You know what, fair enough. However, just know that I wrote the remainder of PD part 6 immediately after reading let the light in so when you read it, some of the angst is your fault
Physioâs Daughter pt.5
Jessie Fleming x Reader
Read the previous parts HERE
Warnings: cursing
WC: 4.0k
A/N: hi :) enjoy
The players ended up with way more downtime than the staff during the week before you all left for Paris they were really only responsible for keeping their bodies ready to play and showing up to get on the plane. You and the rest of the staff had meetings, more paperwork, you all had to pack your equipment away, it took more hours of your time than you had expected.
This meant you had to turn down Jessie on three different occasions when she asked you to coffee.
The first time Jessie shook off the rejection. Not thinking much about it, you were obviously busy with work and didnât have the time that day.
âIâm wrapping up here. Want to grab a coffee this afternoon?â She stuck her head into your office.
âI would Jessie but Iâm not out of here until 5 tonight. Plus should we be grabbing coffee?â You give her a questioning look. You had agreed to friends now, friends grabbed coffee but it felt like a gateway to something more with her.
âOh, okay, sorry I didnât realize you had to work so late.â
She shook you off, walking back over to her locker to grab her stuff and leave for the day, having to stop alone for coffee.
She didnât stop asking, one thing about that girl, she loved to stop by your office and she also loved to get coffee.
âCoffee? Do you have a lunch break at some point?â Jessieâs head once again swung around your office door early in the morning when players were released for a couple hours break before having to return in the evening for film.
You sigh throwing your hands up, gesturing to the pile of papers in front of you âIâm supposed to get a lunch but I think I have more travel paperwork to do during that time, I donât know Kelly from the administration called and-â
âDonât worry about it.â You notice the tight lipped half smile she gives you. You so badly wanted to say fuck it to the paperwork and go get coffee with Jessie, youâd get coffee with that woman every second of every day if you could. But you had work. You were at work and she was your coworker.
Insistent on getting you to say yes, Jessie offers another plan. âWhat about tomorrow morning since itâs a later start? Before we come in?â
âTomorrow I have to be here at normal times, itâs just you guys who get to come in late.â You give her a frown.
âLook if you donât want to come to coffee with me, thatâs okay, just say that though.â Her voice is quiet but she looks frustrated with you. Her eyebrows furrowed, upset lines on her forehead.
âNo! Jessie, I do! I do want to get coffee with you, just, this isnât a great week. Iâve still got a ton of work to get done before we leave. As the newbie on the staff I get all the simple but time consuming work no one else wants. Unfortunately the next few weeks will be just as crazy for both of us.â
âOkay.â She turns to leave âIâm sorry for bothering you.â Before you can really stop her to explain that sheâs not a bother and honestly the short chats you get with her are the highlight of your day, she exits the door. And you're left alone in your office, a massive pile of paperwork to still get done.
With only two days left before you had to fly to Paris you were trying to get most of your work done today. You didnât want to have to deal with work and the stress of packing tomorrow. You curse yourself for not packing sooner. You end up in the office until itâs dark outside checking your watch and seeing it was 7:30 at night. Your mom had left the office two hours ago, giving you a kiss on the head and telling you not to stay up too late.
You focus in, getting tunnel vision on the paperwork, racing through the stack of papers, until your phone goes off.
Jessie Fleming: what time do you have to be in tomorrow?
A text from Jessie has your phone vibrating in your lap. You pick it up and respond, wondering why she would need to know.
You: 5:30
You: Do you need treatment? Is your calf alright?
Jessie Fleming: So the facility will be open at 5:30? Calf is fine but Iâm trying to get in some extra recovery and stretching, feeling a bit tight after today's work.
You: Yeah it should be, for all I know I might still be here when you show up.
Jessie Fleming: Youâre still there?
You: I am
You: sent an image
You send Jessie a selfie of you, smiling in your desk chair, a significantly smaller stack of papers than she saw you with earlier in the day.
Jessie Fleming: sent an image
The image is her, in what you assumed was her Canadian apartment bed, a soft smile on her face, her head resting on a pillow with light gray cover on it. What also stands out to you is the way her sheet is pulled up, just under her collarbones. You can see her collarbones, she wasnât wearing a shirt.
You: Why are you in bed this early?
You: Do you sleep shirtless?
You regret hitting send on the second message when you actually see that sheâs typing.
Jessie Fleming: Thatâs professional to ask
Jessie Fleming: But yes
Jessie Fleming: Most of the time
Jessie Fleming: Obviously not when I have travel roommates or anything, but Iâm in my own place for the next few days so Iâm enjoying it before a lot of hotels with Janine.
Jessie Fleming: And Iâm in bed because Iâm watching a documentary and Iâve been told to get as much sleep as I can by the training staff at work.
Jessie Fleming: Especially this new young girl, she has been on my case about taking care of myself and whatever, but sheâs cute so I gave her a pass.
The mention of Janine has your mind thinking back to the other day, Janine grabbing Jessie and whispering to her before she gave you a look that felt like she suddenly knew everything. You wanted to ask Jessie about it but now probably wasnât the best time.
You: I sleep like that too, more comfortable
You: Iâm sure that girl is just looking out for you.
Jessie Fleming: I know, right? I tried to tell that to so many of my teammates, none of them listen.
Jessie Fleming: stop texting me, go back to work so you can go home.
You: youâre the one texting me
Jessie Fleming: shhhhh
You: đ
You put your phone away, putting it on silent so there was no temptation to text Jessie, having no idea if she had responded. You finish your paperwork, finally standing up your back and knees both cracking as you stretch. You check you phone as you walk to the car, seeing it was 8:22. Youâd have to go home, get dinner, shower, all to get up at 4:30 to be at work by 5:30.
A message from Jessie sits on your screen. You debate texting her back but you donât want to wake her if sheâs already gone to sleep.
Jessie Fleming: Have a good night, hope youâre not at work too late :)
When you sit back at your desk the next morning you feel deja vu, feeling like you never left. The only difference is there is no longer a pile of work in front of you, you thank yourself for staying to complete it all last night. You lean forward letting your head rest on your desk for a moment.
âHi!â Jessie comes around the corner of your office, sounding way too chipper for 5:30 in the morning, but then again she was able to be in bed at 7:30. You look up to her to see her carrying two coffees. She approaches you and sticks her hand out offering you one of the drinks. You were so grateful, you had opted for 5 minutes of extra sleep in the morning instead of getting a coffee and you were starting to regret that decision.
âShould you really be showing up to my office with coffee? You do remember what happened last time you did that, right?â You question her, squinting at her across your desk and sending a glance to the wall where she had pinned you.
âMaybe thatâs why Iâm doing it, maybe I liked what happened last time.â She pauses, tilting her head, thinking back to the memory. âExcept not when your Mom walked in, I didnât like that, that was terrifying.â A quick grimace follows by a smile comes across her face.
âJessie, we canât.â
âI know, I know.â She sounds defeated. âI just figured since going out for coffee doesnât really fit into your schedule right now, Iâd just bring it to you. I promise Iâm not trying to get anything out of you.â She sits down in the seat across from you.
âHow late were you here last night?â Jessieâs phone buzzes on the table, she ignores it.
âJust before 9.â
âOh wow, I was asleep by then.â You envy her early bedtime.
âYeah so I am incredibly grateful for this, thank you.â You shake your coffee cup as her phone lights up with another notification. This time your eyes trail to it. Youâre not trying to look at her messages but you just canât help but glance at the lit up screen.
Jessie noticed your eyes' quick movement toward her phone, âSorry thatâs just Janine, I told her I was coming in to do some early recovery and sheâs giving me a hard time about it.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âSheâs just teasing me.â She pauses, âabout you.â She uses her coffee cup in her hand to point at you.
âOh, did you tell her? She gave me a weird look the other day, after you came back and we hugged in the training room, you two walked out together and she sort of stared at me. So did you tell her? About the kiss I mean?â Finally getting an appropriate time to ask what was up with Janineâs look.
âIt may have slipped out, one of the times I was talking about you. But sheâs been teasing me about you since before that.â Jessie looks down to type back to Janine on her phone.
âJessie!â Her head snapped back up when she heard you scolding her name. Knowing someone else knows about your kiss, someone you didnât yet know well enough, makes you uneasy. âYou canât just be telling people that!â
âItâs Janine, sheâs my best friend, she knows me too well, she knew something happened and asked. I didn't think it would be a big deal, sheâs not going to tell anyone.â Jessie defends herself.
âI get that you think that Jessie, but if she slips up, next thing the whole team knows, then it gets out, youâll get in trouble for sleeping with the student trainer, whoâs 4 years younger than you.â You were spiraling, youâre not sure if you believe what youâre saying or if your mom had just scared you into it. You didnât want your own career to be at risk and you definitely didnât want Jessie getting in trouble.
âWe havenât slept together, plus youâre an adult, itâs not like Iâm 20 and youâre 16! Weâre both grown.â
âI know that, but good luck telling that to anyone else, they wonât listen!â
âI really didnât mean to tell her, it just sort of slipped out and Iâm sorry. I didnât think it would be an issue.â Jessie crosses her arms across her chest, she feels less warm than usual, less friendly, less inviting.
Only, it felt like it was a problem that she had told people. You werenât sure why Jessie would think it was okay to go around telling people about your kiss without at least checking in with you. A small bubble of frustration with the woman sitting across from you started to build.
âJessie, if people find out I could get fired! Sure, it might temporarily make your image bad but youâre too damn good, youâll stay Captain, youâll keep getting your call ups, keep being desired by different clubs, it wonât ruin your career like it could mine.â
âNothing is going to get out, nothings going to happen, itâs not that big of a deal!â Now Jessie is raising her voice at you slightly. Sheâs leaning across your desk.
âMaybe it doesnât seem like that big of a deal that to you, but it is to me.â You yell back, thankful that no one else was in at the office yet. You take a breath realizing this argument was not something you needed to be doing at 5:30 in the morning. âYou should probably go do your recovery. I have things to get doneâ You point to the doorway.
âOh.â Itâs obvious the sadness on Jessieâs face and in her voice. A sudden change from her argumentative demeanor. âYeah, Iâm going to do that.â She pushed back from your desk. âIâm sorry.â
You let her walk out without saying anything. She doesnât close your office door on her way out. Feeling stupid about the argument, you let your forehead come crashing back onto your desk with a loud thud, a lot harder than you intended.
âYou okay?â You hear Jessie ask, hearing the sound of your head against your desk from the other room.
âYeah, all good.â You groan back. You didnât want her to care and feel the need to check on you. You know you shouldnât care about he either but you canât help yourself.
Despite being quite annoyed with Jessie at the moment, youâre unable to look away every time she passes by your door, doing exercises or walking across the room to get equipment. Time goes on and then you hear her digging in the ice cooler, the sound of a plastic bag and some shuffling around.
âStupid wrap.â Hearing her talking to herself you stand up from your chair, it was your job after all to help with these things. You see her struggling to hold and secure a bag of ice she had made to her calf.
âLet me help you.â You offer empty hands to take the ice bag from her, grabbing the wrap and squatting in front of her to help her get it tight on her leg.
âThanks.â She gives you a smile, the way she was grinning looking down at you sent a shiver through your body.
âIs it still treating you okay?â You look up at her from where youâre kneeling in front of her.
âYeah itâs been good, just being overly cautious with it still, thatâs why Iâm doing all this.â She points down where your hands were wrapping the ice bag. You just nod, returning your focus to what you were doing instead of staring up at the girlâs pretty brown eyes.
You let the silence sit between the two of you for only a second before you break it.
âIâm sorry for how I reacted in the office just now. I think Iâm just a little paranoid, weâre adults, weâre allowed to do what weâre doing technically. I just didnât think youâd be going around talking about me and the fact that you kissed me.â You stand up.
âTo be fair, Iâm not going around talking about you to everyone, itâs really just been to Janine, she made some comments about you before we had even really talked much, she knows me too well. She knew I was interested, so she made some comments about me finding you pretty to which I blushed and she was onto me right away apparently Iâm not great at hiding my crushes.â She looks down at her feet.
âI just freaked out, knowing that someone else knows that you had me against the wall, in my office.â
âIf it helps, she doesnât know I pinned you to the wall.â Jessieâs face is now a bright red. Itâs suddenly very obvious to you how close the two of you weâre standing, face to face. Itâs apparent that you can make out all the little details of her face, where each freckle sat across her nose and cheeks, you could see it all. Despite still being upset and frustrated with Jessie for telling Janine about your previous kiss, you suddenly donât care and have the desire to kiss her all over again.
âJessie.â You stare at her lips while saying her name. You donât know if she noticed youâre staring, but her tongue runs over her bottom lip, wetting it.
âWhat?â
âDonât, what, me. You know what.â Your eyes donât move from Jessieâs lips.
âNo I donât. Youâll have to enlighten me.â You do, leaning in your hands finding her face you pull her toward you. Your lips meet hers, theyâre warm and soft and plump against yours. Her hands find your hips, pulling you against her hard. Her grip is tight, it feels safe. This time youâre able to finish your kiss, both of you pulling away just before you debate sliding your tongue against her lips.
âYou really should stop bringing coffee to my office I guess, it always seems to end like this.â You let out once you both breathe for a second. Jessie lets out a soft laugh.
You hear the door to the training room open and you jump away from Jessie, turning to pretend to organize something, finding nothing, everything already being packed up. This leaves you just standing there looking at the wall. You and Jessie both look over to see Janine standing there, coffee in one hand, training bag in the other and a smirk across her face.
âWell you two arenât suspicious at all.â She says sarcastically as she walks from the doorway further into the training room and in your direction. âIâd recommend actually doing something to make it look like you two werenât just doing what I think you were.â You canât read her tone as she speaks to you. âLooking at imaginary things on the wall doesnât really work as a good cover.â She stops behind you to speak softly only to you. You stay facing the wall, not wanting to turn and let either of the players in the room see how bright red your cheeks are.
âIâm going to go change, Iâll be back in probably 5 minutes, behave yourselves.â Janine says to both of you, she walks away into the changing room.
âWhoops.â You turn back to look at Jessie who is still standing where you kissed her. You both have matching blushes on your face.
âAt least it wasnât my mom this time.â You shrug at her, trying to make light of the situation again.
âI guess,â she shrugs back.
âBut seriously Jessie, we canât keep doing this, we leave for Paris in less than 36 hours. You have to go, be focused, be this team's leader, we canât, I canât be distracting you.â
âI know.â
âSo that means no more surprise coffees, no more private meetings, like Janine said, we have to behave. Strictly professional from now on. No more of this.â You use a finger to point between the two of you.
