Gazing out of the window, I could see some boys playing football on one of the pitches in the distance. In a way I envied them because they could be just themselves and enjoy playing the game.

Football Girl

By Susan Brown

Chapter 9

Previously...

“Claire might be right, you know. If you are Susan in your private life, you might get a bit of privacy, but it depends on where you want to go with this. Mind you, if you were found out, the excrement would hit the fan. Look I’m coming over with Josie and the kids to the café. We’ll talk then, okay?”

“’Kay.”

“We’ll work it out, but one thing is certain.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s going to be interesting.”

I said goodbye and then on auto pilot, I finished dressing. After slapping on the makeup and lippy, all I could see was Susan staring at me from the mirror. It looked like I was going to have to make a decision about my life sooner than I thought. Could I be Susan and Mark and did I want that? Do I want to be a pro footballer if it meant going through my life under a spotlight?

Too many questions and not enough answers.

And now the story continues…

Gazing out of the window, I could see some boys playing football on one of the pitches in the distance. In a way I envied them because they could be just themselves and enjoy playing the game. They hadn’t been picked out of obscurity and put on the centre stage like I had. I knew that I was different and that it was that difference that had put me where I was today. I loved my football but I loved being Susan too. How could I keep my privacy and live my two dreams, to be the best footballer that I could be and the girl that I knew I was inside? Could the two be compatible in any way?

I looked in the mirror and brushed my hair. Seeing my reflection I smiled slightly and sighed. So many things had happened in such a small space of time but one thing was sure, I liked the girl smiling at me in the mirror.

I suppose I lacked the confidence needed to be really sure of what I was doing and where I wanted to go with this. I knew I would have to be strong because very soon I would have to make tough decisions about my life.

I wanted to speak to mum about all of this so much, but she was still going through the heartache and trauma that had made her go and stay with Auntie Pat in Scotland and I didn’t want to add to her problems.

Hearing the doorbell ring, I went downstairs. Opening the door, I smiled as Josie gave me a big, “Hi,” and a hug. Jeff closely followed behind struggling with the twins and he gave me the same, rather nice, treatment. Soon we were sitting, me with a coke and Josie and Jeff with the inevitable cups of tea. The twins were zonked out in their buggy so we were able to talk without the usual screaming.

“That’s a nice top, Susan,” said Josie.

“Mm, got it at Primark, special offer two for the price of one, the other one is pink and has a lovely…”

“If you two girls can stop talking fashion for a few minutes, we need to discuss tactics.”

“I wish you wouldn’t always talk in football terms, Jeff; use English, please.”

“At least I don’t get all gooey eyed talking about the last thing I bought in the shops...”

I coughed gently at my lovely foster parents and they managed to look a bit sheepish. Jeff got back on track.

“Look, Susan, it was a marvellous day yesterday but because of that, things are now a bit different.”

“Yeah, but I really don’t know what to do.”

“That’s why we’re here–to help you decide. First, I have to ask it, and I’m sorry if I upset you but we need to know.”

“Know what?”

“Do you want to be a professional footballer and a girl and which is more important to you?”

Looking at them both, I understood that they were concerned for me.

“I…I’ve thought about it a lot. It was all a bit of a dream yesterday–a bit Roy of the Rovers, as the man in the dressing room told me. I didn’t know what he was really talking about at the time and then I looked on the ’net this morning and knew what he meant. The funny thing was I then thought that I was more like Susan of United but knew that other people might find that a bit peculiar. After all, how many girls play professional football?

“In other countries like the USA, I believe that they have professional players but only for all-girls teams; no mixed teams, I think,” replied Jeff.

I sipped my cola, the cold drink fizzing down my throat as I tried to put my thoughts together.

“You see, I want to be both. In secret I want to be Susan and in public I want to be Mark. I’m still too young to finally choose between Mark and Susan, even though I know in my heart of hearts that I am more girl than boy. If I have the operation and everything and I am wrong, there’s no turning back. Do you know what I mean?”

They both nodded and then Josie spoke up. “So let’s get this clear, you want to be Mark when you have to be and Susan when you can be?”

