If Only Tonight

Into The Storm

Chapter Seven: Match Day

Wednesday was upon them. Match day had finally arrived! Mia could feel the excitement in the air. The players were all pumped...all of them except Matthew. He had become so irritable, that the slightest thing set him off. In recent days, his barrage of insults had increased to a point where Mia avoided him completely. It had gotten to a point where she only returned to their room when he was already asleep. Even Oliver had been steering clear of Matthew.

Mia took out a lanyard that held a card from her desk. It was her pass in to the stadium. Sliding it over her head, she straightened it out. The team colours being black and silver, Mia was dressed head to toe in black with the teams logo - a silver timber wolf with the moon handing over head - on each piece of clothing in silver; Mia pulled on her team jacket and left for the stadium.

It had become chilly recently. September had taken away the warm breeze, but at least Mia could breathe easy, for there weren't many thunderstorms occurring. Still she was comfortable sleeping in the large room; it was comforting to know there were at least two people there if something scared her.

Today the players would be playing a home game against Manchester City. As she walked, she could hear the roar coming from the crowd that had already started to fill out the stadium. Mia felt her stomach clench with nerves. How many times had she wanted to be here in this stadium watching a game like this, now here she was working for the team and she would be sitting right by the field with the players. She would be joining the other team doctors on the bench.

Going in to the tunnel, Mia could hear the cheers of the crowd. She could feel tension mixed with excitement building up. She headed in the direction of the team's locker room. Outside she saw Felix.

"Mia, I'm glad to see you made it!" He said, as he turned to see her.

"I've been looking forward to this!" Mia confessed, as she stood next to him.

Felix smiled upon hearing this. Jon, the other doctor, was standing along with the other team personnel. It was a few minutes before Felix went in to the locker room. He came out within seconds; and behind him the team filed out; all of them wearing their jackets and track pants over their uniforms. As they filed out, Mia saw who was trudging along at the end. Matt, she thought. Anger radiated from him.

She could see how badly he was taking the red card. As he passed her, he looked up to give her a glare. Mia took a step back. I'm not going to end up on his bad side today, Mia thought, genuinely hoping there would be little interaction between them.

As he walked off, Mia and the others followed at the rear. Heading out of the tunnel, Mia couldn't believe she was in the stadium. She trailed behind the others, taking in the view and letting the excitement fill her. It was an amazing feeling.

Mia walked to where the other doctors and the rest of the team were seated, she saw the one seat left. Oh joy, Mia thought with dread as she saw who she was sitting next to. There was one seat left right beside Matthew.

Purposely not looking over to Matthew, Mia took her seat. The others had been smart taking seats as far away from him as possible. Mia couldn't believe her rotten luck.

Mia looked around, seeing who else was around her. Felix was in the next aisle of seats, while the Jason and some of the other players from her roster sat behind her and Matthew.

Returning her attention to the game, Mia watched as the players from both teams shook hands. She heard Matthew mutter something, as the game started. Mia didn't pay any attention to him.

Mia leaned into her seat, whereas Matthew was sitting at the edge of his. The rest of team was doing the same as Matthew. Namely, yelling out to the guys who were on the field. Matthew was shouting out to the field, each yell more furious than the last.

"Keep the ball away from him! What the hell are you guys playing at?"

"Move the flipping ball away from our net!"

"Edwin! Block the bloody ball!"

Sinking lower into her seat as the game progressed, Mia watched as Matthew continued to fidget. It wasn't until the other team scored that Matthew started to see red. He jumped up from his seat and yelled loudly.

"Edwin, you idiot! You could have saved that!"

Mia couldn't take it anymore. He was making a scene; the media was having a field day getting his reaction on tape, even the other players on the bench weren't as bad as him.

"Matt, shut up! It's not his fault!" Mia turned on him. She was tired of him berating the others; it wasn't like they could hear him over the crowd anyway. Can't he quietly watch the game? She wondered.

At once Matthew turned his attention away from the game on to her. What've I done? Mia gulped. His words from before echoed in her mind. I'll make your life hell...

"Really? It's not his fault? Are we watching the same game or are you just blind?" Matthew asked her coldly. Mia was stung.