âStrictly professional, got it.â She nods at you but her smile tells you sheâs not taking you seriously.
âIâm serious this time Jessie.â You try your best to be stern with her.
âSo am I.â You were both lying through your teeth, and you both knew it but neither of you were going to call each other out and say anything.
âOr just until the Olympics are over.â You add, hoping sheâll maybe be interested in whatever the two of you were doing come the end of the games.
âUntil it's over.â She flashes you a smile before turning to leave, following in the direction Janine went to change. She flashes you a smile before heading through the doors. You move back into your office leaning against the desk.
âHey.â You jump as Janine flies around the corner of your office door. She walks in closing the door behind you.
âOkay I donât have a lot of time, but I need to talk to you really quick.â
âWhatâs up?â You move behind the desk, looking for her file pulling it out. You start to open it and Janineâs hand comes down on it, closing the folder hard.
âThis isnât about me.â Sheâs staring down at you as you sink back into your chair.
You realized exactly what this was about. âOh.â
âIf you so much as hurt a hair on her head-â
âI wonât.â You interrupt.
âI wasnât finished.â You nod, letting her finish. âJessie is a special human and quite frankly she doesnât need you. Sheâs perfect on her own, sheâs strong and independent and she doesnât need you, but she wants you, so Iâm going to respect that, but please let her focus on this tournament. I donât know what you two are really doing, sheâs been pretty tight lipped, but please. Sheâs smart but she might not think straight with her crush brain, she might think she can handle starting something with you during this tournament, but she canât. She needs to be focused. Sheâd hate herself down the line if she let someone get in her head and mess with her playing. Sheâs worked her life for these tournaments. This team needs her focused, not distracted because of you.â Janine rants at you.
âI know. Weâve discussed it. I wonât be a distraction to her or to anyone. I promise, I want whatâs best for her and the whole team.â You mean it, you want whatâs best for the team, and you donât want to distract Jessie or anyone, you saw how hard they all worked and would hate to be the reason anything went wrong.
âYou seem like a good person, and given that Jessie likes you so much, you must be. So Iâm going to trust you.â Her hand comes off the file on your desk.
âJanine! Come play Teqball with me!â Jessie hollers through the training room.
âAhh the queen of Canada awaits.â Janine says, looking at you. She turns to leave, her hand on the doorknob. âJust so you know, Iâm serious, donât hurt her, Iâll make your life miserable.â The way she spoke with still a large smile while telling you sheâd ruin your life was slightly terrifying, but very much fitting for her Canadian personality.
âI know.â You just nod. And you did know. It wouldnât just be Janine coming after you if you messed up with Jessie her entire team would hate you. If you distracted her from the tournament the country of Canada would hate you. Youâd never get to work for a Canadian team, youâd never get to live that down. Your nerves build up a bit, even though you had no intentions to hurt Jessie ever, things happen, life happens.
Your spiral of nerves is diminished as you hear Jessieâs laugh carrying through the room. Just her laugh made you smile, your nerves ease. You were in deep, probably in too deep, but there wasnât anything you could do now, except go to Paris and do your best to just be coworkers with Jessie. You needed to be invisible and not a distraction..
So thatâs what you did. Or at least tried to do.
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I need confirmation from Portland that Jessie is okay đŁ
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This Portland game is going to take years off my life, and itâs only 24â in
the amount of goals that should be scored but havenât by some crazy coincidence
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Jessie fouling a girl and then laughing about it đ
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They just showed Jessie talking with her mascot being all smiley with them, sheâs adorable with kids đ„ș
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Her oversized sweatshirt, I love her
Miss Fleming please tie your shoes we donât need you tripping
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Sheâs so cute all bundled up in her hoodie and sweats while everyone else is in tshirts and shorts
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Now that Iâve started to write it, I apologize, itâs going to be angsty⊠shit is hitting the fan :)
Physioâs Daughter pt.5
Jessie Fleming x Reader
Read the previous parts HERE
Warnings: cursing
WC: 4.0k
A/N: hi :) enjoy
The players ended up with way more downtime than the staff during the week before you all left for Paris they were really only responsible for keeping their bodies ready to play and showing up to get on the plane. You and the rest of the staff had meetings, more paperwork, you all had to pack your equipment away, it took more hours of your time than you had expected.
This meant you had to turn down Jessie on three different occasions when she asked you to coffee.
The first time Jessie shook off the rejection. Not thinking much about it, you were obviously busy with work and didnât have the time that day.
âIâm wrapping up here. Want to grab a coffee this afternoon?â She stuck her head into your office.
âI would Jessie but Iâm not out of here until 5 tonight. Plus should we be grabbing coffee?â You give her a questioning look. You had agreed to friends now, friends grabbed coffee but it felt like a gateway to something more with her.
âOh, okay, sorry I didnât realize you had to work so late.â
She shook you off, walking back over to her locker to grab her stuff and leave for the day, having to stop alone for coffee.
She didnât stop asking, one thing about that girl, she loved to stop by your office and she also loved to get coffee.
âCoffee? Do you have a lunch break at some point?â Jessieâs head once again swung around your office door early in the morning when players were released for a couple hours break before having to return in the evening for film.
You sigh throwing your hands up, gesturing to the pile of papers in front of you âIâm supposed to get a lunch but I think I have more travel paperwork to do during that time, I donât know Kelly from the administration called and-â
âDonât worry about it.â You notice the tight lipped half smile she gives you. You so badly wanted to say fuck it to the paperwork and go get coffee with Jessie, youâd get coffee with that woman every second of every day if you could. But you had work. You were at work and she was your coworker.
Insistent on getting you to say yes, Jessie offers another plan. âWhat about tomorrow morning since itâs a later start? Before we come in?â
âTomorrow I have to be here at normal times, itâs just you guys who get to come in late.â You give her a frown.
âLook if you donât want to come to coffee with me, thatâs okay, just say that though.â Her voice is quiet but she looks frustrated with you. Her eyebrows furrowed, upset lines on her forehead.
âNo! Jessie, I do! I do want to get coffee with you, just, this isnât a great week. Iâve still got a ton of work to get done before we leave. As the newbie on the staff I get all the simple but time consuming work no one else wants. Unfortunately the next few weeks will be just as crazy for both of us.â
âOkay.â She turns to leave âIâm sorry for bothering you.â Before you can really stop her to explain that sheâs not a bother and honestly the short chats you get with her are the highlight of your day, she exits the door. And you're left alone in your office, a massive pile of paperwork to still get done.
With only two days left before you had to fly to Paris you were trying to get most of your work done today. You didnât want to have to deal with work and the stress of packing tomorrow. You curse yourself for not packing sooner. You end up in the office until itâs dark outside checking your watch and seeing it was 7:30 at night. Your mom had left the office two hours ago, giving you a kiss on the head and telling you not to stay up too late.
You focus in, getting tunnel vision on the paperwork, racing through the stack of papers, until your phone goes off.
Jessie Fleming: what time do you have to be in tomorrow?
A text from Jessie has your phone vibrating in your lap. You pick it up and respond, wondering why she would need to know.
You: 5:30
You: Do you need treatment? Is your calf alright?
Jessie Fleming: So the facility will be open at 5:30? Calf is fine but Iâm trying to get in some extra recovery and stretching, feeling a bit tight after today's work.
You: Yeah it should be, for all I know I might still be here when you show up.
Jessie Fleming: Youâre still there?
You: I am
You: sent an image
You send Jessie a selfie of you, smiling in your desk chair, a significantly smaller stack of papers than she saw you with earlier in the day.
Jessie Fleming: sent an image
The image is her, in what you assumed was her Canadian apartment bed, a soft smile on her face, her head resting on a pillow with light gray cover on it. What also stands out to you is the way her sheet is pulled up, just under her collarbones. You can see her collarbones, she wasnât wearing a shirt.
You: Why are you in bed this early?
You: Do you sleep shirtless?
You regret hitting send on the second message when you actually see that sheâs typing.
Jessie Fleming: Thatâs professional to ask
Jessie Fleming: But yes
Jessie Fleming: Most of the time
Jessie Fleming: Obviously not when I have travel roommates or anything, but Iâm in my own place for the next few days so Iâm enjoying it before a lot of hotels with Janine.
Jessie Fleming: And Iâm in bed because Iâm watching a documentary and Iâve been told to get as much sleep as I can by the training staff at work.
Jessie Fleming: Especially this new young girl, she has been on my case about taking care of myself and whatever, but sheâs cute so I gave her a pass.
The mention of Janine has your mind thinking back to the other day, Janine grabbing Jessie and whispering to her before she gave you a look that felt like she suddenly knew everything. You wanted to ask Jessie about it but now probably wasnât the best time.
You: I sleep like that too, more comfortable
You: Iâm sure that girl is just looking out for you.
Jessie Fleming: I know, right? I tried to tell that to so many of my teammates, none of them listen.
Jessie Fleming: stop texting me, go back to work so you can go home.
You: youâre the one texting me
Jessie Fleming: shhhhh
You: đ
You put your phone away, putting it on silent so there was no temptation to text Jessie, having no idea if she had responded. You finish your paperwork, finally standing up your back and knees both cracking as you stretch. You check you phone as you walk to the car, seeing it was 8:22. Youâd have to go home, get dinner, shower, all to get up at 4:30 to be at work by 5:30.
A message from Jessie sits on your screen. You debate texting her back but you donât want to wake her if sheâs already gone to sleep.
Jessie Fleming: Have a good night, hope youâre not at work too late :)
When you sit back at your desk the next morning you feel deja vu, feeling like you never left. The only difference is there is no longer a pile of work in front of you, you thank yourself for staying to complete it all last night. You lean forward letting your head rest on your desk for a moment.
âHi!â Jessie comes around the corner of your office, sounding way too chipper for 5:30 in the morning, but then again she was able to be in bed at 7:30. You look up to her to see her carrying two coffees. She approaches you and sticks her hand out offering you one of the drinks. You were so grateful, you had opted for 5 minutes of extra sleep in the morning instead of getting a coffee and you were starting to regret that decision.
âShould you really be showing up to my office with coffee? You do remember what happened last time you did that, right?â You question her, squinting at her across your desk and sending a glance to the wall where she had pinned you.
âMaybe thatâs why Iâm doing it, maybe I liked what happened last time.â She pauses, tilting her head, thinking back to the memory. âExcept not when your Mom walked in, I didnât like that, that was terrifying.â A quick grimace follows by a smile comes across her face.
âJessie, we canât.â
âI know, I know.â She sounds defeated. âI just figured since going out for coffee doesnât really fit into your schedule right now, Iâd just bring it to you. I promise Iâm not trying to get anything out of you.â She sits down in the seat across from you.
âHow late were you here last night?â Jessieâs phone buzzes on the table, she ignores it.
âJust before 9.â
âOh wow, I was asleep by then.â You envy her early bedtime.
âYeah so I am incredibly grateful for this, thank you.â You shake your coffee cup as her phone lights up with another notification. This time your eyes trail to it. Youâre not trying to look at her messages but you just canât help but glance at the lit up screen.
Jessie noticed your eyes' quick movement toward her phone, âSorry thatâs just Janine, I told her I was coming in to do some early recovery and sheâs giving me a hard time about it.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âSheâs just teasing me.â She pauses, âabout you.â She uses her coffee cup in her hand to point at you.
âOh, did you tell her? She gave me a weird look the other day, after you came back and we hugged in the training room, you two walked out together and she sort of stared at me. So did you tell her? About the kiss I mean?â Finally getting an appropriate time to ask what was up with Janineâs look.
âIt may have slipped out, one of the times I was talking about you. But sheâs been teasing me about you since before that.â Jessie looks down to type back to Janine on her phone.
âJessie!â Her head snapped back up when she heard you scolding her name. Knowing someone else knows about your kiss, someone you didnât yet know well enough, makes you uneasy. âYou canât just be telling people that!â
âItâs Janine, sheâs my best friend, she knows me too well, she knew something happened and asked. I didn't think it would be a big deal, sheâs not going to tell anyone.â Jessie defends herself.
âI get that you think that Jessie, but if she slips up, next thing the whole team knows, then it gets out, youâll get in trouble for sleeping with the student trainer, whoâs 4 years younger than you.â You were spiraling, youâre not sure if you believe what youâre saying or if your mom had just scared you into it. You didnât want your own career to be at risk and you definitely didnât want Jessie getting in trouble.
âWe havenât slept together, plus youâre an adult, itâs not like Iâm 20 and youâre 16! Weâre both grown.â
âI know that, but good luck telling that to anyone else, they wonât listen!â
âI really didnât mean to tell her, it just sort of slipped out and Iâm sorry. I didnât think it would be an issue.â Jessie crosses her arms across her chest, she feels less warm than usual, less friendly, less inviting.
Only, it felt like it was a problem that she had told people. You werenât sure why Jessie would think it was okay to go around telling people about your kiss without at least checking in with you. A small bubble of frustration with the woman sitting across from you started to build.
âJessie, if people find out I could get fired! Sure, it might temporarily make your image bad but youâre too damn good, youâll stay Captain, youâll keep getting your call ups, keep being desired by different clubs, it wonât ruin your career like it could mine.â
âNothing is going to get out, nothings going to happen, itâs not that big of a deal!â Now Jessie is raising her voice at you slightly. Sheâs leaning across your desk.
âMaybe it doesnât seem like that big of a deal that to you, but it is to me.â You yell back, thankful that no one else was in at the office yet. You take a breath realizing this argument was not something you needed to be doing at 5:30 in the morning. âYou should probably go do your recovery. I have things to get doneâ You point to the doorway.
âOh.â Itâs obvious the sadness on Jessieâs face and in her voice. A sudden change from her argumentative demeanor. âYeah, Iâm going to do that.â She pushed back from your desk. âIâm sorry.â
You let her walk out without saying anything. She doesnât close your office door on her way out. Feeling stupid about the argument, you let your forehead come crashing back onto your desk with a loud thud, a lot harder than you intended.
âYou okay?â You hear Jessie ask, hearing the sound of your head against your desk from the other room.
âYeah, all good.â You groan back. You didnât want her to care and feel the need to check on you. You know you shouldnât care about he either but you canât help yourself.
Despite being quite annoyed with Jessie at the moment, youâre unable to look away every time she passes by your door, doing exercises or walking across the room to get equipment. Time goes on and then you hear her digging in the ice cooler, the sound of a plastic bag and some shuffling around.
âStupid wrap.â Hearing her talking to herself you stand up from your chair, it was your job after all to help with these things. You see her struggling to hold and secure a bag of ice she had made to her calf.
