Strikers Instinct (18 page)

The Wishton Clough Black Tie Ball was an annual event that helped raise money for Harry's Dementia research but also served as a curtain raiser to the season. The players were introduced to the media and usually it was a relaxed affair. However, this year Luke was sure that wouldn't be the case. The function was due to be held almost two weeks after Ed had announced the event in the canteen – the week before the new season started – and in the days leading up to the event Luke began to wish that he had never become involved with the club.

Each day brought new conflict and Luke was becoming fed up with the mainly childish behaviour. There seemed to be petty arguments and stupid practical jokes every day. Some of the younger players had been in to see Sandy demanding pay rises and improved bonuses. Everyone knew that Jake Pryce was behind the mischief-making but he was very crafty. He never involved himself directly in any of the pockets of trouble that seemed to break out – he just stood on the fringes grinning to himself. Harry had a theory that Jake had a mild form of autism that didn't react well to peace and quiet – he felt that he was only happy when surrounded by constant conflict. Harry would have loved to spend some time examining Jake but he knew that would never happen.

If all the problems with Jake weren't enough then another major distraction had appeared on the scene. The chairman's cousin had started to appear at the training ground for no apparent reason. She just turned up one day on the pretext of looking around before she brought in some potential hospitality clients but after that she seemed to pop up every other day. The main problem was that her visits caused further disruption to the players – she would flirt outrageously with whoever was present and if the player wasn't interested then she took that as a challenge. Each day she seemed to drive away with a different player at the end of training and there had already been a couple of scuffles between her admirers.

Even Luke wasn't safe. At first she wasn't interested in the competition winner but then someone let slip that Luke was very wealthy and everything changed. Luke was in the canteen at the end of the day when the door opened and Jessica Villiers entered. Maud gave Luke a warning glance and he winked at her.

“Can I help you?” Luke asked, “We don't normally get visitors in here.”

“I'm waiting to pick someone up,” Jessica replied, “but now that I see that you are all alone I would much rather be taking you home.”

Luke laughed easily. “I'm sure my wife would say that you have excellent taste.”

Jessica came across to Luke's table and draped her arm around his shoulder. “I'm sure we don't need to involve your wife.” she purred.

Before Luke could respond, the door to the serving hatch opened and a bucket of dirty water came hurtling across the floor – followed by Maud with her mop. The water drenched Jessica's expensive shoes and splattered her legs.

“Oooh, I'm sorry love!” Maud exclaimed. “I thought everyone had gone – I need to get my mopping done.”

“You stupid old woman!” Jessica screamed. “Do you have any idea how much these shoes cost? You'll pay for this – I'll make sure my cousin sacks you first thing in the morning!”

Luke stood and glowered down at Jessica. She suddenly noticed the cold expression in his eyes.

“I think it's time you ran along and played somewhere else.” he said quietly. “And I will be having a word with Ed as well – just to be sure that he gets the full story.”

Jessica glared spitefully at both of them and stomped out of the canteen. Maud placed a grateful hand on Luke's shoulder.

“Thanks love.” she said. “That one's trouble.”

Luke grinned. “I make it a big rule always to stay away from trouble!”

“Pity some of the other lads don't feel the same way.” Maud sniffed.

Luke drained his tea, said goodbye to Maud and headed for home. The Charity event was due to take place the following evening at a large hotel on the outskirts of Wishton and he spent the drive home frantically thinking of an excuse not to attend.

Sue was waiting to meet him – she was spending nearly all her time at home at the moment and she was getting bored – she was itching to start her new job. Each day she would interrogate Luke to extract every detail about what may have happened that day. She told herself she needed to know so that she could eventually do her job better but deep down she knew she just wanted to hear some gossip.

Luke knew from experience not to hide anything from Sue – on the few occasions he had tried he had always come unstuck. These days he didn't volunteer information but if Sue asked him a question then he certainly wasn't going to keep the truth from her. The family usually ate together in the large kitchen but this evening Nell was out with friends and both children didn't want to take the risk that Sue was going to cook so they were both spending the evening with friends.

In the event Nell had prepared two fantastic chicken salads so all Sue had to do was to take them from the fridge to the table. It seemed that as soon as Luke tried to taste the first mouthful – Sue wanted to talk about his day at the training ground.

“Anything new today darling?” she asked.

Luke thought quickly. This was the point at which he should innocently bring up the subject of Jessica but he knew that whichever way he played it – he could end up in trouble himself. He sighed inwardly and then decided to get it over with quickly – like ripping off a plaster!

“Not really love.” he answered. “I've told you about all the trouble Jake Pryce has been causing and there were a few minor skirmishes again today but nothing too bad.”