"Edwin could have moved to the left and saved that ball. So yea it is his fault."

Mia opened her mouth to say something but closed it, thinking it was best not to argue.

"Clearly you have no idea how this game is played." Matthew goaded her. It worked.

"I do know how this game is played, but I'm not about to waste my breath shouting at those guys knowing full well they can't hear me!" She shot back at him.

She watched as Matthew's jaw set. Had there been any empty chair, Mia would have hidden behind it. He leaned closer to her looking ready to rip her to shreds; his glacial eyes glinted in the sun. I'm in trouble, Mia thought, knowing she was leaning away.

His face was inches from hers. Her thoughts were beyond scattered by this point. It was then the whistle was blown, signaling half time. At once, Matthew got up and stormed away in the direction of the tunnel.

Mia didn't move from her spot, she could hear the quiet behind her. The others had witnessed the exchange between her and Matthew. His intimidation had worked and he knew it.

"Hey! Having fun watching the game?"

Nathaniel's voice snapped Mia out of her daze. She looked up to see him walking towards her; Oliver behind him.

"Yea, I'm enjoying it..." Mia replied, finally getting out of her seat. She walked over to meet Nathaniel and Oliver. Nathaniel grinned, before walking towards one of the other players.

"How's Matt?" Oliver asked her as they started to walk towards the tunnel. Mia waited until they were out of earshot.

"He's going to kill me!" Mia blurted out, as Oliver took a long drink from a water bottle. "He's furious and he's yelling at all of you…and I told him to shut it…"

Oliver nearly choked on the water. He started to laugh.

"It's not funny…it was annoying…so I pointed out that you guys can't hear him." Mia told him, but Oliver's laughter became more pronounced.

"Why would you do that?" Oliver asked her, as his laughter subsided. "You should know better than to say anything when he's already in a rotten mood."

"I know…but...you don't get it…the papers are watching him blow a fuse! He has to stop." She told Oliver. Oliver shrugged, it was clear he hadn't really heard her; he had been looking over to where the rest of the guys were. Mia sighed; all these guys cared about right now was the game. Mia couldn't blame them.

Instead she followed Oliver to where Felix and the other players were. She could see Matthew speaking heatedly to Nathaniel. There had to be a way for her to tell him. I'm such a glutton for punishment, she thought downcast. What are the chances he'll blow up at me again? She wondered. Faced with a dilemma, Mia argued both sides. It would serve him right for not shutting up! She told herself. Urgh…but he'll be made fun of by those vultures, she thought. She couldn't believe she felt sorry for him. It's got to suck not being able to play, she sympathized. There had to be a way to keep him from getting frustrated.

-----

Matthew wandered aimlessly around the tunnel. He didn't want to go back and watch his team lose the match. It was bad enough he couldn't play, but Jason was intent on making him throw a strop. Jason and his close friend Drake had decided to re-enact the reason Matthew wasn't playing. Every time Matthew turned around, he saw the two of them bumping heads and watching for his reaction. Jason smirked every time Matthew turned away with clenched fists.

Watching the game had been torture. He couldn't believe how many chances his team mates had missed. Edwin could have saved that shot, Matthew thought beleaguered. Now they were a point behind, they could lose the game…and I'm back to square one with Mia, Matthew thought. He knew he shouldn't have done anything to her.

She's right…they can't hear me, he admitted to himself.

As the others started to walk back on to the field, Matthew started to walk with them. This is going to be brilliant, he thought morosely.

It was then he heard a tiny voice from behind him.

"Matt…"

"What now?" Matthew snapped. Instantly he felt stupid for having done so. He turned to face Mia. Her face showed the discomfort at having to face him. Why does she bother with me? Matthew wondered.

"The papers are watching you." She told him, and walked past him without elaborating.

Great…just great, Matthew thought. He felt embarrassed for acting angry towards her all the time. He couldn't believe she would bother to warn him. Anyone else would have enjoyed him making a complete fool of himself for others to see.

Matthew took his seat without another word.

-----

"Looks like you were right, doc."

Mia awoke to find the paper being placed beside her.

Oliver sat down on his bed with a cup of coffee in hand, watching her as she took the paper and looked at the front page.

