Chapter Twenty-Six

Sapphie groggily opened her eyes and peered at the digital clock in front of her. Its bright red numbers flashed 8:17 PM.

"Shoot!" she yelled, bolting upright from the chair. Almost knocking it over in her haste to get ready.

The game started at 8:30PM!

Her thoughts raced as fast as her pulse. How could she have slept through her alarms?

Pierre had been clear – he didn't want to give her any chance to mess this up. But now she was seriously at risk of missing the biggest game of the season!

She had fallen asleep at the small table in her room, her braids poking out at odd angles from sleeping on top of her open textbooks. She had been up late studying for her upcoming final exams—after a sleepless night crying over what was happening with Kylian.,

Sapphie ran to the bathroom and turned on the shower, not even waiting for the water to warm up before stepping in. The cold spray shocked her fully awake. "Stupid, stupid!" she chided herself as she lathered body wash onto her scrubber at lightning speed.

After the quickest shower of her life, Sapphie flung open the curtain and grabbed a towel. She sprinted back into the bedroom, dripping water everywhere, and started throwing clothes around in her rush to get dressed. Jeans, shirt, socks – she pulled them on haphazardly without even looking.

Where were her shoes? Had she packed them? Brushing her teeth as fast as she could, Sapphie scanned the room in panic. There, under the desk – one sneaker. The other was nowhere to be seen. No time to look further. She'd have to go barefoot if needed.

Grabbing her phone, satchel and room key, Sapphie burst out the door at a run. She had less than an hour to make it to the arena.

Please don't let Pierre fire me for this, she prayed as the elevator arrived agonizingly slowly. Her career was riding on making it in time...

Thankfully traffic was light as Sapphie sped towards the stadium. In her rearview mirror, she noticed headlights that seemed to be gaining on her unusually fast.

Squinting, she saw it was a dark sedan. At first, she thought it was just another car that had joined the traffic. But as it pulled up beside her at the next light, she gasped. "That's the same car from last night," she said aloud to the empty vehicle.

Her thoughts started racing. What were the chances of the same nondescript car following her? An uneasy feeling crept over her skin.

As the light turned green, the sedan suddenly accelerated, pulling up right next to her driver's side door. That's when Sapphie saw the enormous camera emerge from the passenger window.

"Smile for the camera!" a man yelled, snapping photos rapid-fire at her shocked expression.

Oh no, had Pierre...?

"Leave me alone!" Sapphie shouted, slamming her palm on the horn. She swerved to put distance between them but the sedan matched her speed.

"We know all about you and Kylian," the photographer taunted over the roar of the engines. "Care to comment on your little romance?"

Oh Lord, no...this is exactly what she had been afraid of.

Blinding camera flashes bombarded Sapphie as she squinted, tears of panic and frustration welled on her eyes.

How do these strangers know about them? Hadn't she done what he wanted?

She had to get away before they caused an accident or something, but the sedan clung to her rear bumper like a parasite.

Sapphie floored the gas, desperate to escape the intrusion. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she wove through traffic, the sedan unrelenting on her tail. Her breathing came in shallow gasps between terrified sobs.

How could she lose them?!

As she swung around a wide turn, Sapphie glimpsed an open road ahead. Her foot increased its pressure over the gas, hoping for just enough speed to break free – but the sedan mimicked her every manoeuvre.

In her panic, Sapphie misjudged the curve. The tail swung out as she spun the steering wheel, trying in vain to regain control. Through a haze of tears, she saw the broad tree trunk rushing toward her window.

Time seemed to slow. Sapphie braced instinctively against the impending collision. Metal crunched sickeningly. Glass shattered. Pain exploded in her arm and ribs before darkness swallowed her whole.

Some unknown time later, Sapphie slowly returned to consciousness. Muffled sirens wailed in the distance as flashing blue lights danced around her blurred, spinning vision. A groan escaped her lips as bruised muscles protested any movement. Her head was pounding. She tried to get out of the uncomfortable position but her legs wouldn't work, prompting her to try calling for help. But her voice was weak and saying anything hurt her chest so she stopped. That was the last thing she remembered before her world went dark again.

9:10 PM

Kylian could feel the pressure mounting. His eyes glanced at the scoreboard, high above in the stadium as he dribbled with the ball. The scoreline was three to one. Lionel had scored their first goal only fifteen minutes prior and now they only had five more minutes before half time. That was how much Madrid was destroying them. The next thing he knew, he was breathing hard while staring up at the flood lights above. The defender who'd been clinging to his back, like the sweat dripping down his nape clipped his ankles and nudged him forward just as he passed off the ball to Lionel, taking his feet out from beneath him. Kylian had gone down like a sack of potatoes. But the adrenaline pumping through his veins had him back on his feet and in the defender's face within a flash.

