Harbinger Of Glory

Leo got back to the car half an hour later and settled into the driver’s seat and glanced left.

Vittoria had been staring out of the passenger window since he’d climbed into the car.

She didn’t seem upset, but she was a bit quiet.

Leo fastened his seatbelt and glanced at her before poking her on the cheek.

"I was only gone half an hour."

She turned, managed the smallest smile, then shook her head.

"It’s not that."

He studied her for another second before starting the engine.

The drive back passed without much conversation.

When she finally spoke, she did so without trying to make it sound bigger than it was.

"My aunt called," she muttered as Leo kept his eyes on the road.

"She thinks I’ve been away long enough."

Vittoria rested her elbow against the window.

"She wants me back in Italy."

"Okay," Leo muttered and kept his gaze forward as a brief silence settled between them before she continued.

"She gave me a week."

"And if I don’t go..." She smiled faintly, though there wasn’t much humour behind it, mainly because she knew her aunt would really do what was coming if she wanted.

"...she said she’ll come here herself and make sure I do."

Leo let out a quiet breath through his nose before nodding.

"A woman who takes initiative. I like that," Leo said, trying to get rid of the sombre mood, and it worked as Vittoria chuckled a bit before glaring at him.

"I am being serious," she said as Leo made the motion of zipping his mouth shut, but that only made her smile more.

By the time they reached the apartment, neither of them had said much else.

Leo locked the door behind them, dropped his keys onto the side table and joined her on the couch.

She sat with her knees tucked beneath her, still turning the conversation over in her head.

Leo looked at her for a moment, then laughed slightly.

"You didn’t think you were staying forever," he said, caressing the shoulders of the girl beside him.

"I didn’t think I was leaving this soon either," she said. "I had around three months in my head."

At that, Leo laughed as he reached over and ran his hand through her hair slowly.

"That’s like more than a third of the season," he said while brushing through her hair.

"When exactly?" he said a moment later.

"I told her I’d think about it. She gave me a week." Vittoria looked at her hands.

"And if I don’t decide, she comes here."

Leo nodded before snorting, saying, "Seems like you’re going either way!"

"So why let’s not waste the time thinking about when it ends," he said.

"It might seem a bit normal, but I don’t think I will get over the absence of your presence so soon after staying with you this while!"

Vittoria went quiet, looking thoughtful as her head tilted to the side.

And after a while she looked at him.

"Do you want to just tell people?" she said. "About us."

Leo pulled back slightly to look at her properly.

"Where’s this coming from?" he said with a smile as Vittoria looked away.

"You’ve always wanted to keep things quiet. That was your position from the beginning."

She leaned into him and went silent again, curling slightly against his side rather than giving an answer.

Leo held her and didn’t push any further.

Then he took her chin in his hand and tilted her face up toward him.

"Come to the Burnley game," he said as she looked at him.

"It’s probably going to be your last game before you go, with how things are progressing," he said. "I’ll get you a ticket. And a jersey with my name on the back."

"Let’s take this chance," Leo said with a smile, "to throw a bit of ourselves out there!"

When he finished, a reassured look spread across Vittoria’s face as she smiled.

"Okay," she said before nuzzling further into Leo.

...

The predictions for Burnley’s visit settled into one opinion almost as soon as they appeared.

It was now six games and six wins, and although it was getting repetitive to mention, it wasn’t really when you thought about it.

It was hard for even top sides in the Premier League to go on to win even 3 games in a row, not to talk of a recently promoted side with supposedly the worst quality in the league.

Still, it wasn’t all bad for them as the major consensus was that Burnley, who were sitting just in the relegation zone at 18th, weren’t going to be a match for Wigan.

"Wigan should have too much quality," Pundits mentioned on talk shows.

"Burnley haven’t adjusted to Premier League football," some also said.

"Wigan clear on course to go top of the league with the odds against their opponents!"

That last one found its way almost everywhere.

Dawson read enough of it over breakfast to know where the conversation had gone.

By the time he reached the Wigan training complex, he knew he had to set things straight, lest all that talk outside affected his men!

The players gathered around him before training, still stretching, still joking among themselves, and it was there that he addressed his men.

"So..." he said, looking from face to face. "Apparently we’ve already won tomorrow!"

A few smiles appeared, but they quickly disappeared as fast as they’d appeared when they realised Dawson hadn’t said it as something for them to laugh at.

"I’ve seen enough headlines this morning to know half the country thinks this is just another three points."

He folded his arms before nodding towards his men.

"That should worry you. It was exactly what I was trying to avoid, but since we are here, we can’t avoid it anymore. Now, it’s almost a given that we win against Burnley!"

"Anything less and it will be deemed an opportune moment squandered."

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