The lights are bright, the grass is green, and the rain stopped this morning.
Come on, god, or whoever’s up there, I say silently.Give us this. After the week we’ve had…
I head out to the stands to see where my new sponsors are hiding, and stop short at the sight of a woman in high boots and a tan coat lounging in the middle of the row.
Mia looks up at me with a half smile and a raised eyebrow.
“You came,” I say stupidly.
Mia shrugs and tosses her long, dark hair. “What made you think I wouldn’t?”
“The, uh, ‘I don’t give a fuck about the club’, and the slamming door in my face kinda made me think that maaaaybe…” I trail off with a grin, and Mia laughs.
“Well, I changed my mind. Besides.” She looks down at the field with a dramatic sigh. “I was bored, fancied a spot of football on this freezing night.”
“Are you cold?” I gesture to the boxes behind us. “You can go inside, it’s warmer.”
She waves a hand, adorned with long, peach-pink nails. “Oh god no, all those elites in there, I’d feel bang out of place.” She gives me another warm smile, her green eyes sparkling. “I prefer it out here.”
“Me, too.”
“Hopefully they make it worth my while.” She gestures to the field with a smirk. “Otherwise everyone might blame me for bringing bad luck or something.”
I chuckle and lean back in my chair. “I think they really want it tonight.” I glance at her hands. “Do you fancy a drink?”
Mia shakes her head. “No, I’m fine.” She looks over my shoulder and leans into me. “Don’t you have some corporate sponsors to woo or something? I wouldn’t want to steal you away from anybody.”
“They’re skulking around here, I’m sure.”
A flash hits my eye, from the bleachers below, and Mia groans, slumping back in her chair.
“I will bet money that’s Paulie bloody Hardcastle stalking me again.” She gives me a devious side glance. “Shall I give him the bird, make a right spectacle of myself? All that good PR gone to waste?”
“Maybe we’ll just let him believe you’re on your best behaviour tonight.” Without thinking, I take her hand and plant a kiss on the back of it. “Thank you for coming. It means a lot to us. To the lads.”
Mia’s face betrays a hint of surprise, and she shakes her head. “Not at all. You better go find your sponsors before they get sad and take all their money back. Or the press catches another photo of you kissing my hand and then they’ll go and make everyone think we actually like each other!”
I raise my eyebrows in faux disbelief. “Can you even imagine?”
“The horror!” Mia holds her hand in front of her open mouth, and bursts out laughing. “Quick, go before it happens, Daddy-O!”
Reluctantly, I go and find the sponsors, waxing lyrical about the club, about the players, the long history, our established family name. I gracefully avoid the question of our famous star player, assuring them that the lads are up to it. I tell them about welcoming Troy Everest to the team last year, an exciting recruitment no one expected from the established Man City midfielder.
They seem moderately impressed, but still want to know far more about Archie and his tactics. We’re definitely not out of trouble on this one, and I silently curse Archie’s name.
Fucking foolish bell end.
The official club line is that Archie is injured, and taking a rest. Even as the supposed sightings of him keep popping up on social media, and no one has a bloody clue where he is. It crossed my mind a few times that maybe a Spanish team was trying to scalp him, but even that made no sense.
That’s not how things are done. We all know that. Archie knows that.
And yet I still can’t shake the feeling that my spoiled, idiot son is up to something.
The stadium erupts into cheers and boos as the teams are announced. I watch from the box as Salford run onto the field in their light blue jerseys, the matching banners of their fans waving wildly in the stands.
Then our boys run onto the field, in their red, maroon and gold jerseys, amidst veritable thunder as the stands explode. I’ve never been so glad to have a home game as I am tonight. Jordan needs this, and the lads need it, too.
Thank fuck something worked out.
