Gold Rush

ENG vs HUN: Part 3

It took Sophie a few moments to absorb the scene playing out in-front of her very eyes.
Her feet cemented to the spot in disbelief. It was like she had been tasered, 50,000 volts of pure pain rippling right through her body and jolting through her already fragile heart.

Millie on her knees holding him,
Her hands holding the backs of his thighs.
Jack's shorts around his ankles,
His hands through her hair.

It felt like a good 10 'Mississippi's' before her entrance and presence registered with either of them, when in reality it was probably a couple of seconds.
Everyone knows the sad scenes in movies play out in slow motion.

Millie fell backwards, before clumsily standing herself up and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
Classy.

Jack quickly pulled up his underwear and shorts, Sophie could see he was struggling with how to play out his next move. There was no way he could deny this, he'd been very much caught in the act.

Millie lurched forward, her palms held out in front of her, already attempting to de-escalate the inevitable eruption, 'Sophie... we wanted to tell you...'

'WOT' Jack sprung to life, 'Wot you goin' on about? There's nothing to tell!'

'I bet she doesn't know our history, does she?' Millie scoffed, folding her arms and cockily nodding over at Sophie.

His eyes found hers, the hurt evident. Jack had seen that look before, whenever she spoke about Ryan.
He was so sure, so determined not to hurt her in the way her ex did.
He ran his fingernails through his hair and along his scalp again. Literally clawing with the need to regain control.

'We shagged months ago!! It was nowt!', Jack waved his arms aggressively towards where Millie was stood, before turning his attention back to Sophie, 'It was before I even knew ya'.

It was taking Sophie's entire being to keep calm.
To be the bigger person.

'A kno' what it looks like... ya gotta believe me... I was so fuckin' mad I got pulled off... I thought it was you.. I came back here t'find you!! ..It's only you Soph'

He took a step forward and Sophie stepped back, maintaining the gap between them.

'Oh and I suppose your dick just fell into her mouth did it Jack? Just a big misunderstanding... MY MISTAKE!!!'

Her lid was finally starting to blow.

'It wasn't like that! I just needed to get rid of how fuckin' pissed off I was before I put m'fist through a wall Sophie, I was looking for you!!'

Everything he was saying just angered her more.

How could she have been so stupid, getting involved with a man four years her junior.
Not to mention at work.
This was supposed to be her fresh start.
He said all the right things, he did all the right things, he was there when she needed him, when she was at her most vulnerable.
She was sure she loved him.

Sophie felt her fists subconsciously squeeze into themselves, she let her nails dig the telltale tiny half moon shapes into the palms of her hands.

The changing room door flung open once more and three of them braced themselves for Act 3.

'What's going on here, then?'
Sophie looked ahead.
It was John Stones.
His usual chirpy voice now deep and wary as he cautiously assessed the situation he'd managed to stumble into.

He looked around carefully at the three of them, as if he'd been specially brought in to solve a strange version of England meets Murder Mystery.

His pal.. Jack.. he looked sheepish, the giveaway guilt on his face was something that he'd seen in the past.

The physiotherapist.. Millie was it? She looked flustered. He knew she and Jack had played musical beds at Chilly's party in the summer.

Before John even looked at Sophie, he just knew. His heart broke for her. She'd been through enough.

'Stonesy... mate..'

'WHY am I not surprised?', He turned his attention to Jack, cutting him off mid-speech, 'you just can't help yourself, can you?'

Jack was about to reply when the surrounding stadium erupted with applause and the final whistle blew, signalling full time and the squad walked away with a draw.

'You have about 15 seconds before the gaffer walks in here and sends you packin' back to Pep'.

John shot a look at Jack which said it all, before ushering Sophie out of the room.

The next few minutes were a blur.
All she could hear was Jack's booming voice following them, demanding her attention.

'Sophie please, just hear me out'
'Stones, c'mon you know me!!'
'Just stop fucking walking away!'

John paused momentarily, 'Jack.. you need to leave her be. Just go.'

They carried on walking, she felt John's firm arm gripping her waist, pretty much holding her up, she was thankful for his physical support.
Finally they reached one of the relaxation rooms within Wembley and by this point she could thankfully no longer hear Jack's voice.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Sophie allowed herself to crumble and let herself become taken over by the horrific wave of emotion that Jack had stirred. She thrashed side to side as the tears fell in a steady stream onto John's match shirt.
Even then, he didn't let her go, he just calmly held her close to his chest.

She wasn't sure how long this went on for, but eventually she felt exhausted.
John guided her to the sofa and sat himself down next her, his body supporting her as she leaned into his side.

'I'm sorry you had to see that', Sophie's red, swollen eyes fixated on the blank wall facing them.
'Listen, I don't know the ins and outs.. but I know you deserve a hell of a lot better than this. He was proper into ya.'

'Funny way of showing it.'
Her eyes began to irritatingly fill again, 'I need to leave, I just need to get out of here'
She quickly stood up, clearly agitated and began pacing the room, 'Let me just get back to St George's Park and rest.. I can do this.'

John stood up and pulled her in once more. She felt safe with him, this gentle giant.

'Soph, I'll speak to Gareth, tell him you're feeling poorly or something.. let's sort you out a taxi'

She nodded in agreement.
If she could just get back to the calm of her room.. she could rest and try to forget it all.
Like it was a bad dream.
She was eager to muddle through the final week at SGP and get the next game over with. She just needed to keep her head down, no matter how broken she was currently feeling.

It would pass.