Gold Rush

Not The Wink

Jack allowed his body to sink into the leather seat on the team coach. It was a couple of hours before the match and he was sat alone with his headphones in, cap on and hood pulled up encasing his face, zoning out with a questionable playlist in full flow. Listening to music was his second happy place.

Out of boredom, he pulled out his phone and flicked through his Instagram DM's, a distraction from what was really on his mind. Hundreds upon hundreds of messages flashed up, some from pissed off fans, but mostly from girls, with a couple coming through at that very moment.
He sighed, heavily. It was no good. He wasn't remotely interested, he couldn't believe some girls so willingly sent pictures of their tits and the rest.
A few years ago this massively excited him, he even replied to some of them, egged them on, but never again.

Internally, he felt pained.. craving more, something deeper.
He needed her.

Eyes closed, his mind took him back to yesterday's events. Sophie looked hurt when they briefly caught sight of each other in between exchanging police statements.
Of course she did, she must have been horrified.

Last night he toyed with the idea of turning up at her door, it would have only taken a call and he'd have her address in a heartbeat.
Rejection terrified him, not that he'd experienced much of it. He told himself she would have been exhausted, that he was the last person she needed.

How wrong he was.
He wondered, he hoped, that she would be there today.

*

There was a buzz in the air when Sophie arrived at the Etihad, the pre-match atmosphere and build up never failed to make her smile, served with a dash of nerves.

With the team coach due to arrive at any moment, Sophie went off to the second floor to busy herself stocking up the pitch side medical bags, checking everything was there that needed to be.

She sauntered past the team changing room and stopped in the doorway. She automatically walked in and studied today's sky blue match shirts all neatly hung up alongside each-other. Dias...Foden...DeBruyne...Stones...Walker...
Grealish.
She paused. Just reading his name sparked something within her.

It was eerily quiet, the calm before the storm, as they say.

*

The coach slowly crawled to a stop, followed by an irruption of cheers and screams from the fans that were lining the path into the stadium, hoping to catch a glimpse of the players.

Jack packed up his rucksack and swung it over his shoulders, with one headphone of course still embedded within his ear. Stones made himself known behind Jack whilst waiting in the aisle, ready to pile off the coach.

'Y'alright lad? Yesterday were abit mental weren't it?' Although spoken quietly, the thick tones of Stones' Yorkshire twang filled the open space.
Jack had completely forgotten that Stones was there to witness it all, along with the aftermath.
'Yeh I'm fine, just been worried about Sophie ya know' Jack replied
'Did you reach out to her once you got home? I know how you feel about her. Ya can't pretend to me Jacky', John reported, nudging him in the ribs.
Jack followed the lads slowly moving at snails pace exiting the coach, but still angled his head towards his teammate.
'I'll speak to her today won't I, she didn' wonna see me last night am sure of it'
Stones acknowledged this with an eyebrow raise and nodded towards the coach door.
'See ya on the other side. Make sure ya talk to her!'

*

'You know, you didn't have to be here today, we could've called in a match day cover medic'

Kate found Sophie facing the wall of glass on the second floor, from which the gathering crowd below outside could be observed.

'I'm honestly fine Kate, if anything I feel better knowing the police have him locked up for the time being.. besides it's not fair, I know the lads well, it's reassurance for them when someone they know will be there if anything goes wrong'

Kate wasn't convinced, but she knew better than to push the situation.

'As long as you're ok.. I'll be in the physio room helping in there, there's a few old injuries that need to be looked at and some strapping up, I'll see you there'

Screams bellowed from outside as the coach pulled up and the team started hopping off.

'Yeah, I'll head down shortly' she replied, distracted, Sophie eyed the crowd beneath her, There was a mixed bag today. Small children, older kids, clusters of girls. A lot of girls actually. Some had banners.

One read, 'Jack, rail me'
Sophie double-took in disbelief.
Wow.

Eagle-eyed, she watched on as the players made their way into the stadium, momentarily panicking as she hadn't seen him yet.
An agonising 20 seconds or so later, there he was, the last one off as usual.
Jack confidently strode past the crowd, wearing a fitted black tracksuit, cap and white trainers.
She smiled, noting his little Louis Vuitton wash bag under his arm.
Why did he look so exquisite, just by existing?

Sophie continued to look down at him when suddenly Jack shot his head up, it was almost like he sensed her standing above him. She swore he paused his step for a split second as their eyes connected before casually flashing a wink at her.

Oh god, not the wink.
Her insides flipped.

—
Everybody wants you,
Everybody wonders what it would be like to love you.