Premier Deception (8 page)

She tried to turn her
attention to the job in hand and looked down at the folder on her
lap. It was full of briefs on players, the club, the stadium and
the schedule for the coming month. Charlotte tried to take it all
in but couldn
’
t get the man in front out
of her mind long enough to concentrate.

All too soon they
were turning into the stadium and she hadn
‘
t managed to absorb any of the information at all. Instead
of driving to the back entrance he drove her to the front door. He
got out and opened her door for her.
“
Well,
”
he said.
“
Good luck on your first day. If you need me at
any time please give me a call.
”
He
handed her his number written on a small piece of paper, and for a
brief moment his fingers brushed against hers and she felt a tingle
move through her whole body so electric was his touch. Startled she
looked up at him and thought she saw a flicker of emotion cross his
face, but it had gone so she thought that she must have imagined
it. Trying to cover her confusion that his touch had created she
said,
“
what will you be doing for the
rest of the day Max?
”
He smiled and
replied,
“
I don
‘
t know exactly, I have to report to the transport manager
and I am sure that he will find me something to do until you need
me again.
”
Charlotte smiled and thanked
him, not wanting to leave him but knowing that she had to get to
work. Gosh roll on home time, she thought with excitement. With any
luck we will get a flat tyre and have to spend the night huddled up
in the back of the car to keep warm. Seeing his amused expression
she realised with a start that she was day dreaming again and
flushed with embarrassment. Thanking God that the Thought Police
were a mere fabrication of George Orwell, she hurried inside.
Charlotte entered the stadium and took in the vast reception area
that sprawled before her. Pictures of past and present players were
everywhere amid the scattering of seats, with tables housing
magazines and promotional literature. There was a big desk at which
sat a smart looking receptionist who stood up as she entered.
Before she could speak the receptionist said,
“
Miss Dawson, it is a pleasure to meet you. Please take a
seat and I will let Miss Baker know that you have arrived.
”

She smiled and
Charlotte smiled back thinking what a different experience this was
with this receptionist, compared to the bored look from the
previous one. She sat down on a nearby seat and thought that she
had better look at the folder again. Oh no I hope that they
don
‘
t test me on it! She suddenly thought
with alarm, she would fail before she had even started if that was
the case.

It
wasn
’
t long before Elsie Baker
appeared.
“
Charlotte its good to see you
again, come with me and I will show you to your office.
”
Oh my God thought Charlotte, my own office!
Suddenly the realisation began to set in; she was here to do a job
and a demanding one at that. Of course she would need her own
office. They came to a door on the second floor and Elsie opened
it. Inside was a large room with a desk and two chairs on one side
and one on the other. There was also a settee and a low table.
Cupboards were along one wall and a water cooler was next to a
coffee machine. It was fairly spacious and modern and looked out
over the pitch. She thought that it must be fairly near to the
boardroom as the view was almost identical.
“
This is your new home,
”
Elsie
said.
“
We will make a start filling in
the necessary employment paperwork and then we
’
ll go through your schedule. You have a meeting at 10am
with the board. Can I get you a drink before you get
started?
”
Charlotte asked for a tea
gratefully and then sat down to complete the necessary forms. She
soon finished them and looked at her watch. 9.30am, she had half an
hour before the meeting.

Looking around the
room she took in the enormity of what she had agreed to. She
shouldn
’
t be here, the job was not really
hers, it was a total sham and she would be found out and publicly
humiliated. She thought about her parents, what was she going to
put them through? Maybe she hadn
’
t really
thought this through. She started to feel hot and bothered and
wondered whether she should say that she couldn
’
t continue, she could feign an illness and say that she had
to go into quarantine for six months, like her
cousin
’
s dog had to after a trip to
France. Then she thought about Max, and once again felt a shiver of
excitement. If this job was worth anything it was knowing that she
would be spending a lot of time with him. Getting to know him would
be the biggest adventure by far.

There was a knock on
the door and Elsie came in.
“
It
’
s time for your meeting follow
me.
”
Charlotte followed her to the now
familiar Board room. On entering she saw the Maloney brothers,
Luke, Ronnie, Geoff and two new people that she
hadn
’
t previously met. Mitchell stood up
as she entered and said,
“
Ah, our
gorgeous new manager. Let me introduce you to Colin Ruane our
assistant coach and Mark Griffith our physio. Men this is Charlotte
Dawson your new boss.
”
Charlotte went up
to each man to shake their hands. They looked bemused but both
smiled and gave her a warm welcome. Mitchell said,
“
Charlotte will no doubt have lots to take in so
we have arranged for her to spend some time with each of you to see
how you do things, and to get acquainted.
”

He turned to
Charlotte and said,
“
you know where we
are if you need us and don
’
t let these
men put you off.
”
He left the room
chuckling to himself. Maurice smiled at her and followed his
brother. They were all looking at her as though waiting for her
instructions and Charlotte felt really uncomfortable. Luckily Luke
stepped in and said,

