Wags To Riches (12 page)

“These are nice aren’t they?” I say, feeding Adam a fry when two men come up to us.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us then laddie?” one of them asks as Adam hastily swallows his food.

“Gents – this is Gail.  Gail this is Mr Tony Owens – our coach and manager” Adam says, gesturing towards one of the men.  Tony has brown hair with a sensible parting and there is a faintly harassed look about him.

“Hello Gail” he says, his eyes twinkling.

“And this” Adam continues gesturing towards the other man, “is our chairman, Mr Roban Riverio”.  Roban is a tall blond man, in his late thirties.

“Hello” I say, holding out my hand.  Roban takes hold of my hand and instead of shaking it, presses it to his lips.

“Pleasure to meet you Gail,” he says in a heavy, possibly Eastern European accent, as he looks up at me with cold grey eyes.  Just then a waiter comes over to us.

“Telephone call for you Mr Riverio– it’s about the new signing or something?”

“Do excuse me please,” he says and he walks off briskly after the waiter.

“Well nice to meet you Gail – I’d better go and see what’s happening with that signing” Tony says and hurries off after Roban.

“Well that’s the coach and the chairman,” Adam says simply.

“Where’s he from?” I ask.

“Terry?  From Barnsley” he replies.

“Not Terry doofus!” I say rolling my eyes and laughing, “Roban!”

“Oh – the Ukraine originally,” Adam replies, “he made a fortune buying and selling property and gambling on the stock market so he decided to buy a football team”.

“He’s a bit…” I say trying to find the right words.  “It’s not that he’s rude or arrogant – there’s just something about him that I can’t put my finger on”.

“I know what you mean” Adam says nodding, “I don’t really see him much.  I’m surprised to see him here today actually”.

“Terry is nice though” I say.  “He reminds me of someone’s dad”.

“Oh he’s the salt of the earth that youth” Adam says.  “He’s managed Grandmere for years.  Hi guys” Adam says as Tony and Mick come over to talk to us.  I can see Sally talking to a woman I don’t know nearby.  The conversation turns to the next match which I can’t really say a lot about and I’m tempted to go over and ask Sally to point out Nicola to me – but for all I know that could be Nicola that she’s talking to.  I’ll stay here and see if I can work out who she is myself.  I look round the room, trying to work out which of the girls Adam’s ex might be.  There’s a group of girls stood nearby who keep looking at Adam and trying to catch his eye.  They can stop that.  Sorry ladies, I think, but he’s with me!  Is it going to be like this every time we go out I wonder, groups of women circling like vultures round Adam?  I immediately move closer to Adam who puts his arm around my waist.  “Are you having a good time?” Adam murmurs into my ear.  “Sorry it’s shop talk”.

“Oh I don’t mind” I say.  I could listen to anything stood this close to him, but just then I hear a throaty laugh behind me.  I turn round and see Sharon making her way towards us.

“Hi!  Are you having a good time?” she asks.

“Oh definitely – you?” I ask her.

“Oh the best – I’ve had three glasses of champagne already and it’s not even lunchtime yet!” she says giggling.  Tony laughs and shakes his head.  “Anyway, I’ve been told to come and fetch you – you are needed for the photographs” Sharon says, addressing us all.

“What – me as well?” Mick asks.

“Yes – you and Sally as well – so come along – Chop chop!” she says and we follow her through the crowd.

“Sharon” I hiss, “Which one is Nicola – Adam’s ex?  Is she here?”

Sharon looks round the room.  “That’s her over there” she said after a few seconds, pointing towards a group of people in the far corner of the room, “the one in the black and white top”.  I look over to where she is pointing and see a tall woman with long dark brown hair in a black and white very tight, very low cut halter neck top.  She has teamed this with a very short black skirt and a pair of spiky black heels with ankle straps.  She is undeniably pretty, but her features are sharp, her mouth quite mean looking.  At that moment, one of the people she is with says something evidently amusing to her and she throws her head back laughing and then looks round to see if people are looking at her.  I quickly look away.

“So that’s her is it?” I mutter to myself.

“Oh don’t worry about her” Sharon whispers, “That’s ancient history.  Besides Adam is crazy about you, anyone can see that!”

