All or Nothing

Chapter 6

John was a 'Netflix and chill' kind of guy, more likely to be found at home with Megan than out on the town with his friends. He had invitations a plenty from his teammates to nights out, parties, events, all the places you would imagine finding a footballer. Usually, he turned them down, but recently, much to everyone's surprise, he had been saying yes more and more. That was how he found himself in a night club on a Sunday night.

Kyle was starting to regret inviting John. He had been miserable at recovery earlier, Kyle figured he needed a night out to cheer him up. But that wasn't going to plan as John's inability to crack a smile was dragging everyone else down with him. Kyle had first noticed a change in John a few months ago, he was drinking more, spoke of arguing with Megan, and staying later at training - something he always did when he needed to clear his head. But when Kyle quizzed him if he everything was okay, John had insisted all was fine. The last few weeks he had seemed brighter, and Kyle had all but forgotten his concerns for his pal. But today, John seemed pre-occupied, like his mind was somewhere else.

Aimee did not hear from John on Sunday. She had become accustomed to them being in touch several times a day, and she missed him. By late afternoon she had decided to swallow her pride and make the first move, she had text him asking how his recovery session had been. But not only had her message gone unanswered, he had not even opened it. He was ghosting her. It made her feel nauseous trying to pinpoint what it was she had done to upset him so much. She kept coming back to their conversation from the day before, but that didn't make any sense, surely John, more than anyone, knew that there were two sides to every story when a relationship broke down?! Thankfully, she had a distraction from moping over John; it was Emma's birthday, and the girls were going out. Normally she would never do anything as wild as drink on a school night, but Emma had this weird belief that it was unlucky to celebrate your birthday on any other day than real thing and that was how she found herself in a night club on a Sunday night.

It was Aimee's round. She had been standing at the bar trying to get served for what felt like forever; it was one of the perils of being short. They were in the VIP section, Katie's Tom worked in promotions, and he was always good at getting them on the guest lists. She had overheard girls in the bathroom saying there were some City players here. It had crossed Aimee's mind that she might bump into John, but he had never once spoken of going clubbing, so the chances were slim. Regardless, she had sworn to cleanse him from her brain tonight, hoping that a cocktail or ten would wipe his existence from her memory. Unfortunately, the girls were desperate to know how Aimee and John's fledgling 'romance' was going (absolutely nowhere) and as per, as soon as Aimee started talking about him, she couldn't stop.

John was heading back from the gents' when he noticed Aimee at the bar. He didn't believe in coincidences; he was a firm believer that everything happened for a reason. Aimee appearing in Manchester, at the very same place as him, was a sign that an entire day pretending she didn't exist was a complete waste of time. Aimee was leaning on the bar, her elbow propped against it, her chin cradled in her balled fist. Her eyes flickered between the serving staff, she looked annoyed, as though she'd been waiting a while. He had never been able to handle his drink. John's dedication to football hadn't left much time for the usual teenage initiations of drinking until you practically passed out at the park, or cheap package holidays where you'd drink all night and sleep all day, thus he was a bit of a lightweight whose decision making became highly questionable after only a few. He made his way over to Aimee.

The sleazebag who had just grabbed her by the waist was lucky that Aimee was finding it almost impossible to get a drink, if she had one, he'd have been wearing it. She whirled around, ready to read him the riot act, but found herself face to face with John. 

"Ey up!" He grinned. 

How could she be angry with him?! So, what if he had ghosted her?! He looked like a model, a white open necked shirt, and black skinny jeans. At this moment, she was pretty sure he could run over her granny, and she'd still be smitten. She pulled him into a hug and resisted the urge to tell him she had missed him, that was far too full on.