The Runner and Number 30 (Charlie Curnow)

Chapter 1

Monique's POV

I signed up to be a runner for the Carlton Football Club a while ago and the season is just starting, I'm super excited, they are my favorite team, but this is just a small job on weekends to get me through uni, I'm studying to be a Sports Therapist at La Trobe University, which will hopefully get me a job in a big sporting club like this one. 

today was the first day of the 2023 AFL season, and I couldn't be more excited. the first game was against Richmond which is normally how the season starts. It's usually a pretty good game to watch, so to be actually on the field and with the players is going to be crazy.

I had a shower and got dressed into some casual clothes and some sneakers, they would be giving me my uniform when I got there. I was so excited, that I packed some snacks and a water bottle and then headed outside to my car. I turned the car on and took a deep breath, for someone who is 25 years old I am way too excited about this job. I drove to the MCG and parked my car. I then made my way to the Carlton designated entry and had to show the credentials I was given over the phone, the security guard checked them and let me through. this was it, I was going to be in amongst the players and the club and see it fully functioning, this was going to be so interesting. I walked through big double doors and to the office I was told about in the email. I knocked on the door politely and when I heard an answer I opened the door. " Hi, I'm Monique, I'm the new runner" I smiled "Hey there, nice to meet you, I'll just sign you in, and I'll get Kelly to come and get you" he smiled, I sat down in the chair across from his desk while he called kelly. 

about 15 minutes later Kelly came in "Monique, please come with me" she smiled "no worries, it was nice to meet you sir" i smiled at him as i left his office.  "so my name is kelly im the coordinator for you here, so ill be your main point of contact if you need anything, since you have already done the training and the game isnt for 2 hours, ill get you in the locker rooms making sure all the players uniforms are ready and hung up on their lockers." she smiled at me "no worries, sounds good" i said "you can pop your bag in here" she said pointing to a room that was full of shelving " alright now ill show you around, and then ill come grab you when its time to start getting ready for the game" she smiled. Kelly showed me around the lockers and told me where everything was "ill come get you from here when we are ready, if you could just grab all their uniforms from the bags over there and hang them up nicely in front of their lockers, with the number facing out that would be fantastic" she smiled "no worries leave it to me" i smiled and headed toward the bags, i decided to grab all the bags and bring them all into the locker rooms and then go bag by bag putting them on the lockers. each locker had its own coathanger which I needed to hang their uniform on which was pretty convenient I opened the first bag and pulled out the first uniform, Number 1, Silvagni, I hung it neatly and then placed it number side out on his locker, I continued doing this for the next half an hour.

you would think it wouldn't take that long, but there were a lot of jerseys, I was up to number 23, Weitering, the players were slowly trickling in and I was saying hello to them as they walked by as they were to me. most of them had to put stuff in their lockers which slightly delayed the process of hanging their jerseys. I got through a few and was finally up to the last four, I picked up one of the jerseys and grabbed the hanger off the locker putting the jersey on the locker "hey, um excuse me" I heard, I turned around "hey, oh sorry, is this your locker?" I said stepping out of the way, "thanks" he smiled and stepped in to put his stuff away "I can do that" he offered as I was waiting for him to move so I could hang his jersey up "Oh um thank you" I smiled and handed it to him, then moved on to the next jerseys, I could feel eyes on me the whole time, and I tried to let it go, but I don't like attention and this is making me really anxious. I finished the last one and looked over at where the stare was coming from and saw it was the same player I spoke to earlier, he was still there, I quickly looked away grabbed the bags off the floor, and walked out, just as Kelly had walked in "oh perfect, let's go set up" Kelly said smiling at me and I followed her to another room which was lined with water bottles and giant tubs of Gatorade and water "alright we need to fill these up, then you need to make sure your carrying 4 on you at all times, you will be given a belt which 2 will clip onto and then the other 2 you will hold. here are your shirt, belt, and vest, once you fill them up, go out to the oval, you are in station number 5, the numbers will be on the boundary for you" She smiled and then left, I took a deep breath and began filling up the water bottles.