Sue frowned.”I don't like it.” she said. “Obviously because I'm a fan I'm worried about the effect this will all have on the team but also as a future director of the company I think we should be nipping this in the bud.”

“Well you know what Ed thinks about Jake,” answered Luke “so unless he changes his stance then we are in for a lot more trouble.”

Sue nodded thoughtfully. “Anything else happened today?”

Luke took a drink before he continued. “Not really.” he said – then he appeared to remember something. “Oh yes – there was a bit of a kerfuffle in the canteen just before I left.”

“Really?” asked Sue. “What happened?”

Luke took another quick drink and then slowly explained what had gone on earlier. He sat back to wait for the inevitable further questioning but was surprised when Sue just shook her head and smiled – then she asked if Luke wanted anything else to eat. Luke was relieved that Sue didn't want to take the matter any further but deep down he knew that he hadn't heard the last of this. He groaned to himself and wondered what the hell was going to happen next.

After they had finished the meal Sue stacked the dishwasher and Luke asked her if she'd like to go for a walk with the dogs.

“I'd love to darling,” she replied, “but I've just remembered something I need to do before the function tomorrow evening.”

Luke shook his head but accepted her excuse and whistled for the dogs – a few minutes later Sue was alone once more in the house. She picked up her mobile and hit a key, seconds later a familiar voice answered.

“Hi Sue,” said Sarah, “great to hear from you.”

“Sorry to disturb you Sarah,” Sue replied, “but I just wanted to talk about tomorrow evening.”

Sarah was puzzled. “But I thought we sorted all this out last week?”

The previous week Sue and Sarah had spent a lovely day trawling through the shops in Manchester to find dresses, shoes and bags and by the end of the day they had both returned home with a complete outfit.

Sue laughed. “Sorry,” she said, “that was just my excuse to ring you – I need to chat about something else.”

Sarah paused. “That sounds ominous.” she said.

“Not really.” Sue replied. “I just want you to tell me everything you know about Jessica Villiers.”

It was Sarah's turn to squirm. “Erm – what exactly do you want to know?”

Sue repeated the story that Luke had just told her and Sarah sighed.

“I was hoping to talk to you about this tomorrow,” she said, “when we both had the benefit of some alcohol inside us.”

“Is it as bad as that?” Sue exclaimed.

“It's worse.” moaned Sarah. “That woman is a nightmare. Every female in the place hates her and most of the men fall at her feet. She is an obnoxious, arrogant, conniving cow!”

“Wow.” said Sue. “Don't hold back, tell me what you really think!”

“Actually,” Sarah went on, “it's worse than that. I know for a fact that she has been out with at least three of the team – and a couple of the married players are looking guilty as well. From what I hear she is causing quite a few arguments between the players.”

“Great.” said Sue through gritted teeth. “Any other good news for me?”

“Well,” said Sarah, “I was going to hit you with it at the same time tomorrow but we have similar problems with Jake Pryce.”

“Oh I know all about him.” said Sue. “Luke's been keeping me up to speed.”

“Really.” said Sarah. “So Luke knows all about the two players wives that Jake has been seeing?”

“Actually,” Sue said, “it seems he didn't get round to passing that piece of news on to me!”

“To be fair he probably didn't know.” said Sarah. “It seems that Jake is very good at covering his tracks. So now you see that we could have a few problems tomorrow evening?”

Sue laughed. “I think you could be right. However, at least now I know what I am heading into!”

“I'm so sorry Sue,” Sarah wailed, “I should have told you sooner! It's just that because she's Ed's cousin and everything…..”

“Don't worry Sarah.” Sue smiled grimly. “It's not your fault but at least tomorrow shouldn't be boring!”

The two girls talked for a little longer before agreeing to speak again for an update before they met the next evening. Luke came back home with the dogs to find Sue sitting on the couch with a glass of wine in her hand and a gleam in her eye. He suddenly became nervous – something about the way she was smiling at Luke made him feel that someone was in trouble – he just hoped it wasn't him!

The following day Luke returned from training with a terrible sense of impending doom. He knew he was being over-dramatic but the atmosphere around the training ground – together with the look on Sue's face the previous evening made him wish that he could stay at home that evening and watch TV. All hopes of being excused went out of the window when he walked into the house to find Sue putting the finishing touches to her makeup. She looked stunning. Luke was always proud of his wife but tonight she seemed more gorgeous than ever.

He noted that she had obviously been to the hairdressers and he shook his head as he wondered how much the dress, shoes and handbag had cost. Her jewellery was understated but served to complement the overall effect – she looked simply fabulous.

