Bend It Like Becker

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Chapter 42 - COMESTIBLE CONCLUSIONS

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Although Becker was one of the first to arrive at the pub, things were already getting lively.

"I thought Lester was buying the first round," he teased his soldiers as he noted several half-empty pint glasses strewn about the table.

"We couldn't wait, Coach," O'Rourke said, sliding a full one over to Becker.

"Don't mind if I do," he said, draining half the pint. He was definitely in the mood to celebrate. Not only was the match over and done with - and they'd done brilliantly, considering the obstacles they'd had to overcome - but Jess had miraculously forgiven him! He couldn't have asked for more!

Most of the others arrived shortly thereafter, including Lester, who was good on his word and bought not only the first round but the second as well. Becker noticed Jess wasn't drinking, no doubt not wanting to overdue as she'd done last week, and he quickly followed her lead, realising he'd probably had quite enough alcohol the other night to last him for some time.

Though he might've resumed drinking had Jess not steered off Abby's hostile confrontation.

"So, Becker," Abby had started into him the moment she arrived. "What's all this about you leaving Jess at the park sobbing? What the hell? Don't you think you might've-?"

"So, Connor," Jess had quickly jumped in, "I thought I heard you mumble something right before you kicked your final goal - what'd you say?"

The whole team looked to Connor as he answered matter-of-factly, "This one's for Newton."

As the others laughed, and Becker rolled his eyes, Emily turned to Matt to ask, "Who's Newton?"

But before Matt could answer, Scott entered, accompanied by the pretty, athletic girl from the RSID team.

"Hey, you guys mind if Katie here joins us?" he asked.

The team all shared amused looks, leaving Jess to respond, "No, of course we don't mind. You're welcome to join us, Katie, is it?" As the two late-comers took their seats, Jess added, "And congratulations on your team's win, by the way."

"Thanks," Katie responded graciously. "Though from the way you lot are carrying on, anyone would think your team won."

"We might as well have," Lester responded dryly, and everyone couldn't help but agree. They'd not only pleased the Minister and made a decent showing at the match, but they'd all been there for each other just like a true team should be. All the tension that had erupted before the match now seemed to have dissipated, and the former players soon dissolved into a lively conversation about the various skillful plays everyone had made, generally revelling in their amazing accomplishments.

It wasn't until some time later that Chas and Ghani finally arrived.

"Where have you two been?" Jess asked.

From their expressions, Becker instantly knew the answer. "I take it she liked the ring?" the soldier teased dryly, earning a stern elbowing from Jess.

"Absolutely. Check it out," Ghani said proudly, extending her left hand out over the table to show off her new engagement ring. Becker knew nothing about rings and merely gave an acknowledging nod, but the girls all leant in to "ooh" and "ahh" over it.

"Her parents seemed cool with it, too," Chas whispered confidentially to Jess and Becker, clearly relieved.

"See, I told you," Jess said. Chas, in return, gave her some kind of meaningful look, one which Becker didn't understand but Jess obviously did for her cheeks began to flush.

Hoping to relieve Jess's discomfort - not to mention break up the ring-admiring hen session, Becker raised a pint. "Then let's drink a toast," he announced. "To Chas and Ghani's engagement."

"Here, here," the others all cheered, raising their glasses.

"I think Coach Becker deserves a toast as well," Abby said.

Becker shook his head. "I never could've done it without Jess's assistance."

Jess's face started to flush again, and she quickly added, "And we owe a lot to Neela and Chas... and actually to each and every one of you. It was truly a team effort."

"What is this?" Lester grumbled. "A bloody Mutual Admiration Society?"

Becker was amused to see Jess elbow her guv'nor and scold, "Don't be such a spoil sport."

"How can I not be? You made me leave my bottle of good whiskey in the car." Jess gave him an impatient look, and Lester rolled his eyes, conceding, "Very well. Here's to the team."

"To the team!" they all cheered.

...

It was rather late in the evening when they finally left the pub, no doubt having overstayed their welcome. Chas and Neela had left early, since they had dinner reservations to get to, and Jess had been relieved to see Becker give the blond man a hearty handshake before the couple left, the tension between the two men finally resolved. She was further relieved, a short time later, when Lester had begged off to get home to his wife and Becker had quickly stepped in, offering to drive Jess back to her car. Jess was pleased to be able to stay longer and spend more time with the team and even more pleased that she'd have some time alone with Becker after. It was such a relief to have things back to normal with him.

Only they weren't quite normal for, after leaving the pub and driving towards the city centre, Becker randomly pulled his car to a stop at the kerb without explanation. Glancing around, confused, Jess asked, "Why aren't we at the ARC?"