I puzzled over that for a moment and then realised that it was exactly how I wanted it to be so I just nodded.

“So we need to talk about how we can achieve that,” said Jeff. “There is one thing I’m certain about; that Mr Prentiss needs to know the score. Then, if your secret were to come out, he would hopefully know how to handle it; do you agree?”

I nodded. “You’re right, it’s only fair. We do need to talk to him–and quickly; but the more people who know about this, the more chances of my being exposed.”

“Mmm,” said Josie, “also remember, Mr Prentiss and the club are probably going to have contracts, advertising and other monetary things tied into you as a footballer and it’s only fair that we should talk to him in case people might lose out financially.”

It was so complicated. Now, I was not only worried about me, but everyone else as well!

“I’m going to ring him now.” said Jeff,

He went into the bedroom, leaving me with Josie, who tried to take my mind off my troubles by suggesting doing different things with my hair. It wasn’t very long yet, but she felt that in expert hands, they could make it look very pretty.

“If I went to a salon, would I need an anaesthetic?”

“Probably.”

We both giggled.

She was changing my parting and back combing my fine hair when Jeff returned. We both looked up as he walked over.

“He is coming around here. I just told him that you have a problem that needs sorting out before the meeting.”

“D–did you tell him?”

“No, I said that we’ll talk about it when he comes. He’ll be here in about half an hour. Do you want to stay as you are or do you want to change?”

“Into boy stuff?”

He nodded.

I looked at Josie who just shrugged and said, “It’s up to you, love.”

“I–I’ll change, then it won’t be too much of a shock for him.”

I went into the bathroom and regretfully got out of my girls’ clothes. Taking off the makeup took a bit of time, but luckily, the only varnish I had on, was on my toes. Keeping on my silky panties, I put on my track bottoms and t-shirt. After brushing my hair, I grimaced at my reflection as looked like Mark again.

Going back into the lounge, I noticed that Jeff was making another cup of tea and watching the sports news on the TV. Josie was reading a girlie magazine; she looked me up and down as I walked in and then frowned.

“What?”

“Erm, Mark, can I have a word?”

“Sure.”

She steered me back into the bedroom and closed the door gently behind her.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Have a look in the mirror.”

I glanced at my reflection and then looked closely at my face. Had I left on some makeup?

“Not your face love, look at your chest.”

I looked at myself and didn’t really know what she meant.

“What?”

She came over and moved me so I was looking at myself side on.

My chest looked a bit proud and I could clearly see my nipples through the material; perhaps I was getting some muscles?

“Mark, can you pull up your t-shirt for me?”

“Why?”

“I need to look at your chest. Don’t be shy; I’ve seen it all before.”

I pulled the shirt up and Josie had a close look. Then she sort of prodded me a bit.

“Ouch!”

“Does that hurt?”

“Yes, a bit, they’ve been sore for a couple of days now, jogger’s nipple I think. I need to get some cream…

“Honey, it’s not joggers nipple you’ve got there, it’s budding breasts.”

“How…but …I don’t underst…”

“Those pills you were taking, I have a feeling that they were more than just blockers. I’m glad that you stopped using them. Let’s hope that everything is okay there. I’m glad that you have an appointment with the specialist on Friday. Anyway, put on a loose sweat shirt for now and we’ll talk about it later. John Prentiss will be here soon.”

Just then the front door bell went and I could hear Jeff clomping downstairs to answer it.

As I sat in the armchair waiting for them to return, I absent mindedly scratched one of my sore nipples. This wasn’t a development that I had planned on–yet. Yes, if I went all the way in becoming a girl physically, but not yet–not now as it could become very embarrassing.

John breezed in and shook my hand vigorously as I stood up to greet him.

“Well, Mark, great game yesterday, couldn’t believe how someone could turn the game so quickly. Great goal by the way…”

He was chatting away nineteen to the dozen and it sort of washed over me as I didn’t want him to fuss and anyway he didn’t know about my secret yet. Maybe when he heard, he would wash his hands of me and say nasty things like my slime ball step-father did.

