Premier Deception (6 page)

After about ten
minutes, Geoff motioned for them to follow Elsie back inside and
wrapped things up by directing the press inside also. The fans all
stood where they were, taking the news in and watching the big
screen intently, that had been set up for the occasion. They all
went back inside to wait for the press to gather in the room that
had been set up for the press conference. Mitchell looked around at
everyone and said.
“
Well now, we have
gone past the point of no return. The ball as they say has started
rolling, so now we must all pull together and get on with the job
in hand.
”
He looked over at Luke and
said,
“
Luke you must continue to run the
team, but they must all think that it is Charlotte calling the
shots.
”

Luke looked at him
his face blank.
“
Ronnie, it is your job
to convince them that this is the case and to back Charlotte and
Luke up. Charlotte you must at every opportunity promote the club
and raise our profile in the media. That way we can attract new
sponsors and create a real buzz around the place. Once this press
conference is over we will look at the schedule over the next
couple of days.
”
He looked around at them
all and with a deep breath said,
“
ok
everyone now the hard work really begins.
”

Charlotte looked at
them all sitting around and thought about the situation that she
was now in. She felt excitement creeping through her for the first
time. Wow this was a dream; she would never have thought that her
first job would be this one. It probably wasn
’
t even on the options list in career
’
s week! Now that she had agreed to it though she was
determined to make it work. She looked at the hostile faces of Luke
and Ronnie and thought that she would make it her business to win
them around, make them see that she could do this and do it well.
She was not naive enough to think that she would be a good manager,
after all she knew nothing about it, but she would learn and she
would fulfil her role of promoting this club and bringing in as
many sponsors as she could.

She looked at the two owners, Mitchell all brash and
confident, and Maurice quieter and more nervous. They would be her
allies and help her achieve the success that they all desired. For
the first time she felt calm. Now she knew what she had to do and
she was going to make it work. Geoff came into the room and
announced that the press were ready. They all stood up and made
their way to the meeting room where a table had been set up with
five chairs, microphones and the club and sponsors logos on boards
behind them.

They all took their seats, Charlotte in the middle,
Mitchell and Maurice either side of her and Luke and Ronnie on both
ends. Looking out onto a sea of faces she noticed the cameras
pointing at them ready to capture every word and facial expression.
Once they started the barrage of questions was relentless, but
Mitchell fielded them all expertly and by the time he had finished
even Charlotte was convinced that it was a genuine appointment. He
used her sports science degree as a basis, saying that it was
thought that a more studied scientific approach to the game was
needed with fresh ideas, and that they had wanted somebody who came
to the role with no pre-conceived ideas about the game, no
knowledge of past seasons, virtually a clean slate. They wanted to
build up the team that way and apply the latest innovations, and
create a few themselves.

Finally one of the
reporters called out to Charlotte.
“
Hi
Charlotte, Micky Flynn from the Mirror. What makes you think that
you can turn this team around, after all football commands respect
from the players in the dressing room and you probably
won
’
t even go into the dressing
room!
”
at which point everybody in the
room laughed. Charlotte replied.
“
Well
Micky, I don
’
t expect the players to
respect me when I first go into the dressing room, but I will earn
their respect and make it my mission not only to earn theirs but
that of every fan, journalist, footballer and anyone else connected
with the club and the Industry. I am aware that I have no
experience and to most people the idea is ludicrous. This only
spurs me on to prove myself and make the club proud.
”
Everybody clapped and Mitchell beamed. Just then
another reporter piped up who Charlotte instantly
recognised.

“And has
Mitchell
’
s wife forgiven you for pouring
coffee over her this morning?
”

It was the same man
who had helped Charlotte earlier on in the day. Mitchell looked
surprised and Charlotte flushed bright red.
“
I,I hope so,
”
she stammered
suddenly feeling even more uncomfortable than she was already.
After a few more questions Maurice cut in.
“
Well thank you gentlemen, any further information can be
obtained from our press department. Thank you for coming.
”
And with that he stood up and gestured for the
rest of them to follow him.

They all walked out
and the door closed behind them. Charlotte looked sheepishly at
Mitchell, who suddenly burst out laughing.
“
Gloria was in a foul mood after that incident. I
didn
’
t know it was you though, wait till
I tell her!
”
and he carried on laughing.
Charlotte felt relieved and said.
“
Please
pass on my apologies, it was an accident and I will of course pay
for any dry cleaning bill.
” “
Don
’
t mention it, it was worth it
for a laugh,
”
he said once more laughing
heartily. They reached the boardroom and once inside Mitchell
said,
“
right I expect that Charlotte has
had enough for one day. Elsie prepare all the necessary paperwork
for Charlotte to sign which she can do tomorrow morning. We will
sort everything out this end and if you start bright and early at
8am we can go through everything. Luke, can you run Charlotte home,
and then get back as we have things to do? I would call her a taxi
but think that it would be good if you could get to know each other
a bit better as you will be working so closely together. Thank you
everybody you can go.
”

With that he strode
from the room closely followed by everyone else, except for Luke
who stood there obviously seething. Charlotte looked at him
standing there and felt actually quite sorry for him. Not only did
he have to watch someone else take his job but that someone was a
young girl fresh from uni. No wonder he was so angry, it made a
mockery of the position and he was the one who would have to deal
with it.
“
I am sorry,
”
said Charlotte,
“
I can call my
father to pick me up if you have things to do.
” “
No need,
”
he said shortly and
gestured for her to follow him.

