Matching The Footballer

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I would have never imagined that I would be sitting here being interviewed by a police officer. One minute I was calling jenny telling her to meet me at the hospital. Next moment I'm being guided or rather shoved into a police car and taken to the police station.

"your students don't think that," the guy says as he places photographs of me and my students on the table.

I don't blame them for saying this. Yes, I'm pissed but I guess it makes sense sort of.

"just because I was pissed, he was messing around in my pool, my training time with my students doesn't mean I want him any harm," I said getting annoyed with this man interrogating me with no real structure.

They have nothing against me.

"we aren't accusing you, were simply asking you questions to help with our investigation since 2 girls were arrested, we need to make sure were not missing anything out" yeah bullshit. They didn't have to take me to the police station they could have asked me this at the hospital.

He breaths out, clearly, he couldn't think of anymore real questions.

I'm not a student that he can manipulate I am a woman who knows her rights and knows that she has nothing to worry about.

And now I'm speaking in the third person, great.

"Sir there's a Jai Williams here for you," a young woman says peeking her head into the room. The sound of that name brought a smile to my face.

Fucking finally.

"tell him I'm busy" the officer waves her off.

She nods before going back outside. But it wasn't long before she came back.

"that's not an option sir, its her father," she says moving her eyes to me as I sat back arms crossed over my chest as I watch them slightly panic.

Oh yes, my father. A top and highly profound lawyer in London who is also very protective of his only daughter.

Jai Williams never imagined to have a daughter I don't think he wanted one ever. But life doesn't always go according to plan.

My dad left when I was young and Jai was a lawyer working on a case the same time mom was getting her divorce.

Months later I was asking Jai to be my stepfather and he surprisingly was overjoyed with idea of being my father.

Mom and Jai we're together when I was training but it ended just last year.

The officer stood up from his seat pulling me up as well. Alright, man no need to be so rough. I seriously need to make a complaint of this guy.

Once we walked out dad was standing next to another police officer who looked as if he would piss his pants anytime soon.

Toilets that way.

"are you done harassing my daughter or do I have to take legal action" the officer pushed me forward shaking his head.

"I'm done" it's about f*****g time. The i***t also admitted to harassing me so that's great.

I could tell dad was about to say something else, but I shook my head at him. I really just wanted to go home and sleep.

When we finally got into the car dad was already on the phone making a formal complaint about that officer. He was fortunate to have great connections in the police force.

Next Morning

I honestly thought that I would be nervous about this morning's training, but I guess doing a few laps helped me a lot to push away those nerves.

I had just finished two laps and was getting out of the pool since it was getting close to the start of practise. The doors opened up and Jessica and Jacob walking in. They stood to the side and let in a crippled Brother.

After being questioned and learning about him in the news I know him as Theo. A pretty unique name can't say I know or have heard of anyone with that name.

I Threw on a big baggy shirt and walked over.

"guys, what are you doing here," I asked them, walking over"

I knew that jenny would be coming to practice but there was no need for Jacob to be here and Theo probably should be home and resting.

I watched Theo hold his hand up to his sister. Stopping her from speaking completely.

Its god my attention that's for sure.

But before he could get a single word out the doors slammed open and in strutted the rest of the students. They looked way too confident to be here, but I could see the confidence strip from their bodies as they saw both myself and Theo in here.

What, were they looking for another argument?

"No no inside all of you" Ryan busted in when some of the students were trying to avoid any confrontation and leave, he walked through the group of students and came over to Theo.

"Theo, it's good to see you my man" oh yeah, I forgot they were close friends. What does Theo actually do, I don't think he works here but then again, I could be wrong.

"can't say I'm all that excited to be here Ryan" Theo mutters leaning against one of the walls. I noticed the obvious discomfort he was in and I decided to go and grab him a chair.

He smiled over at me and slid into the seat placing the crutched to his side. Yeah, I can be nice on occasion.

"why are you here then," bryony said as she stood to the side. Obviously, her nails were the most interesting things right now since she couldn't stop staring at them. Bryony didn't have anything to worry about here.

I was told who were the students that spoke to the police. She wasn't one of them.

"he's here Miss Compton, because some students have made pretty big accusations against your coach" Ryan basically snarled at her to which she just shrugged her shoulders. Retreating to the changing rooms.

They couldn't even look at me.

It seems as though Theo was here to make sure the students understood there was no bad blood between us and I didn't plot to get the man murdered.