Eventually, when the flow stopped and he was drinking the inevitable cup of tea, he looked enquiringly at us all.

“So, what’s all the fuss about?”

Jeff and Josie looked at me. It was going to have to be my job to say what had to be said.

“Mr Prentiss…”

“John, please.”

“John, erm–I have something to tell you that might cause you a few problems.”

“That’s what I’m here for…”

“Please don’t say anything. It’s hard enough to tell anyone, but we…I mean I feel that it’s only fair to tell you that I’m a bit different from your normal players…”

“I know that. I can see talent any day but you are something special…”

“Please let me tell you,” I pleaded.

I looked at him. He was puzzled and was obviously aware that I was upset. He just sat there as I told him. “When I was small, I always thought I was different. It took a long time to realise why: I felt sort of wrong–in my body. I–I always thought that God or whoever decides these things got me a bit mixed up. You see I think–I mean I’m almost certain that I am a girl. It’s not just the clothes; it’s the way I am. I never really related to boys of my own age, I had more in common with girls. When I first tried on girls’ clothes, it immediately felt right somehow. I find it difficult to explain but I’m a girl in the wrong body. But I want to play football and I want to be a success in the best team. I didn’t want to be like this but I am…I’m sorry!”

I burst into tears and rushed into the bedroom slamming the door behind me. I fell on the bed and cried into my pillow. It had come out all wrong. He would laugh at me and then say that everything was off. Then he would be like my foul step dad–horrible…

I stayed there crying for I don’t know how long. I was kind of conscious of someone coming into the room and could feel the weight of someone sitting on the bed beside me. I was then hugged by soft arms and I could hear Josie trying to comfort me.

“It’s all right, love; dry your tears, it’s okay.”

I calmed down eventually and, after wiping my eyes and blowing my nose with a tissue, I listened to what Josie had to say.

“John is okay about it. He knows that it’s going to be difficult but he thinks that he can help you.”

“He does?” I said hopefully. “H…he’s not angry with me?”

“No he’s not. Look, he wants to talk to you. Dry your eyes again and let’s see what he has to say.”

Josie led the way as I followed her, a bit reluctantly out into the lounge.

I came across a bit of a weird sight as Jeff and John were each holding one of the twins; they had decided to wake up and be heard!

After tickling a belly button of the twin he was holding, John looked up and smiled at me.

“Feeling better?”

I just nodded, not knowing what to say.

“Right let’s leave the babies for Jeff and Josie to sort out and go for a little walk, shall we?”

I glanced at Jeff who gave a tiny nod and a smile of encouragement.

I got my coat and John followed me down the narrow stairs to the street outside.

We walked along the edge of the playing field and found ourselves in the park. Sitting on a bench by the duck pond was nice. It was peaceful and quite lovely in the wintry sunshine.

John turned to me and smiled. “You were very brave to tell me.”

“I don’t feel brave. I feel that I’ve lied to you.”

“With good reason; the trouble with you is that you don’t see how good you are. Other people see it. Every time you touch a football, something special seems to happen. It’s a rare talent and you shouldn’t keep putting yourself down and not realising that you are special. You thought that you could carry on hiding who you really are in the hope that it would all work out okay in the end. Am I right?”

I nodded.

“Yesterday you did something special that millions of people saw and that made your problems more immediate than you thought they would be and you decided to get some help. I’m pleased that you’ve told me. It’s not going to be easy, but we will find a way of working things out. Do you believe me?”

I looked at his face and could see why so many players put their trust in him. A lot of agents were more interested in making money out of players than anything else. John was different.

“I believe you,” I replied softly.

“Good. Look you need to know where I’m coming from here. Let me tell you about me and my family. I have a wife called Miranda and a son who is only a year older than you; his name is Henry. Miranda is a teacher and Henry’s at a private school. Three years ago I came home from work. I parked my car outside on the front drive as I had to go to work early the next morning and didn’t want to mess about getting the car out of the garage at the back of the house.

