it seemed as though something had snapped in him. Jason moved away.

"Fine, Mia. You're going to regret the day you rejected me. We could have been great together." He told her, his voice cold and distant.

"If I can't have you, then neither can Matthew!" With that proclamation, Jason left, leaving Mia confused and unnerved.

-----

Since his cousins had come home, Matthew had spent most of his spare time with them. Missing several get togethers with his team, and not being able to hang out with Mia; he had listened to both Lina and Leon tell him many stories about their trip back to their home country.

Having stayed in a villa in Tuscany, Lina and Leon looked healthy and a little tan while Matthew looked sickly pale in front of them.

The day before, Matthew had gone to his appointment. He was still baffled at how put out Mia had looked. She couldn't even muster a smile when he told her a joke Leon had told him when he had come home. Either she was really tired, or something else was going on.

Racking his brain as to what could have happened, he felt perplexed. He couldn't think of anything that could be bothering her.

Going for a swim, Matthew swung his gym bag over his shoulder. As he walked down the hallway leading to the change rooms, Matthew saw his least favourite person standing there.

"Forget to drown, Roberts." Matthew asked, feeling agitated already.

"That's no way to talk to an old friend." The other player replied.

"You're not an old friend. You lost any privilege of being anything to me when you tried to have me arrested." Matthew snarled at him, his voice low enough so that no one else would hear.

"You know, I still haven't figured out what you see in Mia...or what she sees in you..." He told him.

Bristling at the sound of her name, Matthew clenched his fists.

"Stay away from her." He told Jason, menacingly.

"I must say, this is the first time, Matty, that I've seen you react so strongly...could it be you actually care for this girl?" Jason taunted him.

Glaring at him, Matthew shook his head.

"I told you before, Matty, your feelings really are showing this time. I don't think I saw you this angry when you found out about Daria." He recalled, sounding almost gleeful.

"So...I take it, your kryptonite is Mia. Shame if anything should happen to her..." Jason trailed off.

"Don't you dare go near her." Matthew said, dropping his bag and forgetting all self control, pushing Jason against a wall. Taking a glance at Jason, Matthew couldn't understand why there was such a desperate look in the man's eyes.

"Back off, Rossi. Who said I would do anything?"

Shoving him once more, Matthew let him go. Picking up his things, he began to walk away. Jason was always good at bluffing, but never good at pulling anything off.

"Careful, Matthew...I told you years ago and I'm going to remind you one last time. You are going to regret the day you broke off our friendship. I'm going to make sure of that." Jason's words rang in Matthew's ears, but he refused to turn around and face him.

Instead he listened, as footsteps started to get farther and farther away.

What is he up to? Matthew found himself thinking. The wheels in his mind clicked.

"Shit!" He groaned.

-----

"Hey Mia!" A cheerful voice came from the speaker of her phone.

"Stacie! How are you?" It was a pleasant surprise to hear from her best friend. The last few days had gone by with her feeling low, and unable to sort out what Jason's words had meant. There was no way she was going to tell Matthew or the others, they would probably over react. Instead she had given up. It wasn't like her work involved much contact with the player. The only time she would see him was either in the halls, at training, or during a match. Luckily for her, most of the time she had many people surrounding her.

Directing her attention to her friend, Mia listened as Stacie babbled on about the progress of her research group.

"So, we got permission from the department and Dr. Garland to do a collaborative project over here!" She told Mia. "Do you think you have some spare room for me and about five of my good students?"

Happy that Stacie was coming, Mia laughed at the request.

"Sorry, Stace. Unfortunately the apartment rules don't include a herd staying over. If it was just you, maybe I'd be allowed...besides one of the guys are around almost every other day." She told her. Nathaniel usually dropped by every other day, while Matthew came by whenever he chose to. Oliver on the other hand, was around very little, he would be in the apartment on a match day, or when he and the guys were going to go out...which for Oliver wasn't very often.

Thinking about the three, Mia felt a little guilty. She still hadn't told them about what Jason had said to her.

"Mia, what's going on with you?" Stacie asked. Mia remembered she was still on the phone with her.

"Nothing, why?"

"I don't know...but it seems like something's wrong...you don't sound okay...just quiet." Stacie observed.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired. The team has another match on Wednesday against Portsmouth." She said, trying to excuse her behaviour.

"Whatever. I still think something is up. You know me, Mia. I will find out." Stacie reminded her.

"Yeah, yeah...so what do you want to do when you come over?" Mia changed the subject.

"Let's hit The Grad lounge! You know, those guys are missing Mia's after exam sing-a-thons!" Stacie said, brimming with cheerfulness.