“Wow,” Luke said, “I sometimes forget just how beautiful you are.”

“That was exactly the right response!” Sue smiled. “Now go and get changed – I don't want to turn up with a scruffy escort!”

Suddenly Luke realised that all this wasn't just for his benefit.

“Sue.” he began.

“Yes darling?” she turned to look at him.

“Nothing.” he muttered, unsure what to say.

It didn't take Luke long to get ready and soon the car was arriving to take them to the ball. Lexi was thrilled.

“Mum!” she shrieked. “You look absolutely fantastic!”

Sue felt great.

“Amazing how you can still look so good at your age.” Lexi added cheekily. “I'm guessing there is a lot of Spanx to thank for that effect!”

Sue threw her bag at Lexi – narrowly missing but hitting Tom on the back of the head.

“What's that for?” he shouted as he rubbed his neck.

“You should know by now to move faster when these two start.” Luke said without a trace of sympathy.

Luke ushered Sue out of the door before she could do any more damage and twenty minutes later they were entering the hotel. Ed and Harry were waiting to greet them and Harry wolf-whistled when Sue approached. Sue blushed and Harry insisted on the first dance later. Luke and Sue moved through to the main function room and they were soon mingling with the other guests. They were just about to sit down for dinner when Ed reappeared with another guest in tow.

“Luke,” he cried, “I believe I have found an old friend of yours!”

Luke turned to discover Basil Jeffers grinning at him.

“Basil is here representing the government and we are honoured to have him with us,” Ed announced, “but I didn't know that you two already knew each other!”

“Luke and I are old friends,” Basil gushed, “actually we used to call him lefty – because of his political views but Ed tells me that you are something of a capitalist these days? Surely that can't be true?”

The smile never left Luke's lips as he politely replied. “No nothing has changed Basil, I still think that Capitalism is the exploitation of one man by another – and now that you're a Conservative MP it's good to see that you still believe in that very same principle too.”

Ed and the other guests seemed unsure if Luke was joking or not. Basil, however, turned beetroot red.

“You know,” Luke addressed the small group – whilst still smiling, “going back to when we were all at university, everyone knew what Basil would do after he graduated.”

Basil seemed to relax a little and then Luke spoke again.

“Yes, we all agreed that Basil would become the best politician that money could buy!”

Basil began to splutter and Ed looked shocked whereas Luke just grinned and patted Basil on the back.

“Only joking old chap, only joking!” he murmured.

Before anyone could say another word Luke whisked Sue away to their table.

“Well done!” she whispered.

Luke glanced at his wife. “So I'm not in trouble for winding him up?” he asked.

“No,” she replied, “I'm guessing that in the old days you would have thumped him so I think you have matured rather nicely!”

They both laughed and at that point the waiters began to serve dinner. The meal passed without incident and Luke actually began to relax a little. The table he and Sue were seated at contained a few local business people and their partners and a few other representatives from the club. However, both the Lindens began to feel nervous when they noticed that towards the end of the meal Jake Pryce and Jessica Villiers now seemed to be seated on the same table. The volume levels from that particular table began to increase and even Ed started to glance across to see what was going on.

He decided that it was time to say a few words so he rose and tapped his glass with a knife. The room fell fairly silent and Ed welcomed everyone to the charity event. He spent a few minutes talking about the hopes of Wishton Clough for the new season and then he handed over to Harry to explain why their donations were so important.

The audience gave their full attention as Harry explained more about his work and more importantly – why this work needed to be done. He made a barbed comment about the lack of funds from the government which Basil chose to ignore – there was a smattering of applause at this point. Harry spoke for a few moments longer and then sat down to rousing applause. Ed rose again to his feet.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, “it gives me great pleasure to introduce the Honourable Basil Jeffers – Member of Parliament.”

Basil rose to his feet to muted applause and just as he was about to begin he noticed that Luke Linden had risen from his seat and was walking through the centre of the room. As Luke drew level with Basil someone stopped him and asked him if something was wrong. Basil heard Luke's reply.

“No – nothing wrong – I desperately need the toilet – and I've heard this comedian's material before!”

The group around Luke burst into laughter and then both Ed and Basil noted with horror that a few other people began to follow Luke towards the door. Basil swallowed and began to speak.

“Well I thought the meal was perfectly lovely – perhaps it was something they ate earlier?”

Basil's remark was rewarded with weak applause and he battled for the next few minutes to talk about the latest government initiatives. When he finally sat down he glared at Ed.

“Thanks very much!” he hissed. “That was totally humiliating!”