“Miranda was at a parent teacher meeting. Henry was supposed to be doing his homework upstairs. When I went up to say hello, the room was empty and there was an envelope on his pillow. When I opened it, the note said just one word–sorry.

“Puzzled, I went downstairs to the kitchen and then could see a light coming from the garage. Somehow I knew that there was something wrong, so I ran out of the kitchen and dashed over to the garage, Opening the door, I almost choked at the fumes coming from the car exhaust of our spare car. There was a hose coming from the exhaust pipe and through a rear window of the car.

“My eyes were streaming and I was coughing badly as I pulled the driver’s door open, Henry fell out of the car. I somehow switched the ignition off and dragged Henry out into the clean air; he was blue around the lips and wasn’t breathing. I gave him mouth to mouth to breathe some life into him. Just then, Miranda’s car drew up next to us. She saw immediately that we were in trouble and she called for an ambulance. They turned up ten minutes later and all that time, my wife and I took turns to try to bring our son back to life.

“We managed to save him–just. He spent a week in hospital and we were told by the doctors not to pressure him or ask what was wrong. He needed to heal. Eventually he told us why he tried to kill himself. He is gay, homosexual or whatever label you want to put on it. He couldn’t tell us because he thought that we would reject him. It was eating him up inside. He thought he was a bad person for feeling the way he was and was guilty that his parents didn’t have a normal child.”

“That’s terrible,” I said with tears streaming down my face.

“Miranda and I both felt so guilty that Henry couldn’t tell us about his problem. Needless to say, we love him just as much and try to help and protect him whenever we can. So, Mark, I do understand a bit of what you are going through and I’ll try to be as much of a friend as I can be. You should meet Henry; he’s very much like you, sensitive and caring. Anyway, I have a few ideas so do you want to walk back to the flat and we’ll discuss them with Jeff and Josie?”

“Okay.”

“Can you do me a favour though?”

“Yes?”

“May I see Susan? I have a very good reason for seeing your other self.”

“Okay.”

Josie helped me with my hair and makeup. I wore my other pink Primark top and a short denim skirt and sandals, not exactly winter weather clothing, but I wasn’t going anywhere. I took a few deep breaths; this wasn’t going to be easy…

Both Jeff and John stood up as I came into the lounge. John’s jaw dropped slightly as he saw me and I nearly bolted back into the bedroom but couldn’t, because Josie had a firm grip on my arm.

“Mark?” said John.

I nodded, suddenly even shyer than I thought I could be, and then said, “Susan,” softly.

He looked pretty gobsmacked as he looked me up and down; he then nodded for some reason. “You’re very pretty, Susan. I can’t see much of Mark in you except the nose and general body shape. Shall we sit down and have a chat?

“Look, I’ve talked with Jeff while you were changing and he mentioned your idea of being Susan when you don’t want to be seen as Mark. If anyone queries who you are you could be his sister or something. I know that you don’t want to make any final decisions about your gender until you are older. The fact that you feel the way you do is, as far as I am concerned, private and I don’t think that we need to involve the club at this stage. The media is another matter. You may have to face up to the fact that you might get found out. They are very good at ferreting things out. The sister trick just might help. We must do all we can to protect you. If the crap hits the fan, we will have to let the club know as soon as possible. However if we’re careful we might get away with it until you are ready to tell the world or make a firm decision about your life, okay?”

I nodded and then he continued.

“What will happen to your football career after that is anyone’s guess but we’ll worry about that when the time comes. Right, fact one, you cannot stay here; you are too open to problems and there is no security to speak of.”

“Where can I go?”

“You need to have a place of your own where you can go and have some sort of privacy. That means a largish estate with gates and security.”

“I can’t afford that!”

“Yes you can. I happen to know that the revised contract that they are going to wave at you is going to make you seriously rich. But you are under age and I really feel that you need to be with your parents.”

“My dad’s in prison and my mum wouldn’t be able to cope with this.”

“What about your foster parents? Jeff and Josie want to help and I suggested that they live with you.”

I looked at Jeff and Josie and realised that they had been talking while I was out.

