Premier Deception (7 page)

Before she could even
tell them her news there was a commotion outside and her brother
flew through the door.
“
Scruffy has found
a man hiding in the bushes and is barking and growling at him
outside. Come quickly he may be a burglar!
”

“
Or a peeping
tom!
”
cried her mother in alarm.
“
Mick do something but be careful he may be
armed.
”
Charlotte
’
s Father raced outside to see a man running as fast as he
could down the lane with Scruffy fast on his heels. The man jumped
into his car and raced away. They went back into the house and Mick
said,
“
I wonder what that was all about?
He must have been a burglar; it
’
s not
even safe in broad daylight these days.
”

“We must be
vigilant,
”
said Mary.
“
Glenda Sullivan had all of her mother
’
s jewellery taken whilst they were gardening. Heirlooms
they were -irreplaceable. They never found them. You see
you
‘
re not even safe these days in rural
Surrey.
”
Charlotte coughed nervously and
they all looked at her.
“
Actually I think
that I know who he was,
”
she said.
“
I have something to tell you and I am not sure
what you will think about it.
”
They
looked at her with worried looks on their faces.
“
Is everything alright darling,
”
her father said,
“
because if you are in any bother we will sort it
out.
”

“
No nothing
like that,
”
Charlotte said.
“
It
’
s about the job
interview this morning. I was offered a job but it will be lasting
a little bit longer than the summer.
”

Her mother looked
triumphant,
“
I knew the Chanel would
work, they can spot someone with class, someone who is going
places, what is it? Oh I know you have landed a job on reception,
wait until I tell Barbara Mactravers, I bet her daughter just got a
bar job,
”
and a smile broke out over her
mother
’
s face. But her father was looking
at her carefully.
“
No I
don
’
t think it
’
s that straightforward judging by Lola
’
s expression, hear her out, come on Charlotte what is
it?
”
Taking a deep breath she faced her
parents.
“
Well, the job that I was
offered, and have accepted is that of the team manager.
”
She paused waiting for the news to sink in. Her
mother looked confused and her father laughed loudly.
“
Good one Lola, now what is it
really?
”

“
Um actually it
is that,
”
she said.
“
They wanted someone like me to take it on and I start first
thing in the morning. If you don
’
t
believe me you will see it on every news bulletin and probably read
about it in the papers tomorrow. That man in the bushes was a
photographer probably looking for a scoop.
”
Her brother cheered loudly.

“Yeah wait until I
tell them at school, I will be famous,
”
he shouted and ran off to look at the internet so that he
could then boast to all his friends.
“
But
you have just left university,
”
her
mother said.
“
How on earth can you manage
a football team? What is going on? What are they playing
at?
” “
Yes Charlotte, I think that you had
better tell us the whole story,
”
said her
father. Charlotte told them all about the events that had occurred
that day. She hated deceiving them but followed the script that had
been agreed, not because she didn
’
t trust
her parents, however her mother would be the one most likely to
slip up and she didn
’
t want to put her in
an awkward position.

Her father was a
little bit more shrewd but realised that there was a reason behind
her story so said nothing except,
“
well
congratulations darling, we are very proud of you. If you need any
help at all we are here for you. Mary crack open the bubbly we have
some celebrating to do.
”

After celebrating
with her parents Charlotte headed off to her room to call her
friend Imogen.
“
Oh my God, Charlotte,
what on earth has happened?
”
she said
after answering the phone as soon as it rang. Charlotte told her
the same story as she had told her parents, and after lots of
screams and excited chit chat she rang off and phoned her other
friend Zoe with whom she repeated the conversation. She felt really
tired now and decided to have a long hot bubble bath before tea.
She could hear her mother excitedly ringing round everyone she knew
whilst her father searched every news bulletin and headline on the
internet.

As she lay in the
bath Charlotte closed her eyes to try to relax but the events of
the day kept on racing through her mind. She thought of Max most of
all. She couldn
’
t get him out of her
mind. They had only met very briefly but there was some sort of
connection that they had which excited her. She really hoped to see
him again. She lay thinking of his dark hair slightly long and
glossy black with his dark brown eyes that seemed to bore through
to her soul. His handshake had sent sparks flying through her body
and all she could think of was what it would be like to feel his
lips on hers and his strong arms around her. She had never had this
reaction to anybody before, unless you can count her crush on Jon
Bon Jovi as a similar experience. Not that she had ever met him of
course but she had dreamed of meeting him many times so really she
felt as though she had.

“Charlotte,
tea
’
s ready,
”
called her mum and Charlotte snapped out of her daydream
and quickly threw on her favourite onesie and put her hair in a top
knot and her big fluffy slippers on. Heaven, just what she needed
after the day she
’
d had. As she reached
the bottom of the stairs the doorbell rang. Oh bother she thought,
it
’
s probably Trudy from next door come
to be nosey. Her neighbour was the typical stereotypical nosey
neighbour, who she imagined spent every waking minute looking out
of her window and observing the day to day comings and goings of
the neighbourhood.

