Smoke Rings in the Dark

"Juan is a good bloke, but a wee bit odd", said Maggie as they took a break from the lecture.

"How, is he a perv?", she asked, reaching into her pocket for change to put in the vending machine.

"No, he actually has a lot of books and collects modern art. He has a huge bookshelf with all these foreign novels and a telescope, he was showing me how to use it. He's an odd bloke for a footballer", said Maggie.

"He actually sounds cool, maybe he's got a lot of free time and likes to read. Maybe European guys are smart", she mused aloud, getting a candy bar from the machine.

"Maybe, many of the English players are bloody thick. Juan asked me out on a date", said Maggie.

"Did you say yes?", asked Cassandra.

"Yeah, he's an interesting chap. But I'm not the sort footballers go for", said Maggie.

Cassandra swallowed a bite of her candy bar and gave her friend a look. "Maggie, you're not ugly at all. So what if you don't look like some blond bimbo, you got a brain", she exclaimed. Maggie was petite and slim with shoulder length curly dark brown hair and blue eyes, a few freckles on the bridge of her nose and her pink lips turned up slightly at the corners.

"That is good to know, he's a smart bloke so maybe he doesn't like thick girls", said Maggie.

"And he's short too, he towers over you", she teased.

The women went back to their lecture as the rest of the class filed into the room. I hope Sergio is having a good time and Argentina win, he's gotta show me pics, she thought.

Cassandra did have to admit that she felt a wee bit jealous when Maggie received a text from Juan setting their date for that night. And Sergio's on his way to France, but at least Shelton and him are gonna be here next week, she mused.

"He seems a bit odd but he's a gentleman, I grew up thinking all United guys were assholes", said Maggie.

"Was he drafted by them?", asked Cassandra.

"No, he transferred here from Chelsea in London and before that he played for Valencia in Spain. So he's a not a life-long United guy", said Maggie.

Cassandra bid goodbye to her friend and took the bus to Didsbury, showing her pass to the driver and finding an empty seat in the back. She texted Sergio and took out her Kindle so she could read her biology textbook, excited about the pig dissection on Friday. At least I'm going to do good on that, she thought with a chuckle.

Her phone buzzed just as she arrived at the house, seeing the text from Sergio: Estoy en Francia ahora, mira a mi Instagram :D

"Did Sergio send you a message?", asked Mary, looking up from her knitting.

"Yeah, he's in France and he told me to look up his Instagram", she replied, setting down her knapsack by the door.

"How lovely, we had to wait until someone came back from holiday to see pics. And is Maggie dating the little Spanish chap?", she asked.

"Yeah, she thought Juan was a bit weird at first because he reads books and owns a telescope, footy players are supposed to be dumb. But she likes him and he asked her out and her family are City fans", said Cassandra with a laugh.

"Aye, God has always got a wicked sense of humor. But Shelton is here next week?", asked Mary.

"Yeah, the album is almost done and he's going to start mixing it. He's gonna fly into Heathrow and I'm going to pick him up before we drive up here, he can't drive on the left", she joked.

"Aye, most Yanks don't. Anyways, tell him I am going to make him roast beef, I know he likes that", said Mary.

"Awesome, between you and Becky Shelton is finally going to start getting fat", she laughed.

"Aye, he's always been a skinny bloke", agreed Mary.

Cassandra went upstairs to her room and took the bag with her, taking out her books and placing them neatly on her desk. Her phone rang and she saw Sergio's number as she picked it up. "Hola, Cassie. Estas en tu casa?", he asked.

"Si, Gran is doing her knitting. Shelton is coming next week and I gotta pick him up at Heathrow, there's no direct flights from the US", she explained.

"Cuando el va a venir?", he asked

"Uh, next week on Wednesday, the plane gets here at four in the afternoon", she replied.

"Miercoles a la cuatro en el tarde? I will be back in Manchester Monday and I don't have practice that day, I will go with you. Yo saber a manejar en la izquierda", he laughed.

"Thank you so much, Sergio. I was trying to see if I could find train tickets", she said.

"De nada, Cassie. I want to meet tu hermano, y me gusto a Londres. Hasta luego, son muy tardes", he said apologetically.

"All right, Sergioo. Good night", she said.

"Buenos noches, Cassie", he said, hanging up.