“Jeff, I don’t understand.”

“Look, it’s up to you but we have never been truly happy with your living alone here anyway.”

“I know, but you’ve done so much and I can’t ask you to change things because of me!”

Josie came and sat beside me. Taking my hand she spoke to me quietly. The men went into the kitchen and John was talking on his mobile.

“Look Susan; you have a whole load of issues you must deal with. You’re only fifteen and you can’t be expected to cope on your own. As far as Jeff and I are concerned, you are as good as our child and we want to help and protect you. Can you understand that?”

“Yes but I don’t want to cause you more trouble than I have already.”

“It’s no trouble. If anything had happened to your mum, we would have adopted you, if that was what you wanted. As it is, we love being part of your life and will do everything we can to help you. John has suggested that Jeff becomes your business manager and I think that it’s a good idea.”

I got a bit tearful again then, it was so wonderful that I had two people who loved me enough to want to adopt me.

“What about the café?” I sniffed.

“It doesn’t earn that much and we can either sell it or get a manager in. As far as you are concerned, Jeff will work for you and you can pay him a wage. It’s a business arrangement so it has to be on a business footing. John will arrange all the details about pay and all that so neither you nor Jeff will need to be embarrassed about that side of things. We can find a house that’s suitable for all our needs and move in there. That bit isn’t business, that’s what families do, stick together and help each other out. How does that sound? It’s your decision and we will support you whatever you decide. I’m going to make a cuppa, while you have a think.”

I sat there pondering what had been said. This was getting complicated but I felt warm and fuzzy inside about how much Josie and Jeff loved me and were willing to undertake to help me through all this.

“Josie.” I called.

She looked up as she filled the kettle.

“Yes?”

‘I’m going to ring Mum.”

“Good idea.”

John and Jeff were still busy on their mobiles so I popped into the bedroom and rang mum up in sunny Scotland.

“Mum, it’s me, Susan.”

“Hello, love, how are you. I was going to ring you later. I watched the game on Match of the Day, you were wonderful. I wish I’d been there.”

“I know, it was a bit of a dream really, I don’t know how I did so well. Anyway that’s kind of what I’m ringing about…”

I told her all that had happened and the fact that everyone thought that I should move to a more secure place and everything.

“Well, Susan; I think it’s great that they’re willing to help you. I feel so guilty that I’m not there for you.”

“Don’t be, Mum, I miss you lots, but I’m okay. Now that I’m earning good money, I’m going to come and see you really soon, I promise.”

We spoke for about twenty minutes more and I told her how much I loved her and got a bit choked up when she said the same about me. We didn’t speak much about my step-father, but it was a bit of a bombshell when she told me that he had been let out on bail.

“Shit, Mum! How come?”

“Don’t swear like that. I don’t like girls swearing and I certainly don’t want you to.”

“Sorry, Mum, it was the shock and that.”

“It’s probably a good idea that you’re moving, because the old house is near where you are now. Can I have a word with Josie?”

“Okay, I’ll get her.”

“Ring me tomorrow and let me know what’s going on.”

“Okay, Mum; love you.”

“Love you too, sweetheart.”

I went into the kitchen and after saying goodbye to Mum, and handed over the phone to Josie.

Jeff and John were still doing things on their phones; I think they were ringing estate agents and stuff like that. I had a bit of a headache so I swallowed a couple of pain killers and went into the bedroom. Picking up my bunny, I lay down on the bed and shut my eyes.

I must have been tired or something as the next thing I remember was that Josie was stroking my hair.

“Hello, sleepyhead, are you all right?”

I rubbed my eyes and looked up at her.

I yawned. “I must have fallen asleep.”

“Yes, a few hours ago. Jeff and John have popped out and taken the twins with them. We thought that you needed a bit of quiet time.”

I sat up on the bed and looked at Josie.

“What do you think I should do?”

“That is one decision you have to make for yourself, Susan. But what I will say is that we all want to do the right thing for you.”

I thought for a few minutes and then I found myself in the arms of Josie. I had a bit of a cry and wondered why I was getting more emotional lately.

