Strikers Instinct (6 page)

Harry continued with the story.

“By now I was totally confused. I had no idea what had just happened and to make matters worse my eye was beginning to close.”

Luke inspected my face and smiled. “That is going to be one hell of a shiner – the girls will be impressed. Is there any other damage?”

I started to shake my head but that made me feel nauseous and I realised that my back was also beginning to throb.

Luke seemed a little more concerned. “We need to have someone look at you. Are you OK to walk for a few minutes?”

I replied that I would be fine and we set off in the general direction of the town centre. As we walked Luke started to explain how he came to rescue me.

“You were lucky.” he said. “My lecture finished earlier than scheduled so I decided to go for a run. I had only been out for a few minutes when I saw you flying out of the pub doorway – I was on the other side of the street. I followed as quickly as I could – sorry I didn't get there in time to stop the black eye.”

“Your timing was perfect,” I said, “you stopped them breaking all my fingers. I'll never be able to repay you.”

I stopped and Luke realised that I wanted to say more.

“I sense a but!” he said with a smile.

I grinned in return. “But I still don't understand – how did you recognise me? We've hardly ever spoken.”

Luke seemed almost apologetic. “How many people do you think from Wishton are currently students in Oxford?”

I shrugged and he continued.

“Well – not many,” he said, “and even less came from the same grammar school. I knew you were here but I just never got the chance to talk to you – you know how busy we all are.”

I nodded and once again he continued. “But that doesn't mean I wasn't keeping an eye on you. Professor Jackson is a friend of mine and she told me you are doing very well.”

That surprised me. Professor Jackson was one of my tutors and although we got on fairly well I had no idea that she had taken an interest in me.

Luke continued. “Even though I knew you had settled in I can't claim that I was looking out for you today – it was pure luck that I happened to be passing that pub. Anyway – here we are – let's go inside.”

We were stood in front of a large but slightly shabby house.

“Welcome to my humble home,” said Luke, “well, actually I just rent a room but it's not a bad place.”

He steered me through the front door then down a corridor towards the sound of laughter and chatter. We entered a large room containing half a dozen young people – four male two female.

“Everyone, this is Harry, he's a fellow Wishtonian and he's had a bit of trouble. I'm glad you are here Kath – hopefully you can sort him out. Harry, this is Kath, she's Dom's girlfriend – far too good for him – but more importantly she is a final year med student. Kath – would you mind taking a quick look at him?”

Kath looked concerned and quickly led Harry into the kitchen.

“I'll introduce everyone else when you come back – and don't worry about Kath – she hasn't killed anyone yet!”

The rest of the group laughed and then began to question Luke. He evaded their questions until Kath and Harry returned.

“He'll live,” she pronounced. “Nothing broken and no signs of concussion but that eye will be swollen for a few days and also his back is going to be tender. He needs to go straight to his doctor if the pain gets worse – or if he starts to get bad headaches. Anyway – what happened? Harry seems reluctant to tell me the story.”

Luke explained, “Harry is a friend from my old school and today I helped him out when I found him having a spot of trouble with the locals. It's up to him if he wants to tell you anymore.”

Everyone looked questioningly at me – so I slowly started to explain what had happened. I half-expected some sort of disapproval but instead I just received sympathetic looks.

“Sounds like Luke came along just in time?” said Kath and I nodded my agreement.

I was slightly surprised that no-one seemed to think that Luke had done anything out of the ordinary – it was almost as if this was something Luke got involved with every day. Anyway – I didn't push it any further – I was just glad to be in one piece.

“I bet you could use a drink?” Luke asked me.

“Yes please,” I replied. “I could murder a cup of tea.”

Luke and the boys laughed – “I thought you might want something a bit stronger but I think I can manage a cup of tea. Come back through to the kitchen.”

Luke made me sit at the kitchen table whilst the kettle boiled.

“You still look surprised.” he said.

“I really can't believe all this,” I replied. “but most of all I still can't believe that you recognised me!”

Luke smiled. “I never forget a face.”

I sipped my tea and Luke continued. “Once again, I'm sorry that I haven't been as friendly to a fellow Lancastrian as I should have been but perhaps we can make up for it?”

“I think you have already helped me enough but what did you have in mind?” I asked.

“Well,” Luke went on, “I belong to a martial arts club and it looks as if you may need to learn how to take care of yourself – maybe you could come down and take a look?”

“I'd love to,” I replied, “but I don't want to take part in anything that may damage my hands – I want to be a surgeon. I love sport but I have to be careful not to do anything too risky.”

Luke seemed thoughtful, “That's a fair point. I'm sure we could work something out that keeps your fitness levels up but won't cause any problems for your hands.”

“In that case I would love to take a look at your club.” I replied.

“And so began a lifelong friendship. I was introduced to Luke's circle of friends and in turn he met my mates. I spent time training with him and although I never really got involved with the sparring side of the club I began to feel fitter than I had ever done in my life. Luke and I even met up occasionally for social events and it was on one of these occasions that I managed to pay him back for saving me from dog breath and his mates.

The only other person in Oxford that I knew originated from Wishton was Sue and she was studying Business and Finance across town. Our paths didn't cross much but occasionally we would meet to catch up and one day she rang to invite me to a party. I asked if I could bring Luke – she was intrigued that someone else from Wishton was studying in Oxford so urged me to bring him along.