âLet me help you.â You offer empty hands to take the ice bag from her, grabbing the wrap and squatting in front of her to help her get it tight on her leg.
âThanks.â She gives you a smile, the way she was grinning looking down at you sent a shiver through your body.
âIs it still treating you okay?â You look up at her from where youâre kneeling in front of her.
âYeah itâs been good, just being overly cautious with it still, thatâs why Iâm doing all this.â She points down where your hands were wrapping the ice bag. You just nod, returning your focus to what you were doing instead of staring up at the girlâs pretty brown eyes.
You let the silence sit between the two of you for only a second before you break it.
âIâm sorry for how I reacted in the office just now. I think Iâm just a little paranoid, weâre adults, weâre allowed to do what weâre doing technically. I just didnât think youâd be going around talking about me and the fact that you kissed me.â You stand up.
âTo be fair, Iâm not going around talking about you to everyone, itâs really just been to Janine, she made some comments about you before we had even really talked much, she knows me too well. She knew I was interested, so she made some comments about me finding you pretty to which I blushed and she was onto me right away apparently Iâm not great at hiding my crushes.â She looks down at her feet.
âI just freaked out, knowing that someone else knows that you had me against the wall, in my office.â
âIf it helps, she doesnât know I pinned you to the wall.â Jessieâs face is now a bright red. Itâs suddenly very obvious to you how close the two of you weâre standing, face to face. Itâs apparent that you can make out all the little details of her face, where each freckle sat across her nose and cheeks, you could see it all. Despite still being upset and frustrated with Jessie for telling Janine about your previous kiss, you suddenly donât care and have the desire to kiss her all over again.
âJessie.â You stare at her lips while saying her name. You donât know if she noticed youâre staring, but her tongue runs over her bottom lip, wetting it.
âWhat?â
âDonât, what, me. You know what.â Your eyes donât move from Jessieâs lips.
âNo I donât. Youâll have to enlighten me.â You do, leaning in your hands finding her face you pull her toward you. Your lips meet hers, theyâre warm and soft and plump against yours. Her hands find your hips, pulling you against her hard. Her grip is tight, it feels safe. This time youâre able to finish your kiss, both of you pulling away just before you debate sliding your tongue against her lips.
âYou really should stop bringing coffee to my office I guess, it always seems to end like this.â You let out once you both breathe for a second. Jessie lets out a soft laugh.
You hear the door to the training room open and you jump away from Jessie, turning to pretend to organize something, finding nothing, everything already being packed up. This leaves you just standing there looking at the wall. You and Jessie both look over to see Janine standing there, coffee in one hand, training bag in the other and a smirk across her face.
âWell you two arenât suspicious at all.â She says sarcastically as she walks from the doorway further into the training room and in your direction. âIâd recommend actually doing something to make it look like you two werenât just doing what I think you were.â You canât read her tone as she speaks to you. âLooking at imaginary things on the wall doesnât really work as a good cover.â She stops behind you to speak softly only to you. You stay facing the wall, not wanting to turn and let either of the players in the room see how bright red your cheeks are.
âIâm going to go change, Iâll be back in probably 5 minutes, behave yourselves.â Janine says to both of you, she walks away into the changing room.
âWhoops.â You turn back to look at Jessie who is still standing where you kissed her. You both have matching blushes on your face.
âAt least it wasnât my mom this time.â You shrug at her, trying to make light of the situation again.
âI guess,â she shrugs back.
âBut seriously Jessie, we canât keep doing this, we leave for Paris in less than 36 hours. You have to go, be focused, be this team's leader, we canât, I canât be distracting you.â
âI know.â
âSo that means no more surprise coffees, no more private meetings, like Janine said, we have to behave. Strictly professional from now on. No more of this.â You use a finger to point between the two of you.
âStrictly professional, got it.â She nods at you but her smile tells you sheâs not taking you seriously.
âIâm serious this time Jessie.â You try your best to be stern with her.
âSo am I.â You were both lying through your teeth, and you both knew it but neither of you were going to call each other out and say anything.
âOr just until the Olympics are over.â You add, hoping sheâll maybe be interested in whatever the two of you were doing come the end of the games.
âUntil it's over.â She flashes you a smile before turning to leave, following in the direction Janine went to change. She flashes you a smile before heading through the doors. You move back into your office leaning against the desk.
âHey.â You jump as Janine flies around the corner of your office door. She walks in closing the door behind you.
âOkay I donât have a lot of time, but I need to talk to you really quick.â
âWhatâs up?â You move behind the desk, looking for her file pulling it out. You start to open it and Janineâs hand comes down on it, closing the folder hard.
âThis isnât about me.â Sheâs staring down at you as you sink back into your chair.
You realized exactly what this was about. âOh.â
âIf you so much as hurt a hair on her head-â
âI wonât.â You interrupt.
âI wasnât finished.â You nod, letting her finish. âJessie is a special human and quite frankly she doesnât need you. Sheâs perfect on her own, sheâs strong and independent and she doesnât need you, but she wants you, so Iâm going to respect that, but please let her focus on this tournament. I donât know what you two are really doing, sheâs been pretty tight lipped, but please. Sheâs smart but she might not think straight with her crush brain, she might think she can handle starting something with you during this tournament, but she canât. She needs to be focused. Sheâd hate herself down the line if she let someone get in her head and mess with her playing. Sheâs worked her life for these tournaments. This team needs her focused, not distracted because of you.â Janine rants at you.
âI know. Weâve discussed it. I wonât be a distraction to her or to anyone. I promise, I want whatâs best for her and the whole team.â You mean it, you want whatâs best for the team, and you donât want to distract Jessie or anyone, you saw how hard they all worked and would hate to be the reason anything went wrong.
âYou seem like a good person, and given that Jessie likes you so much, you must be. So Iâm going to trust you.â Her hand comes off the file on your desk.
âJanine! Come play Teqball with me!â Jessie hollers through the training room.
âAhh the queen of Canada awaits.â Janine says, looking at you. She turns to leave, her hand on the doorknob. âJust so you know, Iâm serious, donât hurt her, Iâll make your life miserable.â The way she spoke with still a large smile while telling you sheâd ruin your life was slightly terrifying, but very much fitting for her Canadian personality.
âI know.â You just nod. And you did know. It wouldnât just be Janine coming after you if you messed up with Jessie her entire team would hate you. If you distracted her from the tournament the country of Canada would hate you. Youâd never get to work for a Canadian team, youâd never get to live that down. Your nerves build up a bit, even though you had no intentions to hurt Jessie ever, things happen, life happens.
Your spiral of nerves is diminished as you hear Jessieâs laugh carrying through the room. Just her laugh made you smile, your nerves ease. You were in deep, probably in too deep, but there wasnât anything you could do now, except go to Paris and do your best to just be coworkers with Jessie. You needed to be invisible and not a distraction..
So thatâs what you did. Or at least tried to do.
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Iâm going to need part 3 to be happy, please and thank you
â let the light in [p2]
pairing: jessie fleming x reader part 1
synopsis: jessieâs point of view
warnings: angsty as fuck lol, mentions of depression & itâs symptoms
jessie had never been more furious and sad at the same time. watching you walk out of her place with a bag containing your things slung over your shoulder after she had pleaded with you to let her help, was one of the most heartbreaking things sheâs ever had to go through.
despite your reluctance to tell her, she knew what you were going through. she guessed that you werenât maybe telling her the whole truth about how you were really feeling and she made it her mission to help in any way you would let her. she spoke with chelseaâs psychologist about how to help you, you read self-help books and read articles upon articles but you were slipping faster than she could reach for you.
âmaybe itâs for the bestâ niamh says gently, rubbing her hand up and down jessieâs back soothingly.
the canadian stands abruptly âno! god no, niamh, donât you get it? sheâs sick â really fucking sick â and she wonât let me help!â jessie confides as tears begin to flood her waterline âi just want to help. all iâve ever wanted was to helpâ
niamhâs face cracks with guilt and sorrow. sheâd watched the guilt eat her friend alive for too long now, never quite understanding why she stayed with you for so long. even when questioned, jessie kept her cards close to her chest. her teammates saw her go in and out of the psychologistâs office, look up easy to make but nutritious recipes, skim through articles about how to love someone with depression, but never had she outright said that something was wrong.
âjess you canât help someone that doesnât want to be helpedâ niamh points out delicately âand you canât make her open up to you if she doesnât want toâ
jessie sighs and sits back down on the couch with head head placed firmly in her hands âi donât understand what iâve done wrong. i donât understand why she wonât just talk to meâ
niamh grabs jessie and guides her to her chest as she cries, her tears soaking the front of the lionessâs jumper. the canadianâs hands clutch at the soft fabric and she burrows her face into niamhâs grounding embrace âiâm so worried about herâ she sobs harder âsheâ she lives alone and thereâs no one to look out for her, or to make sure sheâs taking care of herselfâ
âjessie itâs not your responsibility to baby her. sheâs an adultâ niamh says âwhy didnât you tell us?â
âbecause you were all telling me to leave her!â jessie loudly exclaims, pulling herself up âevery single one of you told me that it wasnât worth it, that i deserve betterâ
the midfielderâs face is red and blotchy, tears cascading down her freckled cheeks as she further works herself up. âthere is nothing i wouldnât do for her, niamh, iâve never loved someone the way i love herâ
â â
when jessie tries to call you to tell you sheâs coming to collect her things, it goes straight to voicemail. she gets left on read when she texts you but thatâs better than nothing so she takes it as the small win it is and gets dressed in a hoodie of hers you like and a pair of jeans she plucks off the top of her clean laundry. nerves settle in the bottom of her stomach on the drive over and only get worse when she takes the elevator to your floor. thereâs a brown box outside your door with her name written on it in bold, black permanent marker and she frowns.
the thought of not actually seeing you after sheâs been making herself sick with worry causes her to pause. on one hand, you arenât responding so she doesnât even know if youâre alright, but on the other thereâs a box at her feet with her stuff in it, so at the very least jessie knows youâre conscious. she nervously bites the skin around the thumbnail before knocking on your door three times and waiting, bouncing on the balls of her feet anxiously before stopping in fear that youâre looking at her through the peephole.
to her disappointment, you donât come to the door. she picks up her belongings carefully and hangs her head low, trying not to be too disappointed. she runs into one of your neighbours that sheâs met a few times when sheâs had to leave early for training and sends her a kind smile.
the older woman notices the box in jessieâs hands and frowns âi was wonderinâ why i havenât been seeinâ you around latelyâ she says in her thick northern accent.
jessie hums âyeah itâs uhh⊠itâs a bit differentâ she cringes at herself, stepping aside so the older woman â shelley, she remembers â can get onto the elevator before her. shelley tuts and pushes her glasses up her nose as they fall.
âi hope it all works out for ya, sheâs a sweet girl. a bit lost, maybe, but sweetâ
all jessie can do is nod as the elevator stops two floors below your own âiâm about to beat carolineâs ass in cardsâ shelley grins cheekily as she steps out âbye jessieâ
the canadian lifts her knee to steady the box whilst she takes one hand out from underneath it to offer a polite wave âbye shelleyâ she says as she watches the doors close on her again.
the drive back to her apartment feels slower then it actually it. worry clouds jessieâs mind like a plague, the thought of you wasting away, alone and in your apartment making her sick.
through your relationship she really tried to show you how much she adored you. whether it was bringing you lunch when you were at work, buying a bouquet of âjust becauseâ flowers or simply just telling you how much she loved you.
it was one of her favourite things, telling you she loved you. she had uncharacteristically said it first one day when you dropped off her boots to her at training when she had forgotten them, giving you a kiss quickly before running off to avoid being late. that night the two of you were sitting on her couch eating dinner and watching trashy reality tv when you quietly asked her about it.
âpenny for your thoughts?â jessie asks you as she watches you stare off into space.
you quickly snap out of your daze and shake your head âitâs nothingâ
she knocks your shoulders together âcâmon, whatâs up?â
nervously, you move the food on your pate around with your fork aimlessly. you canât look jessie in the eye and out of worry, she places her dinner on the coffee table and sits up straighter âare you okay?â
you suck in a deep breath âwhen you, uhm⊠when you told me you loved me today, did you mean that?â
jessieâs brain short circuits and she thinks back to when she saw you this morning. her confession makes the blood rush to her cheeks and she nervously plays with the hem of her old ucla shirt.
she sees the way youâre still avoiding her gaze and places her hand over yours, stopping you from playing with your meal. you look at her with tight lips and wide eyes as you await her answer, your leg bouncing like youâre ready to bolt.
âof course i meant itâ she assures softly, placing her hand on your cheek âit slipped out, yeah, but i meant it all the sameâ
you nod and slightly turn away from her, placing your own dinner on the coffee table next to hers. your lack of reaction begins to make jessie nervous. was it too soon? did you feel the same? has she just made it awkward?
âyou donât have to say it back!â the midfielder rushes âif you donât feel the same you absolutely do not have to say it back. i would never expect you to ifââ
âi love youâ you mumble, cutting off her rambling.
jessieâs heart beats out of her chest and her head spins so much sheâs dizzy. you were relatively affectionate and you had no problem dishing out compliments and praise, but there were times when you couldnât really receive it.
the canadian softly smiles and immediately wraps her arms around you, hiding her face in the crook of your neck and she pulls you into her. you giggle as she falls back into the couch, the wide smile on your face everlasting.
âi love youâ jessie mumbles back to you âso muchâ
ââ
jessie sighs at hearing the knocking from her front door. not only was she not in the mood to see anyone, she was kind of hoping to spend the rest of her day off cuddled up on her couch with the book sheâs been meaning to finish. she stays where she is for a moment to see if whoever it is will go away, only to get four more louder knocks in return.
she throws the blanket off herself and shivers as her bare feet hit the cold floor. she all but throws open the door with a frown on her face, quickly being surprised by a woman she doesnât recognise standing in front of her. she adjusts the strap of her purse on her shoulder and shifts her weight between her feet slightly.
