CHAPTER10
Amber
This wasn’t a stomach bug.
Stomach bugs didn’t last three weeks, and they didn’t stop for a break between ten in the morning and six in the evening.
They also didn’t have a preference over which foods you saw again ten minutes after eating them, which was anything sweet in my case.
They also didn’t stop your period.
Genny was in her office, frowning at something on the screen, her hair less than its usual perfect style. The dartboard was covered with photos of Guy, which it often was and she made sure he knew about it. She was the only person in the club who could get away with posting his photo to a dart board and throwing darts at it – the rest of us would probably be politely asked to find employment elsewhere.
I closed the door behind me and took the seat in front of her desk, waiting for her to eventually look up.
“Hey.” She smiled, her features softening. “You okay? Feeling better?”
I bit my lips together, trying to ignore the pounding in my chest, because I really wasn’t feeling better. I wasn’t feeling okay.
My world was imploding and the one person I wanted to help me mend it wasn’t an option. That meant I was going to Genny.
I had sisters, two of them, but they were both older than me and didn’t live nearby. I could always phone my sister-in-law, Ava, but she was busy with her business and her new baby.
“I need your help.”
Genny got up from her desk and walked round to the little seating area she’d had installed in her office. Neva and I often found ourselves tucked in there, usually on a Friday night, bemoaning players and managers before match day.
“This is the first time since I brought you here that you’ve asked for my help. What is it?”
I went to the chair opposite her and sat down, trying to relax. “I think I might be pregnant.”
Genny nodded, and I saw her shoulders fall as if tension had left them. “This isn’t the end of the world. If you are, there are options.”
“I know. But none of them are easy options.”
Another nod from my friend. “No. You are right. But -–” She stopped midsentence as the door opened.
Guy ploughed in, his expression stormy. “Genevieve, do you –” He stopped when he saw me and Genny stood up.
She shook her head, her attention – all of it – on him. “Not now. Whatever it is, it can wait.”
“But –”
“No, Guy, it can wait. You can negotiate that contract without me or pause it for an hour and I’ll help then. But not now. There are more important things.”
I’d never heard her use that tone with anyone else. I’d never heard anyone else speak to the club’s manager like that. Guy was considered a god in the footballing world, and on the whole, was a decent bloke. For some reason, the two of them didn’t get along most of the time.
He glanced at me, giving me a small nod. “I’m sorry. I’ll leave you to it. Just know he’s being an absolute cock-end and I’m about to tell him to fuck off back to Madrid.”
Genny’s smile couldn’t have been any wider. “Then tell him to fuck off back to Madrid.” She shrugged. “We don’t need him; he needs us far more, and I’d rather not deal with another too-large ego. I have enough to put up with enduring yours.”
I expected Guy to say something back, but instead he smiled, looking entirely amused. “I shall go and tell him to fuck off back to Madrid then.”
Genny folded her arms and watched him exit the room, then went to the door and locked it. “I’m sorry, Amber. Sometimes that man needs a keeper.”
The words blurted out before I could think about them. “Is there something going on between you and Guy?”
Genny sat back down. “Only that he annoys the hell out of me ninety-five percent of the time. The other five percent we get on quite well. But no, there is nothing going on.”