"Oh no!" Mia groaned as she read the news.

Below the story of London FC winning the match 2-1, there was another story: 'Rossi Storms Off During Game'. Below that were several pictures. One was where Matthew was heading to the tunnel. There were two more…to Mia's dread they both included her. One was where he had jumped up to shout at Edwin; the other was where he was glaring at her. Under the latter one was the caption: Rossi exchanges words with one of the team personnel.

"Did you show these to him?" Mia asked Oliver. She glanced to the other bed; it was empty.

"No…I'm pretty sure Felix will." Oliver said with a grin.

"Oh crap! Felix!" Mia rushed out of bed and grabbed some clothes to get changed, leaving Oliver looking puzzled.

Mia had stayed up most of the night trying to figure out a solution that would keep Matthew and her from being at odds. She thought she had something that would keep Matthew occupied.

Rushing out of the bathroom, Mia ran around looking for her laptop and bag.

"What's gotten in to you? Felix knows how Matthew is, he'll probably just remind him to take it easy. You're not going to be in trouble, if that's what's worrying you." Oliver tried to assure her.

"Yea well I'm not looking forward to the next game. I think I know how to keep Matt from going crazy and keeping him from wanting me dead. I figured it out last night." Mia told him, as she finally found what she had been searching for.

"Really? What?" Oliver asked her.

Grabbing something to eat, Mia hurriedly put on her shoes. Hopefully she would be able to talk to Felix before he spoke to Matthew.

"I'll tell you as soon as I get back." She promised, and hurried out of the door.

Walking quickly in the direction of the main office, Mia hoped she would be able to convince Felix.

"Hello! Is Felix in his office?" Mia asked as she saw the secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Pettyfer is in." She replied.

"Do you think he has a minute or two?"

The secretary checked her books.

"Yes, he has fifteen minutes before his next appointment. You can go in." She told Mia.

Mia thanked her as she walked in to Felix's office.

"Good morning, Mia." Felix smiled as he saw her enter.

"Good morning."

-----

Walking to Felix's office was not new to Matthew. Usually he was there when he was in trouble or when he had to tell Felix something. Today it was probably because he was in trouble.

Matthew walked into the main office, and without asking the secretary, he headed in to Felix's office.

"Morning, Matthew." Felix said as Matthew entered.

Matthew was shocked to find Mia sitting in his usual seat. What is she doing here? He wondered. Mia was careful not to look at him.

She told on me? Matthew thought numbly. He took the chair next to her.

"Matthew, take a look at the papers." Felix said, as he handed the papers over to Matthew.

She was right, Matthew thought, annoyed. There were pictures of both of them and one of him storming off.

"I know it's hard not being able to play, so Mia has a plan for the next four games you'll be sitting out of." Felix told him.

Matthew couldn't believe his luck. Here he had come, expecting some sort of reproach, and when he had seen Mia, he had thought he was definitely in for it. Although Felix had always been good to him, he hadn't thought Mia would say anything in favor of him.

"Here's the deal, for the next four games you will be allowed to miss them. You can train on the field within the building or in a park; provided that Mia is there with you."

"What?" Both Mia and Matthew asked in unison. It was apparent to Matthew, that Mia had not been informed about this.

"Felix. What about the other players on my roster?" Mia asked quickly.

"Don't worry, the other doctors will be there watching the game so if anything happens, the information will be passed on to you and you will be able to decide on the treatment the player receives." Felix assured her.

Matthew knew she was less than thrilled, but Mia had made sure not to let her face show it.

"Felix, I don't need her while I practice." Matthew tried his luck.

"Matt, you are one of my top players. You already have a red card, and if I'm going to let you play somewhere else during a match, I'd like some reassurance that if you get hurt there is someone right there to help you." He told them wisely.

"I think this will work out very well. Thank you for the idea, Mia." Felix told them happily, it was clear that there was no room for argument. It was time to go.

This was Mia's idea, Matthew thought, it was still surprising. Mia just smiled at Felix before getting up to leave.

As Matthew got up to follow, he heard Felix speak.

"No more trouble, Matthew."

He must have seen the tension between Mia and Matthew.

"Yes, Felix."

With that Matthew left the office.