âjessie fleming?â she asks
the canadian nods âyeah. can i help you?â
the brunette woman sighs with relief âiâm casey taylor, i work with y/nâ
dread crashes over jessie and her hand tightens on the doorknob. âdo you want to come in?â she asks stepping aside.
casey puts her hand up in protest âno i was just wondering if youâve seen her lately? i know you two areââ
âwe broke upâ she interjects quickly âbut she wasnât too good the last time i saw herâ
casey purses her lips and nods her head âright. okay. sorry for just turning up like thisâ she pauses in contemplation. âitâs just that i didnât have your number and i only have your address because i had to pick y/n up from here onceâ she rushes, clearly recognising how weird the situation is.
jessie nods as she recalls the memory of the two of you standing on the street, her dressed in ratty old pyjamas and you dressed in your work slacks and knitted sweater. you had been running around jessieâs apartment half dressed whilst simultaneously brushing your teeth and doing your hair absolutely stressed out of your mind. jessie simply watched you run around as she packed you lunch and ironed your shirt, the feeling of domestic bliss lasting well until after you had kissed her quickly and rushed out her front door.
casey clicks her tongue âthatâs all good though! iâll just get goingâ the brunette turns to walk away, her kitten heels clicking on the pavement underneath her.
âcasey!â jessie calls once she gets her wits about her, shaking the memory and following the woman down to her car âyou didnât come all the way here to just ask if iâve seen her. whatâs going on?â
ââŠweâre just worried. sheâs out of sick leave and my boss wants to call the police to do a welfare check but i told her that iâd come to you firstâ she hesitates, fidgeting with her key chain in her hand âitâs not been this bad beforeâ casey mumbles.
the midfielder sucks in a breath as her stomach drops. the out of character behaviour from you stirs something deep in her and she furrows her brows âiâll go see herâ she says before thinking âjust let me⊠just let me see if i can talk to her, okay?â
caseyâs reluctance is written all over her face but she must see something in jessieâs eyes that has her softening. she continues to fiddle with her keys before looking at her watch and then back to jess âokayâ she says before fishing a pen and piece of paper out of her purse âplease call me and let me know how she is, or get her to call meâ she pleads whilst scribbling down her number.
jessie nods âof course i willâ
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Yall fighting over sweet and rough is cute, maybe Iâll write both đ«Ł
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But angst is so fun đ
Physioâs Daughter pt.5
Jessie Fleming x Reader
Read the previous parts HERE
Warnings: cursing
WC: 4.0k
A/N: hi :) enjoy
The players ended up with way more downtime than the staff during the week before you all left for Paris they were really only responsible for keeping their bodies ready to play and showing up to get on the plane. You and the rest of the staff had meetings, more paperwork, you all had to pack your equipment away, it took more hours of your time than you had expected.
This meant you had to turn down Jessie on three different occasions when she asked you to coffee.
The first time Jessie shook off the rejection. Not thinking much about it, you were obviously busy with work and didnât have the time that day.
âIâm wrapping up here. Want to grab a coffee this afternoon?â She stuck her head into your office.
âI would Jessie but Iâm not out of here until 5 tonight. Plus should we be grabbing coffee?â You give her a questioning look. You had agreed to friends now, friends grabbed coffee but it felt like a gateway to something more with her.
âOh, okay, sorry I didnât realize you had to work so late.â
She shook you off, walking back over to her locker to grab her stuff and leave for the day, having to stop alone for coffee.
She didnât stop asking, one thing about that girl, she loved to stop by your office and she also loved to get coffee.
âCoffee? Do you have a lunch break at some point?â Jessieâs head once again swung around your office door early in the morning when players were released for a couple hours break before having to return in the evening for film.
You sigh throwing your hands up, gesturing to the pile of papers in front of you âIâm supposed to get a lunch but I think I have more travel paperwork to do during that time, I donât know Kelly from the administration called and-â
âDonât worry about it.â You notice the tight lipped half smile she gives you. You so badly wanted to say fuck it to the paperwork and go get coffee with Jessie, youâd get coffee with that woman every second of every day if you could. But you had work. You were at work and she was your coworker.
Insistent on getting you to say yes, Jessie offers another plan. âWhat about tomorrow morning since itâs a later start? Before we come in?â
âTomorrow I have to be here at normal times, itâs just you guys who get to come in late.â You give her a frown.
âLook if you donât want to come to coffee with me, thatâs okay, just say that though.â Her voice is quiet but she looks frustrated with you. Her eyebrows furrowed, upset lines on her forehead.
âNo! Jessie, I do! I do want to get coffee with you, just, this isnât a great week. Iâve still got a ton of work to get done before we leave. As the newbie on the staff I get all the simple but time consuming work no one else wants. Unfortunately the next few weeks will be just as crazy for both of us.â
âOkay.â She turns to leave âIâm sorry for bothering you.â Before you can really stop her to explain that sheâs not a bother and honestly the short chats you get with her are the highlight of your day, she exits the door. And you're left alone in your office, a massive pile of paperwork to still get done.
With only two days left before you had to fly to Paris you were trying to get most of your work done today. You didnât want to have to deal with work and the stress of packing tomorrow. You curse yourself for not packing sooner. You end up in the office until itâs dark outside checking your watch and seeing it was 7:30 at night. Your mom had left the office two hours ago, giving you a kiss on the head and telling you not to stay up too late.
You focus in, getting tunnel vision on the paperwork, racing through the stack of papers, until your phone goes off.
Jessie Fleming: what time do you have to be in tomorrow?
A text from Jessie has your phone vibrating in your lap. You pick it up and respond, wondering why she would need to know.
You: 5:30
You: Do you need treatment? Is your calf alright?
Jessie Fleming: So the facility will be open at 5:30? Calf is fine but Iâm trying to get in some extra recovery and stretching, feeling a bit tight after today's work.
You: Yeah it should be, for all I know I might still be here when you show up.
Jessie Fleming: Youâre still there?
You: I am
You: sent an image
You send Jessie a selfie of you, smiling in your desk chair, a significantly smaller stack of papers than she saw you with earlier in the day.
Jessie Fleming: sent an image
The image is her, in what you assumed was her Canadian apartment bed, a soft smile on her face, her head resting on a pillow with light gray cover on it. What also stands out to you is the way her sheet is pulled up, just under her collarbones. You can see her collarbones, she wasnât wearing a shirt.
You: Why are you in bed this early?
You: Do you sleep shirtless?
You regret hitting send on the second message when you actually see that sheâs typing.
Jessie Fleming: Thatâs professional to ask
Jessie Fleming: But yes
Jessie Fleming: Most of the time
Jessie Fleming: Obviously not when I have travel roommates or anything, but Iâm in my own place for the next few days so Iâm enjoying it before a lot of hotels with Janine.
Jessie Fleming: And Iâm in bed because Iâm watching a documentary and Iâve been told to get as much sleep as I can by the training staff at work.
Jessie Fleming: Especially this new young girl, she has been on my case about taking care of myself and whatever, but sheâs cute so I gave her a pass.
The mention of Janine has your mind thinking back to the other day, Janine grabbing Jessie and whispering to her before she gave you a look that felt like she suddenly knew everything. You wanted to ask Jessie about it but now probably wasnât the best time.
You: I sleep like that too, more comfortable
You: Iâm sure that girl is just looking out for you.
Jessie Fleming: I know, right? I tried to tell that to so many of my teammates, none of them listen.
Jessie Fleming: stop texting me, go back to work so you can go home.
You: youâre the one texting me
Jessie Fleming: shhhhh
You: đ
You put your phone away, putting it on silent so there was no temptation to text Jessie, having no idea if she had responded. You finish your paperwork, finally standing up your back and knees both cracking as you stretch. You check you phone as you walk to the car, seeing it was 8:22. Youâd have to go home, get dinner, shower, all to get up at 4:30 to be at work by 5:30.
A message from Jessie sits on your screen. You debate texting her back but you donât want to wake her if sheâs already gone to sleep.
Jessie Fleming: Have a good night, hope youâre not at work too late :)
When you sit back at your desk the next morning you feel deja vu, feeling like you never left. The only difference is there is no longer a pile of work in front of you, you thank yourself for staying to complete it all last night. You lean forward letting your head rest on your desk for a moment.
âHi!â Jessie comes around the corner of your office, sounding way too chipper for 5:30 in the morning, but then again she was able to be in bed at 7:30. You look up to her to see her carrying two coffees. She approaches you and sticks her hand out offering you one of the drinks. You were so grateful, you had opted for 5 minutes of extra sleep in the morning instead of getting a coffee and you were starting to regret that decision.
âShould you really be showing up to my office with coffee? You do remember what happened last time you did that, right?â You question her, squinting at her across your desk and sending a glance to the wall where she had pinned you.
âMaybe thatâs why Iâm doing it, maybe I liked what happened last time.â She pauses, tilting her head, thinking back to the memory. âExcept not when your Mom walked in, I didnât like that, that was terrifying.â A quick grimace follows by a smile comes across her face.
âJessie, we canât.â
âI know, I know.â She sounds defeated. âI just figured since going out for coffee doesnât really fit into your schedule right now, Iâd just bring it to you. I promise Iâm not trying to get anything out of you.â She sits down in the seat across from you.
âHow late were you here last night?â Jessieâs phone buzzes on the table, she ignores it.
âJust before 9.â
âOh wow, I was asleep by then.â You envy her early bedtime.
âYeah so I am incredibly grateful for this, thank you.â You shake your coffee cup as her phone lights up with another notification. This time your eyes trail to it. Youâre not trying to look at her messages but you just canât help but glance at the lit up screen.
Jessie noticed your eyes' quick movement toward her phone, âSorry thatâs just Janine, I told her I was coming in to do some early recovery and sheâs giving me a hard time about it.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âSheâs just teasing me.â She pauses, âabout you.â She uses her coffee cup in her hand to point at you.
âOh, did you tell her? She gave me a weird look the other day, after you came back and we hugged in the training room, you two walked out together and she sort of stared at me. So did you tell her? About the kiss I mean?â Finally getting an appropriate time to ask what was up with Janineâs look.
âIt may have slipped out, one of the times I was talking about you. But sheâs been teasing me about you since before that.â Jessie looks down to type back to Janine on her phone.
âJessie!â Her head snapped back up when she heard you scolding her name. Knowing someone else knows about your kiss, someone you didnât yet know well enough, makes you uneasy. âYou canât just be telling people that!â
âItâs Janine, sheâs my best friend, she knows me too well, she knew something happened and asked. I didn't think it would be a big deal, sheâs not going to tell anyone.â Jessie defends herself.
âI get that you think that Jessie, but if she slips up, next thing the whole team knows, then it gets out, youâll get in trouble for sleeping with the student trainer, whoâs 4 years younger than you.â You were spiraling, youâre not sure if you believe what youâre saying or if your mom had just scared you into it. You didnât want your own career to be at risk and you definitely didnât want Jessie getting in trouble.
âWe havenât slept together, plus youâre an adult, itâs not like Iâm 20 and youâre 16! Weâre both grown.â
âI know that, but good luck telling that to anyone else, they wonât listen!â
âI really didnât mean to tell her, it just sort of slipped out and Iâm sorry. I didnât think it would be an issue.â Jessie crosses her arms across her chest, she feels less warm than usual, less friendly, less inviting.
Only, it felt like it was a problem that she had told people. You werenât sure why Jessie would think it was okay to go around telling people about your kiss without at least checking in with you. A small bubble of frustration with the woman sitting across from you started to build.
âJessie, if people find out I could get fired! Sure, it might temporarily make your image bad but youâre too damn good, youâll stay Captain, youâll keep getting your call ups, keep being desired by different clubs, it wonât ruin your career like it could mine.â
âNothing is going to get out, nothings going to happen, itâs not that big of a deal!â Now Jessie is raising her voice at you slightly. Sheâs leaning across your desk.
âMaybe it doesnât seem like that big of a deal that to you, but it is to me.â You yell back, thankful that no one else was in at the office yet. You take a breath realizing this argument was not something you needed to be doing at 5:30 in the morning. âYou should probably go do your recovery. I have things to get doneâ You point to the doorway.
âOh.â Itâs obvious the sadness on Jessieâs face and in her voice. A sudden change from her argumentative demeanor. âYeah, Iâm going to do that.â She pushed back from your desk. âIâm sorry.â
You let her walk out without saying anything. She doesnât close your office door on her way out. Feeling stupid about the argument, you let your forehead come crashing back onto your desk with a loud thud, a lot harder than you intended.
âYou okay?â You hear Jessie ask, hearing the sound of your head against your desk from the other room.
âYeah, all good.â You groan back. You didnât want her to care and feel the need to check on you. You know you shouldnât care about he either but you canât help yourself.
Despite being quite annoyed with Jessie at the moment, youâre unable to look away every time she passes by your door, doing exercises or walking across the room to get equipment. Time goes on and then you hear her digging in the ice cooler, the sound of a plastic bag and some shuffling around.
âStupid wrap.â Hearing her talking to herself you stand up from your chair, it was your job after all to help with these things. You see her struggling to hold and secure a bag of ice she had made to her calf.
âLet me help you.â You offer empty hands to take the ice bag from her, grabbing the wrap and squatting in front of her to help her get it tight on her leg.
âThanks.â She gives you a smile, the way she was grinning looking down at you sent a shiver through your body.
âIs it still treating you okay?â You look up at her from where youâre kneeling in front of her.
âYeah itâs been good, just being overly cautious with it still, thatâs why Iâm doing all this.â She points down where your hands were wrapping the ice bag. You just nod, returning your focus to what you were doing instead of staring up at the girlâs pretty brown eyes.
You let the silence sit between the two of you for only a second before you break it.
âIâm sorry for how I reacted in the office just now. I think Iâm just a little paranoid, weâre adults, weâre allowed to do what weâre doing technically. I just didnât think youâd be going around talking about me and the fact that you kissed me.â You stand up.
âTo be fair, Iâm not going around talking about you to everyone, itâs really just been to Janine, she made some comments about you before we had even really talked much, she knows me too well. She knew I was interested, so she made some comments about me finding you pretty to which I blushed and she was onto me right away apparently Iâm not great at hiding my crushes.â She looks down at her feet.
âI just freaked out, knowing that someone else knows that you had me against the wall, in my office.â
âIf it helps, she doesnât know I pinned you to the wall.â Jessieâs face is now a bright red. Itâs suddenly very obvious to you how close the two of you weâre standing, face to face. Itâs apparent that you can make out all the little details of her face, where each freckle sat across her nose and cheeks, you could see it all. Despite still being upset and frustrated with Jessie for telling Janine about your previous kiss, you suddenly donât care and have the desire to kiss her all over again.
âJessie.â You stare at her lips while saying her name. You donât know if she noticed youâre staring, but her tongue runs over her bottom lip, wetting it.
âWhat?â
âDonât, what, me. You know what.â Your eyes donât move from Jessieâs lips.
âNo I donât. Youâll have to enlighten me.â You do, leaning in your hands finding her face you pull her toward you. Your lips meet hers, theyâre warm and soft and plump against yours. Her hands find your hips, pulling you against her hard. Her grip is tight, it feels safe. This time youâre able to finish your kiss, both of you pulling away just before you debate sliding your tongue against her lips.
