For Elaina: Soony Saad

You and Soony walked around the streets of Kansas City. As both of your schedules were completely and utterly full and messed up without any structure to any of them, it was hard to find some alone time with each other. Instead of going on eccentric dates and such, the two of you would rather just sit down and talk, which is when the two of you had the most fun as a couple.

Soony opened and held open the door to the restaurant for you. You walked in first, heading over to the hostess. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes, for Saad," you replied. Her manicured nail moved down the list, stopping at your reservation. She grabbed two menus and stepped out from behind the table.

"Right this way," she smiled, leading you into the restaurant. She placed the menus on the table before heading back to her post. Soony pulled out the chair for you before pushing you closer to the table before sitting down himself. You and Soony picked up the menus and started looking through the options. A waitress walked over and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Leah and I'll be your server for today. Is there anything I can get the two of you to drink?"

"Just water please," Soony replied.

"Water for me too," you stated. She nodded and left to get your waters. Deciding on what you were going to eat, you put down the menu and looked at Soony. "Do you know what you're going to order?" you asked.

"Yes, do you?"

"Yeah." As you finished speaking, the waitress returned with your waters and you proceeded to order your lunch. After she walked away with the menus, you and Soony stared at each other, just smiling.

"We haven't been to lunch together in a while," Soony remarked.

"I think the last time we actually went out on a lunch date to a restaurant was . . . about two months ago, after we went to that restaurant near the airport when we dropped my parents off there," you said, remembering how the two of you had been hungry and just stopped at a little joint on the corner of the street.

"Oh yeah, that was the last one. Everything's been a mess after that," Soony chuckled.

"At least the seasons almost over. And then we get some time off and then in the summer the MLS starts up again," you smiled.

"Yeah, I can't wait for some time off. Believe me, I love the guys and I love playing, it's just that after a while, you just want some time off to just relax," Soony stated.

"Lucky you. I don't really get a whole couple of months off to just relax and do nothing," you teased.

"You can take days off, or I could meet you at your work and we can go out to lunch together," Soony suggested, taking a gulp of water as he finished speaking.

"That would be nice," you smiled. The waitress returned with the food the two of you had ordered before leaving the two of you alone. You and Soony continued to talk, although there was now food in your mouths so the conversation slowed down. Soony finished his meal relatively quickly, always being hungry because of his job, and waited patiently for you to finish. After you did, the waitress returned and took away your plates, leaving the bill on the table.

Soony graciously took the bill and put his credit card in the slot before placing it upright for the waitress to grab. As the two of you waited for her to come back and ring the two of you up, you and Soony continued to talk about what the two of you were going to do in the off season for him. The two of you lived separately. You lived in a small flat a block from your work while Soony lived in a house out past the city limits. You wanted a house of your own but you didn't nearly have the funds to cover that.

You had just graduated college and right now the only thing that mattered to you was paying off the debt and the rent. Soony had offered to pay off your student loans but you had refused, being too stubborn and independent to accept financial aid from your boyfriend. You had given up arguing with him over who would pay for dinner dates and such, knowing that you would never quite win those. So, Soony always paid for dates but you tried to make up the debt in other ways, although Soony always refused to take your money.

The waitress returned and after Soony had signed off on the amount and taken back his credit card, the two of you walked out of the restaurant. Intertwining your hands, the two of you walked away from the restaurant and towards the park. You weren't nearly as good as Soony but a few reminders from your playing days when you were young and a little help from Soony, the two of you were able to just pass the ball around.

As you passed the ball around, the two of you usually talked as well. Soony placed the ball on the ground, kicking it over to you. You passed it back and soon the two of you got a rhythm going. "Are you coming to the game next week?"

"I'm trying to get the day off. If I can tweak my boss's arm a little bit more, I'll be able to get the day off. I'll badger him tomorrow some more," you replied, causing Soony to chuckled.

"I'll give you the pass then later. You should just keep it from now on," Soony said, flicking the ball into the air before trapping it under his foot. He passed it back to you.

"I thought you were supposed to keep returning it to them unless I was related to you or we were married," you stated.

"Yeah, but I was never one for rules," Soony winked, doing some trick with the ball before passing it to you.

"Show off," you jokingly accused, passing the ball back to Soony.