Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
STEVEN
Steven stormed into Newby Park. Javier waited for him in the reception area. He must have seen him come into the car park.
“Wait a second,” Javier said, holding his hands up.
“What the fuck is going on with this team?” Steven asked. “This isn’t Brockton FC. Have you spoken to him?”
Javier shook his head. “He’s not arrived yet. Howard’s upstairs and wants to talk to us.”
Steven had barely slept. Udo had been so upset when he’d read the interview that they’d stayed up most of the night talking.
Shaun had downplayed to him just how vicious he’d been in the article.
Udo was ready to walk away. Thankfully, around three in the morning, Steven had managed to persuade him to stay and see it out.
Other players were drifting in. They glanced at Steven and Javier with worried expressions.
“Boss?” Adam said. “What are you going to do?”
Javier rubbed his beard. A surefire sign of stress. Steven was reassured by this. At least the club weren’t trying to sweep things under the carpet. Everyone frowned on treachery of this sort.
“I don’t know,” Javier replied. “I want to hear his side of the story first.”
Steven couldn’t believe that. “I’m sorry? He lays into the club and you want to sit him down and talk about his feelings?”
Javier’s face was stone.
“Perhaps you should go upstairs,” Javier said cooly.
Steven took a breath. Acting irrationally wouldn’t help him or Udo.
“You’re right, forgive me,” he said. “I hate this new attitude from Shaun. What the hell is his problem?”
Adam scratched his head. “He’s not taken to Holtmann, that’s true. He did a real number on him in that interview.”
He really had. Shaun had suggested that Udo was getting special treatment at Brockton to keep his price high for selling him over the summer.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Udo would see out his playing career at Brockton if it killed Steven. He would not lose him at this point.
“Things have been better since London,” Javier said.
“Not the other day. He took his shitty mood out on Udo right in front of us.”
They all fell silent as Shaun walked in. The arrogant bastard had his head held high and a pathetic grin on his face.
“I guess I’m in trouble.”
“Too fucking right you are,” Steven replied.
“Locker room,” Javier said. “Now.”
They all walked toward the door. Javier turned to Steven.
“Are you going to calm down?”
Steven nodded. “Sorry, boss. I don’t like this.”
“Me neither. You losing your shit isn’t going to help anyone.”
When they got inside, Udo sat on a bench. He looked terrified. Steven’s heart went out to him. Just when things were on the up, Shaun had to go and do this.
Colin and Edi were watching from their lockers. As were Ewen, Ingvar and Goran. Adam went over to join them, shaking his head.
“Listen up,” Javier said, standing in the centre of the room. “I’m not going to insult your intelligence by pretending we don’t know what’s happened. I’m also not intending on holding a kangaroo court.”
“Will I be given detention with the assistant coach too?” Shaun asked.
He pulled off his T-shirt and threw it into his locker.
“I would think twice about giving attitude, Riggs,” Steven said.
“What’s the matter? Has your favourite got a little upset?” Shaun fired back.
Steven took a step forward. “You’ve slagged off the club to a journalist. We’ll be overrun with them now. You’re lucky to even be standing here.”
“I tried to put a stop to it,” Shaun replied.
“Oh come on,” Steven said, throwing his arms up. “You know once you’ve said something like that they’ll run it. Why didn’t you tell Howard what you’d done?”
Shaun was crimson. He reminded Udo of a cornered beast. The most unpredictable kind.
“It’s what I thought at the time. You can’t control that.”
Adam put his hand on Shaun’s shoulder. “No one is trying to. Just don’t tell a fucking reporter about it. The fans are going to wonder what the hell’s going on.”
Shaun pushed Adam’s hand off him.
“The fans deserve to know when the club spend a fuckton of money on a useless player.”
“A player that’s scored twice in two games,” Steven replied.
He glanced at Udo, whose head was down. Shaun clearly had no idea the pain that he’d caused him.
“Why are you so worked up?” Shaun asked. “You fucking him or something?”
Steven launched toward Shaun and Javier held him.
“Steven. Out. Now,” Javier yelled.
Unable to meet anyone’s gaze, Steven stormed out of the locker room and into the corridor. He’d let his emotions get the better of him. He never did that.
