‘What the fuck were you thinking coming down here? You’ve not got a bloody clue have you?’
‘Don’t you dare talk to me like that!’ Jane yelled back.
‘Maybe if I’d done it before you wouldn’t have turned into the miserable stuck-up bitch you have.’
‘I’m warning you,’ Jane replied. Her eyes full of venom. ‘One more word.’
‘What the hell happened to you? It's like I don't even know you any more.’
‘I'm not joking Rob. One more word-’
‘One?’ said Rob. ‘Here’s two. Fuck off.’
Jane stood for a heartbeat - and then with a scream, lunged at her husband, first slapping him round the face then punching him squarely in the chest.
Rob barely moved, he just glared angrily at her as Pete MacDonald grabbed her and hustled her spitting and snarling out into the corridor just as the bell sounded. The two minute warning.
The room settled back into a stunned silence as MacDonald returned.
‘Mr. Chairman,’ he said calmly. ‘You were saying?’
Rob locked eyes with his captain for a second and smiled a slight smile.
‘By five o’clock tonight,’ he began, ‘this club won’t be owned by me or anyone else. It’ll be owned by the fans. Do you really want to start out on that new chapter in this club’s history being known as the team who threw a game? Because like it or not, that’s what you’re doing.’
Rob paused and looked around the faces staring at him in open-mouthed silence.
‘You’re better than that, and this club deserves better. So go and win this thing. Not for me, but for yourselves and for the new owners. If nothing else, they deserve it after the season they’ve had.’
Rob stood for a second as his words reverberated around the room, then turned on his heels and walked through the door and out into the busy corridor.
Once there, and oblivious to the hustle and bustle as well as the odd glances he received from the waiting Oxford players and the eager officials, Rob leant against the wall and listened as a cacophony of noise exploded on the other side of the door he had just closed.
He smiled to himself and headed for the stairs which led up toward his seat - but at the last moment, he stopped, paused for a second and turned away.
Within a matter of seconds, Rob was walking out of George Park into the late afternoon sunshine.
It was over.
Chapter Forty Eight
Rob was sitting quietly in the Bentley listening to the Northern soul which had accompanied his trip across the city when his father and son came around the corner at the end of the road.
It really is over he thought as he watched them approach. No more City, no more press, no more hassle. No more Jane. He felt strangely serene and suddenly at peace with himself, his mind purged of the pressure which had dogged him solidly for the past eight months or so.
‘Well, I suppose you’re feeling pleased with yourself?’ said Mick as he put the key in his front door. ‘I would’ve thought you still be at scumland.’
‘Why? What happened?’
‘Don’t play the smart arse with me.’
‘I’m not. I left at half time and my phone’s been off. So what happened?’
‘City won 2-1,’ said Charlie with a grin. ‘You did it.’
A smile spread across Rob’s face and he hugged his son before pulling out his phone and turning it on as he followed his father into the house. Almost immediately it began pinging to signify missed calls and text messages. Then it began ringing, so he turned it off again.
‘Come on you,’ he said to Charlie. ‘We’ve got a plane to catch.’
Charlie stopped and frowned.
‘We’re going away for a couple of weeks,’ Rob added. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be back for the play-offs. Wouldn’t want to miss those, would we?’
‘Is mum coming?’
‘No mate, just us blokes this time.’
Charlie smiled and headed for the door. Only once he was out of earshot did Mick turn to his son.
‘What’s that about?’
‘I’ll tell you when we get back,’ Rob said with a shake of his head.
Mick nodded in understanding.
‘So you did it then boy. I always knew you’d do well for yourself.’
‘Bollocks did you,’ said Rob.
‘I bloody did,’ continued Mick, feigning indignation. ‘So what you gonna do with all that money? I could do with a new motor now you’re flush.’
‘I thought about putting some of it toward getting The Rosie opened up,’ said Rob. ‘Be great to have the old place back.’
‘Like your thinking,’ replied Mick thoughtfully. ‘Wouldn’t do your social standing at United any harm either.’
‘Well there is that,’ said Rob, aware that he had an awful lot of ground to make up in certain quarters and inevitably, that was going to involve an awful lot of piss taking.
‘Christ, imagine what it’d have been like if you’d blown it! Even I might have had to stop going!’