"Hey, what's your problem, man?" He snapped in Spanish, shoving the smirking guy back enough to make him stumble back. Instantly players from both teams started swarming around them.

"What? Mad that you're playing like trash and now you're taking it out on me?" He mocked.

"Say it again, I dare you." Kylian growled as he pushed his forehead against the other player.

Before his opponent could say anything else, the ref jumped between them and pushed them apart.

"You two, break it up. Break it up now!"

"I'll show you what trash playing." Kylian growled, finally allowing his team mates to pull him back.

With only thirty-seven seconds left on the clock before half time, Kylian scored PSG's second goal with an assist from Neymar. After scoring, Kylian caught himself glancing toward Sapphie's usual spot out of habit. Her support always lifted his spirits before, but now there was only an empty seat. And suddenly, it felt like their semi-final match all over again. Only that she wasn't even there this time!

During halftime in the locker room, Kylian was downing a bottle of electrolytes when Ach nudged him with his elbow and asked,

"Have you heard from Sapphie?"

He shrugged, trying to play it cool as he remembered their second fight, "Clearly she's taking the silent treatment to the next level."

But as their argument replayed in his mind, Kylian felt a twinge of unease. Sapphie had seemed genuinely upset when she left.

"You can't blame her. I mean you did accuse her of some pretty nasty things." Shrugged Achraf.

Ney joined them. "You two really squared off last night. Think you should smooth things over before the second half?"

"Easier said than done when she won't answer my texts," Kylian replied impatiently then raised a brow, "why are you so concerned anyway?"

"One, because Sapphie has never missed an away game whenever she flew with us and two, you're playing like a maniac today. Might want to tone it down a bit before you get yourself benched. And three, because not even Pierre can find her."

Kylian could only sigh in resignation. His friends were right. They had come this far and he certainly wouldn't want to be the one who cost their team the trophy because of his personal issues.

"Whatever. Either way, it's better this way. Seeing her on the sidelines would probably have been very distracting." He said as the way she left the previous night played over in his mind.

Kylian sighed again. As much as he wanted to brush it off, Sapphie's absence was a distraction. It wasn't like her to miss a game, especially an away match, without good reason.

Had she really stayed away because of their fight? He wondered as something started gnawing at his sixth sense.

No, Sapphie wouldn't jeopardise her job like that. Which had him wondering if something was wrong. But Kylian pushed it aside when the coach stood up to give them their pep talk before, they went out again.

Whatever it was, they'd sort it out later. Maybe after the game, if she was still incommunicado, he'd swing by her hotel room to end this stupid fight once and for all. For now, he had to focus on the game.

Some minutes into the second-half, Kylian seized an opportunity, weaving through defenders in a dazzling solo run. He fired off a shot that rocketed into the top corner of the net. Equalising. Kylian raced to the corner to celebrate with his teammates. It was only as they were about to resume the game when a sudden substitution was announced. Moreover, Kylian was shocked when he found that he was the one who was being subbed.

Frowning in confusion, and annoyance, Kylian reluctantly jogged across the field to where Pierre and the coach were engaged in what looked like a heated debate. He tapped his teammate Javier in but his focus was on the coach.

"Coach, what happened? Why did you pull me out?" He breathed as he tapped in Javier, his teammate.

"Christophe, you cannot do this!" Argued Pierre.

"It's his choice to make." Galtier lifted a dismissive hand then turned to Kylian, grasping a firm hand on his shoulder.

"It's Sapphie," he said quietly with a grave look, "she was in a car accident."

Kylian's blood ran cold. His face blanched and his knees threatened to give into his weight. "What? What happened?"

The equipment manager tried to steer him back. "Kylian, the game—"

"Shut up, Pierre." Said Galtier, "We don't know much yet. All we know is that she was rushed to Hospital da Luz about an hour or so ago."

He sagged under the coach's hand as he processed the news. Sapphie, hurt and alone in hospital while he played. The thought made him sick. Especially when he thought back to the conversations he'd had with the guys at half time.

Kylian broke away despite the two men calling after him. All that mattered now was getting to Sapphie's side as soon as possible. He desperately needed to see for himself that she was okay.