The week passed in a flurry of activity. The developer client had bought a hotel in Manchester and wanted a total refurbishment. Plus a rich couple in Cheshire had contacted him about an eco-friendly office building in their garden.
These weren’t the most exciting briefs he’d ever worked with. Still, things were happening and he would never complain about that.
Now he was in the VIP seats at Brockton Park with an excited Samantha next to him on one side and even more excitable Monica on the other. After thinking about how unreasonable he’d been to Noah, Carmine asked if he could invite her.
Of course, Noah had been over the moon that Carmine wanted to bring a member of his family and had immediately agreed.
“What if Dad sees us in the stands?” he asked.
“Jesus, Carmine,” Monica replied. “Tell him the bloody truth. He’s a grown man.”
Carmine shuddered. “I don’t know what the shit is wrong with me,” he said. “The number of friends in L.A. I coached through coming out.”
Samantha shook her head. “It’s easy to tell other people to rip a Band-Aid off. Monica is right. You need to sort it. I don’t know how many more conversations like this I can have.”
“I’m sorry to bore you.”
“Babe, it got boring ages ago.”
The whole world seemed to be conspiring to push him into getting this done. They did have a point. He’d almost managed it when he’d gone for dinner in the week. Then bottled it. He was annoying himself now.
On the pitch, Brockton were playing Crystal Palace.
“Noah said something about this being a league game and not as important as a cup one,” Carmine said. “What’s the difference?”
Samantha groaned. “I explained this to you the other day. They are totally separate.”
It was so confusing. Carmine had always thought it was one competition. Now he found that there were tons of side missions. Champions League. Europa Cup. FA Cup.
“And Brockton have given up on the League?” he asked.
A man leant forward. “Not given up, young man. Brockton are going to finish midtable. But they have a chance of winning the cup so they’re consolidating.”
He sat back.
Monica shook with laughter. Carmine did not want to embarrass Noah. They had no idea who this guy was. It would be typical that they upset a major investor.
“I understand. I think. I’m still not sure about…”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Udo had made a break toward the opponent’s goal. The crowd were on their feet. Their neighbour behind screamed at the top of his lungs.
Carmine understood football was like a religion to a lot of people. He wasn’t one of them. Yet being amongst the congregation was a totally different affair than watching it at home with his father hollering at the TV. Most of the stadium were willing Udo on. It was impossible not be swept up by it.
He glanced farther down the pitch. Noah got himself into a position. Presumably in case the ball came down toward them. At the same time, Noah had his eyes locked on his teammate.
God I love him.
Carmine watched Udo expertly dodge a defender. Then he hit the ball with such power the goalkeeper didn’t stand a chance. When it went into the goal, the whole place went into uproar. Even Carmine cheered.
Everyone chanted. “Udo! Udo! Udo!”
Carmine joined in. Monica squeezed his arm.
“You’re getting the hang of this,” she said. “I’ve never heard you sound so butch.”
As the excitement died down and they took their seats, Carmine turned excitedly to her.
“I hope we get hot chocolates at the interval.”