“Thanks” I say gratefully and smile at Sharon.  Well, Nicola may be taller than me and skinnier than me and have impossibly long legs but I don’t care.  I’m with Adam now and that’s all that matters.  I can hear Alex’s voice in my head saying you’re in love with him!  I am not - I just like him a lot that’s all.  I reach for Adam’s hand as we get to the exit and go through to the room next door to have our photographs taken.  This is the other thing I have been dreading, apart from meeting Nicola.  I know I’ll look like a huge golden elephant on the photographs.

“Adam” I whisper desperately as the photographer starts organising the shot, “I don’t think I can do this”.

Adam turns towards me.  “What do you mean?” he asks concerned.  “Don’t you feel very well?  It is rather hot in here”.

“No – it’s not that - it’s being in
Gush!
magazine!  I’m so fat!  I can’t bear the thought of everyone seeing my picture in the magazine and laughing at me.” I say in a panicky voice.

“Don’t be daft!” Adam says softly.  “You are not fat – you look amazing!  And don’t worry about loads and loads of people seeing your photograph – be proud!  I know I am – you look lovely!”

“Oh thanks Adam” I say, blushing.  Adam squeezes my hand.  “Just smile” he says.  “That’s all you need to do”.  In the end it isn’t as bad as I feared.  The photographers are really nice and Adam keeps making me laugh so I forget to feel nervous.  I don’t forget to hold my stomach in though. 

Once the photos are taken and that will be one issue of
Gush!
I’ll have to try and avoid, we go through into the main dining room for dinner.  This room is decorated even more sumptuously than the other two were and there are lovely glittering centrepieces of gold and red flowers on each of the tables.  Adam glances at the seating plan and then leads me confidently towards a table near the top one.  “Here we are Gail” he says and points towards a little place card where my name is written in gold sparkly ink. Adam pulls the chair out for me to sit down and then sits down next to me.  We are seated with Tony - as Sharon is on the top table - Sally, Mick, Terry and his wife Sheena, Roban and his wife Natasha.  She’s just as scary and as blond as Roban and is also in black like he is.  It’s like looking at two pints of Guinness.

“Oh just look at the cake!” Sally breathes as the waiters wheel in a trolley.  “Isn’t it heaven!”  The cake looks like a huge glittering pink flower and is propped diagonally on a stand so everyone can see it.

“That’s fantastic!” I say admiringly.

“Yes it is isn’t it?” Adam says, smiling at me.  “Apparently” he says addressing everyone, “Tim was saying that each petal is a different kind of cake – there’s fruit cake, coffee cake, Victoria sponge cake and I think the centre is chocolate cake” he adds, smiling at me.

“Well let’s hope we get a piece of the centre then to take home” I say grinning to him “Although I don’t mind some of the Victoria sponge petal either”. 

Dinner, like the cake is absolutely amazing.  To begin, we have melon with fruits of the forest coulis in a heart shape at the side, then for the main course, thin, melt-in-the-mouth slices of beef, carrots, parsnips, green beans and mashed potato, presented in a heart shape and shot through with a single asparagus spear like an arrow.  I think I can see a theme developing here.  The best course though by far is the dessert.  Heart shaped chocolate mousse, topped with fresh strawberries and chocolate sauce.  Need I say any more? It’s so beautifully arranged I take my phone out of my bag and take a photograph of it, much to the amusement of Natasha and Sally.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” I say to Adam, “It seems a shame to eat it!”

“If you don’t want it, I’ll have it!” Adam says and jokingly goes to grab my plate.

“I didn’t say that!” I reply quickly, “it just looks so lovely and I’m feeling full already – but I’m sure I can squeeze it somewhere”.  Actually it’s so nice I have no problems eating it at all.

After dessert has finished, Tim’s brother taps his spoon on the side of his glass and the speeches and the expressions of thanks begin.  I have a quick look round the room to see if I can see anyone else who is famous and spot a couple of members of a boy band – oh God I hope they aren’t going to sing later – and then I spot Nicola and quickly look away.  I’m just going to pretend she isn’t here, drink lots more champagne and enjoy a dance later with Adam. That’s my plan for the evening and nobody, not even Adam’s ex is going to get in the way of that.

