bringing lucy home

Chapter 27: trouble

Keira left the room, and soon Lucy followed her, walking back out into the sound and light of the party. Leah was on the far side of the room, trying to DJ with Rach. She looked over by the fire and saw Lucy Stan and Georgia and Olly and walked back over to them, taking a seat.

"Where'd you go?" asked Stan.

"Just....put Milly to bed," Lucy answered distantly. She tucked her knees up to her chest as she leaned against the wall next to Stan.

"Hey," a relatively unfamiliar voice echoed above Lucy's head. Lucy looked up, it was Danielle van de Donk.

Lucy took a deep breath and raised her eyebrows. "hey yourself."

"Nice place," DVD complimented.

"Thanks."

Lucy Stan raised her eyebrows, looking around the group. "Luce, you've met Daan, right?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, we've played eachother alot. Don't think we've ever met proper tho..."

"I know all about you, Bronze," Daan said.

Lucy frowned. "What do mean?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Daan shrugged carelessly. "I mean, I've heard the rumours. About you and City...and Lyon..."

Lucy held her breath, making a face. "Not sure what you mean."

Daan gave her a sly smile. "Well, you know. All about the money, isn't it?" She winked again.

Lucy's jaw tightened unconsciously. That wink. She was confused and caught off guard. "Still don't know what you're talking about." She rubbed her forehead above her glasses.

"Yeah, what do you mean," Lucy Stan asked.

One of Daan's eyebrows went up. "Well, I wasn't gonna say..." she laughed.

Lucy Stan frowned sharply. "Well you brought it up, now."

"Not that it's a secret...." Daan's voice trailed off as she stared at Lucy Bronze. "Not that it's a secret that City paid more than they said they did to get Lucy here from Lyon. A lot more."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Georgia broke in. "No one had to bribe Lucy to get her to come back to City. She wanted to!"

Daan shrugged again. "That's not what I heard."

"Who's telling you this rubbish?" Georgia demanded. DVD didn't answer, and kept her gaze on Lucy.

Lucy felt herself getting hot with anger under these accusations. "What the hell are you implying?" she spat.

"Just a rumour," Daan repeated nonchalantly, playing with the ring on her finger.

Lucy took a deep breath. "Whatever you're saying...I came to City because I wanted to. Not cos I was bribed or anything. And the transfer fee was clear. There was nothing more in It than that. I didn't see any more of the money than I should have."

Daan's eyes wandered around the house. "Ok."

Lucy was breathing hard and fast now. This girl had come into her house, uninvited, and was now accusing her of shady dealings in her transfer to City. Lucy knew the truth, she had done nothing wrong.

Lucy Stan's eyebrows were pointed down, her face in a frown. "Look, Daan. I don't know who told you what. But Lucy wouldn't do anything like that for money. City didn't pay anything beyond the transfer fee. What Lucy makes now is honest money. There was nothing on the side or up front when she went to City, and she went to City on her own choice and for her own reasons. She decided it herself. Now, you don't even know Lucy, so I don't know how you think you can accuse her of anything you don't know about." She sidled up next to Lucy supportively

Daan put her hands up defensively. "I'm not accusing anyone. I'm just saying what I've been hearing around."

"Who's been saying this?" Georgia asked sharply.

"Oh, loads of people," Daan said carelessly, looking up at the ceiling. "It's no big deal." She looked down at Lucy over the rim of her glass as she took another long drink.

Lucy stood up abruptly. "That's it. Party's over."

A dozen faced turned on her, frowning. Keira ran over to Lucy, throwing an arm around her neck. "Lucy? Luce? You ok?"

"No, I'm not actually. I think it's time to go home." She kept her gaze directly on DVD who slowly shrunk away.

Keira felt Lucy's face to determine if she was ill or not. "Lucy."

"What happened?" Beth asked, coming into the living room.

"Apparently the party's over," someone murmured.

"What?"

Rachel frowned. "Are you crazy? We've been here like, 4 hours. It's the Lionesses Reunion!"

"Not anymore," Lucy said sharply, her words coming out before she could stop them. "I'm off to bed." Lucy turned squarely and disappeared down the hallway.

Keira stood there, frozen in shock for a moment. She turned to the guests, panic creeping up her like a spider. "Uhmmm, I'm...so sorry. One minute!" She ran down the hallway after Lucy.

Bursting into the bedroom, she cried: "Lucy! What happened out there?"

Lucy was sat on the edge of her bed, rubbing her forehead. "I'm done, ok? I said what I said. The party's over."

Keira shook her head. "I don't understand. Lucy, people are here from all over the world. Your friends for gods sake! Whats the matter with you!"

"Cmon, Kei, you can't just honour what I say? I said the party's over."

Keira frowned, perplexed. "What do you mean? Luce, what happened? Someone said something? Look, I don't know what bothered you but you can go to bed, we'll be fine out here, ok?"

"Just...send them home, Kei." Lucy rubbed her hands up and down her face.

Keira put her hands on her hips. "No! We've been planning this reunion for what, 5 months now! Your teammates, your friends have flown in from all corners of this planet for this party. You're in a mood, and now they have to leave?? For gods sake Lucy." She massaged her temples, trying to wrap her brain around the situation. "Lucy you can't do this."

Lucy's anger was growing again. "Yes I can. Keira, get these people out of my house RIGHT NOW."

Keira scoffed. " 'These people'? 'These people' are your friends, Lucia! What's wrong with you??"

"Nothing's wrong with me, Keira!" Lucy shouted, raising her voice at Keira. "I said, send them home! NOW! Get them out of my house RIGHT NOW. I'm not going to ask again!"

Tears filled Keira's eyes as she backed away, almost afraid of Lucy. She didn't even recognize her. "Fine," she whispered angrily, the hurt in her voice filling her words with fragility. "Fine."

Lucy rolled over on the bed, tucking herself into a numb ball of regret, trying to block out the voices clamouring in the living room. She switched off the light, letting the darkness cover her, hide her, hoping it would black out what had just happened with its darkness.