"I don't want to hear it, just get in the f*****g pool" I snapped when they started apologising to me.

Theo had left a few minutes ago.

I was pushing them today as their punishment for being such f*****g idiots. I let jenny leave with her brother because I thought that she could make sure he is okay. He was shot on his thigh and won't be able to walk properly for a while.

The incident has shocked the whole centre, people were starting to understand what happened and would keep pestering me for information.

Once I finished with the session I went into the office and had lunch with Michelle. She had bought me a box of chocolates and even shared her chicken wrap with me. I wasn't going to say no to a McDonalds chicken wrap.

"her older brother was a swimmer too, I guess it runs in the family" Michelle had told me we were going over our plans for each swimmer. Starting with bryony.

Her dream was to compete in the Olympics. It wasn't impossible, but she needed to train 10 times harder than she currently was.

Michelle agreed to work closely with bryony and make sure she really is pushing herself.

Next was George. His sights were also on the Olympics, which isn't surprising this centre is known for students who aim for the top.

This is what I sighed up to.

Before any of them could even think about the Olympics we had to get them to the European championships this summer. They all have been competing and working on their personal bests for the last years or so.

So, all I had to do was get them into the championships and train them hard. Individually and as a group.

"I won't punish them anymore, I'm sure they have learnt their lesson by now," I said to Ryan when he asked me whether I would continue torturing them.

There was no need.

"Bryony may be spoilt and hard work but at least she had the common sense to ignore and focus on the training," I said pushing bryony's folder to the side.

I had to give the staff the all clear to let her come to the pool in the early hours of the morning. I admired her passion for the sport.

Reminds me of myself.

"Tina give it a rest" I snapped after receiving the 3rd text from her as she sat at her laptop. She had found Theo on i********: as was constantly sending me pictures of him.

Theo was a restaurant owner here in the city but before that, he managed the cities football team which connected him to the centre and most importantly to Ryan.

She is fully convinced that there is s****l tension between us two. It's a pathetic suggestion and I'm desperate for her to stop.

"oh, damn that's one sexy guy," Michelle says looking down at my phone. Ryan rolled his eyes. "that's my mate c'mon girls" he groaned sitting back.

I'm more than sure that Ryan was only pissed because Michelle liked Theo, I'm telling you if there is tension between me and him there's definitely something between him and Michelle.

"you have to admit though, he's ridiculously handsome and still has the body of a footballer," Tina said as we both walked out of the centre, heading towards our cars.

I hit her playfully. i***t.

Above everything, I still wanted to know one thing about Theo

That Tattoo.

Chapter 5

I was early this morning.

Memories of my grandfather were stuck in my mind all night and I woke up at 5am needing a swim.

My grandfather was royalty. He had been a serving guard at one of japans richest families. He was with them for over 40 years bringing up children, taking care of the families that grew up in that house.

He even protected the woman in that house from the bad men that ruled the house. he was highly respected by many till the day he died.

He was the one that gave me my tattoo. One weekend I flew out to Japan to see him, I had just witnessed my dad beat my own mother to the point she fell asleep on the kitchen floor suffering from the pain.

Dad left the day after and never came back. Believe me I'm relieved that I can call Jai my dad because my real father was an excuse of a man.

My mother on the other hand she went to Australia to live with her brother as I finished university.

My grandfather taught me everything I needed to know to survive in this life and I respected him and his words to the day he breathed his last final breath surrounded by his children. Not by blood but rather the children he helped bring up into this hard life.

He was royalty for them and for me. He had always taught us all to have strength and I decided to let him tattoo me. The symbol for strength was placed on the back of my neck when I was only 16 years old.

I never thought of having a tattoo, but I wanted to have something that kept him with me for life. My grandfather was covered in tattoos and he would often give tattoos out. That was his side hustle.

As I swam lengths this morning all I could think about was the same tattoo that was on Theo's back. It was just too good to be true.

I dried myself off after showering and walked around, I had no idea where I was going but I needed time to think. Through many hard times in my life, this tattoo just reminds me of him. His love, strength, sacrifice he was my guardian.

I had made it to the football pitch and saw one person shouting across the field as a little child kicked around a football.

I smiled as the little kid slipped and fell on his bum.

I decided to walk and get a closer look, but I immediately regretted it because I realised that the man shouting was Theo. He had his crutches sitting next to him as he watched the boy play. Could that be his own child?

The little boy spotted me instantly, he clapped his hands wildly as he locked eyes with me.

