Premier Deception (4 page)

It was the usual background information and what job
she was interested in at the club. She started to fill it in and
when she next looked up the room had filled up considerably with
lots of nervous people, some were talking to the person next to
them, others looking blankly around them and others playing with
their phones.

There were all types
and ages here she thought with interest. Charlotte loved nothing
more than people watching; so much so that she had to remind
herself not to stare at them otherwise it could land her in trouble
one day. A young girl sat down in the other seat next to Charlotte
and smiled nervously at her.
“
Hi my name
is Chantelle,
”
she said flashing
Charlotte a lovely smile.
“
Are you here
for a bar job? I am my goal is to work in the players bar. My mum
says that I might get noticed by a footballer and then I can start
living the high life. Sorry I must stop rattling on but I tend to
talk too much when I
‘
m nervous.
”
Charlotte smiled back at her taking in her
heavily made up face and local accent. She was a pretty girl who
didn
’
t need the heavy make up. She had a
cute blonde bob and was smartly dressed in a purple skirt and
jacket.

The guy next to
Charlotte looked at Chantelle in disgust which really wound
Charlotte up. What right did he have to judge this girl? Just
because meeting and marrying a footballer was her ambition what
business was it of his? Charlotte didn
’
t
like it when people were unkind to others, especially when they
didn
’
t even know them.
Let
’
s see what you
’
re interested in then shall we, Mr I am better than you!
Thought Charlotte. Turning towards him she said abruptly.
“
And what job are you hoping to apply
for?
”
giving him a cool hard stare. He
replied with a heavy foreign accent that Charlotte
couldn
’
t place.
“
I am hoping to do anything that will start me on the ladder
to success,
”
he said strangely, fixing
her with his dark eyes in a strangely hypnotic glare, and then
turned away as if to say that he didn
’
t
want to elaborate any further. Chantelle looked bemused and
Charlotte puzzled. What an odd thing to say, she thought. Maybe he
had been talking to her mother about starting at the bottom and
working his way up!

Before they could
speak any further a man in a smart business suit entered the room
and scanned it anxiously as though looking for something. His eyes
settled on the three of them at the back and he looked carefully at
them. Charlotte felt unnerved as his gaze appeared to pierce
through her and she didn
’
t know where to
look. He made his way quickly over to them and asked for their
forms. Once again he looked hard at Charlotte which made her feel
very self conscious, and then went as quickly as he had come,
taking her form with him. Charlotte suddenly felt very hot and
bothered. Oh no she thought, the wife must have seen her and
demanded that she be thrown out!

“That was
strange,
”
said Chantelle, looking at
Charlotte suspiciously. The guy next to her also looked at her
questioningly and Charlotte felt herself go red.
“
I don
’
t know what
that was about,
”
she said,
“
I feel a little bit nervous though.
”
The guy turned and said,
“
don
’
t worry I
’
m sure it was nothing, by the way my name is Max, I am
pleased to meet you.
” “
Charlotte,
”
she said
“
I
’
m pleased to meet you
too.
”
They shook hands and smiled, and as
he looked at her she felt a shiver run through her. His gaze was
intense and his eyes dark and compelling. She was mesmerised and
couldn
’
t look away. He smiled and then
held out his hand to Chantelle, who appeared also similarly
affected. He had a definite effect on people Charlotte thought.
Once again the door opened and a lady came in and addressed the
room.
“
If I call out your name you must
come with me,
”
she said loudly looking
down at her clipboard.
“
Charlotte
Dawson.
”
Charlotte looked up, gosh that
was quick; she thought she would be behind the others in front of
her in the queue. This must be when she would get her marching
orders.

Chantelle looked at
her excitedly.
“
Good luck, I hope we both
get the player
’
s bar.
”
Max also looked at her with an amused look on his
face.
“
Yes good Luck, I hope we meet
again.
”
Charlotte blushed as he looked
steadily at her. He really was drop dead gorgeous; he
wouldn
’
t be out of place in her Hollywood
dream in place of Johnny Depp.
“
Yes you
too,
”
she said to them both and nervously
followed the lady out of the room
“
Come
this way,
”
the lady said.
“
My name is Elsie Baker and I am the personal
assistant to Mr Maloney, if you would like to take a seat in this
room someone will be with you shortly,
”
and with that she opened the door of a large room with a
massive table in the centre surrounded by chairs, with huge windows
that looked out over the stadium pitch.

Left on her own,
Charlotte sat down gingerly in one of the chairs and looked around
her. The room was light and airy and could accommodate as many as
twenty people she guessed. There wasn
’
t
much furniture and it appeared to be a meeting room. Once again
there were pictures on the walls of various teams through the
years. Looking towards the window she noticed that the view was
fantastic, you could see the whole football pitch from here which
was vast, surrounded by the many tiers of seating that housed the
raucous fans each week. Any minute now Mr Maloney would come into
the room, probably with his wife, who would point at Charlotte and
say,
“
That
’
s
her, the one who assaulted me at Costa
’
s.
Throw her out immediately!
”

She looked through
the windows and outside in the stadium there was a hive of
activity. Grounds men were getting the pitch ready, which they did
every day despite there being no game scheduled for that day. The
season was over and most of the footballers were now on holiday.
They were due back soon for pre season training and some pre season
matches. Charlotte wondered who the new manager would be. There was
certainly a lot of interest so hopefully it would be somebody who
could turn the club
’
s fortunes around.
Charlotte thought about Max sitting outside waiting for his turn.
Something about him intrigued her. He didn
’
t seem like your usual casual labour applicant. His accent
was one that she couldn
’
t place. He also
had an air of confidence around him and hadn
’
t seemed in the least bit nervous. The thought of him sent
shivers through her and she hoped that they would meet again, that
is if she wasn
’
t thrown out on her ear
any minute now. Just then the door swung open and two men strode
into the room closely followed by Elsie Baker. Charlotte jumped up
out of her seat and faced them awkwardly. This all seemed a bit
extreme for a casual summer job interview so she must be about to
get thrown out for assaulting the owners wife.

