The Runner and Number 30 (Charlie Curnow)

Chapter 21

Charlie's Pov

today we were flying out to Adelaide, for a gather round, it's this new thing the AFL introduced where all the teams play a game in Adelaide on the same weekend, it's pretty good for all the Adelaide fans that we don't really get to see that often. I already had my bag packed last night so I just had to meet everyone at the club. 

I arrived at the club and thankfully the topic of conversation died down today, we all were briefed quickly and then made our way to the airport, we got there, checked in, and then waited at the gate. Monique was already there with Lauren and I smiled at her and went and sat with some of the boys. it was hard, I wanted to sit with her, but that would be weird and suspicious to everyone else, especially Brian who is coming over with us, we can't let him think anything is going on otherwise Mon would get fired and I'd probably lose the spot on my team which neither of us wants. I kept glancing over to her though, but I must have been looking for too long and missed a conversation I was apparently a part of "Charlie?" Tom asked "Sorry mate, what did you say," I said coming out of my zone. "I said, it's weird having Brian here with us" Tom stated again "Yeah it is,  it really is" I answered. My phone went off and I looked at it, it was a message from Monique. "I'm just going to the toilet, make sure the plane doesn't leave without me" I laughed walking to the bathrooms, I read the message

Monique: you need to be more careful Mr Curnow, might get caught 

Charlie: I know I'm sorry, I can't help it

Monique: it's okay, we just have to be extra cautious while we are away, Brian's here and we don't want him to be suspicious of anything

Charlie: yeah I know, I'll be extra careful. I promise

Monique: I promise too. I love you

Charlie: I love you too

I headed back to the gate and sat back down where I was sitting before and began talking to the boys. shortly after our flight was called to board, so that's what we all did, I was still sitting next to Tom which was good and Monique was with Lauren. The flight to Adelaide was pretty quick, only an hour, so it was over before we knew it, we all got off the plane collected our luggage, and then headed to the hotel. we checked in and went to our rooms, then we headed to Adelaide oval for our open training session. there were already heaps of people who were out there waiting for us, it was pretty cool how many fans we had in Adelaide. we headed out onto the oval and did some kick-to-kick stuff, and practiced goals, the perks about open training are that we don't do anything too full-on and nothing tactic-based because we don't want to give away anything for game day. 

we did some light drills, and a lot of it was spent mucking around and having fun, which the fans love to see, Monique and Lauren were standing along the boundary with the fans just watching.

Monique's Pov

I was admiring Charlie out here, with the sun on him, he looked so good, Lauren and I were standing with the fans but we were on the oval. "he looks good huh?" Lauren leaned over to whisper "Shut up" I laughed Lauren was always trying to egg me on, and encourage me to do something irrational in front of everyone "Oh come on, you can't say he doesn't" she laughed "Shut up" I laughed back. Lauren had no concept of privacy, like yeah she could keep a secret but she wasn't afraid to ask for details in front of everyone. there was a group of girls behind us who were excitedly talking it was hard not to listen "Oh my god he's gorgeous" one of them said "Yeah but Charlie's better" another said "No way Jack is better" The other argued "guys its definitely Tom" another added "come on guys if you lined them all up next to each other and asked the female population to pick which one is better looking Charlie would definitely win" one girl said "youre just bias thats why" another girl answered "i really hope he comes around here so i can show him my poster" the girl said. I didn't even think about that and nudged Lauren to move out of the way so that the girls could show off their posters. 

"god that girl was adamant that Charlie was the best one" Lauren laughed "Well he is" I agreed "Yeah but you're also biased" Lauren laughed "shut up" I laughed back. not long after training finished and the boys started going around signing things and taking photos, Lauren and I stayed out here cause it was a nice day and we really didn't have anything to do. listening to all the fans praising them, and gushing over them made me smile, I used to be like that, and still am to an extent. the girls that were talking behind us earlier were getting more and more excited as Jack, Charlie, and Tom all got closer, Tom was the first one to reach them, the girl told her how much she loved him, he said thank you and then he took a photo with her and left. Jack was next and he took a photo with the girl who loved him signed a jersey for her and then left. Charlie was next, I thought it was weird that she didn't put her poster out when we moved, and just as Charlie came around she unrolled it and laid it on the fence, it said "Will You Marry Me Charlie", Lauren laughed when she saw it "oh no, don't get jealous now" she said, "I'm not, she's like 12 and he's with me anyway" I said, "oh is he now?" she asked teasingly "I mean I think so, I don't know we just said we wanted to see where it goes, we haven't made anything official yet" I said.  

we watched Charlie with this girl, he saw her sign and laughed "Do you think he will say he's taken or will he just leave it?" Lauren asked "he'll probably just leave it I don't see why he would when we haven't established anything," I said. we continued watching the interaction, he was with her for a while, and she wouldn't stop talking to him, it was really cute. charlie looked over to me, I'm guessing to see my reaction to the poster, she continued talking to him "Are you going to give her an answer?" one of her friends asked him, she seemed pretty outgoing, Charlie looked shocked like he didn't think he needed to give her an answer, the girl looked at him hopeful, "I'm sorry" he said and all hope in this girls eyes disappeared "thank you for the support, but I have a girlfriend" he said, I went wide-eyed and Lauren nudged me "I thought you said he wouldn't?" she asked "maybe he just said that so that she would stop bothering him, I mean it was a kind way to put her down" I said trying to find an explanation, we weren't standing too far away, so I could hear most of their conversations and we were trying to coax the boys along to get them back to the hotel so they could rest. the girls were gossiping after that trying to work out who the mystery girl was that he was dating, I was coaxing them along and Charlie had moved on to the next lot of people who were just next to those girls, I was going past letting the players know they had 5 minutes, Charlie had his back to me so I just waiting for his conversation with the fan to be done before I interrupted, I don't think he noticed me so I put my hand on his which was sitting on the fence, he turned around "5 minutes" I smiled "no worries thank you Mon" he smiled and continued signing things, the girls all gasped, I noticed they were going through his Instagram while I was waiting, obviously to try and find a photo of him and this mystery girl together, but they couldn't. 

once all the boys were finished we headed back into the rooms the boys got changed and we headed back to the hotel. As we were walking in Charlie was approached by Brian, I tried not to pay any attention and just headed to my room, I could message charlie about it later.

Charlie's Pov

as we were walking into the hotel Brian came over "Charlie" he said "Brian, Sir how are you" I said trying to be polite "I'm good thank you, you seem fit and healthy for this week" he said "yeah, im doing great, having two sports therapists has helped me a lot" I said "ah yes, Monique, she is a lovely lady isn't she?" he asked. I walked right into that one, I shouldn't have brought them up at all, now he's going to judge what I answer to his question "Yeah, she's great, very professional" I said "Yes Yes, did you hear about the rumor about the both of you that was going around when she started?" he asked "I did yes, it was quite funny" I said, "funny?" Brian questioned "Well yes sir, because it wasn't true at all" I answered "Well, it won't be funny if I catch the two of you now would it? Good day Mr. Curnow," he said leaving me and entering his hotel room. I kept walking to my room but I was panicking inside, did he know? why would he say that if he didn't know? maybe it's just a warning because of the rumor, or maybe it's a threat because he does know, but if he does why hasn't he done anything about it? ughhh this has made me so stressed, I need to talk to her and tell her.

ANOTHER CHAPTER!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE GUYS, BEEN SO BUSY THIS WEEKEND!

DO YOU THINK BRIAN KNOWS?

ALSO I NEED IDEAS!!!! PLEASE INBOX ME SOME!

ALL THE LOVE- M XX