âYou really should stop bringing coffee to my office I guess, it always seems to end like this.â You let out once you both breathe for a second. Jessie lets out a soft laugh.
You hear the door to the training room open and you jump away from Jessie, turning to pretend to organize something, finding nothing, everything already being packed up. This leaves you just standing there looking at the wall. You and Jessie both look over to see Janine standing there, coffee in one hand, training bag in the other and a smirk across her face.
âWell you two arenât suspicious at all.â She says sarcastically as she walks from the doorway further into the training room and in your direction. âIâd recommend actually doing something to make it look like you two werenât just doing what I think you were.â You canât read her tone as she speaks to you. âLooking at imaginary things on the wall doesnât really work as a good cover.â She stops behind you to speak softly only to you. You stay facing the wall, not wanting to turn and let either of the players in the room see how bright red your cheeks are.
âIâm going to go change, Iâll be back in probably 5 minutes, behave yourselves.â Janine says to both of you, she walks away into the changing room.
âWhoops.â You turn back to look at Jessie who is still standing where you kissed her. You both have matching blushes on your face.
âAt least it wasnât my mom this time.â You shrug at her, trying to make light of the situation again.
âI guess,â she shrugs back.
âBut seriously Jessie, we canât keep doing this, we leave for Paris in less than 36 hours. You have to go, be focused, be this team's leader, we canât, I canât be distracting you.â
âI know.â
âSo that means no more surprise coffees, no more private meetings, like Janine said, we have to behave. Strictly professional from now on. No more of this.â You use a finger to point between the two of you.
âStrictly professional, got it.â She nods at you but her smile tells you sheâs not taking you seriously.
âIâm serious this time Jessie.â You try your best to be stern with her.
âSo am I.â You were both lying through your teeth, and you both knew it but neither of you were going to call each other out and say anything.
âOr just until the Olympics are over.â You add, hoping sheâll maybe be interested in whatever the two of you were doing come the end of the games.
âUntil it's over.â She flashes you a smile before turning to leave, following in the direction Janine went to change. She flashes you a smile before heading through the doors. You move back into your office leaning against the desk.
âHey.â You jump as Janine flies around the corner of your office door. She walks in closing the door behind you.
âOkay I donât have a lot of time, but I need to talk to you really quick.â
âWhatâs up?â You move behind the desk, looking for her file pulling it out. You start to open it and Janineâs hand comes down on it, closing the folder hard.
âThis isnât about me.â Sheâs staring down at you as you sink back into your chair.
You realized exactly what this was about. âOh.â
âIf you so much as hurt a hair on her head-â
âI wonât.â You interrupt.
âI wasnât finished.â You nod, letting her finish. âJessie is a special human and quite frankly she doesnât need you. Sheâs perfect on her own, sheâs strong and independent and she doesnât need you, but she wants you, so Iâm going to respect that, but please let her focus on this tournament. I donât know what you two are really doing, sheâs been pretty tight lipped, but please. Sheâs smart but she might not think straight with her crush brain, she might think she can handle starting something with you during this tournament, but she canât. She needs to be focused. Sheâd hate herself down the line if she let someone get in her head and mess with her playing. Sheâs worked her life for these tournaments. This team needs her focused, not distracted because of you.â Janine rants at you.
âI know. Weâve discussed it. I wonât be a distraction to her or to anyone. I promise, I want whatâs best for her and the whole team.â You mean it, you want whatâs best for the team, and you donât want to distract Jessie or anyone, you saw how hard they all worked and would hate to be the reason anything went wrong.
âYou seem like a good person, and given that Jessie likes you so much, you must be. So Iâm going to trust you.â Her hand comes off the file on your desk.
âJanine! Come play Teqball with me!â Jessie hollers through the training room.
âAhh the queen of Canada awaits.â Janine says, looking at you. She turns to leave, her hand on the doorknob. âJust so you know, Iâm serious, donât hurt her, Iâll make your life miserable.â The way she spoke with still a large smile while telling you sheâd ruin your life was slightly terrifying, but very much fitting for her Canadian personality.
âI know.â You just nod. And you did know. It wouldnât just be Janine coming after you if you messed up with Jessie her entire team would hate you. If you distracted her from the tournament the country of Canada would hate you. Youâd never get to work for a Canadian team, youâd never get to live that down. Your nerves build up a bit, even though you had no intentions to hurt Jessie ever, things happen, life happens.
Your spiral of nerves is diminished as you hear Jessieâs laugh carrying through the room. Just her laugh made you smile, your nerves ease. You were in deep, probably in too deep, but there wasnât anything you could do now, except go to Paris and do your best to just be coworkers with Jessie. You needed to be invisible and not a distraction..
So thatâs what you did. Or at least tried to do.
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Maybeeeee but also shit hitting the fan is so fun to write so maybe notâŠ
Physioâs Daughter pt.5
Jessie Fleming x Reader
Read the previous parts HERE
Warnings: cursing
WC: 4.0k
A/N: hi :) enjoy
The players ended up with way more downtime than the staff during the week before you all left for Paris they were really only responsible for keeping their bodies ready to play and showing up to get on the plane. You and the rest of the staff had meetings, more paperwork, you all had to pack your equipment away, it took more hours of your time than you had expected.
This meant you had to turn down Jessie on three different occasions when she asked you to coffee.
The first time Jessie shook off the rejection. Not thinking much about it, you were obviously busy with work and didnât have the time that day.
âIâm wrapping up here. Want to grab a coffee this afternoon?â She stuck her head into your office.
âI would Jessie but Iâm not out of here until 5 tonight. Plus should we be grabbing coffee?â You give her a questioning look. You had agreed to friends now, friends grabbed coffee but it felt like a gateway to something more with her.
âOh, okay, sorry I didnât realize you had to work so late.â
She shook you off, walking back over to her locker to grab her stuff and leave for the day, having to stop alone for coffee.
She didnât stop asking, one thing about that girl, she loved to stop by your office and she also loved to get coffee.
âCoffee? Do you have a lunch break at some point?â Jessieâs head once again swung around your office door early in the morning when players were released for a couple hours break before having to return in the evening for film.
You sigh throwing your hands up, gesturing to the pile of papers in front of you âIâm supposed to get a lunch but I think I have more travel paperwork to do during that time, I donât know Kelly from the administration called and-â
âDonât worry about it.â You notice the tight lipped half smile she gives you. You so badly wanted to say fuck it to the paperwork and go get coffee with Jessie, youâd get coffee with that woman every second of every day if you could. But you had work. You were at work and she was your coworker.
Insistent on getting you to say yes, Jessie offers another plan. âWhat about tomorrow morning since itâs a later start? Before we come in?â
âTomorrow I have to be here at normal times, itâs just you guys who get to come in late.â You give her a frown.
âLook if you donât want to come to coffee with me, thatâs okay, just say that though.â Her voice is quiet but she looks frustrated with you. Her eyebrows furrowed, upset lines on her forehead.
âNo! Jessie, I do! I do want to get coffee with you, just, this isnât a great week. Iâve still got a ton of work to get done before we leave. As the newbie on the staff I get all the simple but time consuming work no one else wants. Unfortunately the next few weeks will be just as crazy for both of us.â
âOkay.â She turns to leave âIâm sorry for bothering you.â Before you can really stop her to explain that sheâs not a bother and honestly the short chats you get with her are the highlight of your day, she exits the door. And you're left alone in your office, a massive pile of paperwork to still get done.
With only two days left before you had to fly to Paris you were trying to get most of your work done today. You didnât want to have to deal with work and the stress of packing tomorrow. You curse yourself for not packing sooner. You end up in the office until itâs dark outside checking your watch and seeing it was 7:30 at night. Your mom had left the office two hours ago, giving you a kiss on the head and telling you not to stay up too late.
You focus in, getting tunnel vision on the paperwork, racing through the stack of papers, until your phone goes off.
Jessie Fleming: what time do you have to be in tomorrow?
A text from Jessie has your phone vibrating in your lap. You pick it up and respond, wondering why she would need to know.
You: 5:30
You: Do you need treatment? Is your calf alright?
Jessie Fleming: So the facility will be open at 5:30? Calf is fine but Iâm trying to get in some extra recovery and stretching, feeling a bit tight after today's work.
You: Yeah it should be, for all I know I might still be here when you show up.
Jessie Fleming: Youâre still there?
You: I am
You: sent an image
You send Jessie a selfie of you, smiling in your desk chair, a significantly smaller stack of papers than she saw you with earlier in the day.
Jessie Fleming: sent an image
The image is her, in what you assumed was her Canadian apartment bed, a soft smile on her face, her head resting on a pillow with light gray cover on it. What also stands out to you is the way her sheet is pulled up, just under her collarbones. You can see her collarbones, she wasnât wearing a shirt.
You: Why are you in bed this early?
You: Do you sleep shirtless?
You regret hitting send on the second message when you actually see that sheâs typing.
Jessie Fleming: Thatâs professional to ask
Jessie Fleming: But yes
Jessie Fleming: Most of the time
Jessie Fleming: Obviously not when I have travel roommates or anything, but Iâm in my own place for the next few days so Iâm enjoying it before a lot of hotels with Janine.
Jessie Fleming: And Iâm in bed because Iâm watching a documentary and Iâve been told to get as much sleep as I can by the training staff at work.
Jessie Fleming: Especially this new young girl, she has been on my case about taking care of myself and whatever, but sheâs cute so I gave her a pass.
The mention of Janine has your mind thinking back to the other day, Janine grabbing Jessie and whispering to her before she gave you a look that felt like she suddenly knew everything. You wanted to ask Jessie about it but now probably wasnât the best time.
You: I sleep like that too, more comfortable
You: Iâm sure that girl is just looking out for you.
Jessie Fleming: I know, right? I tried to tell that to so many of my teammates, none of them listen.
Jessie Fleming: stop texting me, go back to work so you can go home.
You: youâre the one texting me
Jessie Fleming: shhhhh
You: đ
You put your phone away, putting it on silent so there was no temptation to text Jessie, having no idea if she had responded. You finish your paperwork, finally standing up your back and knees both cracking as you stretch. You check you phone as you walk to the car, seeing it was 8:22. Youâd have to go home, get dinner, shower, all to get up at 4:30 to be at work by 5:30.
A message from Jessie sits on your screen. You debate texting her back but you donât want to wake her if sheâs already gone to sleep.
Jessie Fleming: Have a good night, hope youâre not at work too late :)
When you sit back at your desk the next morning you feel deja vu, feeling like you never left. The only difference is there is no longer a pile of work in front of you, you thank yourself for staying to complete it all last night. You lean forward letting your head rest on your desk for a moment.
âHi!â Jessie comes around the corner of your office, sounding way too chipper for 5:30 in the morning, but then again she was able to be in bed at 7:30. You look up to her to see her carrying two coffees. She approaches you and sticks her hand out offering you one of the drinks. You were so grateful, you had opted for 5 minutes of extra sleep in the morning instead of getting a coffee and you were starting to regret that decision.
âShould you really be showing up to my office with coffee? You do remember what happened last time you did that, right?â You question her, squinting at her across your desk and sending a glance to the wall where she had pinned you.
âMaybe thatâs why Iâm doing it, maybe I liked what happened last time.â She pauses, tilting her head, thinking back to the memory. âExcept not when your Mom walked in, I didnât like that, that was terrifying.â A quick grimace follows by a smile comes across her face.
âJessie, we canât.â
âI know, I know.â She sounds defeated. âI just figured since going out for coffee doesnât really fit into your schedule right now, Iâd just bring it to you. I promise Iâm not trying to get anything out of you.â She sits down in the seat across from you.
âHow late were you here last night?â Jessieâs phone buzzes on the table, she ignores it.
âJust before 9.â
âOh wow, I was asleep by then.â You envy her early bedtime.
âYeah so I am incredibly grateful for this, thank you.â You shake your coffee cup as her phone lights up with another notification. This time your eyes trail to it. Youâre not trying to look at her messages but you just canât help but glance at the lit up screen.
Jessie noticed your eyes' quick movement toward her phone, âSorry thatâs just Janine, I told her I was coming in to do some early recovery and sheâs giving me a hard time about it.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âSheâs just teasing me.â She pauses, âabout you.â She uses her coffee cup in her hand to point at you.
âOh, did you tell her? She gave me a weird look the other day, after you came back and we hugged in the training room, you two walked out together and she sort of stared at me. So did you tell her? About the kiss I mean?â Finally getting an appropriate time to ask what was up with Janineâs look.
âIt may have slipped out, one of the times I was talking about you. But sheâs been teasing me about you since before that.â Jessie looks down to type back to Janine on her phone.
âJessie!â Her head snapped back up when she heard you scolding her name. Knowing someone else knows about your kiss, someone you didnât yet know well enough, makes you uneasy. âYou canât just be telling people that!â
âItâs Janine, sheâs my best friend, she knows me too well, she knew something happened and asked. I didn't think it would be a big deal, sheâs not going to tell anyone.â Jessie defends herself.
âI get that you think that Jessie, but if she slips up, next thing the whole team knows, then it gets out, youâll get in trouble for sleeping with the student trainer, whoâs 4 years younger than you.â You were spiraling, youâre not sure if you believe what youâre saying or if your mom had just scared you into it. You didnât want your own career to be at risk and you definitely didnât want Jessie getting in trouble.
âWe havenât slept together, plus youâre an adult, itâs not like Iâm 20 and youâre 16! Weâre both grown.â
âI know that, but good luck telling that to anyone else, they wonât listen!â
âI really didnât mean to tell her, it just sort of slipped out and Iâm sorry. I didnât think it would be an issue.â Jessie crosses her arms across her chest, she feels less warm than usual, less friendly, less inviting.
Only, it felt like it was a problem that she had told people. You werenât sure why Jessie would think it was okay to go around telling people about your kiss without at least checking in with you. A small bubble of frustration with the woman sitting across from you started to build.
âJessie, if people find out I could get fired! Sure, it might temporarily make your image bad but youâre too damn good, youâll stay Captain, youâll keep getting your call ups, keep being desired by different clubs, it wonât ruin your career like it could mine.â
âNothing is going to get out, nothings going to happen, itâs not that big of a deal!â Now Jessie is raising her voice at you slightly. Sheâs leaning across your desk.
âMaybe it doesnât seem like that big of a deal that to you, but it is to me.â You yell back, thankful that no one else was in at the office yet. You take a breath realizing this argument was not something you needed to be doing at 5:30 in the morning. âYou should probably go do your recovery. I have things to get doneâ You point to the doorway.