“I'm sorry.” Ed replied. “Don't worry – I'll fix it!”

Ed rushed outside the ballroom to find Luke deep in conversation with Harry. He pulled the two of them to one side and without raising his voice he did his best to tell Luke how angry Basil was.

“I can perhaps understand how you may have no deep love for Basil but just think of the damage you could have done to Harry's work.” Ed seethed. “The donations we receive tonight are invaluable.”

Luke nodded gravely. “I'm so sorry – I totally agree – it was childish and I will apologise to Basil in front of everyone.”

Ed was taken aback. “Well I'm sure he will be pleased to accept your apology.”

The three of them walked back into the ballroom but not before Luke had nodded at Harry.

“Be ready.” he whispered.

The trio walked up to where Basil was still seated at the top table – Luke swept straight up to his old enemy.

“Basil,” he murmured smoothly, “I'm so sorry I had to visit the bathroom but I know it must have seemed that I was snubbing you – I intend to make a full apology in front of the entire room.”

Everyone was watching Luke and Basil in deep conversation and they noted that Basil nodded after hearing Luke's words.

“Thank you.” he said. “Very gracious of you.”

Luke nodded to Harry who had found Sam Barker and the official photographer for the evening. Luke mimicked Ed and tapped a glass with a knife.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he shouted, “if I could just have your attention for a minute.”

The room came to a halt and people from outside began to wander back in.

“I was unable to hear all of Mr Jeffers speech because I wasn't feeling too well but I'm sure he was wonderful.”

One or two people tittered.

“I'm sorry if it seemed that I was deliberately avoiding him but nothing could be further from the truth – both Basil and I have always loved the sound of his voice!”

Basil began to look uncomfortable again.

“Another thing that Mr. Jeffers and I are in total agreement about, is the wonderful work that Dr Harry Green does with his Dementia research.”

This time the room erupted in applause.

Luke held his hands up to silence his audience and then nodded to Harry. “So much so that Mr. Jeffers and I have agreed to make a special donation to add to tonight's total.”

At this point Basil Jeffers began to turn pale.

“A few minutes ago I offered to donate ten thousand pounds,” announced Luke, “and immediately Basil Jeffers agreed to match my donation – pound for pound – from his own funds.”

The room again exploded into applause as Luke dragged Basil up from his chair and held his arm above his head in triumph. Basil – with a politician's instinct – managed to produce a sickly smile as cameras flashed and people whooped. He didn't notice that Harry had been filming Luke's announcement on his Smartphone.

After a few minutes the applause ceased and a beaming Ed approached Luke and Basil.

“Well done you two,” he gushed, “that was wonderful.”

“Don't be stupid you idiot!” Basil hissed. “He set me up – I didn't offer to pay a penny!”

Ed gawped like a fish as Luke seemed dumbstruck.

“I don't understand it?” Luke mused. “I'm sure that was what you told me – how could such a misunderstanding happen? Oh well – no harm done – I'm sure you can afford it – and think of the publicity!”

“I can't afford it!” Basil wailed. “Have you seen how little an MP earns! I refuse to pay – you've tricked them all!”

“Well that is rather a serious allegation,” said Luke quietly, “and you didn't seem to protest when I made the announcement – in fact you actually smiled. Ah well – there's nothing we can do about it now – I believe someone videoed the whole thing and it's probably out on the internet as we speak.”

Basil groaned. “I can't believe this. I came here to help you,” he aimed this comment at Ed, “and I end up being ridiculed and ripped off. Well I won't pay – you haven't heard the last of this!”

With that he turned tail and headed for the nearest exit with a bewildered Ed chasing vainly after him. Luke turned as Harry approached him.

“OK.” Harry said. “I sent the clip to the address you gave me.”

Luke nodded. Within a few minutes the video would be all over the internet. He had even arranged it to look like it had been posted out by Conservative Central Office.

“You enjoyed that didn't you?” Harry asked.

“Yes indeed.” Luke agreed. “I've waited a long time to get my own back and I did it in a way that will make my old tutor – and my dad – proud, using my head not my fists.”

“There's no way he will pay me £10,000 though.” Harry pointed out.

“Don't worry about that,” said Luke, “if he doesn't pay up then I will pay £20,000 – and then we will humiliate him even more when we announce that he reneged on his promise.”

Harry shook his head. “Please remind me never to upset you.”

Luke and Harry were still laughing together as Sarah rushed up to them.

“Trouble,” she said simply, “and I can't find Ed.”

“He's chasing Basil Jeffers.” Luke explained. “What's up?”

“I think Andy Tiler is going to kill Jake Pryce!” Sarah replied urgently.