Josie Lloyd

It Could Be You

Oriel Paperback, 1997.

She giggled, and prepared herself for the pitch. Above her the clear blue sky stretched out over Regent's Park. This was a crucial run. If she missed this ball, or it was caught, the team would be out and she would be to blame. Watch the ball, she thought. Focus. Suddenly she'd hit it, the ball soaring up towards the orange sun, suspended above the tree tops. She flung the bat down and could hear Lisa screaming at her to run...She sprinted into the base, just as the ball flew through the air towards Bob, who was looking in the opposite direction...Charlie skidded into him, knocking him over before he could catch the ball. She'd made it. Her team had won

The sales promotion agency where Charlie works is competing against other firms in an agency softball league. This is a warm-up game, to pick the best players.

Across the dry expanse of grass other teams were playing and Charlie lay down and closed her eyes, listening to the muffled cheers drifting in the breeze and pointing her face into the sun as she tried to catch her breath. Then she heard the crack and fizz of a can being opened near her face and opened her eyes to see Daniel, who handed her a beer...He looked breathtakingly gorgeous in baggy blue shorts and battered sneakers, stretching out his long, well-defined legs on the tufty grass. "I had no idea you were such an athlete."