Smoke and Mirrors (Smoke #1)

[ 12 ]

It was just another typical Melbourne summer. The warm rays of sunlight beamed against the bare skin of my shoulders as I slowly made my way down the concrete path near the oval entrance. My body remained calm as I took a deep breath hoping for the best, opening the door and entered the main offices of Whitten Oval. As each of the moments went passed, I kept telling myself to not stress out as it would probably only make things worse. The receptionist at the front desk had just explained what was going to happen as I politely nodded my head, signing the paperwork before heading off through the lobby before noticing a familiar figure making his way into the room.

Dressed in the vibrant club shirt and sporting a black sports bag, he looked over at me smiling for a brief moment before finishing up his conversation with the male receptionist. I awaited for him to gather his items as I cleared my throat trying to get the coach's attention.

"Mr Beveridge?"

"Ah yes, how may I help you?" He asked, a puzzle expression formed across his face.

"I'm Scarlett Wilde, reporter for The Melbourne Autograph. I spoke with you over the phone a couple of nights ago about an interview I was conducting?" I asked, although making it sound more like a question. His puzzled expression continued for a few moments more before suddenly realising our conversation, his smile widening.

"Good morning Miss Wilde, yes I do remember our conversation. Are you ready for the interview?" He asked as I nodded and smiled brightly.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I said as he chuckled, saying his goodbyes to the receptionist as he lead me through the lobby that was slowly but surely beginning to fill up with what looked like staff of the club.

As we both walked slowly to the club, I took glimpses of the images and memorabilia that was around the club that passed us by. I took a mental note to come back later to get some photos. Being a massive fan of the club, it was obviously within my best interests to see pieces of history for research based purposes of course.

After a quick tour of the historic venue, the coach bought me over to the club's hall where he dropped down his sports bag and grabbed out a Western Bulldogs' cap and a clipboard before turning his attention onto me.

"The boys should be here soon, it'll only be about five minutes until we start practice for today so you're free to take notes or do whatever you need to do in the meanwhile." He said as I smiled seeing I didn't really know how to react.

"Oh no it's fine, I'll be happy to wait for the boys."

"That's good to hear, hopefully they won't be too long and you can get this interview underway. Please make yourself comfortable and do whatever it is you need to do. I'm not really sure with your procedures but if you need any help then feel free to ask me or any of the players." He said before leaving me as he went to set up the training space with a couple of other assistant coaches who were also lingering around in the room. I could hear my phone ringing and answered it quickly slowly moving towards the other side of the room.

"Derrick?" I answered the phone to a rather calm boss as phones were ringing in the background.

"Scarlett, I just called to check in with how it's going so far. I know that practice hasn't yet started but I just wanted to see how you're feeling after we spoke that day."

"Great thanks, I'm really excited to continue the interview. I've met the coach who was really nice and the boys should be coming really soon. So I can't wait to meet the players." I added quite quickly as I overheard Derrick chuckle.