For once it was my turn to laugh at Luke. I introduced him to Sue and his normally confidant, relaxed attitude fell away and he turned to jelly. He stuttered and blushed and I nearly laughed out loud – it was obvious that it was love at first sight! It wasn't quite the same for Sue though. She really liked Luke and thought it was very cute how Luke acted when he was with her but she thought she was far too young to tie herself down. However, Luke was determined to win Sue over. He devoted all his spare time to convincing Sue that he was the perfect man for her. A few months after the party I met Sue in the pub and she gave me a big hug.

“Thank you.” she said.

I had no idea what she was talking about.

“What for?” I asked.

“You introduced me to Luke.” she said simply.

After that, they became inseparable. Luke graduated and all 3 of us returned to Wishton for the summer – and Luke needed to find a job.

Luke's degree had been in modern languages – quite early in life he had discovered that it was something he had a flair for. During his time at Oxford he also realised that he could apply the same principles to computer code and operating systems. He explained that most programming languages or computer operating systems were just extensions of the various languages he had been studying. During his last year he had spent a lot of time in the computer sciences labs and he had decided that instead of working as perhaps a teacher of languages he would look to a career in computing.

He applied to a large software house in Manchester and managed to get a place on a graduate program. Luke moved back into his old room at home and scraped together the money to buy an old car to get him to work and back. He worked long hours each day trying to master various systems and languages and when he wasn't working he would head back to Oxford to spend time with Sue.

The following year Sue graduated and Luke was promoted. Sue also got a job in Manchester and they travelled together each day. The next couple of years went by in a similar fashion – both made rapid advances at work and they continued to fall deeper in love with each other. Luke finally proposed, Sue accepted and a date was set.

The wedding was magnificent. Luke's friend Alex was best man and he tried to persuade Luke and Sue to have the wedding at his stately home. They were both very tempted but they knew they had to think of their families so they married at St. Bedes near to Sue's parent's home and then had a reception in a local hotel before moving into their new house.

I didn't see much of them over the next couple of years – I had to finish my medical training and they were both busy making their way in the world. I finally graduated and then after a stint in a couple of hospitals and was ready to try a spell as a GP. I didn't want to work with my father straight away – I wanted to spend some time on my own first so I applied to be a locum in a surgery on the other side of town. The weekend before I started in my new job I met up with Sue and Luke to have a meal and catch up on old times.

They seemed very happy and relaxed. Luke had just been head-hunted by a new company that had been set up by Alex's brother. It meant that Luke was now a senior manager at a relatively young age and was now beginning to earn serious money. He was still based at an office in Manchester but the downside of his new job was that he would now be spending more time away from home.

“We have won a contract to work at various UK Embassies around the world.” he explained. “Our main job at each will be to install a new accounting system but we will also be doing network upgrades and running security incursion checks.”

When I looked puzzled he explained further. “The security service has its own IT department and they tend to look after firewalls, virus protection and the like but they do like to call in outside companies to test their defences – and that's where we come in. We try to break into each embassy – not physically of course but using technology.”

Sue had also been climbing the corporate ladder and now headed a division within one of the larger banking companies. She too, would have to travel more extensively as part of her blossoming career but they planned to try to coordinate their travel so they would be hopefully be back home at the same time.

“Well it sounds as if you have all bases covered – as our American friends would say – I just have one question?”

They both looked at me. “Well – in all this grand plan of yours – when do I become an uncle?”

Luke roared with laughter and Sue just punched me on the shoulder. “Don't you start!” she said, “we get enough stick from my mother and mother-in-law. We will have children when the time is right!”

It seems that it would be a few more years before the time was right – Sue was past her 30th birthday before she realised she was pregnant. A baby girl came along and she was named Lexi – short for Alexander – after Luke's great friend Alex. This was a sign of exactly how much Luke thought he owed Alex. Along with the new baby came new responsibilities and hard decisions had to be made.

Luke was now a partner in the IT company and things were going from strength to strength. They had opened another office in London in addition to the site in Manchester. The only problem – as the father of a new baby – was that he still had to travel all over the world. Sue was in a similar position. She was now a junior director of a private bank and her career seemed to be on an upward trajectory. However, they both knew that they couldn't continue in this way with a new baby to look after.

After much discussion – they came to an uneasy agreement. Sue would stand down from her current position and take up something less demanding and closer to home – she had already been approached by a former customer. This would mean virtually no travelling but would allow her to keep dangling her toe in the corporate market. She would also get a housekeeper/nanny to help out home.

Luke would continue to work in his present role – looking to build the business up to a point whereby he could also hopefully start to work from home. At this point Sue would then look at returning to a more high-profile position.

The plan worked fairly well but just took a lot longer to reach a conclusion than either of them thought. Luke's company continued to prosper and he was under great pressure to keep taking on more and more work all around the world. 18 months after Lexi was born Sue discovered she was pregnant again – this time they had a boy who they named Tom – after Professor Thomas Arkwright. Tom's birth spurred Luke on to work even harder so that he could try to spend more time at home with his family but it wasn't easy. He still seemed to be away for half of the year but at least he could usually work it so that he had a full month at home with Sue and the kids before he had to jet off to the other side of the world.

Suddenly – a few years ago – everything changed. Luke and his partner received an offer to buy out their company. The figures involved made Luke's eyes water. Sue helped with the negotiations and finally a deal was reached. Luke would receive an obscene amount of money and a nominal seat on the board which would mean that he had to attend a board meeting once a month. Luke made sure that as part of the deal his employees would be well-protected so it seemed that everyone was happy. It took several months to bring all the changes into place but finally, a few months ago, Luke signed all the papers and handed over ownership.