After all the speeches – which are quite funny actually, Tim stands up again.  “Well ladies and gents” he says, “on behalf of me and my wife” - at this everyone cheers, “we would like to thank you all for coming and I now declare that this party is officially started!”  He waves his arm towards a partition wall at the far end of the room which right on cue, slides back to reveal a DJ and a dance floor.  He leads Gina onto the dance floor and people gather round to watch them have their first dance together.  Not me though – I’m desperate for the loo so I leave Adam and head for the ladies.

When I come back, lots of people have joined Tim and Gina on the dance floor and it’s getting quite full.  I see Adam is deep in conversation with some of his team mates and rather than interrupt him, I hang back for a moment.  Then I see Sally dancing with Olivia, Gina’s sister and decide to join them for a boogie.  I catch Adam’s eye and he winks at me as I strut my stuff – and I’m proud to say I’m not doing too bad in these heels!

“I’m glad I’ve had a drink so I can’t feel my shoes hurting my feet!” Sally says laughing as we twist and twirl to the sound of ‘Wow’ by Kylie Minogue.  A group of guys are dancing nearby and as the dance floor becomes more and more packed, they end up nearer and nearer to us and we end up dancing all together.  One of them smiles at me and says something, but I haven’t a clue what.

“You what?  Sorry I didn’t catch what you said” I say, leaning in towards him.  He’s quite nice looking with dark brown floppy hair and dark brown eyes.

“I said you’re a really good dancer” he says in a fabulous Irish accent.

“Oh thank you!” I reply.  “You’re Irish?”

“I am – names Seamus” he says “And what’s your name gorgeous?”

What a charmer! “Gail” I say loudly over the music.

“Nice to meet you Gail” he says smiling.

“Likewise” I say.  God, I just
love
his accent! 

“What do you say Gail – to me and you showing them how its done?” Seamus says grinning and before I can answer, he grabs my hand and twirls me round. 

“What are you like?” I shout laughing.

“Oh you’ve not seen anything yet” he says and starts to spin me round again.  Laughing, I end up in Adam’s line of sight, who at that very moment looks up, sees me dancing with Seamus and his face freezes.  Oh God.  And then Seamus decides to tip me backwards onto his arm and I giggle in spite of myself and this rapidly developing horrible situation.  As I stand back up, I can see Adam striding across the dance floor and he’s got a face like thunder.  Oh I’ve really gone and done it now haven’t I? 

“Excuse me Seamus, but
I’d
like to dance with Gail if you don’t mind” Adam says abruptly as he walks up to us both and without waiting for a response, he whirls me away, pulling me close to him.  I look up at him and he looks back at me unsmiling, his jaw clenched.  Oh God – he’s really mad.  Well - so am I.  There was no need for that.
Part of me feels very embarrassed and very cross.  I wasn’t doing anything wrong for goodness sake!  Anybody would think I’d jumped into bloody bed with Seamus!  I suppose I should be grateful that Adam didn’t drag me off the dance floor by my bloody hair like some Stone Age Neanderthal!  Arrogant sod!  Another part of me though which I hate to admit - finds that kind of arrogance unbelievably sexy and I feel a bit turned on actually.  But I am still REALLY angry at him.

“Was that really necessary?” I whisper fiercely as we dance together.

“I think so” Adam responds curtly.

“It wasn’t very nice though was it?”

“He’ll get over it”.

“We were just dancing Adam, that’s all,” I say angrily, “we were only mucking about.  What’s the problem with that?”

“Oh it’s him – Seamus bloody Goodwin” Adam says in a low voice and his lip curls up into a sneer.

“You know him?” I say surprised.

Oh yeah – he’s an old school friend of Tim’s.  Right bloody charmer an’ all with that Irish accent – ‘Oh ladies – get a load of my lucky charms!” Adam says angrily.  “He really thinks he’s something”.

I stare at him.  “Adam - are you jealous?” I ask and Adam glowers at me.  “You are aren’t you?”  You’re jealous!” I say shocked and at the same time so flattered as well.