After a few minutes I looked up at her.

“Can we do it please?”

2

It was amazing how much could be sorted out on a Sunday by someone who knows the system or at least knew someone else who could help. It was rather boring for me–the legal stuff and all that. Jeff and John spoke to mum and after a chat involving all of us, we agreed that, as she was in Scotland and not really well enough to do things, that Jeff should have what’s known as power of attorney for my affairs. That meant that he could look after the financial stuff without my worrying about it.

John had spoken to Melchester and had managed to put off my going there until Wednesday to sort out the contract stuff. He explained that because of all the publicity, we had to arrange moving house and things like that. He told them where we were going to stay and he promised that we would keep in touch with the club. Luckily there wasn’t a match until Saturday and it was agreed that I would go to training with the squad after the contract stuff was sorted out on Wednesday.

Because my dad might be lurking around and could, in theory cause me a whole lot of trouble, the top priority was to get me out of the flat and into somewhere safe. Jeff found a posh hotel about 10 miles outside Melchester and after packing some stuff in a case and stopping off at their place to grab some bags and stuff for the twins, we found ourselves at the hotel. My gob was well and truly smacked as I looked around the plush, posh palace where we were going to stay for a day or two until something more permanent was sorted out. Meanwhile, John was making enquiries about renting a house in the area and had gone off to look at a few places. I was still dressed as Susan so no one would recognise me. It was strange going out into public as Susan but I was getting used to it and didn’t keep looking around, wondering if I had been “clocked.”

The rooms were quite nice–make that super nice. It was called an executive suite. It had thick plush carpets, expensive looking furniture and a couple of en suite bedrooms. There was a large sitting area with leather sofas and chairs dotted about and a large plasma screen TV on the wall, which was mega cool. It also had a serious sound system that made you think that the sounds were coming from all around you. Yes, I could get used to this. The only thing missing that I would have liked was a Wii, but you can’t have everything!
Ooh, I forgot to mention that there was a fridge too; full of drinks, peanuts and stuff like that and I hoped that I would be able to try out a few things from there when I had the time but not alcohol as I hate that stuff after what it did to ‘slime-ball’.

My phone twittered and I saw a message from Claire.

“What’s happening?”

I texted her back.

“Developments.”

“What?”

“I’ve moved.”

“Why.”

“To keep me safe.”

“Safe?”

“Slime ball step daddy out of jail.”

“Gross!”

“Wher r u.”

“Hotel.”

“Wow.”

“Yea, wow.”

“Why are we txting.”

“u started it.”

Can I ring u.”

“L8tr,”

“ring me whn u can.”

“OK.”

“Bye.”

“Chow.”

“What’s that?”

“Never mind c u.”

I shut the phone down. I was never much into text-speak or whatever it’s called. I never had any real friends to text before and I needed to learn a bit more as my texting finger was sore from stabbing the keys too hard. Anyway I heard Josie calling me from the other room so I went to see what she wanted.

“Hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Jeff’s gone off somewhere. He’s meeting John. He thinks that they may have found somewhere that would be good for us to use as a base.”

“You are all great, doing all this for me,”

“Don’t worry, I think Jeff’s enjoying himself and I like this lifestyle too, so it’s not all one way. Help me get the twins in the buggy and we’ll go and see if we can get something to eat. There’s evidently three restaurants here to choose from.”

We squeezed the babies into the double buggy. It’s amazing that they squirm so much sometimes and I didn’t know that their arms were so rubbery and bendy.

“Do I need to change?” I asked, a bit breathless after the mini wrestling match.

She looked me up and down critically.

“You’ll do, just go and brush your hair and refresh your lippy.”

“Okilly-dokilly, mummy.”

I rushed into my bathroom and did the necessary and we were soon in the lift, silently going down to the ground floor where the restaurants were. The twins were making a bit of noise but the use of matched dummies (soothers) soon quietened them down a bit.

It was a major headache deciding where to go for a munch but we decided on the quick food, burger restaurant as we would probably have a proper meal in the evening when Jeff came back from his travels.