In no time, Javier joined him.
“Follow me,” he said, grimly.
Javier led him out onto the pitch. Steven’s heart was pounding. He followed Javier to the far side, as far away from the building as possible.
“What the fuck was that all about?” Javier asked.
“He needed it,” Steven replied. “Riggs is out of control.”
Javier frowned. “Are you sure he’s the only one?”
“I don’t like disloyalty. He’s been pushing Holtmann for too long. I’m making real progress and now he’s set things back weeks.”
“I’m going to ask you again, Steven. Is your interest in Udo purely professional?”
Whether it was the aftermath of the confrontation or tiredness, Steven looked at Javier’s earnest face and found he couldn’t hide things anymore.
“We’re together,” he said quietly.
“For fuck’s sake,” Javier replied.
He walked away from Steven and ran his hands through his hair.
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking,” Steven said. “It got bigger than the both of us. I didn’t mean to.”
“Do you love him or are you fucking him?”
For a second, Steven was taken aback.
“I love him.”
“That’s something, I suppose. Jamie is going to lose his shit if he finds out,” Javier said.
This could mark the end of Steven’s career. He’d broken trust and had more conflicts of interest than he knew what to do with.
“Should I go?”
“Go where?”
“Home.”
“And leave me to deal with all this shit? I don’t think so.”
It was as though a glimmer of light had shown itself.
“What are you saying?”
“When Nikki and I met, she worked at my club,” Javier said. “I would be a hypocrite if I sacked you.”
Javier’s glamourous wife, Nikki, had swapped careers and made a name for herself as a successful interior designer. Steven had forgotten she’d been in the football industry once.
“I’m not going to pretend this is ideal,” Javier continued. “Who else knows?”
“No one.”
“Then we’ll keep it that way. Your early sessions with Udo finish now.”
Steven nodded. Tears were pricking his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Javier. Truly I am.”
Javier clapped him on the shoulder. “Love is a bastard. That’s for sure. Does he know how you feel?”
“We haven’t said as much.”
“Keep your distance without looking like it and no more scrapping. Jesus,” Javier said. “Let’s get to the end of the season, then we’ll see how the summer plays out.”
“Thank you,” Steven replied. “I mean that more than you ever know.”
Unfortunately, the elation of having Javier on his side lasted around forty-five minutes. They’d started the lads on agility training. Each one taking it in turns to pass the ball and taking it the length of the pitch before passing once again.
There was tension but they were trying their best. Even Riggs who hadn’t dared catch Steven’s eye. Neither had Udo.
Javier glanced at his phone.
“Mierda,” he said.
“What now?”
“We’ve been summoned to Jamie’s office. Immediately.”
That was never a good thing these days. Steven could only imagine how furious he would be about the negative publicity.
Having taken the club over from his father, Jamie obsessed over their public image.
He supposed there were plenty of people waiting for Jamie to fail. The pressure must be intense.
It made for a terrifying prospect that they had both been called.
“Adam,” Javier shouted to the captain. “Take the whistle.”
He threw his whistle, which Adam impressively caught.
“I guess we’d better see what he wants.”
They made their way across the pitch. It reminded Steven of the rare occasions he’d been sent to the headmaster’s office as a kid.
“Who do you think told him about my outburst?”
“Fuck knows. Stick to your guns and pass it off as loyalty to the club. Let me do the talking, yeah?”
Steven nodded. If Jamie got wind of what was really going on, he and Udo were done for.
Neither of them spoke the rest of the way. Worry lines were etched on Javier’s face. Steven hated the guilt that he’d caused his boss and his friend such grief. Even if Riggs had started it.
They reached the management suite. Jamie’s personal assistant, Veronica, gave them a sympathetic smile. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Hi, guys,” she said.
Veronica was in her mid-twenties and very popular with the squad. She also proved to be a tremendous source of information for Javier and Steven.
“Is it bad?” Javier asked.
“He’s pissed off big-time. Howard’s in there.”
“The terrible twosome,” Steven said. “Why did I get out of bed this morning?”
He ignored the pointed stare from Javier. Veronica opened the door to Jamie’s lair.
“Best of luck.”
The condemned men walked into the office.
