1st June 2017
"Alex, no, I won't have it. I won't!"
"Oh come now Cathy, they only said it'll be temporary."
His wife turned to give him a piercing glare. "You know full well it won't be temporary."
Alex laughed, but Cathy continued. "Don't you remember, 15 years ago, you were about to give it all away. 15 years ago you felt you were finished. And now you want to go back into it all? You're not the young man you once were."
"Aye, I guess you're right."
"You're taking the job anyway."
"Yes."
Cathy laughed sadly and left the room, leaving Alex alone to contemplate. He had made his decision without Cathy already. He didn't think he had the heart in him to deny it, because when your family is under the pump and need you, you answer that call. He received that call just 6 hours earlier, a rushed and desperate phone call, and by the end, Alex knew what he had to do.
He heard his wife crying in the next room, and with a creak, stood up to console her. He empathised. Football had been his life for so long, so much, and the last 4 years had been good for him and his family. But the passion was still there. And as much as it pained him to admit, and as much as it was impossibly selfish and immoral - football, and his club, meant more to him than Cathy. He felt an incredible wave of guilt and self-loathing pass through him as he held his wife in his arms, and he let go.
He sat outside, staring into the English evening, and readied himself for the hardest years of his life.
"Alex, no, I won't have it. I won't!"
"Oh come now Cathy, they only said it'll be temporary."
His wife turned to give him a piercing glare. "You know full well it won't be temporary."
Alex laughed, but Cathy continued. "Don't you remember, 15 years ago, you were about to give it all away. 15 years ago you felt you were finished. And now you want to go back into it all? You're not the young man you once were."
"Aye, I guess you're right."
"You're taking the job anyway."
"Yes."
Cathy laughed sadly and left the room, leaving Alex alone to contemplate. He had made his decision without Cathy already. He didn't think he had the heart in him to deny it, because when your family is under the pump and need you, you answer that call. He received that call just 6 hours earlier, a rushed and desperate phone call, and by the end, Alex knew what he had to do.
He heard his wife crying in the next room, and with a creak, stood up to console her. He empathised. Football had been his life for so long, so much, and the last 4 years had been good for him and his family. But the passion was still there. And as much as it pained him to admit, and as much as it was impossibly selfish and immoral - football, and his club, meant more to him than Cathy. He felt an incredible wave of guilt and self-loathing pass through him as he held his wife in his arms, and he let go.
He sat outside, staring into the English evening, and readied himself for the hardest years of his life.
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