âOh.â Itâs obvious the sadness on Jessieâs face and in her voice. A sudden change from her argumentative demeanor. âYeah, Iâm going to do that.â She pushed back from your desk. âIâm sorry.â
You let her walk out without saying anything. She doesnât close your office door on her way out. Feeling stupid about the argument, you let your forehead come crashing back onto your desk with a loud thud, a lot harder than you intended.
âYou okay?â You hear Jessie ask, hearing the sound of your head against your desk from the other room.
âYeah, all good.â You groan back. You didnât want her to care and feel the need to check on you. You know you shouldnât care about he either but you canât help yourself.
Despite being quite annoyed with Jessie at the moment, youâre unable to look away every time she passes by your door, doing exercises or walking across the room to get equipment. Time goes on and then you hear her digging in the ice cooler, the sound of a plastic bag and some shuffling around.
âStupid wrap.â Hearing her talking to herself you stand up from your chair, it was your job after all to help with these things. You see her struggling to hold and secure a bag of ice she had made to her calf.
âLet me help you.â You offer empty hands to take the ice bag from her, grabbing the wrap and squatting in front of her to help her get it tight on her leg.
âThanks.â She gives you a smile, the way she was grinning looking down at you sent a shiver through your body.
âIs it still treating you okay?â You look up at her from where youâre kneeling in front of her.
âYeah itâs been good, just being overly cautious with it still, thatâs why Iâm doing all this.â She points down where your hands were wrapping the ice bag. You just nod, returning your focus to what you were doing instead of staring up at the girlâs pretty brown eyes.
You let the silence sit between the two of you for only a second before you break it.
âIâm sorry for how I reacted in the office just now. I think Iâm just a little paranoid, weâre adults, weâre allowed to do what weâre doing technically. I just didnât think youâd be going around talking about me and the fact that you kissed me.â You stand up.
âTo be fair, Iâm not going around talking about you to everyone, itâs really just been to Janine, she made some comments about you before we had even really talked much, she knows me too well. She knew I was interested, so she made some comments about me finding you pretty to which I blushed and she was onto me right away apparently Iâm not great at hiding my crushes.â She looks down at her feet.
âI just freaked out, knowing that someone else knows that you had me against the wall, in my office.â
âIf it helps, she doesnât know I pinned you to the wall.â Jessieâs face is now a bright red. Itâs suddenly very obvious to you how close the two of you weâre standing, face to face. Itâs apparent that you can make out all the little details of her face, where each freckle sat across her nose and cheeks, you could see it all. Despite still being upset and frustrated with Jessie for telling Janine about your previous kiss, you suddenly donât care and have the desire to kiss her all over again.
âJessie.â You stare at her lips while saying her name. You donât know if she noticed youâre staring, but her tongue runs over her bottom lip, wetting it.
âWhat?â
âDonât, what, me. You know what.â Your eyes donât move from Jessieâs lips.
âNo I donât. Youâll have to enlighten me.â You do, leaning in your hands finding her face you pull her toward you. Your lips meet hers, theyâre warm and soft and plump against yours. Her hands find your hips, pulling you against her hard. Her grip is tight, it feels safe. This time youâre able to finish your kiss, both of you pulling away just before you debate sliding your tongue against her lips.
âYou really should stop bringing coffee to my office I guess, it always seems to end like this.â You let out once you both breathe for a second. Jessie lets out a soft laugh.
You hear the door to the training room open and you jump away from Jessie, turning to pretend to organize something, finding nothing, everything already being packed up. This leaves you just standing there looking at the wall. You and Jessie both look over to see Janine standing there, coffee in one hand, training bag in the other and a smirk across her face.
âWell you two arenât suspicious at all.â She says sarcastically as she walks from the doorway further into the training room and in your direction. âIâd recommend actually doing something to make it look like you two werenât just doing what I think you were.â You canât read her tone as she speaks to you. âLooking at imaginary things on the wall doesnât really work as a good cover.â She stops behind you to speak softly only to you. You stay facing the wall, not wanting to turn and let either of the players in the room see how bright red your cheeks are.
âIâm going to go change, Iâll be back in probably 5 minutes, behave yourselves.â Janine says to both of you, she walks away into the changing room.
âWhoops.â You turn back to look at Jessie who is still standing where you kissed her. You both have matching blushes on your face.
âAt least it wasnât my mom this time.â You shrug at her, trying to make light of the situation again.
âI guess,â she shrugs back.
âBut seriously Jessie, we canât keep doing this, we leave for Paris in less than 36 hours. You have to go, be focused, be this team's leader, we canât, I canât be distracting you.â
âI know.â
âSo that means no more surprise coffees, no more private meetings, like Janine said, we have to behave. Strictly professional from now on. No more of this.â You use a finger to point between the two of you.
âStrictly professional, got it.â She nods at you but her smile tells you sheâs not taking you seriously.
âIâm serious this time Jessie.â You try your best to be stern with her.
âSo am I.â You were both lying through your teeth, and you both knew it but neither of you were going to call each other out and say anything.
âOr just until the Olympics are over.â You add, hoping sheâll maybe be interested in whatever the two of you were doing come the end of the games.
âUntil it's over.â She flashes you a smile before turning to leave, following in the direction Janine went to change. She flashes you a smile before heading through the doors. You move back into your office leaning against the desk.
âHey.â You jump as Janine flies around the corner of your office door. She walks in closing the door behind you.
âOkay I donât have a lot of time, but I need to talk to you really quick.â
âWhatâs up?â You move behind the desk, looking for her file pulling it out. You start to open it and Janineâs hand comes down on it, closing the folder hard.
âThis isnât about me.â Sheâs staring down at you as you sink back into your chair.
You realized exactly what this was about. âOh.â
âIf you so much as hurt a hair on her head-â
âI wonât.â You interrupt.
âI wasnât finished.â You nod, letting her finish. âJessie is a special human and quite frankly she doesnât need you. Sheâs perfect on her own, sheâs strong and independent and she doesnât need you, but she wants you, so Iâm going to respect that, but please let her focus on this tournament. I donât know what you two are really doing, sheâs been pretty tight lipped, but please. Sheâs smart but she might not think straight with her crush brain, she might think she can handle starting something with you during this tournament, but she canât. She needs to be focused. Sheâd hate herself down the line if she let someone get in her head and mess with her playing. Sheâs worked her life for these tournaments. This team needs her focused, not distracted because of you.â Janine rants at you.
âI know. Weâve discussed it. I wonât be a distraction to her or to anyone. I promise, I want whatâs best for her and the whole team.â You mean it, you want whatâs best for the team, and you donât want to distract Jessie or anyone, you saw how hard they all worked and would hate to be the reason anything went wrong.
âYou seem like a good person, and given that Jessie likes you so much, you must be. So Iâm going to trust you.â Her hand comes off the file on your desk.
âJanine! Come play Teqball with me!â Jessie hollers through the training room.
âAhh the queen of Canada awaits.â Janine says, looking at you. She turns to leave, her hand on the doorknob. âJust so you know, Iâm serious, donât hurt her, Iâll make your life miserable.â The way she spoke with still a large smile while telling you sheâd ruin your life was slightly terrifying, but very much fitting for her Canadian personality.
âI know.â You just nod. And you did know. It wouldnât just be Janine coming after you if you messed up with Jessie her entire team would hate you. If you distracted her from the tournament the country of Canada would hate you. Youâd never get to work for a Canadian team, youâd never get to live that down. Your nerves build up a bit, even though you had no intentions to hurt Jessie ever, things happen, life happens.
Your spiral of nerves is diminished as you hear Jessieâs laugh carrying through the room. Just her laugh made you smile, your nerves ease. You were in deep, probably in too deep, but there wasnât anything you could do now, except go to Paris and do your best to just be coworkers with Jessie. You needed to be invisible and not a distraction..
So thatâs what you did. Or at least tried to do.
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Maybe đ€·ââïž hard to say when I havenât written it I can make shit hit the fan :)
Physioâs Daughter pt.5
Jessie Fleming x Reader
Read the previous parts HERE
Warnings: cursing
WC: 4.0k
A/N: hi :) enjoy
The players ended up with way more downtime than the staff during the week before you all left for Paris they were really only responsible for keeping their bodies ready to play and showing up to get on the plane. You and the rest of the staff had meetings, more paperwork, you all had to pack your equipment away, it took more hours of your time than you had expected.
This meant you had to turn down Jessie on three different occasions when she asked you to coffee.
The first time Jessie shook off the rejection. Not thinking much about it, you were obviously busy with work and didnât have the time that day.
âIâm wrapping up here. Want to grab a coffee this afternoon?â She stuck her head into your office.
âI would Jessie but Iâm not out of here until 5 tonight. Plus should we be grabbing coffee?â You give her a questioning look. You had agreed to friends now, friends grabbed coffee but it felt like a gateway to something more with her.
âOh, okay, sorry I didnât realize you had to work so late.â
She shook you off, walking back over to her locker to grab her stuff and leave for the day, having to stop alone for coffee.
She didnât stop asking, one thing about that girl, she loved to stop by your office and she also loved to get coffee.
âCoffee? Do you have a lunch break at some point?â Jessieâs head once again swung around your office door early in the morning when players were released for a couple hours break before having to return in the evening for film.
You sigh throwing your hands up, gesturing to the pile of papers in front of you âIâm supposed to get a lunch but I think I have more travel paperwork to do during that time, I donât know Kelly from the administration called and-â
âDonât worry about it.â You notice the tight lipped half smile she gives you. You so badly wanted to say fuck it to the paperwork and go get coffee with Jessie, youâd get coffee with that woman every second of every day if you could. But you had work. You were at work and she was your coworker.
Insistent on getting you to say yes, Jessie offers another plan. âWhat about tomorrow morning since itâs a later start? Before we come in?â
âTomorrow I have to be here at normal times, itâs just you guys who get to come in late.â You give her a frown.
âLook if you donât want to come to coffee with me, thatâs okay, just say that though.â Her voice is quiet but she looks frustrated with you. Her eyebrows furrowed, upset lines on her forehead.
âNo! Jessie, I do! I do want to get coffee with you, just, this isnât a great week. Iâve still got a ton of work to get done before we leave. As the newbie on the staff I get all the simple but time consuming work no one else wants. Unfortunately the next few weeks will be just as crazy for both of us.â
âOkay.â She turns to leave âIâm sorry for bothering you.â Before you can really stop her to explain that sheâs not a bother and honestly the short chats you get with her are the highlight of your day, she exits the door. And you're left alone in your office, a massive pile of paperwork to still get done.
With only two days left before you had to fly to Paris you were trying to get most of your work done today. You didnât want to have to deal with work and the stress of packing tomorrow. You curse yourself for not packing sooner. You end up in the office until itâs dark outside checking your watch and seeing it was 7:30 at night. Your mom had left the office two hours ago, giving you a kiss on the head and telling you not to stay up too late.
You focus in, getting tunnel vision on the paperwork, racing through the stack of papers, until your phone goes off.
Jessie Fleming: what time do you have to be in tomorrow?
A text from Jessie has your phone vibrating in your lap. You pick it up and respond, wondering why she would need to know.
You: 5:30
You: Do you need treatment? Is your calf alright?
Jessie Fleming: So the facility will be open at 5:30? Calf is fine but Iâm trying to get in some extra recovery and stretching, feeling a bit tight after today's work.
You: Yeah it should be, for all I know I might still be here when you show up.
Jessie Fleming: Youâre still there?
You: I am
You: sent an image
You send Jessie a selfie of you, smiling in your desk chair, a significantly smaller stack of papers than she saw you with earlier in the day.
Jessie Fleming: sent an image
The image is her, in what you assumed was her Canadian apartment bed, a soft smile on her face, her head resting on a pillow with light gray cover on it. What also stands out to you is the way her sheet is pulled up, just under her collarbones. You can see her collarbones, she wasnât wearing a shirt.
You: Why are you in bed this early?
You: Do you sleep shirtless?
You regret hitting send on the second message when you actually see that sheâs typing.
Jessie Fleming: Thatâs professional to ask
Jessie Fleming: But yes
Jessie Fleming: Most of the time
Jessie Fleming: Obviously not when I have travel roommates or anything, but Iâm in my own place for the next few days so Iâm enjoying it before a lot of hotels with Janine.
Jessie Fleming: And Iâm in bed because Iâm watching a documentary and Iâve been told to get as much sleep as I can by the training staff at work.
Jessie Fleming: Especially this new young girl, she has been on my case about taking care of myself and whatever, but sheâs cute so I gave her a pass.
The mention of Janine has your mind thinking back to the other day, Janine grabbing Jessie and whispering to her before she gave you a look that felt like she suddenly knew everything. You wanted to ask Jessie about it but now probably wasnât the best time.
You: I sleep like that too, more comfortable
You: Iâm sure that girl is just looking out for you.
Jessie Fleming: I know, right? I tried to tell that to so many of my teammates, none of them listen.
Jessie Fleming: stop texting me, go back to work so you can go home.
You: youâre the one texting me
Jessie Fleming: shhhhh
You: đ
You put your phone away, putting it on silent so there was no temptation to text Jessie, having no idea if she had responded. You finish your paperwork, finally standing up your back and knees both cracking as you stretch. You check you phone as you walk to the car, seeing it was 8:22. Youâd have to go home, get dinner, shower, all to get up at 4:30 to be at work by 5:30.
A message from Jessie sits on your screen. You debate texting her back but you donât want to wake her if sheâs already gone to sleep.
Jessie Fleming: Have a good night, hope youâre not at work too late :)
When you sit back at your desk the next morning you feel deja vu, feeling like you never left. The only difference is there is no longer a pile of work in front of you, you thank yourself for staying to complete it all last night. You lean forward letting your head rest on your desk for a moment.
âHi!â Jessie comes around the corner of your office, sounding way too chipper for 5:30 in the morning, but then again she was able to be in bed at 7:30. You look up to her to see her carrying two coffees. She approaches you and sticks her hand out offering you one of the drinks. You were so grateful, you had opted for 5 minutes of extra sleep in the morning instead of getting a coffee and you were starting to regret that decision.
âShould you really be showing up to my office with coffee? You do remember what happened last time you did that, right?â You question her, squinting at her across your desk and sending a glance to the wall where she had pinned you.
âMaybe thatâs why Iâm doing it, maybe I liked what happened last time.â She pauses, tilting her head, thinking back to the memory. âExcept not when your Mom walked in, I didnât like that, that was terrifying.â A quick grimace follows by a smile comes across her face.