"Dillan watch it," Theo said when the guy turned to sprint over to me.

I met him in the middle and bent down. Dillan stumbled and fell over. Theo shook his head, but I just watched the boy as he started to cry.

"Don't cry buddy, c'mon everyone falls just get back up," I said calmly to the boy who was staring over at me with interest.

I watched his legs shake before he slowly stood up.

"now keep going," I said reaching out to him. I felt a sudden pride for him as he jogged the rest of the way until he was face to face with me.

A few seconds passed before he clapped his hands together, he was proud of himself.

This is the s**t I live for, this is why I coach.

"alright little guy time to go home," Theo said coming over and taking his little hand in his big one.

I stood up from my crouched position. "is he yours?" I asked him to hope he would give me a straight answer.

He glanced at Dillan "he is, 8 months this Sunday" he said as Dillan stomped his feet drying to get mud of his tiny vans. Kids got style at an early age.

"walk with me," he said grabbing his crutches. It seems as though he is improving, e seems stronger now and doesn't need the crutches that much.

I followed after them both. "when Dillan stays with me, he loves to play outside, I think he's going to like the sport as much as me" he laughs. I enjoyed watching Theo speak about Dillan this way.

He wasn't cocky, he was normal.

"which team did you play for?" I asked going back to what the others have told me that he was a good footballer.

"I played for Westham. I stopped when this guy was born, I needed to be there for him and personally I wasn't enjoying the game like I used to" he explained to me.

It was nice to hear about him. I honestly thought he had stopped for maybe a u=injury because that's what happens most of the time for athletes.

"and her mother, where is she these days" I hope I wasn't pushing the boundaries.

He sighed. "she's around, she lives in Ireland we have joint custody of her" he explained. We both smiled when Dillan fell down again, he had tripped over a small branch.

He looked back at us. With determination he stood up again and walked forwards it seemed that he was proud of himself.

"thanks for that back there, I feel like he learned a lesson" I sudden warmth radiated in my chest, my grandfather would have done the same.

We reached the reception. Dillan immediately ran forward and reached his hands up to Ryan who stood there talking to Jenny.

I smiled at how Ryan picked him up setting him on his hip and ticked Dillan.

"you guys were together" jenny questioned me and Theo who stood next to each other. She was joined by Jacob. "and didn't kill each other" he questioned.

I glared at them both, maybe not the time to make those jokes.

"he's not as bad as I thought," I said, getting over mu initial hatred for the guy and replacing t with something else.

I'm sure we could be civil for a while.

I walked over to jenny taking the team iPad from her hands, I looked to see how many came to train this morning. I heard that bryony through a party last night. Didn't think half of them would show.

Most of them barely recovered form heavy drinking most probably.

"they're here, but barely," jenny told me as well walked over to the pool.

Clearly, I was the only one who was being serious about their future. If they wanted to have fun getting drunk and do god knows what they need to go to the community college of or something.

They were all in the changing room.

I went straight to Scott. "have fun last night" I said acting like I was even remotely interested in their activities.

"you know it coach, bry knows how to throw a party," he said going to high five bryony who basically scowled at Scott.

She glanced at me warily. Yeah, I wouldn't make eye contact either.

"what man, oh s**t she's joking" he finally caught on seeing my not so pleased face.

"d**k" bryony said slamming her locker shut after grabbing her swimming cap. I had hoped that she would understand this more than anyone.

She won't get to the Olympics pissing about and drinking.

"when I said get to know each other I had hoped you would have been able to do it without alcohol or drugs" Scott stepped up to probably object to the drugs statement.

I shut him up quickly.

"you're here for a reason, your parents are paying for you to reach your goals. Don't a***e it by wasting all your training on a few silly drinks because everyone else is. You will only regret it later on when yo don't qualify or you're not picked for the team. Am I making myself clear" I turned to them, I deliberately glared at bryony?

The guilt was written all over her face.

"am I clear," I said louder slamming my hand against the locker. This was not how I wanted to start the day.

"yes," bryony said, followed by the rest of them.

I left them in there with jenny, she was the only clever one to not do anything stupid last night.

I walked into the staff room, thank god it was empty I needed to gather myself up. I wouldn't talk about it anymore, unless they give me a reason to.

I removed my hoodie and started to make myself a coffee.

I watched them in training in silence, making sure that they were working hard. I had hoped that the silence would make them know I wasn't messing about.

They needed to learn that if they want to be good. They needed to make sacrifices.

Lord knows everyone in sport has.