With a smile, Rob reached into his pocket and handed his father the letter Lee England had given him. Once he’d read it, Mick folded it neatly and placed it back in its envelope. His face showed barely a flicker of emotion.
‘How long you had this?’
‘Since Wednesday.’
‘I told you all along that he was a wanker,’ said Mick as he handed back the letter, then pulled a cigarette from his tin and lit up.
‘You did, but I kind of worked that out for myself,’ said Rob as he placed the envelope back into his pocket.
‘Why didn’t you say anything?’
‘Don’t know really, just seemed like the right thing to do.’
‘You don’t buy all that family is more important than football bollocks do you?’
Rob stared at his father and smiled.
‘No dad. And nor do you.’
His father smiled. More for himself than for Rob.
‘Course not. It’s a crock of shit.’
‘You lying bugger,’ said Rob.
‘I take it Jane don’t know?’
Rob shook his head.
‘Other than you and the brief, no one knows.’
‘Can I be there when you tell her? Christ she’ll go mental.’
‘No you bloody can’t,’ said Rob. ‘But I do need to tell her. If only because it’s going to be fun.’
Epilogue.
Rob pulled the Bentley into George Park and for the very last time, steered it into the chairman’s slot.
He sat for a while and just listened to it purr. He was going to miss this car. For a long time it had felt like the only friend he’d had at City and as he turned off the ignition, it felt like that friendship had come to an end. Much as he was looking forward to the arrival of his brand new motor, he doubted it would ever mean as much to him as this one.
‘Bye old girl,’ he whispered mournfully as he stroked the steering wheel, ‘it’s been an experience.’
Reluctant to get out, Rob looked around the almost empty car park and reminisced for a while. The encounter with Alf, various policemen, fans - it all came flooding back to him and he actually felt quite sad that it was all over.
With a sigh, he climbed out and after pressing the fob and hearing what seemed to him to be a slightly sorrowful bleep come from under the bonnet, he headed briskly toward the main entrance, his appearance in the strangely empty reception drawing a huge smile from Amyleigh.
‘Where have you been?’ she exclaimed excitedly. ‘We’ve been trying to get hold of you everywhere.’
‘For these no doubt,’ said Rob as he dropped the keys on the counter. ‘I took a holiday. Went to see my mum in New Zealand.’
‘Well you look great,’ she beamed as she picked up the phone and dialled. ‘I have a Mr. Cooper in reception. OK, I’ll tell him.’ She placed the phone down, adding ‘Someone will be down in a minute.’
‘So how have things been? Hectic I suppose,’
asked Rob.
‘You could say that. I heard about your wife.’
‘Soon to be ex-wife thank goodness.’
‘Well I'm sorry anyway.’
‘Don't be,’ he said with a smile. ‘I'm not. She wasn’t actually very nice.’
The noise of a door opening drew his attention and Rob turned to find Keith Mayes walking briskly toward him, hand outstretched.
‘Welcome back,’ he said warmly. ‘You missed quite a party the other week.’
‘So I hear. But I doubt it would have been a good idea me being there.’
‘Oh I don’t know. Then again, you had just cost the club six million pounds!’
Rob smiled. For a second he thought about showing Keith the letter and let him read for himself that the money was never going to the club, irrespective of what might or might not have happened over the season.
Instead it had all been a ploy, designed to make Rob realise that family, loyalty and personal happiness were more important than anything, even football. And to a large extent it had worked. His small band of Coopers had been through the mill over the past few months and while it was tragic that his marriage had fallen apart, the reality was it had only done so because it had failed the test put before it. . Or rather Jane had failed. And if she’d checked their bank balance at any point in the two days leading up to the final game she’d have seen a deposit for six million, two hundred and seventeen thousand pounds, thirty seven pence which had been made at close of business on the previous Wednesday.
Maybe if she had, things would have been different. But the fact was that she hadn’t and instead she’d shown her true colours. - although to be fair, Rob had been watching them fluttering on the mast for months. And now he was happier than he had been for years.
‘Bloody hell,’ he said to change the subject. ‘I've actually kind of missed this place.’
‘Would you like to come up to my office? We do have some business to discuss.’
It was the last thing Rob wanted to do, but given that he’d been welcomed so warmly, he felt obliged to at least show some degree of willing.
‘Of course.’