Jamie sat behind his desk. Howard stood by the window that overlooked the training pitch.
“Sit,” Jamie commanded.
They both obeyed and took the two seats in front of the desk.
Howard turned. “Okay, guys. The bad news is—”
“Shouldn’t there be good news first?” Javier interjected.
“Humour is not required here, thank you, Javier,” Jamie replied. “Howard.”
“The mainstream media has got hold of it and are running with it. We’ve been asked for comment by most of them.”
Unease swept over Steven. He didn’t want Udo getting exposed in the press. Things were getting too hot for comfort.
“What do we do?” Steven asked.
He couldn’t meet Jamie’s icy glare.
“Once again, Holtmann has put us in the spotlight.”
Every fibre of Steven’s being wanted to argue with him. To say that the blame lay squarely at Shaun’s feet.
“I don’t think that’s entirely fair,” Javier said.
“Sorry?”
“Riggs did the interview. So what if Steven gave Udo one-on-one coaching? We do that all the time. Riggs has an axe to grind and that is the real issue here.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Howard said.
“What do you mean?” Jamie asked.
Howard loved it when all eyes were on him. He began to pace the office like he was in a court of law.
“We confirm that Steven has been working with Udo. There’s no harm in admitting that Udo struggled at first. Plenty of players do. The fans will like the human aspect of it.”
Howard had the talent to spin anything he put his mind to.
“We can say that the last two games are proof that it’s working. We need Holtmann to score every match between now and the end of the season.”
Talk about putting more pressure on Udo. Once again, Steven battled his instincts to debate. Now wasn’t the time.
“Do it,” Jamie said.
Howard nodded and sped out of the office to put his plan into play.
That left the three of them.
“I don’t like attention,” Jamie said. “I like goals.”
“We know that,” Javier replied.
Jamie glanced at Steven. “You’re very quiet today.”
A trickle of sweat ran down Steven’s back.
“Me? I’m bracing myself for the reporters trying to get a comment when I go home tonight. I’m just doing my job.”
He smiled sweetly.
“I heard you had an outburst this morning.”
Fuck. Someone blabbed to him.
“I’ll admit things got heated,” Steven said. “I don’t like disloyalty. Riggs has been acting like a twa…fool since Christmas.”
“Since Udo joined?” Jamie asked.
“Since his best friend was ejected,” Javier replied. “That was your idea, if I remember.”
It was a brave move. Steven probably owed Javier about two hundred drinks at this point.
“Harmony is what I want to see,” Jamie said, barely acknowledging that remark. “You can go.”
They didn’t waste any time obeying that order.
“Well done, “Veronica said as they strode past her desk. “No limbs were lost.”
“More by luck than judgement,” Steven replied.
They tore down the stairs as if Jamie might drag them back at any moment.
“What do we do next?” Steven asked breathlessly.
“You heard him. He wants harmony,” Javier replied. “You’re going to make peace with Shaun and quickly.”
The training session finished with Steven and Javier once again at the helm. Steven clapped a few of the lads on the shoulder as they jogged toward the showers.
“Riggs,” he said. “A word please.”
He led Shaun away from the others.
“I owe you an apology,” Steven continued. “I lost my temper earlier and I shouldn’t have.”
Shaun nodded. “I suppose I should too. I let my mouth run away with me and I know better than that.”
“I don’t think it’s me you should say sorry to.”
“I’ve already done it,” Shaun replied.
“What’s going on?” Steven asked. “This isn’t like you.”
Shaun sighed. “It’s not the same anymore. I suppose I blamed Holtmann for that. When I found out you were giving him special treatment, I got angry. You didn’t do that for Jimmy, did you?”
This infuriated Steven. Once again, he mastered his emotions. He was getting good at this.
“Jimmy got away lightly. Don’t take that shit out on me.”
Shaun looked down sullenly.
“It’s not special treatment for Udo. It’s for the club. If we avoid relegation this season, who knows what next season holds for us? Surely you believe that.”
Shaun shrugged. “I guess. I’ll do better. I promise.”
Steven nodded. He watched Shaun jog away.
He hoped he’d got through to him. If not for Brockton FC’s sake, then definitely for Udo’s.