They stood looking at
her taking in her appearance, looking her up and down without
saying a word. She felt quite uncomfortable and shifted nervously
on her feet, and then realising their manners one of the men
stepped forward with his hand outstretched saying,
“
I am so sorry where are my manners? My name is
Mitchell Maloney and this is my brother Maurice.
”
Charlotte squeezed his hand in a firm handshake
and then offered it to his brother saying,
“
I am very pleased to meet you.
”

She looked at them
thinking that if she didn
’
t know it she
would never have guessed that they were brothers. Mitchell was
quite a large man whose face was lined and weather beaten. His
hairline was slightly receding and he looked extremely out of shape
-and that was putting it kindly. His eyes were cold and his smile
didn
’
t quite reach them. His brother on
the other hand was of smaller build. He was thinner than Mitchell
and his hair was sandy coloured with softer, kinder eyes. He also
had a kind smile but was obviously uncomfortable with the situation
- whatever it was. She smiled nervously and the younger brother
threw her a worried look before looking agitatedly at his
watch.
“
Please take a seat.
”
Mitchell said, and Charlotte sat down, intrigued
by what was happening. Both men sat down opposite her and once
again looked at her intently.

After what seemed
like ages, but was probably only a few seconds, Mitchell Maloney
cleared his throat and started to speak.
“
I understand that you have come along today hoping to gain
employment with us.
”
Charlotte nodded as
he carried on.
“
We do as it happens have
a vacancy that has opened up only this morning. It is for longer
however than the summer but I can see from your application form
that you have no other job to go on to, so it may well suit
you.
”
Charlotte leaned forward now
extremely interested by the mystery of the situation. So far so
good, at least she hadn
’
t been thrown out
- yet. He carried on.
“
We can see that
you have completed a sports degree which will stand you in good
stead for this position, although it is unusual to appoint someone
with no experience to the role. However we at United are not averse
at taking risks to succeed.
”
He looked at
his brother who still had that anxious look on his face and
Charlotte found herself riveted by the situation she found herself
in. He smiled and said.
“
You will no
doubt be wondering what the role is which I shall come too shortly,
but first let me tell you how we have come to be in this position.
Today is the grand unveiling of our new team manager. As I am sure
you can see there are lots of press around and things are, shall we
say, a little busier than usual. There has been lots of secrecy
surrounding this for good reason as he is very high up in another
club and wanted to leave on good terms with them. He wanted to keep
this under wraps until his replacement was in place and then the
two of them could be announced at the same time.
”
He stopped for breath and all of a sudden his
expression darkened. He carried on in a grave tone.

“
All of this is
now in place, but on his way to the club this morning, I am sorry
to say that he was involved in an accident in which he was
injured.
”
She looked shocked; not at all
what she had expected to hear. Seeing her expression he quickly
continued.
“
Not badly, but suffice to say
unable to take on the role for now. This leaves us in a
predicament. We could carry on with Luke our coach in charge, but
we have had a disastrous season and our fans and the press are
baying for our blood. They want to see changes on a dramatic scale
and so do our sponsors. The timing is really bad as we are in
danger of losing a very lucrative sponsorship deal which would mean
catastrophe for the club, resulting in several lay offs and
possible bankruptcy. So as you can see we are in a very tricky
situation.
”
He paused letting his words
sink in and then continued.
“
So we have
decided that until the replacement manager is fit to take on the
role, we need to find somebody who will create a huge stir in the
game. Someone who will get our names on every news bulletin, be in
every newspaper, on every radio broadcast and get everyone talking.
We have no money for a big name so that my dear is where you come
in.
”

They both looked at
her intently and Charlotte felt as though her head was about to
explode. This couldn
’
t be right; she must
have misunderstood the conversation. She looked at them in utter
confusion and said,
“
so what exactly do
you mean, what do you want me to do?
” “
We
want you my dear to agree to be the first ever female manager of a
Premier League football club.
”

The room started to spin and Charlotte
was grateful that she was already sitting down because she felt
dizzy. Words couldn’t come and she looked back and forth between
the two brothers, not really comprehending the situation. Finally
she managed to get some words out. “But I know so little about
football, let alone managing a football team,” she said
shakily.
Maurice Maloney got up and came around
to her side of the table and sat in the seat next to her. He looked
at her kindly and spoke up for the first time.
“
This must be a terrible shock for you, as well as being
very confusing and alarming. But don
’
t
worry that is why we are here. You will not be left alone or have
to make any decisions on your own; we are with you every step of
the way. You will also have the support of the Coach, Luke and the
team Captain, Ronnie. If you do decide to take us up on our offer
we must ask you not to speak about this to anyone other than
ourselves, or the two of them. To everyone else you are the manager
and they will be interested in how you succeed - or fail.
”
Mitchell interrupted saying,
“
Please give this your full consideration, however
unfortunately we do not have much time. The press are gathering as
we speak and I urge you to accept for the good of the club and the
fans. We do realise that we are asking a lot of you and of course
will reward you handsomely. We will iron everything out later on
but can assure you that we will always have your best interests at
heart, and should you decide that it is not for you further down
the line, then we will respect your decision.
”