Having extracted the babies from their buggy and ordering a burger and fries followed by a thick strawberry milk shake for 2, we fed the little darlings some formula milk. I think I was feeding Poppy but it could have been Daisy as they looked like two peas out of the same pod–if you know what I mean.

“Is this Poppy?” I asked.

“No, Daisy.”

“How can you tell them apart, you always dress them the same and everything?”

“Poppy has that little birthmark on the side of her neck–see?”

Looking where she pointed, I could see the faint red mark.

“Ooh I see, not much difference between the two of them then?”

“No, they’re going to confuse the hell out of people when they go to school.”

We both laughed at that and continued with the girls’ slurpy feed.

After a quick burping episode where I unfortunately got some milky sick on my top, the twins went back in the buggy and promptly fell asleep.

Soon our order came and we silently ate our meal.

My mobile went off mid munch and as I took it out of my bag, I could see it was Claire.

I pressed the green button.

“Hrungff?” I said.

“Hi, it’s Claire, eating a burger?”

I swallowed and said, “How did you know?”

“Been there, done that and like, bought the t-shirt. How are things?”

“Look, I can’t talk yet. Can I ring you tonight?”

“Like, sure; when?”

“Well, bedtime I suppose.”

“Cool, I like those bedtime type chats that lasts for hours; speak to you soon?”

“Yea, ’byee.”

“’Byee.”

“’Bye,”

“’Bye.”

“You put the phone down then.”

“Okay if you do too.”

“Are you gone yet?”

“Nearly.”

“Bye.”

I pressed the red button otherwise my fries would have got cold and that is a crime against humanity or something.

Josie looked at me with a smile on her face.

“What?”

“You are so girlie sometimes.”

I smiled at that. It was the nicest compliment, apart from football ones, that I had heard for some time.

After finishing off our meal, we went back upstairs to find Jeff and John sitting at a desk poring over a laptop. What with Josie, Jeff and John for names it was all a bit of a J-fest. I should have called myself Jocasta, Jayne or something just to add a bit more confusion!

They looked up when we came in.

“Hi, girls.” said John. “We’ve been a bit busy and think that we have sorted things out.”

“Yes,” said Jeff, “We’ve found a place that should do for us. It’s a large house in its own grounds, fully furnished with gates and walls to keep out the curious and the nasty. The owners are abroad and have been for two years. They’ve been trying to rent it out for about a year now but because of the cost and the economic climate, they haven’t been able to find anyone to take it on so it’s a bit of a bargain for its size. If you want Susan, we’ll go and look at it tomorrow and if you like it, we can move in straight away.”

“Cool,” I said in my best High School Musical accent.

Josie shook her head and mumbled something about ‘bubblegum flicks’, but I chose to ignore her.

We spent some time talking about what we would be doing and I really don’t want to get into the boring details. It was nice to let other people do the thinking for a change. I just wanted to get over all the horrors of my old life and move on, so a few days semi-zoning out suited me down to the ground!

Later on we had a nice meal in one of the more formal restaurants in the hotel. John had gone home, promising to meet us the next day at the new house. I was so glad that he was helping us and I think that he had more than earned his money so far.

I got to wear a pretty dress for dinner. Josie bought it as a surprise for me from the hotel boutique; it was a lovely purple silk Karen Millen shift dress with a beautiful handkerchief hemline and a double layered neckline. Of course it came with matching shoes and bag so I think I looked quite nice.

I was just tucking into some strawberry ice cream, trying to avoid dripping it on my gorgeous dress, when I looked up. Over by the door I noticed someone I most certainly did not want to see. I went cold all over and it had nothing to do with the ice cream.

It was that horrible reporter–Bob Ferris. He was having a good look around until his gaze came to our table. He looked straight at me with a puzzled expression, and then his eyes went wide. He smiled and walked over to us, looking like a shark who had just found his dinner. I gripped Josie’s hand under the Table and nearly fainted as he walked up…

To be continued...

Please leave comments...thanks

My thanks go to the brilliant and lovely Gabi for editing and pulling the story into shape.