“
I have some
things to go through with Charlotte first, then we will come and
find each of you and she will get you know you better then. Now you
had best get on because the team are back tomorrow and we have to
prepare.
”
With that the men all left the
room without as much as a smile. Charlotte knew that they must
resent her and vowed to win their respect if it was the last thing
she did. Luke turned to her and once again she looked at his dark
eyes and scowling face, noticing his aggressive manner. It made her
feel uncomfortable so she kept quiet waiting for him to speak
first. They went to her office in silence and Luke spent the next
hour showing her the ropes as such. She found it very difficult to
warm to him as he was very abrupt and cold with her. This was going
to be a lonely job she thought with dismay. It was like being the
unpopular one at school again - something she knew a lot about and
didn
’
t particularly want to experience
again. What do you expect? she told herself, you have taken this
man
’
s job and made the rest of them
laughing stocks in the league, why on earth would they show you any
respect? When he had explained the procedures he turned to her and
said in a sharp voice.
“
If you take my
advice, now that you have taken on this role you will need to work
harder than you have ever worked before. You will need to know
everything about the game, the team and the club. Everyone will be
out to trip you up and make you look stupid. They will want to
prove that women cannot and should not manage football teams.
It
’
s not going to be easy, for any of us,
so remember to keep on your guard and keep quiet if you
don
’
t know what to
say.
”

He gave her another
long, hard, angry look as he continued.
“
Make sure that you are always prepared, because even though
you have been told that you are to take direction from myself and
the board there will be times when you have to stand up and be
counted. I can only protect you to a degree but it is mostly up to
you.
”
Charlotte sat up straight and
looked at him defiantly thinking I
‘
ll
show you Mr Angry and said shortly.
“
You
don
‘
t have to worry about me, I can look
after myself. What I don
‘
t know I will
find out, so you just carry on doing whatever you do and try not to
worry about me.
”
He looked at her for
what seemed like an eternity and a look that she
couldn
’
t quite place came over his
face.
“
Come on it
’
s time to meet the others,
”
he
said and they headed off to meet the rest of the coaching
team.

Charlotte spent the
next few hours with Colin and Mark, who she found very pleasant.
They seemed willing to teach her and answered all of her questions.
She found it all really interesting probably due to her background
in sports science. The time whizzed past and suddenly she realised
that she hadn
’
t eaten. Mark looked at his
watch and said,
“
you must be hungry
I
’
ll show you where the canteen
is.
”
She liked Mark; he had blonde hair
and brown eyes and was in his early thirties she guessed. He had
what her mother would call an honest face and he had a great sense
of humour and had been good company. She felt at ease with him and
he didn
’
t seem to resent her half as much
as the others appeared to. Charlotte followed him to a large
bustling canteen full of tables and chairs. He apologised as he had
to leave her due to some meeting or another that he had lined up so
she found herself all alone for once.

She joined the queue
for food realising that everyone was looking at her although trying
not to do so conspicuously. She asked for a lasagne and bottled
water and then took her tray and looked for somewhere to
sit.
“
Charlotte, over here,
”
she heard someone call and looked around to see
Max sitting at a nearby table. She once again felt excitement
course through her, he looked gorgeous as usual and she
couldn
’
t wait to find out what he had
been up to. Like a gentleman he held her chair back for her and
made sure that she was comfortable before sitting opposite. She
felt herself mesmerised by his dark sexy eyes and
couldn
’
t speak because she felt so
shy.
“
How are you getting on?
”
he asked her smiling.
“
Oh fine, I think
”
she
laughed.
“
But how about you, what have
you been doing since this morning?
”
He
pushed his hand through his hair and sat back in his chair.
“
I have spent most of the day filling in
paperwork and learning what my job will be. From time to time I
have been asked to collect people from the station but mainly I
have been waiting around and observing.
”
Charlotte suddenly had an idea.
“
Max, if it
’
s ok with you and with
whoever is your boss do you think that you could help me
out?
”
He laughed,
“
Charlotte, I don
’
t think you
realise that actually you are my boss and I will do whatever you
ask me to.
”
He looked at her so intently
that she blushed.
“
Oh-
I
’
m sorry I didn
’
t realise.
”
Gosh she thought me
his boss! Well now I do believe in Father Xmas. Trying not to look
too excited she carried on.
“
Well I have
found out that I need to know everything about this club and the
people in it. Whilst you are waiting would you be able to find out
whatever you can about the people here, how it works any gossip etc
and we can talk about it all in the car on the way to and from the
stadium? I am meeting the team tomorrow and am not sure if I will
have time to find out about them.
” “
Consider it done,
”
he said. Just
then a shadow fell over the table and she looked up to see Ronnie
Tyler standing there with that superior look on his face that he
always seemed to have. He totally ignored Max and said,
“
It
’
s time that we had
our chat,
”
looking at her in a creepy way
that made her flesh crawl.

“Charlotte looked at
Max who shot her a look which showed that he
didn
’
t much care for the team Captain;
she turned to him and said,
“
thanks for
keeping me company Max, I will see you later, I am not sure what
time I will finish but if you need to get off I can phone my dad to
come and get me, don
’
t wait for me if you
have something else on,
”
and she smiled
broadly at him. Ronnie said in his sneering voice,
“
don
’
t worry I can
look after this little lady I am sure that I could run her home
later,
”
and he placed his arm around her
waist and pulled her closely to him. Max
’
s eyes flashed and he said in a tight controlled
voice.
“
My job is to drive Charlotte and
I take my job extremely seriously. I will wait until she has
finished even if it takes all night.
”
He
looked at Ronnie with such a menacing look that Charlotte suddenly
understood the saying,
“
If looks could
kill.
”
She extricated herself from the
over familiar captain and said tightly,
“
come on then Ronnie we have work to do.
”
As they moved away she looked back to see Max watching them
go with anger on his face which only made him appear even more
attractive if that was at all possible.