My Therapy

Chapter 25

Adriane's POV

47..48..49..50

I counted as I finish the 50 sit ups we are required to do every basketball training.

"Alright team, huddle up!" Amber yelled as all of us finished the sit ups. Ever since the day I found out about her and Nicole, I never looked at her with the same respect as before. I really feel bad for Stephanie but I don't want to get involved with any of their issues.

"We'll have a tune up game with Ontario's girls' basketball team. So we will have a training camp first, before the game. I'm thinking about renting a lake front cabin for us. What do you think?" Amber asked the team.

The whole team agreed and cheered in unison. "I'll take that as a - Yes" Amber said.

The tune up game will be next month, so the camp she's planning will be a week before that and it'll be for 3days and 2 nights. I don't think Ella would disagree, but she would definitely say that she'll miss me.

After training, I went in to the showers with the rest of the team.

"I'm excited for that camp, let's bring a lot of booze!" Meg said excitedly.

"Let's see who gets drunk first!" Josie added.

Everyone's excited then Stephanie called me, "Adriane! Someone's looking for you"

I turned off the showers and grabbed my towel to quickly dry myself off and put on my clothes.

"I think she's the one you're with the first time you came here" Stephanie added.

I went to the bleachers and saw Ella sitting "Hey love, I thought we'll meet at your mom's house to prepare for tomorrow?" I said, as I approached her and kissed her lips.

"I just figured it'll be best to go together. My mom's gonna ask me a lot of inappropriate questions for sure, so I'll need a back up" she said giggling.

"Damn! I thought I'll be able to escape half of that since you're supposed to be there first" I answered.

My other team mates just stepped out of the showers and saw us at the bleachers. I introduced them as they greet me and Ella.

Meg, Josie, Ivy, Emily are the newbies she met while Rachel, Brittany and Morgan for the regular team members.

"Who was the one that called you?" Ella asked.

"Ah, that's Stephanie. She's our captain" I replied looking around if I can find Stephanie, but I didn't. She might be at Amber's office doing who knows what.

I asked Ella to stay at the bleachers while I get my things in the locker room. Meg and Josie talked to her, trying to convince her to watch our practice sometimes and see how I play. Of all the members of the team those two are my closest friends.

I grabbed my gym bag and went to Ella so we can go to her mom's house and prepare for tomorrow's birthday celebration.

On our way out, she slowly looked down at one of the benches where Morgan, Meg and Nicole are sitting.

"Love?" I asked wondering why she stopped.

"I think I've seen her before" Ella said.

"Who?"

"Adriane! you left your jersey!" Stephanie yelled interrupting our conversation. She walked towards us holding and waving my jersey.

I grabbed it from her "Oh, this is Ella my girlfriend" I introduced her to Stephanie.

"Nice to meet you" she said to Ella.

"Same here" Ella answered, still glancing at Nicole. I wonder if she knows her.

"All good everyone? I'll lock this now" Amber yelled as she stepped out of the locker room.

Ella's eyes widened, I'm not sure if she was startled when Amber suddenly yelled.

Then Amber looked at my direction and smiled. "Hey.." she started

Oh no, she might have noticed how gorgeous my Ella is - nope she's not gonna be one of your flavours! I won't let that happen! I quickly stood in front of Amber and said "This is Ella my gir-"

"I didn't expect to see you here" Amber said with a grin. What the f**k?! Is she  hitting on my girl in front of me?

"What are you doing here?" Ella answered and raised one of her eyebrows at her.

O..kay, I'm lost right now.

"Do you know each other?" I asked confused.

"She's...uhm my ex-girlfriend" Ella answered looking at Amber. I felt chills ran down my spine as I heard the word ex-girlfriend came out of Ella's lips.

I looked at Amber and she's still grinning at Ella. If it wasn't for the team I have punched her face to get rid of that grin.

Seriously, the girl who hurt my Ella is the same girl playing with Nicole and is cheating on Stephanie! How many girls does this person want to hurt?!

I clenched my fist and tried to compose myself.

"Really? She's my coach, Love" I told Ella.

"And Amber, this is my girlfriend. I assume you know her name but in case you forgot, she's Ella" I said and wrapped my arms around Ella's waist.

"Nope, I would never forget her name" she replied making a cunning smile. My clenched fist started to tremble, any moment now I'll hit that stupid face.

Suddenly Ella held my arms trying to calm me down. She reached for my clenched fist and intertwined her fingers with mine. She might have sensed my anger and that I am about to hit this asshole in front of all these people.

"Let's go Love?" Ella said softly in my ear which pacified me. I agreed and turned away from Amber and Stephanie.

We got into my car and I was just silent, still processing what happened. Ella looked at me and held my hand.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I nodded and looked at her. "You never mentioned that your ex-girlfriend is a basketball coach?"

"I didn't know. When we broke up she plays basketball for the Province but she doesn't work as a coach. I'm just as surprised as you" she explained.

This set up is really awkward, I thought to myself. I have been facing the devil herself since I joined the team without knowing it.

"Does it bother you that she's my coach?" I asked Ella.

"No, not at all. I'm more worried that you won't be able to stop yourself from punching her because she's an asshole" Ella answered and smiled at me.

She's right, I might have punched Amber earlier if she didn't try to calm me down. I'll be kicked out of the team if I do that's for sure, but who cares if that jerk deserves it.

I regained my senses and drove off towards Margaret's house.

-----

When we arrived, Margaret hugged me tight. She just finished preparing their guest rooms for my sister's family and the other room for Julia and Brett.

Ella is an only child so whenever there are family gatherings, Julia is present since she's like a sister to her.

"Wow! This is good!" Margaret said after tasting the dish I cooked. "Forgive Ella for being so useless, if ever you want to eat something delicious you can come over anytime" she continued while rubbing my shoulders.

I laughed and Ella looked really annoyed.

"And you find that funny?" she said and looked at me with a serious face. "Aw, you look adorable. Don't worry, I won't get tired cooking for you" I smiled and kissed her.

"Alright, go get some rest. It'll be a special day for both of you tomorrow" Margaret said shooing us out of the kitchen and towards Ella's room.

"And please, don't have s*x tonight save it for tomorrow. I'm tired and I want to rest early, the last thing I want to hear is Ella's pleasure screams"

"Oh my God, Mom! Be decent for once in your life" Ella screamed, her face is as red as cherries.

Margaret laughed and went in to her room.

I looked around Ella's room and found a lot of books, from reference books to mythology, thrillers to love story - name it, she has it.

"Have you read all these?" I asked.

"Yep, every single one of them"

"Geez! You really are a bookworm. I couldn't even finish one" I said still mesmerized at all of her book collection.

"I figured, you read a page of your Abnormal Psychology book and instantly doze off" she replied giggling.

"Really funny" I answered rolling my eyes at her.

I saw her University's year book and took it from the shelf. I browsed through the pages and saw a photo of the girls' basketball team. At that time, Amber was their captain. I checked other pages and saw photos taken from their Senior prom - Amber and Ella are together.

I felt a stab in my heart, my breathing became slow. Somehow I felt the air in Ella's room is suffocating me. I felt angry and jealous at Amber. This is the jerk that hurt my Ella but she's also the same person who made her smile in this photo.

Suddenly, I felt Ella's arms around my waist. Her head leaned on my back and she whispered "You don't need to be jealous. She's my past, your my present and future."

I turned around and tilted her chin up to see her beautiful face. She smiled and tip toed to kiss my lips. The touch of her lips brought the air back in to the room. I felt relieved after hearing those words from her.

"I love you so much, Adriane" Ella said with that gorgeous smile I've always loved.