Never Again

Part Seven

Erin was tempted to post the jacket back to him, care of his club. It was the easiest thing, but also the most predictable and she hated the thought of that. So she hung it on the antique hat stand in her small hallway and pondered what to do. She was busy in work, busier than busy, so she was putting in late finishes, and was almost relieved that Barney wasn’t there to give her big guilt inducing glances when she walked into the room. He was recuperating well at her parents, and she planned to visit the coming weekend.

On Tuesday Jack’s team were playing, it was live on TV, and she always had a full satellite subscription, most nights she watched football, darts, cricket, even speedway. She loved all and every sport, and tonight she indulged in the guilty pleasure of watching his team play a London club. As usual with the Premiership, the game was fast, physical and quite exciting; in fact Jack scored the winner, a great striker’s goal. The whole stadium erupted, and he was happy and confident as he strolled off the pitch.

Once she’d caught up with the news, she made for bed, happy to read a few chapters of the thriller that had engrossed her over the last few days. As she was about to reach for the lamp, her phone bleeped.

Reaching for it, she couldn’t contain the smile that Jack’s name on the display sparked.

                “Loads of energy, wishing there was some crazy woman up for dancing tonight.”

Grinning she tapped a rapid response, “Sorry, no can do on a school night, tucked up in bed I’m afraid.”

                “There are certain things that women should never tell men, the fact that they are in bed is definitely one of them. Cold shower time!”

Smiling she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

The rest of the week was busy for Jack, he had several promo events, his sponsors paid well, but on times demanded more than their pound of flesh. This month was one of those times, but it was the closing part of the season, and it was usual. Scott had booked a round of golf on Thursday, and then there was the monthly poker game Friday, the following morning saw them all travel to London for Sunday’s game.

He hated hotels, well work related ones anyway, he tossed and turned. It didn’t help that he shared with Lewis, one of the youngsters, their manager liked to mix people up, in theory the older squad members should calm and advise the youngsters, though that wasn’t always the case. As he lay in bed, Lewis snoring beside him, he text Erin, he couldn’t resist.

Erin had enjoyed the greatest of her mother’s culinary creations; she made lasagne like no other. She’d sat at the kitchen table after comforting Barney who was looking surprisingly not bothered by being away from her, as her mother had dressed salad and produced crispy garlic bread. Then her brother Peter and his wife Yvonne had arrived with Amelia and Liam in tow. A quiet meal had become a riotous evening, ending with a game of monopoly, her father and her brother were THE most competitive and it had almost ended awkwardly.  But as usual her mother called it a draw, and everything was packed away. The kids at ten and eight were up way past their bedtime, and after a round of hugs and kisses, the extended family left.

Match of the Day came on, she’d always watched it, for years, but her father was hard work. There was still a lot of resentment that came with his career being cut short through injury.

                “He’d have lasted ten minutes in my day!” He scorned a youngster scoring his first Premiership goal, and another gave “an example of the lack of discipline in today’s game.”