"No...no singing..." Mia cringed, remembering their after exam ritual.

"Sorry Mia, it's not an option. We'll go to the lounge and it'll be just like old times."

"Alright..." Mia agreed, relenting.

As a knock sounded on the door, Mia looked at her schedule to see who would be coming.

"Sorry, Stace! I have to go. Someone's here." She said quietly into the phone. "I'll talk to you later to plan things out. Bye!"

Hanging up, Mia turned to see who the intrusion was. Lucas was waiting at the door.

"Come in." She told him.

-----

Waiting in their shared apartment, Matthew couldn't believe how long it had taken him to figure out what might have been bothering her.

Jason must have appeared outside her office once again. He must have said something very disturbing; after everything she had dealt with last season, he had never seen the doctor look so down.

Perched on the armrest of the couch, he looked up at the sound of the door opening. She entered the room, but didn't notice him until she walked to the closet to put away her jacket.

"Oh! I didn't notice you sitting there." She said, sounding startled. "Are you waiting for Nate?"

"Nope." He told her. "I came to talk to you."

Her sharp green eyes looked at him, trying to figure out what he wanted to talk about.

"Okay...Is something wrong?" She asked, a concerned expression on her face.

"Did Jason talk to you?"

"No. Why would you say that?" She said quickly. A little too quickly for Matthew's comfort. As he watched her, Mia looked away.

"What did he say to you?" Matthew pushed, it was obvious she was hiding something.

"Nothing. Why?" She said, bristling.

"Look, if he threatened you then we can go to Felix. He'll take care of it." He said, trying to gain her trust.

"What makes you think he threatened me?" She asked, crossing her hands over her chest. She looked angry with his questions.

"Because he spoke to me today, and what he said made it sound like he might have said something along the same lines to you." Matthew told her, hoping that if he was honest with her, she would open up.

When Mia didn't say anything, Matthew started to feel frustrated.

"Mia, why are you letting him do this to you? Just tell me what he said."

Looking up at him, Matthew noted the how her eyes showed how angry and upset she was. Jason must have said something that had really gotten to her.

"He told me that I would regret not forgiving him." She told him, sitting down on the couch across from him.

"Why haven't you gone to Felix yet?" He asked, still perplexed at the fact. He knew Felix well enough to know that the manager would stand behind the victim.

"At first I didn't want to be a complainer, or a whiner. Now...I think...What if Jason said some things about me? Him and those ladies on staff all seem to have some stupid ideas about me. What if Felix believed him over me? It could cost me my job." She said, looking miserable.

"Felix would believe you." He said, trying to convince her.

"What if the others convinced him not to." She answered back.

Those rumours about the two of them, Matthew thought, it was possible Jason could say something was going on. Yet, Matthew refused to believe that Felix would side with Jason rather than Mia. She was honest and hardworking, had she not told him about keeping cool in front of the cameras last season? Plus the recommendation from Mark, had to say something about her character.

"Mia, I still think you should tell Felix." He told her once more.

"I can't." She told him, shaking her head.

Thinking who would have more weight talking to Felix, Matthew tried to appeal to her once more.

"Fine, then at least tell Oliver. If Jason bothers you again, he'll go to Felix for you." He said, at last.

"Okay, I will."

-----

The weather was rainy, she noted, looking up at the sky. Tugging her jacket closer and pulling her team cap lower, Mia looked back to see where the others had gotten to. Quickly walking in to the stadium, Mia followed Kyle and Calvin as they walked over in a single file towards their seats. Excitement was already brewing in her. Felix was standing watching the field as his players walked over to stand for the national anthem, before shaking the hands of the other team.

As she passed some the remaining players on her way to her seat, Mia saw Jason smirk at her. Noticing her watching him, he licked his lips. Shaking her head in disgust, Mia settled in her seat beside the other two specialists. Jason had not come near her in the two days before the match, which meant she had not gone to Oliver. She hoped he would keep his distance and not revert back to stalking her around every corner.

It wasn't long before the game started. Almost at once their side had taken possession of the ball. Mia watched as Matthew ran with the ball, confusing his opponents with intricate step-overs. He was moving at lightening speed, with Oliver and Nathaniel at his flanks him to keep other players away from him.

Kicking the ball hard, Mia watched as it crossed the top bar of the net, before swerving away. A disappointed groan sounded from the stadium. Matthew looked momentarily annoyed, but quickly he regained an expression of intense concentration.

As time passed, she found herself on the edge of her seat. Mia couldn't believe they had not scored a single goal yet.

