𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ↣ 𝐣. 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝

𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ↣ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞

𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ↣ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞

jesse slammed his fists on the table in frustration: they couldn't do this to him, especially not now. a burning feeling of hatred bubbled in the pit of his stomach, his eyes searching the faces in front of him for an indication that all of this was some sort of joke. but their faces were blank; expressionless.

"what do you mean temporarily suspended? there's still half of the season left to play!" jesse roared, his eyebrows knitting together in anger as they shuffled papers around in front of them, "the team needs me! heck, the fans need me!"

"jesse we admire your passion and love for the team but your behaviour the past couple of weeks has been the complete opposite of what we need right now. all the tabloid headlines, all the photos and videos surfacing of you, all the social media scandals - you're painting a bad image for yourself and for your team." woodward spoke, running a hand over his forehead as he watched jesse through pained eyes. deep down he knew jesse was a good footballer and an asset to the team - he connected with the players on the pitch and the fans. to temporarily suspend him was going to hurt but it was the best decision to follow as of now.

"so that's it then? i can't even appeal against this?" jesse mumbled, picking at the edges of his fingernails as he admitted defeat, "i actually cannot believe this."

"we've released that you're out on injury just so you don't make any public enemies. you're still welcome to drop into training every now and then, and you know fully well that you can come to any of the matches. you just won't be playing," woodward offered jesse his hand to shake, which was met with a smug frown on his face, "look, jesse. this is the best option for you right now. trust me we've spoken to the coaches, we've spoken to ole. they all agree that you should have some time off, sort your head out. an your act whilst you're at it."

woodward smoothed is suit down as he stood up, nodding in the direction of jesse. collecting his papers he hopped from one foot to the other nervously. jesse closed his eyes, balling his fists underneath the table as he heard the rest of the panel leave through the weighted double doors. this wasn't fair: manchester united was jesse's whole life, it was his dream. and now because of a few drunken mistakes and a couple page spreads in newspapers his dream was now on hold.

he saved the commotion as he wandered down the halls, pulling his jacket tighter around his chest as he ducked his head. a few members of the press sat in the lobby, clicking their camera's in his face as jesse sauntered past, not wanting to speak to them or even look at them. after all, he'd have to start keeping his head down if he wanted to continue his life at this football club.

"marcus? yeah come 'round mine later. i'll be in yeah," he unlocked his car, ducking into the drivers seat as he pressed his phone against his ear whilst yanking his seat-belt around his shoulders, "no, no, no - they've suspended me for the rest of the season, say i need to sort my act out before they sack me off permanently. yeah i know! look, i'll have to go i'm 'bout to start driving. yeah come 'round in 'bout ten. okay safe."

his fingers turned the key in the ignition but let the engine die down almost immediately as he sat there, fingers gripping the wheel in desperation. surely they could have offered him some other sort of punishment: dock his wages for the next couple of weeks, not let him play every single game, ban him from social media. literally anything would be better than the treatment they had bestowed upon him.

jesse slouched, not exactly sure on what he wanted to do. he wanted leave the stadium but there was a part of him that didn't exactly want to go home and mope around feeling sorry for himself. instead he found his fingers tapping out a quick message to marcus asking him to come pick up and he'd explain why later. within minutes marcus had replied a swift 'okay bud' before jesse flung his phone onto the passenger seat, the sound of the phone hitting the leather soothing his tense forehead.

he was stressed.

despite being young and sometimes reckless he really enjoyed his career. ever since a young age he'd always wanted to play for united and become a key player for the team. and now he had exactly that; he was living the life he had always dreamed and hoped for. but as he sat there, eyes screwed shut, he couldn't help but mumble incoherent profanities as he realised his whole life could potentially be over in a couple weeks if he didn't stop. yet, jesse found it hard to pinpoint exactly what he had been doing wrong: the partying wasn't as frequent as it used to be, he hadn't been pictured with a girl for months and the newspapers barely ran a headline about his personal life anymore, it was more than likely about his progress and game-play for the club. but he knew, deep down in the burning pit of his stomach, he needed to change his ways. and fast. there was no way that jesse was going to let this all go down the drain.

"jesse!" marcus thumped the glass next to jesse's face, startling him as he adjusted to the brightness of the sun, "c'mon!"

jesse clambered out, gripping marcus' shoulder as he shoved his phone into his pocket, "cheers bro. it ran out of petrol, didn't know who else to call."

the lie ran so smoothly off his tongue and although marcus knew he was jut making an excuse for not wanting to drive alone he nodded in acceptance. marcus held the door open for jesse, slamming it shut before making his way over to his driver's seat, "look, i can speak to ole and see if he will help budge woodward. we should be able to twist his arm somehow."

"no it's all good, me and woodward agreed i needed some time off anyway," jesse's cheeks burnt as another lie rolled up his throat, "like some sort of holiday he said. imagine all the food, the lie-in's!"

marcus made a left, finally exiting the stadium as jesse's stomach started to calm down. marcus could sense that there was something toying on jesse's mind and he knew it was something to do with the meeting he just attended. but getting jesse to open up was one of marcus' hardest challenges - even though they had been best friends for the longest time jesse had built up such a high wall around his emotions and his true thoughts that marcus always had beg and beg for him to explain how he was really feeling. however, all of that guarding came down once jesse had had a few drinks.

"don't suppose you fancy a few drinks at the bar do you? could drop this at yours and uber it down?" marcus switched the radio off, the car plunging into an uncomfortable silence. realistically jesse should say no but he felt his heart tug at the question - a few drinks surely wouldn't hurt. after all, what did woodward expect? jesse wasn't about to go wallow in self pity at home, he was about to (sensibly) celebrate his short-lived freedom.