The worst thing about getting drunk were the flashbacks. Now Monica had mentioned it, he did have a vague recollection of chatting with Samantha about his new business venture.
Why the fuck had he offered her a job? He didn’t even have any clients yet.
“Oh balls,” he said. “Did she accept?”
“She certainly did,” came a voice from the hallway.
He snapped to attention to see Samantha coming into the room. Annoyingly she looked fabulous. She was still in her floral silk pyjamas. Even so her red hair had been perfectly scraped into a bun. Some light make-up gave her a much more human appearance than Carmine and his sister.
This was a woman who never dropped her standards. She was inspiring and terrifying in equal measure.
“Morning, babe,” Monica said. “Tea or coffee?”
“Oh coffee,” she said, sitting next to Carmine. “Morning, handsome boss.”
Anxiety swept through him. How would he pay her? He had come with a decent amount of cash from America. Even so, heshould never have offered her a job yet. It might be months before he got any work.
“I might not have been entirely sober when I said that,” Carmine said. “I’m not saying I don’t need an assistant. It’s just…”
He stopped to take a long swig of the scalding-hot coffee.
“Don’t sweat it,” Samantha cut in. “You told me you didn’t have any clients. Here’s a deal for you. Hire me for a month to get all your admin systems in place. If you haven’t got any work by then, I’ll go off on my merry way. If you have. Well, you’re stuck with me.”
It was a decent offer. Carmine had always been gifted at design. Organisation not so much. Besides, it would be nice to have some company.
“You have yourself a deal.”
They clinked mugs.
THREE
NOAH
The gym at Brockton FC’s training centre, Newby Park, was huge. They had every exercise machine known to man in there. Most of them multiple times. Physical fitness was the name of the game in these parts. And they clearly meant business.
It was far better than the club Noah had moved from. Winterbourne FC were also in the Premier League but were seen as the poor relations by most of the other clubs. Even though they were technically rivals, Noah still wished the best for them. They didn’t pose much of a threat to Brockton in their current form.
Noah hopped onto an Assault AirBike.He generally liked to ride a real bicycle along the country lanes surrounding Brockton. However, as was so often the case, the weather was against him. Rain pelted against the huge glass windows. This new piece of kit was Noah’s current favourite. Using the handles, he could control the resistance easily, giving him a full body workout.
Noah pedalled. Slowly at first. He wanted to build up to going full pelt and really getting that sweat going. Once he hit the righttempo, he grabbed the handles. The struggle was real but he wouldn’t give up. Noah prided himself on his whole body being in tiptop condition.
Tito Lopes was doing lateral exercises next to him. His legs might be the moneymakers, but Tito obsessed about keeping all his muscle groups perfectly pumped.
“Am I driving you home after this?” Tito asked.
“If you don’t mind,” Noah replied. “I need to call into the estate agents on the way. They’ve got the signed documents for my land.”
Tito grunted as he hauled the 70kg weight once again. Noah shook his head as he caught Tito watching himself in the mirrors that lined one wall. It was true to say that Tito enjoyed the aesthetic outcome of exercise just as much as the health benefits.
“I thought they finalised everything before Christmas?”
“They did,” Noah replied. “I need to get the documents.”
“What’s next?”
Noah worked the handles harder to increase the resistance on the machine. Already perspiration beaded on his forehead. He loved this feeling.
“I don’t know. I’ve never done this before.”