"You know, I'm surprised Rossi hasn't put the ball in the back of the net yet." Kyle said, as they continued to watch.

Shrugging, Mia didn't reply. He would score at the right opportunity, she was sure of it.

As the game halted momentarily, for Felix to substitute a player, Mia watched unhappily as Lucas headed towards them, and Jason left the bench to play.

With only fifteen minutes before the halfway break, the players seemed to become a little more desperate to get in a goal. Both sides started to move erratically. Matthew was tackled as he ran with the ball from one of the opposing team's players. Getting up, Mia could see the fury on his face as he got up, shaking his head at the hand of the player who had fouled him. It was only minutes later that Ivan was shown a yellow card for tripping one of the other players.

"What's wrong with them?" Mia found herself asking.

"They want to be ahead before starting the next half." Calvin told her.

"I get that...but is it worth getting carded?"

"Depends...which team scores..." Kyle reminded her, before returning his attention to the game.

There were just seven minutes left when a scuffle broke out on one end of the field. Watching in horror, Mia watched as the referee and linesman pulled the players apart. Mia's heart dropped when she saw who was lying on the ground, with a bloodied leg.

"Mia! Go on to the field and check Matthew's injuries." Felix called her.

Getting her kit, Mia got up and started to quickly walk in the direction of the injured player.

How is it that the first half isn't even over and he's been hurt? Mia wondered. This couldn't possibly help their chances in winning the game. Injured players usually brought team morale down...and an injured Matthew was worse. He would be livid not being able to play. He was sitting there grimacing in pain, with Oliver standing by him.

Hoping his injuries were not as bad as they looked, Mia paid no attention to the game that had restarted around her.

She was almost there when she heard her name being called.

"Mia! Watch out!"

Not knowing what was going on, Mia turned around.

That was when it hit her.

-----

The entire game had been a disaster in the making, Matthew thought. He couldn't believe he had not scored a single goal. They weren't playing against an extremely strong team, and yet they played worse than when they had faced Chelsea.

Running with the ball, Matthew was blindsided when a group of players surrounded him. Kicking and shoving to get rid of them, Matthew found himself face to face with a grinning Jason.

"Son of a-" Matthew didn't have time to complete the sentence as he was pushed to the ground as was the one getting kicked and shoved.

"Get off of me!" He yelled.

Words around him were being exchanged, and the other players fought for control of the ball. A fight erupted around him, and Matthew was pushed to the ground. Hearing whistles blowing, Matthew knew the referee was coming. Seconds later, he felt a sharp pain in his leg, and then again. As the crowd cleared, Matthew saw the smirk on Jason's face as he left. Looking down to check the damage, he could only see red. And it wasn't from his anger. His leg was bleeding.

He knew the referee would get a doctor. Oliver came to stand by him.

"Are you okay? What happened?" The older player asked with concern.

"Jason happened. He probably made sure to get a few kicks in." He answered, angrily. He saw bruises that were starting to turn blue.

"Mia's coming to take a look." Oliver told him, as he touched a bruise on his leg.

Grimacing, Matthew looked up. A worried expression on her face, Mia was hurrying towards him.

That was when he noticed another movement from the corner of his eye.

Turning his head to get a better view. Matthew watched as Jason put the ball on the ground to take an offside kick. Catching his eye, Jason smirked.

He ran at the ball, and kicked.

Analyzing the ball's trajectory as it flew through the air; Matthew realized what was going on. It appeared that Nathaniel had caught on as well. The younger player was closer and started to run towards the girl, but there was no way he would be able to get to her.

"Mia! Watch out!" Matthew yelled as loud as he could, scrambling to get up. Oliver started to go towards her, but looking at Matthew he stopped.

Hearing him, Mia stopped in her tracks and turned around to see what he was going on about.

What have I done? Matthew thought, he couldn't believe how fast it happened.

No sooner had Mia turned back to face him, the ball hit her squarely in the chest. A gasp of shock rang through the crowd. Looking as though the wind had been knocked out of her, Mia started to fall to the ground.

"Mia!" Matthew yelled, trying to get up, but it was no use. His legs wouldn't carry him. Feeling Oliver pull him up, Matthew put an arm around the footballer's shoulders.

Nathaniel had picked up Mia's limp body in his arms, she had been lying on the ground unconscious, he carried her towards a terrified looking Felix.

"Jenkins, take care of the boys as they head for the locker room. Matthew, Oliver, Nathaniel...come with me. Dave! Go get Jason Roberts." He ordered as they walked up to him.

"Get me an ambulance. Now!"