She was the chair of
the neighbourhood watch committee and had become something of a
local celebrity when she caught a man trying to enter her house
through the back door. It didn
’
t help
that she was naked at the time; apparently naked yoga is the new
craze. Well I don
’
t know who was more
shocked? He raced off whilst she screamed the place down and
Malcolm Rumbelow the next door neighbour came racing in to help.
Not a pretty sight for him, he probably had to have counselling
afterwards. The headlines kept her father amused for months
afterwards,
“
Man caught in
woman
’
s back passage.
”
Laughing at the memory she opened the door and there was a
barrage of flashbulbs and people standing crowded together on her
front door shouting things at her.
“
Charlotte how did you get this job? Charlotte when did you
know about it? Charlotte how are you going to deal with the
footballers? Charlotte aren
’
t you too
young to be a manager? Charlotte do you know the offside
rule?
”
and so it went on whilst she stood
there like a rabbit in headlights, or in her case dressed like a
cow in headlights. Her father came running out.
“
Clear off we have nothing to say, we are calling the police
this is invasion of privacy and trespass!
”

Slamming the door angrily he turned and hugged
her.

“
Are you ok
little one? Don
’
t worry we will deal with
them later.
”
She looked at him in shock.
Oh no it would have to be the cow onesie! She looked at her dad and
in a worried voice said,
“
dad, what on
earth is the off side rule?
”
He smiled at
her and said,
“
we
’
ll google it,
”
and he took her
into the kitchen and drew the blinds.

Charlotte felt
rattled but her mother put her dinner down in front of her and
said,
“
come on Lola eat up all will be
fine when you have had something to eat and drink and a good nights
sleep. I will sort out your things for tomorrow and make you a nice
packed lunch. Don
’
t set your alarm I will
wake you, just try and relax.
”
Jake
suddenly piped up,
“
Charlotte can I come
with you? I want to get the autographs of the players and see how
it all works. My friends will be so jealous.
” “
Absolutely not Jake Dawson,
”
said
her mother,
“
Charlotte will be far too
busy to look after you and she is taking on a challenging and
difficult role. Anyway you have to come with me to
grandma
’
s, she needs a lift to the
hospital as she is having a new pace maker fitted. Apparently
Moira
‘
s father had one. He has got
dementia and is living in the Cedar Trees retirement home. Thinks
he
‘
s back in the 60s and is having a
whale of a time. Apparently the pace maker has kicked in 250 times
since he had it fitted. They think that he
‘
ll be rebooting long after they
‘
ve gone.
”
Jake groaned and looked
really put out which made Charlotte smile.

There were no other
distractions that night so Charlotte had an early night and fell
fast asleep almost at once. Before she even had time to have a
dream it seemed that her mother was shaking her awake.
“
Here you are a nice cup of tea,
”
her mother said as she drew the curtains letting
the sun spill into the room.
“
Your lift
will be here in half an hour so you had better get up and
ready.
”
Charlotte noticed that her mother
had already laid out some clothes for her to wear. A smart blue
shift dress with a peplum jacket and high heeled shoes. She really
must get her out of that habit she thought.

Charlotte brushed her
long blonde hair and applied her make up, a spray of her favourite
Jo Malone scent and she was ready. Heading off downstairs she found
that her mother had made her some cereal and toast which she just
had time to eat before they heard a car pull up outside, crunching
onto the gravel drive.
“
Good luck
darling,
”
her mother said, hugging her
tightly. Her father also hugged her and said,
“
call me if you need anything, go get em!
”
The doorbell rang and Charlotte picked up her
bag and made her way to the door. With a deep breath she opened it
and suddenly there in front of her stood the one person that she
had thought constantly about since she had met him -
Max!

She gazed at him in disbelief. How had he found her
and what was he doing here?

The sight of him made
her heart beat faster as he looked even more gorgeous than she
remembered. His dark hair was immaculate and he was wearing a crisp
white shirt with a black suit. His eyes bore into her, the darkest
brown eyes that she had ever seen - almost black, that were totally
mesmerising and she felt lost in them. A slow smile broke out over
his face as he looked at her.
“
Hello
Charlotte, it
’
s good to see you
again,
”
he said with the slow sexy
foreign accent that she remembered.
“
Max!
I can
’
t believe it what are you doing
here?
”
she said quickly.
“
It appears that you weren
’
t the only person offered a job yesterday,
”
he said,
“
although my
job may not be as important as yours it is to me, as I am to be
your driver and look after you during your working day.
”
A smile broke out over
Charlotte
’
s face, this was fantastic, a
dream come true, working with Max every day nothing could top
this.
“
This way ma
’
am,
”
he said gesturing towards a
black Bentley that sat in the driveway. He held open the rear
passenger door, but Charlotte looked at him and said.
“
Can
’
t I ride up in
the front with you? We have so much to talk about.
”
“
I
‘
m afraid
not
”
he said regretfully,
“
they have provided you with a folder to read on
your way to the club. It appears that your day
’
s work starts here.
”
Charlotte
looked at the folder resting on the leather seat and sat down with
a sigh. She had so much to ask Max but it would obviously have to
wait.

As she settled down in the seat the car moved slowly
away. She opened the folder but was too conscious of the presence
of the man sitting in front of her to take in its contents. She
kept on throwing him surreptitious glances and often found him
looking at her in the rear view mirror, he quickly averted his gaze
but she could definitely sense masses of sexual chemistry between
them. He had been the last person that she expected to see at her
door that morning. This job just gets better and better she thought
happily, a flash car and a fit driver, who would have thought she
would be here just one short week ago. If only Mr Peters, her PE
teacher could see her now.