Page 75 - RKJ 2019 Online Flip Version

shifted her sight further from her husband. ‘No, Tabot! I never said no. I bit my tongue
It Rests on the Outcome
by Emmet Sheridan
‘Never get a good seat at this…’
‘Hey, I did my best, ya?’
Assuj leapt from the seat before she had
sat down fully. ‘And it’s sticky!’
‘We’ll swap places.’
Assuj eyed up the bulbous spectator on her
right breathing with difficulty as he scoffed
down snack after snack, and decided she
would chance her luck with the sticky setting.
After all, it wasn’t her finest dress; the occasion
didn’t demand it.
‘But to think,’ Tabot began, ‘to make it this
far?’
It was difficult to share his optimism. The
opposition boasted a winning streak unrivalled
by any other team. Their team had a different
kind of run.
‘We didn’t know this until we came…’
‘Hey! It was the right call then, ya?’
Folding her arms and readjusting herself to
show off the discomfort, Assuj spent a minute
in silence before opening her mouth to say, ‘It’s
just going to be the same old.’
‘Ahhh, I missed that. How am I supposed
to hear what the commentator is saying?’
‘What do you care? We’re already late.
You said you didn’t want to come here
anyway.’
Tabot threw his arms in the air. ‘And you
said you did, so let’s just enjoy da stupid game,
ya?’
It was her own fault for suggesting it, but
what Assuj blamed herself for was not voicing
her desire to visit the Moonflow. ‘We should’ve
used our Gil elsewhere…’
‘What? What was that?’
Sensing the point of no return, Assuj shied
away, preferring to let her eyes fall closer to
her gluttonous neighbour. As regret took its
toll, a single tear slipped from her eye, and she
Seeing this, Tabot cleared his throat.
‘Forget it,’ he said.
Even in the outdoors of a loud and
crowded stadium did the silence find its way.
Neither spoke for what felt like an eternity,
watching the match from different angles,
seated together. The commentator was making
his voice heard among the occasional sniffle
from the two quiet spectators, and the savage
glutton was running out of refreshments.
With nothing but the playing field ahead to
direct her gaze, Assuj found herself sucked
into the game. Before a minute passed, she
piped up. ‘That new guy is…good, ya?’
Tabot jumped and darted his head at her.
‘Y-ya,’ he responded, ‘he was a weird one
when he arrived, but the captain wasn’t kidding
when he said he had a secret weapon.’
‘There hasn’t been a match like this in a
while…’
She gave a forced laugh that Tabot
matched. He finished as she did, and wiped
the sweat from his forehead. ‘Pretty
exciting…ya?’
Assuj shifted closer to her husband. ‘I can’t
hear you.’
‘Exciting, ya?’
‘Ya.’
Tabot closed the gap between them. His
hand dared to rest on his left knee, and his
knee braved a gentle tilt towards his wife.
Assuj noticed this, and remained still.
When the commentator shifted from
praising the home team’s updated outfits to
engaging in a crusade to rationalise the
opposing team’s improvement, Tabot seized
the moment. ‘So, uh…maybe afterwards we
could, you know, go to the Moonflow next
month, ya?’
Assuj shivered. ‘Y-you knew?’
With a grunt Tabot nodded. ‘You said it
before, ya? You know, after our last one.’
‘But how…how much Gil did—?’
‘It doesn’t matter. I’ve thought about it.
Weekends and overtime for a while can—’
‘Tabot!’
‘Hey, I don’t—’
and said yes. You suggested it, and I didn’t
want it. But then you looked so unsure, you
tried to back out, and I…thought it was what
you would have wanted. Five years since our
first visit, and every year in between…’
‘…worth it,’ Tabot finished.
‘Worth it.’
Assuj allowed her hand to meet her
husband’s, and with that brought an inevitable
smile. Little of the stadium’s rising noise could
penetrate the moment. Their closest neighbour
stole a glance at their subtle embrace and
turned his attention back to his remaining
snacks.
The two leaned in closer before Tabot
pulled away and scratched the back of his
head with a nervous laugh. ‘Err, listen, ya? We
both…emm…’
‘I guess we both know what big fans we
are, ya?’
Tabot nodded. ‘If we were a little more
ope—whoa! Did you see that?’
Her expression said it all. Mouth gaping,
Assuj looked between her husband and their
fellow fan, who had ceased eating, all equally
as shocked. ‘How did he do that?’
‘Those defenders are gonna need a dentist
after that, ya? No one gets away with a whack
that hard!’
“This is unbelievable, folks! The new kid
has set the bar high! The favourites have yet to
make it past their opponents’ indomitable spirit.
One could only imagine what a pep talk they
must have gotten before the match.”
“They sure are playing hard, Bobba. These
guys are playing to win.”
‘At least we had faith in ‘em, ya?’ Tabot
boasted.
Assuj wrapped her arms around her
husband, neither unable to take their eyes of
the playing field. ‘You don’t think…?’
Tabot leapt to his feet, eyes squinting,
Assuj moving with him. ‘Hey, what are the
crowds chanting?’
‘I can’t tell. The fans are elsewhere.’
Tabot glared at their seats. ‘Can’t get good
seats anywhere.’