Harbinger Of Glory

Leo got back to his unit late, dropped his bag by the door, and went straight to the bathroom to freshen up.

The shoot had ended more than 3 hours ago, but he had passed by Sofia’s place, which had led to him being late.

He came out a few minutes later in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, phone in hand, scrolling through his timeline without really reading any of it.

After a second, he snapped his head up from his phone and then stood silently in the middle of the room for a moment.

And all he could think in that moment was that it felt smaller than it used to.

He remembered the first time he’d walked into this unit, how it had felt like proof of something, like a room that said you’re going in the right direction in a way that nothing else had at the time.

Dawson had brought him here, and the room had felt enormous at the time, but now, it just felt like something he had outgrown.

He reached over and tapped the wall once with two knuckles, sort of an acknowledgement, before closing the bathroom door behind him.

Following that, he sat at the small desk and opened his laptop.

He had still been checking for apartments, but after Noah took over, it had progressed smoothly, and now he was currently looking at the website of the apartment he had checked out earlier that week.

It had two bedrooms with a living space, a bathroom in each of the bedrooms, though the main one was bigger as well as a moderately sized kitchen, though Leo doubted he was ever going to cook something.

Still, it was nice to have, and it had all been at the price of 1900 pounds a month.

It was on the pricier end, and that was what comfort sometimes came with.

And for the current Leo, comfort was something he could afford, and since Wigan was basically paying him an accommodation allowance of 2500 pounds a month, he wasn’t going to complain.

A moment later, he opened WhatsApp on the laptop and sent the screenshot to Noah with a single line.

I liked this one the most.

The reply came back almost before he’d finished typing.

I’ll contact the agency and send the deposit over. I had been in contact with them over a few of the listings, including this one, and they said you’d probably be good to move in over the course of the next week.

Leo typed, ” Thanks, ” to which Noah replied no problem and then, after a second, You ready for tomorrow? First session.

Leo looked at the message, and he had to say, he was excited to say the least.

O’Shea and Seriki had both completed their medicals that afternoon, at least according to what Dawson had said in the group chat.

The squad was as close to complete as it was going to be before the season started, and tomorrow was the first of July and Wigan’s first proper session since the end of their season on May 24th.

He typed 100% and closed the laptop before he began preparing to call it a day, but he was halfway to the bed when he remembered the missed calls during the day.

He pulled his phone out and was already finding Vittoria’s name when the screen lit up with her call, and almost instantly, he answered.

At that, a pause came on her end, like she’d been prepared to wait through more rings.

”You picked up fast,” she said, sounding almost professional.

”I had my phone in my hand,” he replied as he moved forward to sit on the edge of the bed.

Another long silence invaded the call as the two stayed mute until Vittoria broke it.

”I thought you were angry with me,” she said.

”Why would I be angry with you?”

”Because I didn’t reach”, she said.

”When I was the one who had a problem with you doing the same thing. I know how that looks.”

Leo was quiet for a second before sighing, almost relieved.

”Honestly?” he said.

”Yes,” Vittoria replied, unable to wait to hear what he had to say.

”I’m glad you called.”

That caught Vittoria a bit off guard since that wasn’t along the lines of anything she was expecting to hear.

”I mean that,” Leo followed up.

”How so?” she said, and he could hear that she genuinely wanted to know.

”In the time that I’ve known you, which isn’t that long as compared to others, but still counts for something, you wouldn’t do something you admonish others for. And to me, you doing so meant that something might have happened and you’re dealing with it.”

”But if something’s going on, the better version of this is you saying so.”

He paused.

”That’s all.”

The line was quiet for a moment.

He could hear her breathing, slow and slightly heavy, before her voice came through again.

”I’m glad you think that way.”

”Still wasn’t nice though,” Leo said, and his voice was easy when he said it.

”Being kept in the dark when something’s clearly going on.”

”I know,” she said.

”That’s part of why I called,” she said as a ruffling sound interrupted the call from her side.

”Hold on,” she said once more before the call went on hold.

Leo took the phone from his ear, and a few seconds later, a message came through from her.

He opened it and as he did, he came to face photos, and he recognised them immediately.

”This....” he tried saying as he scrutinised the pictures before going quiet a second later.

Manchester.

The cafe.

The afternoon with the caricatures, the coffee and the tissue.

The angles were different from how he’d experienced the day.

Like it was more compressed and slightly charged as opposed to what it had truly been that day, but if he had to be truthful, the photos weren’t very far off from telling the story of what had gone on that day.

As he continued looking at the pictures, the call came off hold, which prompted him to put it on speaker and keep looking at the pictures.

”That day,” Vittoria said. ”When I told you I felt a flash.”

”Yeah,” Leo said slowly, and then the thing clicked into place the way things do when the information was already there and just needed arranging.

”Oh.”

”Yeah,” she said. ”Oh.”

”So is it like trending in Italy?”

”Something like that, and my family saw it, you know, even before the articles were released!”

Leo looked at the pictures again and saw that his face wasn’t visible in any of them.

”Is it a big deal that they saw it? You know, your family?”

Vittoria was quiet for long enough that the silence said yes before she did.

”For that,” she said carefully, ”I need to talk to you in person. It wouldn’t feel right on the phone. You’ve shown me a lot about your life, and I haven’t done the same, and I think you deserve to hear certain things properly.”

”Is your family in the mafia or something?” Leo joked as he tried to make light of the situation, and it worked as he got a laugh out of Vittoria before she told him to be serious.

He thought for a moment before bringing the phone back to his ear.

”I can book a flight, maybe the day after tomorrow. I’m resting then anyway.”

Hearing his words, Vittoria went silent for a moment at his proactiveness, which was something she was still getting used to.

Then, ”Leo.”

”What?”

”You don’t need to fly out.”

And as she said that, her voice and tone got warmer, the same kind she had when she was around him.

”I’ll come to you.”

”You sure?”

”Yes. Probably sometime next week if that works.”

”It works,” he said before they lost words again.

”Thank you,” Vittoria said after a while.

”You’ve given me hope. That sounds dramatic, but I mean it.”

Leo didn’t fully understand what she meant by it, and rather than pretend he did, he moved past it.

It would all make sense later.

”Just stay in touch,” he said. ”I’m not your boyfriend or anything yet, but communication matters in any kind of relationship. I’ll actually book that flight if you go quiet again.”

At that, Leo could feel the other end go deathly silent.

”Yet?” she said as Leo stood up from the bed.

”Ah, anyway, I’ve got training tomorrow,” he said. ”Goodnight, Vittoria.”

He ended the call before she could say anything else, which he was aware was slightly cowardly and also slightly necessary.

He was going to leave it to her to interpret how he’d meant it.

In Forte dei Marmi, Vittoria was still holding the phone to her ear even though the call had ended.

”Yet,” she said again, to nobody.

And then something swelled up in her chest, warm and slightly ridiculous and completely out of her control, the kind of feeling that makes you feel briefly like you might be in danger of something wonderful, and she fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling with it until her eyes closed.