They walked silently
down the corridor and out of a side door on to the car park. Luke
strode over to a large Range Rover and opened the passenger door
for her. She sat down and took in the tidy, no doubt valeted
interior, smelling faintly of expensive aftershave. It was a
pleasant smell unlike its owner who was probably one of the most
unpleasant men that Charlotte had ever met. He turned on the
ignition and said shortly,
“
what
’
s your postcode?
”
She answered him and he punched it into the sat
nav, probably so that he didn
’
t have to
talk to her, thought Charlotte. She felt so awkward. Ordinarily the
idea of being driven home by a gorgeous guy in a fabulous car would
have been high on her Christmas list, but this was a strange
situation. She decided that if he didn
’
t
want to speak then she wouldn
‘
t even try
to make conversation.

The radio kicked in
and the familiar jingle of the local radio station blared through
the speakers. As the car moved away he suddenly spoke in a deep
short voice.
“
I hope that you
don
’
t find me too rude,
”
he said unexpectedly. She was taken aback, gosh
she hadn
’
t expected that, some insults
maybe, more silent treatment but this was almost an apology. He
carried on.
“
I
’
m not angry at you; in fact I don
’
t even know you and I don
’
t form
impressions of people that quickly. I
’
m
angry at the owners. I feel that they are playing with the
reputation of the club that I care deeply about and have dragged
you into a situation that nothing good can possibly come out of. I
have made my feelings clear but they have still gone ahead and we
are the ones who will have to deal with the fallout.
”
Charlotte looked at him in surprise and
understood how difficult this all was for him. Before she could
reply the radio suddenly turned to the sports news and they
listened to the bulletin.

“Breaking
News from Kingsbridge United. As you all know they were unveiling
their new manager today. This has been the biggest kept secret in
the history of the game. It turns out that the new manager is an
inexperienced young lady fresh out of university.

The fans
are in uproar and social media is in meltdown. What on earth are
they playing at? This could spell disaster for the club and already
the experts are predicting relegation if not bankruptcy following
this appointment. Listen in at 9pm for an interview with Ronnie
Tyler the Team Captain, for all the inside news. More in our sports
bulletin later.
”

Charlotte felt sick
and cast a sideways glance at Luke. He had the same angry
expression that he always seemed to wear, and she wished that she
was anywhere but here. He turned the radio off and said,
“
look, we are now in this situation and must
deal with it as best we can. You must follow my lead and we can get
through this. Just keep your mouth shut and your ears open and you
will be fine.
”
They turned into her
driveway.
“
Now run in and
don
’
t look back as there is probably a
photographer hiding in the bushes and I will see you
tomorrow.
”
She looked outside expecting
to see someone waiting to jump out on her and saying a quick thank
you she jumped out, slammed the door and ran into the
house.

All was silent in the
house. Charlotte leaned back onto the door and thought about what
had happened that day. There was so much to think about that she
didn
’
t know where to begin. How on earth
was she going to explain all of this to her parents? Her Mother
would go into meltdown. Suddenly she heard voices coming from the
utility room. She walked across the hall, into the kitchen and
pushed open the door. The sight that greeted her made her
speechless. There stood her mother dressed in a bikini with a
shower cap on her head, standing in what looked like a pop up tent.
She was being sprayed from head to toe with spray tan by her father
who was in similar attire, obviously having just suffered the same
treatment. They both jumped and looked around seeing her standing
there.
“
What on earth are you both
doing!
”
exclaimed Charlotte not quite
believing her eyes. Her Mother looked embarrassed and
said,

“
Oh, I saw that
they were selling spray tan kits on QVC buy one get one free and I
thought that your father and I could do with a St Tropez tan.
Barbara Mactravers has just returned from the Caribbean and I
don
’
t want her showing me up at the
surrey mother
’
s stitch and bitch
tomorrow.
”
Charlotte looked at them both
completely bewildered and her father started laughing
uncontrollably at her incredulous face. Her mother looked
unconcerned as though this was nothing out of the ordinary.
“
Anyhow finish me off Michael, and then we can
have a nice cup of tea and Charlotte can tell us all about her
interview.
”
Charlotte closed the door
shaking her head. What on earth was she going to do about her
mother? She never ceased to amaze her and not always in a good way.
What on earth were they going to say when she told them her news?
Although her Mother would have a brilliant subject to talk about at
the stitch and bitch tomorrow she thought with a
smile.

She raced upstairs to
change into something more comfortable. On entering her room she
started to relax and feel more normal in the familiar surroundings.
Lying on her bed she closed her eyes. What a lot had happened since
she was last here, she almost couldn
’
t
take it all in. Hearing a buzzing noise coming from her bag on the
floor she pulled her phone out and noticed with alarm the twenty
five missed calls and fifteen texts on the display. She noticed
that they were largely from Zoe and Imogen but there were also some
from unknown numbers. The ones from her friends were all about the
fact that they had seen her on the news and wanted to know if it
was true. The last text was from Elsie Baker, it said that she was
sending a car to pick her up at 7.30am the next morning and to
prepare to be at the club until at least 7pm.A car! She felt like a
celebrity. Suddenly feeling very hungry Charlotte headed off
downstairs to break the news to her parents. As she entered the
kitchen she noticed that their tans looked like they had just
fallen asleep on a beach in Barbados with their sunglasses on and
stifled a giggle.