âJessie, we canât.â
âI know, I know.â She sounds defeated. âI just figured since going out for coffee doesnât really fit into your schedule right now, Iâd just bring it to you. I promise Iâm not trying to get anything out of you.â She sits down in the seat across from you.
âHow late were you here last night?â Jessieâs phone buzzes on the table, she ignores it.
âJust before 9.â
âOh wow, I was asleep by then.â You envy her early bedtime.
âYeah so I am incredibly grateful for this, thank you.â You shake your coffee cup as her phone lights up with another notification. This time your eyes trail to it. Youâre not trying to look at her messages but you just canât help but glance at the lit up screen.
Jessie noticed your eyes' quick movement toward her phone, âSorry thatâs just Janine, I told her I was coming in to do some early recovery and sheâs giving me a hard time about it.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âSheâs just teasing me.â She pauses, âabout you.â She uses her coffee cup in her hand to point at you.
âOh, did you tell her? She gave me a weird look the other day, after you came back and we hugged in the training room, you two walked out together and she sort of stared at me. So did you tell her? About the kiss I mean?â Finally getting an appropriate time to ask what was up with Janineâs look.
âIt may have slipped out, one of the times I was talking about you. But sheâs been teasing me about you since before that.â Jessie looks down to type back to Janine on her phone.
âJessie!â Her head snapped back up when she heard you scolding her name. Knowing someone else knows about your kiss, someone you didnât yet know well enough, makes you uneasy. âYou canât just be telling people that!â
âItâs Janine, sheâs my best friend, she knows me too well, she knew something happened and asked. I didn't think it would be a big deal, sheâs not going to tell anyone.â Jessie defends herself.
âI get that you think that Jessie, but if she slips up, next thing the whole team knows, then it gets out, youâll get in trouble for sleeping with the student trainer, whoâs 4 years younger than you.â You were spiraling, youâre not sure if you believe what youâre saying or if your mom had just scared you into it. You didnât want your own career to be at risk and you definitely didnât want Jessie getting in trouble.
âWe havenât slept together, plus youâre an adult, itâs not like Iâm 20 and youâre 16! Weâre both grown.â
âI know that, but good luck telling that to anyone else, they wonât listen!â
âI really didnât mean to tell her, it just sort of slipped out and Iâm sorry. I didnât think it would be an issue.â Jessie crosses her arms across her chest, she feels less warm than usual, less friendly, less inviting.
Only, it felt like it was a problem that she had told people. You werenât sure why Jessie would think it was okay to go around telling people about your kiss without at least checking in with you. A small bubble of frustration with the woman sitting across from you started to build.
âJessie, if people find out I could get fired! Sure, it might temporarily make your image bad but youâre too damn good, youâll stay Captain, youâll keep getting your call ups, keep being desired by different clubs, it wonât ruin your career like it could mine.â
âNothing is going to get out, nothings going to happen, itâs not that big of a deal!â Now Jessie is raising her voice at you slightly. Sheâs leaning across your desk.
âMaybe it doesnât seem like that big of a deal that to you, but it is to me.â You yell back, thankful that no one else was in at the office yet. You take a breath realizing this argument was not something you needed to be doing at 5:30 in the morning. âYou should probably go do your recovery. I have things to get doneâ You point to the doorway.
âOh.â Itâs obvious the sadness on Jessieâs face and in her voice. A sudden change from her argumentative demeanor. âYeah, Iâm going to do that.â She pushed back from your desk. âIâm sorry.â
You let her walk out without saying anything. She doesnât close your office door on her way out. Feeling stupid about the argument, you let your forehead come crashing back onto your desk with a loud thud, a lot harder than you intended.
âYou okay?â You hear Jessie ask, hearing the sound of your head against your desk from the other room.
âYeah, all good.â You groan back. You didnât want her to care and feel the need to check on you. You know you shouldnât care about he either but you canât help yourself.
Despite being quite annoyed with Jessie at the moment, youâre unable to look away every time she passes by your door, doing exercises or walking across the room to get equipment. Time goes on and then you hear her digging in the ice cooler, the sound of a plastic bag and some shuffling around.
âStupid wrap.â Hearing her talking to herself you stand up from your chair, it was your job after all to help with these things. You see her struggling to hold and secure a bag of ice she had made to her calf.
âLet me help you.â You offer empty hands to take the ice bag from her, grabbing the wrap and squatting in front of her to help her get it tight on her leg.
âThanks.â She gives you a smile, the way she was grinning looking down at you sent a shiver through your body.
âIs it still treating you okay?â You look up at her from where youâre kneeling in front of her.
âYeah itâs been good, just being overly cautious with it still, thatâs why Iâm doing all this.â She points down where your hands were wrapping the ice bag. You just nod, returning your focus to what you were doing instead of staring up at the girlâs pretty brown eyes.
You let the silence sit between the two of you for only a second before you break it.
âIâm sorry for how I reacted in the office just now. I think Iâm just a little paranoid, weâre adults, weâre allowed to do what weâre doing technically. I just didnât think youâd be going around talking about me and the fact that you kissed me.â You stand up.
âTo be fair, Iâm not going around talking about you to everyone, itâs really just been to Janine, she made some comments about you before we had even really talked much, she knows me too well. She knew I was interested, so she made some comments about me finding you pretty to which I blushed and she was onto me right away apparently Iâm not great at hiding my crushes.â She looks down at her feet.
âI just freaked out, knowing that someone else knows that you had me against the wall, in my office.â
âIf it helps, she doesnât know I pinned you to the wall.â Jessieâs face is now a bright red. Itâs suddenly very obvious to you how close the two of you weâre standing, face to face. Itâs apparent that you can make out all the little details of her face, where each freckle sat across her nose and cheeks, you could see it all. Despite still being upset and frustrated with Jessie for telling Janine about your previous kiss, you suddenly donât care and have the desire to kiss her all over again.
âJessie.â You stare at her lips while saying her name. You donât know if she noticed youâre staring, but her tongue runs over her bottom lip, wetting it.
âWhat?â
âDonât, what, me. You know what.â Your eyes donât move from Jessieâs lips.
âNo I donât. Youâll have to enlighten me.â You do, leaning in your hands finding her face you pull her toward you. Your lips meet hers, theyâre warm and soft and plump against yours. Her hands find your hips, pulling you against her hard. Her grip is tight, it feels safe. This time youâre able to finish your kiss, both of you pulling away just before you debate sliding your tongue against her lips.
âYou really should stop bringing coffee to my office I guess, it always seems to end like this.â You let out once you both breathe for a second. Jessie lets out a soft laugh.
You hear the door to the training room open and you jump away from Jessie, turning to pretend to organize something, finding nothing, everything already being packed up. This leaves you just standing there looking at the wall. You and Jessie both look over to see Janine standing there, coffee in one hand, training bag in the other and a smirk across her face.
âWell you two arenât suspicious at all.â She says sarcastically as she walks from the doorway further into the training room and in your direction. âIâd recommend actually doing something to make it look like you two werenât just doing what I think you were.â You canât read her tone as she speaks to you. âLooking at imaginary things on the wall doesnât really work as a good cover.â She stops behind you to speak softly only to you. You stay facing the wall, not wanting to turn and let either of the players in the room see how bright red your cheeks are.
âIâm going to go change, Iâll be back in probably 5 minutes, behave yourselves.â Janine says to both of you, she walks away into the changing room.
âWhoops.â You turn back to look at Jessie who is still standing where you kissed her. You both have matching blushes on your face.
âAt least it wasnât my mom this time.â You shrug at her, trying to make light of the situation again.
âI guess,â she shrugs back.
âBut seriously Jessie, we canât keep doing this, we leave for Paris in less than 36 hours. You have to go, be focused, be this team's leader, we canât, I canât be distracting you.â
âI know.â
âSo that means no more surprise coffees, no more private meetings, like Janine said, we have to behave. Strictly professional from now on. No more of this.â You use a finger to point between the two of you.
âStrictly professional, got it.â She nods at you but her smile tells you sheâs not taking you seriously.
âIâm serious this time Jessie.â You try your best to be stern with her.
âSo am I.â You were both lying through your teeth, and you both knew it but neither of you were going to call each other out and say anything.
âOr just until the Olympics are over.â You add, hoping sheâll maybe be interested in whatever the two of you were doing come the end of the games.
âUntil it's over.â She flashes you a smile before turning to leave, following in the direction Janine went to change. She flashes you a smile before heading through the doors. You move back into your office leaning against the desk.
âHey.â You jump as Janine flies around the corner of your office door. She walks in closing the door behind you.
âOkay I donât have a lot of time, but I need to talk to you really quick.â
âWhatâs up?â You move behind the desk, looking for her file pulling it out. You start to open it and Janineâs hand comes down on it, closing the folder hard.
âThis isnât about me.â Sheâs staring down at you as you sink back into your chair.
You realized exactly what this was about. âOh.â
âIf you so much as hurt a hair on her head-â
âI wonât.â You interrupt.
âI wasnât finished.â You nod, letting her finish. âJessie is a special human and quite frankly she doesnât need you. Sheâs perfect on her own, sheâs strong and independent and she doesnât need you, but she wants you, so Iâm going to respect that, but please let her focus on this tournament. I donât know what you two are really doing, sheâs been pretty tight lipped, but please. Sheâs smart but she might not think straight with her crush brain, she might think she can handle starting something with you during this tournament, but she canât. She needs to be focused. Sheâd hate herself down the line if she let someone get in her head and mess with her playing. Sheâs worked her life for these tournaments. This team needs her focused, not distracted because of you.â Janine rants at you.
âI know. Weâve discussed it. I wonât be a distraction to her or to anyone. I promise, I want whatâs best for her and the whole team.â You mean it, you want whatâs best for the team, and you donât want to distract Jessie or anyone, you saw how hard they all worked and would hate to be the reason anything went wrong.
âYou seem like a good person, and given that Jessie likes you so much, you must be. So Iâm going to trust you.â Her hand comes off the file on your desk.
âJanine! Come play Teqball with me!â Jessie hollers through the training room.
âAhh the queen of Canada awaits.â Janine says, looking at you. She turns to leave, her hand on the doorknob. âJust so you know, Iâm serious, donât hurt her, Iâll make your life miserable.â The way she spoke with still a large smile while telling you sheâd ruin your life was slightly terrifying, but very much fitting for her Canadian personality.
âI know.â You just nod. And you did know. It wouldnât just be Janine coming after you if you messed up with Jessie her entire team would hate you. If you distracted her from the tournament the country of Canada would hate you. Youâd never get to work for a Canadian team, youâd never get to live that down. Your nerves build up a bit, even though you had no intentions to hurt Jessie ever, things happen, life happens.
Your spiral of nerves is diminished as you hear Jessieâs laugh carrying through the room. Just her laugh made you smile, your nerves ease. You were in deep, probably in too deep, but there wasnât anything you could do now, except go to Paris and do your best to just be coworkers with Jessie. You needed to be invisible and not a distraction..
So thatâs what you did. Or at least tried to do.
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Physioâs Daughter pt.5
Jessie Fleming x Reader
Read the previous parts HERE
Warnings: cursing
WC: 4.0k
A/N: hi :) enjoy (if youâre reading this the same day it was posted and want to help make a decision on the future of this story go vote on the poll on my feed)
The players ended up with way more downtime than the staff during the week before you all left for Paris they were really only responsible for keeping their bodies ready to play and showing up to get on the plane. You and the rest of the staff had meetings, more paperwork, you all had to pack your equipment away, it took more hours of your time than you had expected.
This meant you had to turn down Jessie on three different occasions when she asked you to coffee.
The first time Jessie shook off the rejection. Not thinking much about it, you were obviously busy with work and didnât have the time that day.
âIâm wrapping up here. Want to grab a coffee this afternoon?â She stuck her head into your office.
âI would Jessie but Iâm not out of here until 5 tonight. Plus should we be grabbing coffee?â You give her a questioning look. You had agreed to friends now, friends grabbed coffee but it felt like a gateway to something more with her.
âOh, okay, sorry I didnât realize you had to work so late.â
She shook you off, walking back over to her locker to grab her stuff and leave for the day, having to stop alone for coffee.
She didnât stop asking, one thing about that girl, she loved to stop by your office and she also loved to get coffee.
âCoffee? Do you have a lunch break at some point?â Jessieâs head once again swung around your office door early in the morning when players were released for a couple hours break before having to return in the evening for film.
You sigh throwing your hands up, gesturing to the pile of papers in front of you âIâm supposed to get a lunch but I think I have more travel paperwork to do during that time, I donât know Kelly from the administration called and-â
âDonât worry about it.â You notice the tight lipped half smile she gives you. You so badly wanted to say fuck it to the paperwork and go get coffee with Jessie, youâd get coffee with that woman every second of every day if you could. But you had work. You were at work and she was your coworker.
Insistent on getting you to say yes, Jessie offers another plan. âWhat about tomorrow morning since itâs a later start? Before we come in?â
âTomorrow I have to be here at normal times, itâs just you guys who get to come in late.â You give her a frown.
âLook if you donât want to come to coffee with me, thatâs okay, just say that though.â Her voice is quiet but she looks frustrated with you. Her eyebrows furrowed, upset lines on her forehead.
âNo! Jessie, I do! I do want to get coffee with you, just, this isnât a great week. Iâve still got a ton of work to get done before we leave. As the newbie on the staff I get all the simple but time consuming work no one else wants. Unfortunately the next few weeks will be just as crazy for both of us.â
âOkay.â She turns to leave âIâm sorry for bothering you.â Before you can really stop her to explain that sheâs not a bother and honestly the short chats you get with her are the highlight of your day, she exits the door. And you're left alone in your office, a massive pile of paperwork to still get done.
With only two days left before you had to fly to Paris you were trying to get most of your work done today. You didnât want to have to deal with work and the stress of packing tomorrow. You curse yourself for not packing sooner. You end up in the office until itâs dark outside checking your watch and seeing it was 7:30 at night. Your mom had left the office two hours ago, giving you a kiss on the head and telling you not to stay up too late.
You focus in, getting tunnel vision on the paperwork, racing through the stack of papers, until your phone goes off.
Jessie Fleming: what time do you have to be in tomorrow?
A text from Jessie has your phone vibrating in your lap. You pick it up and respond, wondering why she would need to know.
You: 5:30
You: Do you need treatment? Is your calf alright?
Jessie Fleming: So the facility will be open at 5:30? Calf is fine but Iâm trying to get in some extra recovery and stretching, feeling a bit tight after today's work.
You: Yeah it should be, for all I know I might still be here when you show up.
