Game On (Game On 1)

True to my suspicions, when I arrived in the hotel restaurant my nephew was bouncing up and down in his seat as my brother tried to make him calm down and eat his Coco Pops.

“Morning,” I said, slipping into my seat and helping myself to a cup of tea and a slice of toast.

“Hello,” Josh said with a smile. “Looking forward to today?”

I contemplated my answer momentarily, confused about how I actually felt. Obviously, I was dying to see Freya, Will and the others. However Radleigh was at the forefront of my mind and I didn’t know what to expect when I saw him.

“Yeah, I am,” I replied, before looking at Jamie and breaking into a grin. “I can see someone else is too.”

“Tell me about it. He's been up since six-thirty!”

“I don't want us to be late and miss anything,” Jamie said. “What happens if the players get to the stadium early and I don't get to see them? Or what if there's traffic on the way that makes us late?”

Freya and Will had promised we could take Jamie on a tour of the stadium and meet some more of the team. It was a generous offer but it had led to Jamie being even more hyped up than usual, which was fine for me because I didn’t have to share a room with him. For Josh, it was like being caged up with a kangaroo with ADD.

“J, chill, everything will be fine.”

Thankfully, the day went smoothly and we arrived at the stadium at ten minutes to two. The ten minute wait seemed like a lifetime. I couldn't stop myself glancing at my watch every ten seconds. The time was moving so slowly I could have sworn it was going backwards.

Finally, the sound of Big Ben in the distance announced that it was two o’clock and Freya and Will pulled up in a cab, dead on time, and clambered out to greet us.

“Freya!” I exclaimed, running down the steps and flinging myself into her arms. “It's so good to see you!”

“It's good to see you too!”

After embracing Freya once more, I turned to Will.

“I've missed you both so much,” I said.

“We’ve missed you too,” Will said. “Work isn't the same without you around. It's too quiet for starters.”

We laughed, relishing being reunited again, and then I turned to introduce my friends to Jamie and Josh before we headed into the stadium, where Will and Freya signed in as Westberg employees. Josh, Jamie and I were presented with visitors passes, as guests of Will and Freya. It felt a little odd for me to be entering as a visitor and not a worker, although I was pleased I wouldn't have the usual pre-match stress heaped on me when someone injured themself at the last minute.

Once we were inside, Bree immediately descended on me, screaming my name.

“I can't believe you're really here!” she squealed.

I laughed. “Me neither, but I couldn't keep away!”

“I missed you so, so, so, so much!”

It was easy to fit back in with everyone, and after introducing Josh and Jamie to Bree and chatting for a while, it was as if I'd never been away. Jamie gazed at both Freya and Bree in turn, an adoring look on his face. He'd barely said a word since we'd met up with them, suddenly shy. He stayed close beside me, holding on to my hand.

“Where’s Jesse?” I asked. “Is he late?”

“Oh!” Freya said. “I meant to call you but I was so busy yesterday, I completely forgot. Jesse took a fall during training and hurt his back. He’ll be okay, but he was in too much pain to make the trip.”

“Aw, I was looking forward to seeing him and legally buying him a beer!”

“He was looking forward to seeing you too.”

“I’ll give him a call in a few days and see how he’s doing.”

I jumped as something tickled my cheek and as I turned, I grinned, seeing Miguel's head peering over my shoulder. He'd crept up on me while I'd been talking.

“Hello angel,” he said, kissing me on the cheek. “How are you?”

“Better now I've seen you!”