‘Excellent,’ said Keith. ‘Amyleigh, could you let Andrea know Rob’s here please. Ask her to pop up to the office?’
‘Well, well,’ said Joanne as he walked into her office. ‘Look what the cat dragged in. How are you?’
Rob smiled as she embraced him and planted a kiss on his cheek. Of everything at the club, he had missed her the most.
‘I’m good,’ he replied. ‘How’re you? You look great. We need to do lunch and catch up.’
‘Why thank you sir,’ she said. ‘And I’d love to.’
‘Jo could you rustle up some coffee please? And you should be in on this meeting too.’
Rob looked puzzled as he followed Mayes into what was his old office. It all seemed very odd, almost Stepford Wives.
He stopped for a second, unsure of where he should sit but in the end, settled for a chair by the window. Even as he sat, Andrea and Jo entered, the former also giving him a welcoming kiss on the cheek.
‘OK, you lot are freaking me out a bit,’ he said jokingly as everyone sat down. ‘What’s going on? Is this about the sponsorship? Because really, I’m fine with it. Just talk to someone at the factory.’
‘No, it’s not about that,’ said Andrea. ‘This actually involves you directly.’
‘We need a decision from you Rob,’ added Keith. ‘We need it today.’
‘A decision on what?’ asked Rob, puzzled.
The three others in the room exchanged glances. Each seemed to Rob to be suppressing a smile, which wasn’t helping.
‘Well? What is it?’
‘As agreed, and thanks to you,’ began Keith, ‘the club is now a trust - the majority of which is owned by the supporters.’
‘Yeah, and?’
Keith Mayes took a deep breath and more looks were exchanged.
‘For God’s sake, just spit it out!’
‘Well you see,’ began Keith again, ‘there’s obviously been a lot to talk while you’ve been away and well, to cut a long story short-’
Rob looked at Keith Mayes in bewilderment. He’d never seen him flustered before and it was both alarming and hilarious in equal measures.
‘Look,’ said Rob. ‘Whatever it is-’
‘We want you to stay on as Chairman,’ said Joanne excitedly. ‘Everyone does.’
Rob froze.
‘You’re taking the piss, right?’
‘No,’ said Keith. ‘We’re deadly serious.’
‘But why on earth-?’
‘The bottom line,’ interrupted Andrea. ‘Is that in spite of your best efforts, last season ended up being more fun than anyone could have imagined it would be.’
‘And let’s not forget, we did actually improve across the board,’ added Keith.
‘So everyone’s been wondering,’ chimed in Joanne, ‘if you can make that happen when you didn’t even want to be here, what you could do if you actually did? Or do, if that makes sense.’
Rob fell into stunned silence.
‘So what do you think?’ asked Keith Mayes.
Five minutes later, Rob walked out into reception and tried to get his head around what had just happened. To say he was in shock was an understatement.
Amyleigh watched him from behind her counter and suddenly, with a beaming smile, held up the keys to his beloved Bentley.
‘I think these might be yours Mr. Chairman.’
Rob stepped from the half light of reception and turned his face up to the early summer sunshine. Part of him wondered if what he had just done had been the right thing or not, and he stood for a moment as his conflicted emotions fought a pitched battle to decide if he should go back in and tell them that he had changed his mind.
However, after a minute or two, the common sense cavalry had turned up and beaten the doubters into submission. Of course he’d done the right thing - and he knew it.
The noise of a ball bouncing on the tarmac grabbed his attention. Fearful of a smack in the face, Rob opened his eyes and searched feverishly to see what trajectory it might be on - only to spot it just as it thumped against the wheel of the Bentley.
He was still trying to calm his thumping heart when a young boy came running round the corner, stopping when he saw Rob standing there.
‘Is that your car mate?’ he asked nervously.
Rob walked toward the car and put his foot on the ball, which was just starting to roll down the slight slope toward the doors leading into reception. He stood for a second then tapped it slowly forward, back toward where the boy was standing.
‘No mate,’ said Rob with a wry smile. ‘I don’t work here any more.’
And with that, he ran forward and with his right foot, curved the ball over the hapless boy and straight through the open gate into the road outside.
Even before it bounced on the ground, Rob was running after it with his arms stretched out beside him in the classic aeroplane celebration.
‘GOOOOAAAAALLL! United! United!’
The End
Dougie Brimson, Wings of a Sparrow
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