Jessie Fleming: Youâre still there?
You: I am
You: sent an image
You send Jessie a selfie of you, smiling in your desk chair, a significantly smaller stack of papers than she saw you with earlier in the day.
Jessie Fleming: sent an image
The image is her, in what you assumed was her Canadian apartment bed, a soft smile on her face, her head resting on a pillow with light gray cover on it. What also stands out to you is the way her sheet is pulled up, just under her collarbones. You can see her collarbones, she wasnât wearing a shirt.
You: Why are you in bed this early?
You: Do you sleep shirtless?
You regret hitting send on the second message when you actually see that sheâs typing.
Jessie Fleming: Thatâs professional to ask
Jessie Fleming: But yes
Jessie Fleming: Most of the time
Jessie Fleming: Obviously not when I have travel roommates or anything, but Iâm in my own place for the next few days so Iâm enjoying it before a lot of hotels with Janine.
Jessie Fleming: And Iâm in bed because Iâm watching a documentary and Iâve been told to get as much sleep as I can by the training staff at work.
Jessie Fleming: Especially this new young girl, she has been on my case about taking care of myself and whatever, but sheâs cute so I gave her a pass.
The mention of Janine has your mind thinking back to the other day, Janine grabbing Jessie and whispering to her before she gave you a look that felt like she suddenly knew everything. You wanted to ask Jessie about it but now probably wasnât the best time.
You: I sleep like that too, more comfortable
You: Iâm sure that girl is just looking out for you.
Jessie Fleming: I know, right? I tried to tell that to so many of my teammates, none of them listen.
Jessie Fleming: stop texting me, go back to work so you can go home.
You: youâre the one texting me
Jessie Fleming: shhhhh
You: đ
You put your phone away, putting it on silent so there was no temptation to text Jessie, having no idea if she had responded. You finish your paperwork, finally standing up your back and knees both cracking as you stretch. You check you phone as you walk to the car, seeing it was 8:22. Youâd have to go home, get dinner, shower, all to get up at 4:30 to be at work by 5:30.
A message from Jessie sits on your screen. You debate texting her back but you donât want to wake her if sheâs already gone to sleep.
Jessie Fleming: Have a good night, hope youâre not at work too late :)
When you sit back at your desk the next morning you feel deja vu, feeling like you never left. The only difference is there is no longer a pile of work in front of you, you thank yourself for staying to complete it all last night. You lean forward letting your head rest on your desk for a moment.
âHi!â Jessie comes around the corner of your office, sounding way too chipper for 5:30 in the morning, but then again she was able to be in bed at 7:30. You look up to her to see her carrying two coffees. She approaches you and sticks her hand out offering you one of the drinks. You were so grateful, you had opted for 5 minutes of extra sleep in the morning instead of getting a coffee and you were starting to regret that decision.
âShould you really be showing up to my office with coffee? You do remember what happened last time you did that, right?â You question her, squinting at her across your desk and sending a glance to the wall where she had pinned you.
âMaybe thatâs why Iâm doing it, maybe I liked what happened last time.â She pauses, tilting her head, thinking back to the memory. âExcept not when your Mom walked in, I didnât like that, that was terrifying.â A quick grimace follows by a smile comes across her face.
âJessie, we canât.â
âI know, I know.â She sounds defeated. âI just figured since going out for coffee doesnât really fit into your schedule right now, Iâd just bring it to you. I promise Iâm not trying to get anything out of you.â She sits down in the seat across from you.
âHow late were you here last night?â Jessieâs phone buzzes on the table, she ignores it.
âJust before 9.â
âOh wow, I was asleep by then.â You envy her early bedtime.
âYeah so I am incredibly grateful for this, thank you.â You shake your coffee cup as her phone lights up with another notification. This time your eyes trail to it. Youâre not trying to look at her messages but you just canât help but glance at the lit up screen.
Jessie noticed your eyes' quick movement toward her phone, âSorry thatâs just Janine, I told her I was coming in to do some early recovery and sheâs giving me a hard time about it.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âSheâs just teasing me.â She pauses, âabout you.â She uses her coffee cup in her hand to point at you.
âOh, did you tell her? She gave me a weird look the other day, after you came back and we hugged in the training room, you two walked out together and she sort of stared at me. So did you tell her? About the kiss I mean?â Finally getting an appropriate time to ask what was up with Janineâs look.
âIt may have slipped out, one of the times I was talking about you. But sheâs been teasing me about you since before that.â Jessie looks down to type back to Janine on her phone.
âJessie!â Her head snapped back up when she heard you scolding her name. Knowing someone else knows about your kiss, someone you didnât yet know well enough, makes you uneasy. âYou canât just be telling people that!â
âItâs Janine, sheâs my best friend, she knows me too well, she knew something happened and asked. I didn't think it would be a big deal, sheâs not going to tell anyone.â Jessie defends herself.
âI get that you think that Jessie, but if she slips up, next thing the whole team knows, then it gets out, youâll get in trouble for sleeping with the student trainer, whoâs 4 years younger than you.â You were spiraling, youâre not sure if you believe what youâre saying or if your mom had just scared you into it. You didnât want your own career to be at risk and you definitely didnât want Jessie getting in trouble.
âWe havenât slept together, plus youâre an adult, itâs not like Iâm 20 and youâre 16! Weâre both grown.â
âI know that, but good luck telling that to anyone else, they wonât listen!â
âI really didnât mean to tell her, it just sort of slipped out and Iâm sorry. I didnât think it would be an issue.â Jessie crosses her arms across her chest, she feels less warm than usual, less friendly, less inviting.
Only, it felt like it was a problem that she had told people. You werenât sure why Jessie would think it was okay to go around telling people about your kiss without at least checking in with you. A small bubble of frustration with the woman sitting across from you started to build.
âJessie, if people find out I could get fired! Sure, it might temporarily make your image bad but youâre too damn good, youâll stay Captain, youâll keep getting your call ups, keep being desired by different clubs, it wonât ruin your career like it could mine.â
âNothing is going to get out, nothings going to happen, itâs not that big of a deal!â Now Jessie is raising her voice at you slightly. Sheâs leaning across your desk.
âMaybe it doesnât seem like that big of a deal that to you, but it is to me.â You yell back, thankful that no one else was in at the office yet. You take a breath realizing this argument was not something you needed to be doing at 5:30 in the morning. âYou should probably go do your recovery. I have things to get doneâ You point to the doorway.
âOh.â Itâs obvious the sadness on Jessieâs face and in her voice. A sudden change from her argumentative demeanor. âYeah, Iâm going to do that.â She pushed back from your desk. âIâm sorry.â
You let her walk out without saying anything. She doesnât close your office door on her way out. Feeling stupid about the argument, you let your forehead come crashing back onto your desk with a loud thud, a lot harder than you intended.
âYou okay?â You hear Jessie ask, hearing the sound of your head against your desk from the other room.
âYeah, all good.â You groan back. You didnât want her to care and feel the need to check on you. You know you shouldnât care about he either but you canât help yourself.
Despite being quite annoyed with Jessie at the moment, youâre unable to look away every time she passes by your door, doing exercises or walking across the room to get equipment. Time goes on and then you hear her digging in the ice cooler, the sound of a plastic bag and some shuffling around.
âStupid wrap.â Hearing her talking to herself you stand up from your chair, it was your job after all to help with these things. You see her struggling to hold and secure a bag of ice she had made to her calf.
âLet me help you.â You offer empty hands to take the ice bag from her, grabbing the wrap and squatting in front of her to help her get it tight on her leg.
âThanks.â She gives you a smile, the way she was grinning looking down at you sent a shiver through your body.
âIs it still treating you okay?â You look up at her from where youâre kneeling in front of her.
âYeah itâs been good, just being overly cautious with it still, thatâs why Iâm doing all this.â She points down where your hands were wrapping the ice bag. You just nod, returning your focus to what you were doing instead of staring up at the girlâs pretty brown eyes.
You let the silence sit between the two of you for only a second before you break it.
âIâm sorry for how I reacted in the office just now. I think Iâm just a little paranoid, weâre adults, weâre allowed to do what weâre doing technically. I just didnât think youâd be going around talking about me and the fact that you kissed me.â You stand up.
âTo be fair, Iâm not going around talking about you to everyone, itâs really just been to Janine, she made some comments about you before we had even really talked much, she knows me too well. She knew I was interested, so she made some comments about me finding you pretty to which I blushed and she was onto me right away apparently Iâm not great at hiding my crushes.â She looks down at her feet.
âI just freaked out, knowing that someone else knows that you had me against the wall, in my office.â
âIf it helps, she doesnât know I pinned you to the wall.â Jessieâs face is now a bright red. Itâs suddenly very obvious to you how close the two of you weâre standing, face to face. Itâs apparent that you can make out all the little details of her face, where each freckle sat across her nose and cheeks, you could see it all. Despite still being upset and frustrated with Jessie for telling Janine about your previous kiss, you suddenly donât care and have the desire to kiss her all over again.
âJessie.â You stare at her lips while saying her name. You donât know if she noticed youâre staring, but her tongue runs over her bottom lip, wetting it.
âWhat?â
âDonât, what, me. You know what.â Your eyes donât move from Jessieâs lips.
âNo I donât. Youâll have to enlighten me.â You do, leaning in your hands finding her face you pull her toward you. Your lips meet hers, theyâre warm and soft and plump against yours. Her hands find your hips, pulling you against her hard. Her grip is tight, it feels safe. This time youâre able to finish your kiss, both of you pulling away just before you debate sliding your tongue against her lips.
âYou really should stop bringing coffee to my office I guess, it always seems to end like this.â You let out once you both breathe for a second. Jessie lets out a soft laugh.
You hear the door to the training room open and you jump away from Jessie, turning to pretend to organize something, finding nothing, everything already being packed up. This leaves you just standing there looking at the wall. You and Jessie both look over to see Janine standing there, coffee in one hand, training bag in the other and a smirk across her face.
âWell you two arenât suspicious at all.â She says sarcastically as she walks from the doorway further into the training room and in your direction. âIâd recommend actually doing something to make it look like you two werenât just doing what I think you were.â You canât read her tone as she speaks to you. âLooking at imaginary things on the wall doesnât really work as a good cover.â She stops behind you to speak softly only to you. You stay facing the wall, not wanting to turn and let either of the players in the room see how bright red your cheeks are.
âIâm going to go change, Iâll be back in probably 5 minutes, behave yourselves.â Janine says to both of you, she walks away into the changing room.
âWhoops.â You turn back to look at Jessie who is still standing where you kissed her. You both have matching blushes on your face.
âAt least it wasnât my mom this time.â You shrug at her, trying to make light of the situation again.
âI guess,â she shrugs back.
âBut seriously Jessie, we canât keep doing this, we leave for Paris in less than 36 hours. You have to go, be focused, be this team's leader, we canât, I canât be distracting you.â
âI know.â
âSo that means no more surprise coffees, no more private meetings, like Janine said, we have to behave. Strictly professional from now on. No more of this.â You use a finger to point between the two of you.
âStrictly professional, got it.â She nods at you but her smile tells you sheâs not taking you seriously.
âIâm serious this time Jessie.â You try your best to be stern with her.
âSo am I.â You were both lying through your teeth, and you both knew it but neither of you were going to call each other out and say anything.
âOr just until the Olympics are over.â You add, hoping sheâll maybe be interested in whatever the two of you were doing come the end of the games.
âUntil it's over.â She flashes you a smile before turning to leave, following in the direction Janine went to change. She flashes you a smile before heading through the doors. You move back into your office leaning against the desk.
âHey.â You jump as Janine flies around the corner of your office door. She walks in closing the door behind you.
âOkay I donât have a lot of time, but I need to talk to you really quick.â
âWhatâs up?â You move behind the desk, looking for her file pulling it out. You start to open it and Janineâs hand comes down on it, closing the folder hard.
âThis isnât about me.â Sheâs staring down at you as you sink back into your chair.
You realized exactly what this was about. âOh.â
âIf you so much as hurt a hair on her head-â
âI wonât.â You interrupt.
âI wasnât finished.â You nod, letting her finish. âJessie is a special human and quite frankly she doesnât need you. Sheâs perfect on her own, sheâs strong and independent and she doesnât need you, but she wants you, so Iâm going to respect that, but please let her focus on this tournament. I donât know what you two are really doing, sheâs been pretty tight lipped, but please. Sheâs smart but she might not think straight with her crush brain, she might think she can handle starting something with you during this tournament, but she canât. She needs to be focused. Sheâd hate herself down the line if she let someone get in her head and mess with her playing. Sheâs worked her life for these tournaments. This team needs her focused, not distracted because of you.â Janine rants at you.
âI know. Weâve discussed it. I wonât be a distraction to her or to anyone. I promise, I want whatâs best for her and the whole team.â You mean it, you want whatâs best for the team, and you donât want to distract Jessie or anyone, you saw how hard they all worked and would hate to be the reason anything went wrong.
âYou seem like a good person, and given that Jessie likes you so much, you must be. So Iâm going to trust you.â Her hand comes off the file on your desk.
âJanine! Come play Teqball with me!â Jessie hollers through the training room.
âAhh the queen of Canada awaits.â Janine says, looking at you. She turns to leave, her hand on the doorknob. âJust so you know, Iâm serious, donât hurt her, Iâll make your life miserable.â The way she spoke with still a large smile while telling you sheâd ruin your life was slightly terrifying, but very much fitting for her Canadian personality.
âI know.â You just nod. And you did know. It wouldnât just be Janine coming after you if you messed up with Jessie her entire team would hate you. If you distracted her from the tournament the country of Canada would hate you. Youâd never get to work for a Canadian team, youâd never get to live that down. Your nerves build up a bit, even though you had no intentions to hurt Jessie ever, things happen, life happens.
Your spiral of nerves is diminished as you hear Jessieâs laugh carrying through the room. Just her laugh made you smile, your nerves ease. You were in deep, probably in too deep, but there wasnât anything you could do now, except go to Paris and do your best to just be coworkers with Jessie. You needed to be invisible and not a distraction..
So thatâs what you did. Or at least tried to do.
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I can't lie I check your feed every day, you're one of my favourite writers on this app and I love all your work especially because Jeff is the cutest
This is such a sweet compliment because there are writers on here where I check their feed daily too so the fact that someone does that to mine is really cool. Jeff really is the cutest isnât she đ„°
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Hiya - I just wanted to say how much I absolutely love ur work and I really appreciate u đ©·đ©·đ©·
Hi đ yall have me blushing and kicking my feet with these compliments âșïž yall are so kind i appreciate you!!!
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