After winning football tickets for the Euro 2020 semi final, you felt you'd had all the luck you were ever going to get, until after the game, when you meet the players, your life begins to go in a whole new direction...
It didn't take us long to reach the VIP lounge, down a few corridors and up a few sets of stairs and we were there. Greg held the door open for us and ushered us into what I can only describe as the biggest cocktail bar I'd ever been in, looking out onto the pristine Wembley pitch. The bar was on the right as we walked in through the large double doors and the whole place was stylishly decorated, pictures and memento's of England era's past adorned the walls. It was exactly how I'd imagined it to be.
The lounge was already buzzing with the friends and family of the players, many standing around and excitedly talking to each other about the game, football anthems could just be heard playing over the chatter of the guests in the room, I suddenly felt extremely nervous and extremely sober, with only half an hour until Jack arrived I decided I needed to freshen up quickly and then get myself another drink to settle my nerves. Jess was at the bar talking with Greg and a man I didn't know, so I decided to head back out the double doors and across to the bathroom I'd spotted on the landing on they way in. I made my way into a cubicle and sat down on the toilet, I took out my phone and clicked on the Instagram app, with the sole intention of checking if Jack had posted any updates since the end of the game....
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@England what an unbelievable night at Wembley, celebrations will be continuing well into the night, who knows what might happen! 😉 Roll on Sunday!
I smiled to myself, wondering myself what might happen tonight. Putting my phone back in my bag, I headed to the mirror to powder my nose and apply some fresh lippy. I tightened my pony tail, gave it a quick comb through then made my way back to the lounge. Jess was still at the bar talking with Greg and the unknown man, I headed over to them and joined in their group "so, what are we drinking?" I said clapping my hands together "I'm thinking cocktails" I quickly added. "Aah, there you are" said Greg, this is my boss, Jon "Nice to meet you Karly" he said holding out his hand for me to shake, I took his hand and shook it gently "I hope you're enjoying your time with us?" He questioned. "You have no idea" I giggled back at him, desperately wanting to order my drinks for Dutch courage. "So the bar is free, there will be some food coming out in a little while after the players have arrived, the bar is meant to close at 2am, but it wouldn't be unheard of if things went on for a bit longer than that" he half whispered "unofficially of course" he grinned.
We stood chatting for a few more minutes then Greg and Jon took their leave and Jess and I turned to the bartender and ordered ourselves a large pitcher of a funky looking bright blue cocktail we'd seen on another table that we both thought looked interesting. We grabbed the pitcher and our glasses from the bar and made our way to a booth that overlooked the hallowed turf. We sat there with our feet up on the chairs drinking our drinks, excitedly looking around the room to see if we could recognise any faces or guess who these people were. "I wonder if any of Jack's family are here?" Jess said grinning at me "Are you actually trying to terrify me even more" I said laughing and taking another long swig of my drink. Our pitcher didn't last long so Jess went back to the bar and ordered two more, while she was gone, I checked Instagram again... 1 new notification.... I opened it up.... @JackGrealish followed you back..... My heart skipped a beat, but I didn't have time to process the information as suddenly a man on the loud speaker announced "and here are our Euro 2020 finalists, Engerlanddd, Let's make some noooooiiiissssise" the whole room started cheering and clapping as we watched all the players file in through the double doors by the bar, I was only interested in one person coming through those doors.... Kane, Shaw, Pickers, Mount, Chillwell.... Grealish.... there he was, his smile was from ear to ear as the crowd gathered around them all, patting them on the back, congratulating them and generally celebrating the occasion. I couldn't stop staring at him, but I felt safe knowing he wouldn't be able to make me out in the crowd yet.
