It's Coming Home

Chapter 21

July 2020

Amy's plan to lie low didn't last for long after a picture of her wearing her Grealish shirt inside her hotel lobby had been splashed all across social media. She had no idea who had taken the picture since when she'd got back to the hotel the night before, being discrete was the last thing on her mind. She had been on a total high from seeing Jack, not to mention the whole Wembley experience which was mind blowing in itself. So far, being in London was completely amazing and now her best friend Laura had joined her, Amy didn't know how it could possibly get any better.

Laura had made it clear that she was definitely #TeamBrad but Amy warned her. This wasn't a case of taking sides and deciding who to date. This was a case of her being there to support Jack and most likely, well probably, nothing more. She'd only know that once they'd actually spoken to each other.

'So, plans for today?' asked Laura excitedly.

'This is going to sound insane, but I've got an appointment with a management company who want to represent me in less than an hour. Honestly, I thought when I left the villa early that everyone would just forget about me, but my phone is literally blowing up' Amy showed Laura the list of missed calls and messages on her phone. She was genuinely shocked by the attention she was receiving, and even more surprised by the fact she didn't mind it at all.

'Just be aware, I'll not be speaking to any PA to make lunch dates' Laura asserted playfully.

'The meeting isn't until 10:45, so you can still talk to me direct for the time being, but tick tock your time is running out' Amy joked, pointing to the watch on her wrist.

'I was thinking, we should do something crazy today, like go on one of those big red bus tours and go sightseeing? Or the London Eye maybe? Now everyone knows where you are, why hide anymore? We've never been to London, lets just go wild and enjoy this whilst it lasts!' Laura suggested.

'That sounds amazing, meet you back here around 12, and we can do the London Eye then lunch with lots of cocktails?' Amy loved the idea of just being them again, even if only for a few hours.

'Leave it all to me, I'll get the tickets booked' said Laura.

*****

Gareth sighed heavily as he looked at the pictures his wife had sent him of Amy in the Grealish shirt. Apparently, just like Jack, she didn't seem to be able to lie low or listen to instructions either. It was extra infuriating to know that she'd been there with Jack's parents. Why could no one else see that he was only doing this with his best interests in heart? Jack had played fantastically in the semi final the night before and Gareth hated to imagine what he'd have been like if he'd seen her. His head would have been all over the place and that's the last thing Jack or the team needed. He was going to have to lay down the law on this.

*****

The day after the semi-final was a rest day of sorts for the team and despite them all being pumped to face Italy in the final, the constant match and training schedule was tiring. Whilst almost everyone else was in the pool mucking around, Jack sat in the jacuzzi fiddling with his phone. Out of interest, he decided to search for Amy on instagram. He imagined he would still be blocked but her profile showed up straight away. Although he was no longer blocked, she hadn't followed him yet, but it was a start. He poured over her details, incredibly she had over 400k followers. Of course he had 3m, but Amy had always been so precious with her social media accounts. Everyone had to be fully vetted and be verified in real life before she'd accept their requests. Her bio was the biggest surprise though.

Amy Shaw
Love Island 2021
Represented by MR2Management

The fact that she had a management company was a definite surprise to Jack. The Amy he knew hated attention, but then again, the Amy that he used to know wouldn't have watched Love Island, let alone applied to go on it. A lot had definitely changed, but it was clear to see she was definitely going up in the world. He did have a laugh at how many of his team mates had followed her already- Chilly, Phil, Kyle, Mason and the list went on, they had better not be getting any ideas.