Becker raised his eyebrows at her. "Because I still owe you."

This confused Jess further. He didn't owe her anything - he'd already apologised and made amends for his harsh words. But as they walked up the street together and turned the corner, she finally recognised where they were headed.

"My chocolate souffle!" she exclaimed, excitedly grabbing ahold of his arm.

"I know it's a day late...," he began, but she cut him off.

"It's never too late for chocolate," she grinned, and her smile grew even broader as Becker reached down and took her hand.

As they entered the restaurant, however, they did appear to be too late. Being a Saturday night, the place was packed, and the maitre d' seemed to be turning people away in droves. Yet surprisingly the man in the tailcoat smiled as they approached.

"Ah! Je vois que vous avez trouve la belle jeune fille, monsieur! C'est bon! She is encore plus belle than her photo. Hélas, we have no tables available maintenant... " he lowered his voice to add, "mais, peut-etre I can find something that will work, n'est pas?"

"Merci," Becker said with a nod, leading Jess over to one side to be out of the way.

Jess stared incredulously at the soldier. "What was that about?"

Becker shrugged, evading the question by stating simply, "By the way, you can tell the girls at Irregular Choice and Rococo that I ended up finding you."

Jess had no idea what his cryptic message meant, but before she could ask how he even knew about her favourite shoe store and sweet shop, the maitre d' signalled them over. They were led to a tiny table crowded into a darkened corner, with only a candle for light. It was beyond romantic, but Jess didn't want to get her hopes up, remembering Emily's sound advice. Jess and Becker were now friends again, and that was more than she could've hoped for when she'd awoken this morning. Therefore she wasn't going to worry about what might or might not come next - she was only going to concentrate on the here and now.

Which was quite easy to do when she was eating such a tasty souffle!

Once she'd devoured every last crumb on her plate, Becker asked quietly, "So...Jess...what do you think?"

Jess smiled. "I think I could eat dessert here every night forever!'"

But Becker didn't smile at her hyperbole - his expression remained serious. "No, Jess. I mean...what do you think?" As he uttered this last, he reached across the table and tenderly took her hand.

Oh! What did she THINK?

Jess smiled. "I think I'm thrilled that everything's sorted and we're friends again."

At the mention of the dreaded "f" word, Becker gulped uncomfortably and started to loosen his grip on her hand. Jess, however, squeezed his even tighter as she added, "And ... I think this has been a perfectly lovely first date."

A relieved smile broke out upon Becker's face, and she was pleased to see him still beaming twenty minutes later when they finally left the restaurant.

"So," he began tentatively as they headed back up the pavement, "shall I...take you back to your car?"

Jess grinned. "I have a better idea." By the light of the streetlamp, she saw him raise an inquiring eyebrow. Happily grasping ahold of his arm, she eagerly suggested, "How about we go back to your flat and watch Bend It Like Beckham?"

Becker groaned and rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, PLEASE!" she pleaded with puppy dog eyes. "Besides...I think we might actually be able to stay awake through it this time."

As Jess meaningfully grinned up at him, she noticed the Look on his face slowly transform into a smile.

...

The two of them returned to Becker's flat, cuddled up together on the couch - THAT couch - and turned on the DVD.

And while Jess had definitely been correct about not falling asleep, when asked later, neither of them could recall many details about the film. However, they both claimed to have thoroughly enjoyed it!

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THE END

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Acknowledgements: Special thanks to the following who helped me immensely with this story:

- Emma, Danica, and especially Glenn for their extensive football knowledge

- Kelly for her phone info

- Christy for demonstrating how to fall

- my dad for his corny sense of humour

- Ellie for my Lester inspirations

- Ian for his help with slang

- rubycaspar for her "Just Pretend" story, which made me go "*I* want to write a romantic comedy!"

- my mom for our long discussions about Primeval & romantic comedies

- Carolyn for giving me the prehistoric creatures book which remains my bible for anomaly creatures

- Google for helping me research such diverse topics as whiskey, sprained ankles, and George Michael's cruising spots (plus for helping me find a location for the final match (Sam Philps Recreation Ground) - I didn't name it specifically in the story but it has the proper layout AND football pitches that can be reserved by the public because I'm all about the verisimilitude!)

- the readers who sent me reviews for almost every chapter and encouraged me to keep going

- and most especially Cathleen and Emilyjay for all their brainstorming, suggestions, amazing plot ideas, and basically putting up with me whilst I neurotically read aloud to them on a nearly daily basis for five months!