Officially Us

6 - Round Three: Gully Feral vs. Prince of Graves.

Once Mum tried some of the Greenies sweets, it didn't take much convincing to get her back there for breakfast the following morning. I was just hopeful that I might be able to see Sadie again, as motivation and inspiration for my game which I was growing pretty nervous for. I wasn't ready for my season to finish, and if we lost, it would be over. And besides, I really wanted the premiership this year to make up for my family falling apart, my best mate and ex-girlfriend likely getting together, and the future love of my life dating another dude.

But Sadie wasn't at Greenies in the morning. There was another girl, maybe a couple years older than I was, and an older guy who was perhaps in his late twenties. He was the one who came to serve us, carrying a giant coffee mug in his hands while doing so. It was one of Sadie's, without a doubt. I would pick that style out from a mile away now, having already made myself a coffee in my own mug earlier this morning. I had no problem with that mug replacing the one my dad took with him on the kitchen counter.

When the guy got closer and started asking for our order I managed to read the writing on the mug, which read 'Boss Man' in bold script, so I assumed this was the Hunter Sadie mentioned yesterday.

"Yes, we have been actually. We came in yesterday afternoon and there was a young woman working who was so lovely." Hunter must have asked Mum whether we had ever been there before or something. "I think her name was Sadie. Wasn't she just lovely, Ruby?"

Nice, Mum. You know her name was Sadie. There's no 'think' about it. And you really didn't need to bring me into it and make me blush in front of this dude while talking about her. Shit-stirrer.

"Yeah, she was."

"Sadie is an absolute dream. I honestly don't know what I would do without her," Hunter said proudly. In a similar way to how I changed my tune about Tanner, I found myself a lot less jealous of Hunter for how much he appreciated her. "She's also a pretty good baker. Did you try her famous chocolate and raspberry mousse tart?"

"We sure did. She gave us a few to take home. Actually, she gave us a few extras yesterday and I'd like to fix you up for it all. She insisted it was no problem, but I'd like to give you something for it all the same." What the fuck, Mum? You're going to get her fired! 

"Absolutely not. You must be the guy she mentioned to me last night — the one who caught her when she slipped on the wet floor? She said she gave you a few extra things on the house for the trouble," said Hunter, now looking at me instead of my mum and holding out his hand to shake mine. "Really, there's no need at all. My way of thanking you for saving my favourite employee. Though don't go repeating that around the place or I'll have a mutiny to deal with, and these people don't play around with that kind of thing," he said quietly so the other girl at the counter couldn't hear while patting me on the shoulder in thanks.

Mum was looking at me incredulously. I had left that part of the story out when she had asked about Sadie on the drive home. It was a special moment between the two of us and I didn't really feel like sharing it. All the same, it made me feel good that she had spoken to her boss about me. A good sign, right? 

Hunter ran off and prepared our meals, which were delicious, even if they were vegan. And I was actually feeling pretty good about heading into the game, despite not seeing Sadie like I'd hoped to. Perhaps she would be there at the game this afternoon seeing as she was dating Tanner after all? Unless she was like Brooke and didn't really go to her boyfriend's games, though I couldn't really imagine that would be the case with her.

Mum and I finished up and headed down to the oval where there was already a lot of people hanging around. I couldn't see Sadie, but I tried hard not to focus on that and just get my head in the game. But as soon as I managed to shake the thought of her, I noticed that Brooke and Tim had just arrived together with his parents, as did Tanner, Sadie, the other girl who was there yesterday, as well as a bunch of younger kids at the same time.