All or Nothing

Chapter 2

Aimee's mornings left no time for mooning over John Stones. She rose at 5.30am to prep the day's orders for the little baking business she ran from home. It had started out her making birthday cakes for friends and family when Rosie was a baby, but word of mouth had brought her more and more custom. Over the last few years, she had added more product lines, including her best-selling afternoon tea boxes. Now mornings after school drop off were spent in her little kitchen, piny on, hair tied back, and every surface covered in flour. Lunch would be samples of whatever the day's menu was. Then she'd shower quickly, dress in something she hoped made her look vaguely professional and spend the next few hours hand delivering the goods. Always finishing just in time to collect Rosie from school.

By 7.30. when she had to coax Rosie from her slumber the house was already full of the smell of baking. mini sausage rolls were cooling on a rack by the sink whilst apple & cinnamon muffins baked in the oven. As Aimee rushed around getting Rosie ready for the day, whilst mentally mapping out the rest of the morning's baking, Manchester City's number 5 was all but forgotten. That was until Aimee is back in the playground, and he is nowhere to be seen. Pull yourself together she tells herself, surprised how disappointed she feels. Thanks to the previous evening's research she now knows that John Stones has a daughter, Harriet, born in 2017, the same year as Rosie. Her eyes search the playground, sure that she will be able to identify whichever child belongs to him, maybe she'll have his dark curls or that cupid's bow lip she couldn't help but notice during her late-night Instagram stalking session.

It's a futile exercise. Hattie Stones is not in the playground; she is at Breakfast Club where John dropped her off promptly at 7.30 before heading back to Manchester for training.

When his alarm had sounded John had resisted the urge to hit the 'Snooze' button. He knew if he did, he would never make training on time and as he was currently fighting for a place in the starting line-up, he did not want to do anything that put him in Pep's bad books. He stumbled from the shower downstairs to the kitchen and the heavenly sight of the coffee machine. It took a double espresso before he made his way back upstairs to gently shake Hattie awake, "No Daddy," she had whined and pushed him away. "I'm sorry Baby, I know it's early," he stroked her hair apologetically. "We have to go to school." Hattie had nodded solemnly.

Hattie was not her chatty self over breakfast, her eyes were still crusty with sleep and John watched her slowly spooning Cheerios into her mouth, occasionally missing and spilling milk down her school dress. He noted that tomorrow she should dress after breakfast. Seeing Hattie as tired as he was, made him greatly resent Lauren for her stubborn insistence that Hattie attend the village school. If he had his way, Hattie would have been attending the same private school as Kyle's kids. The traffic did nothing to improve his mood, however, by the time they pulled up in the same parking spot as yesterday afternoon Hattie had perked up remarkably. Excited for the day ahead she had filled John in on everything that awaited her; 'gym like you Daddy'. Yesterday she had told him repeatedly that she loved her school and if Hattie was happy, that was all that mattered. He would get up at 4am if he had to.

Aimee's schedule was tighter than ever today. She desperately needed a trim; her split ends were getting out of control. Chloe had said she could fit her in after lunch, but stressed Aimee couldn't be late. Aimee laughed this off, but after yesterdays near miss at school she felt terribly self-conscious about her time-keeping skills. Thankfully it was a slow day with not too many orders for delivery and she arrived at the salon with time to spare. "God," Chloe quipped good-naturedly. "Is this a mirage or you actually on time Aimee!?"
Aimee rolled her eyes; Chloe was her oldest and closest friend and therefore permitted to say things aloud that others dare not even think.

"Did you know that John Stones has a daughter at Rosie's school?" If there was tea to be spilled, Aimee knew that Chloe was her gal, who better to know everyone else's business than a hairdresser. She had tried to sound casual, and not as though she had been agonising about Stones' mysterious appearance for almost a day. "Did you not know that John Stones has a daughter at Rosie's school?" Incredulous, Chloe stopped washing Aimee's hair and took a step back just to stare at her. "Of course not!" Aimee said, slightly put out that she appeared to be the last to know, "Not until I saw him in the playground yesterday."
"You saw him!?" Chloe gasped. "Was he as fit as he looks on the telly?" Aimee blushed, she couldn't herself. "Fitter."
"His little girl must be in Rosie's class, you'll need to arrange a play date," Chloe laughed. Aimee laughed too, the thought of the child of a Premier League footballer coming over for tea was ridiculous, they would probably throw a tantrum because she didn't have foie gras on the menu. She was certain that anyone called 'Harriet' did not eat chicken nuggets and beans on a regular basis. "Don't you think it's weird that she doesn't go to some fancy private school?" Aimee asked. "I suppose," Chloe shrugged. "All I know is that his ex lives here. Maybe he's too tight to pay the fees." Aimee nodded, that made sense. What a dick. He probably earned enough in a week to pay off a year's fees at any school in the country.