𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗮 ᵖʰⁱˡ ᶠᵒᵈᵉⁿ

𝟬𝟬𝟲

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟲
𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦

———

MAEVE MOUNT NEVER waits for men; if they don't come to her right away, she'll find another. Fortunately, she is rarely put in that situation where she is rejected.

She allowed herself to bend the rules tonight. She waited for Harry to return from his break because she was bored and he was attractive. She hoped that waiting twenty minutes would be worthwhile.

She kept herself busy by looking around at the people and making small talk with those ordering drinks at the bar. Twenty minutes had passed and Harry was nearing from the side of the bar.

"There's a smoking area out here that the staff sometimes use, but it should be empty." Maeve followed Harry through the crowded club to a door that led to a deserted side alley beside the building.

They could still hear the club's music, and the brunette girl could see paparazzi photographing people entering and exiting the club; she hoped they wouldn't look down here. That is the last thing she wanted.

The pair didn't waste time after the heavy door closed behind them; they hadn't come out here to chat or share a cigarette, as this area is normally used for. Their lips almost immediately collided with each other. This was far from Maeve's most modest moment.

As they tried to deepen the lustful kiss, Maeve began to back up against the cold brick wall. The brunette and the bartender were so engrossed in the moment that they didn't notice the door they had just come through open again.

The kiss was broken by the sound of someone coughing a few feet away. Maeve turned her head quickly, mortified, but even more so when she saw Phil standing there.

He crossed his arms and tutted, "Maeve, what are you doing?" he asked, despite the fact that what had just happened seemed pretty obvious. Maeve interrupted Harry's response by taking a step in front of him and towards Phil.

"None of your fucking business, Philip."

"I think it is, Maevey," said the footballer dryly. The lad was puzzling her, and she rubbed her hand over her face to attempt to compose herself - she had no idea what was going on. When the brunette girl didn't respond, Harry spoke up.

"Mate, I don't think it's any of your business," he said, attempting to defuse the situation. "Anyway, you shouldn't be out here; it's only for staff." And Maeve, at least for tonight.

Phil wanted to irritate Maeve as much as possible, but he wasn't sure how. He needed to think quickly, so he went with the lamest but also first idea that came to mind and blurted it out, "You've been making out with my girlfriend, mate. So it is kind of my business."

Maeve burst out laughing, bending over and clutching her stomach. Her laughter didn't stop, but she did say, "That's actually hilarious," in between laughs. She took a long, deep breath. "But you're also delusional; you're not my boyfriend." She turned to Harry, "He's not my boyfriend, he's just drunk."

Harry looked back and forth at the pair, perplexed; he had no idea what he had gotten himself into. He looked at his wristwatch; he had ten minutes left on his break. He looked up at Phil as he resumed speaking.

"Come on Maeve." He dragged his words out. "We just had one fight, and you go do this." He tutted un- approvingly, "That's very typical of you." The girl next to him scoffed, and she looked like she may be about to attack the black-haired guy.

"Fuck you." She yelled, her face flushed with rage. "You can if you want," Phil said calmly. Maeve had had enough of his nonsense and stormed away from the two men, stomping up the cold alleyway, not knowing where she was going.

It left Harry awkwardly standing in front of a smirking Phil. He began to walk down the steps and once he reached him, he placed a hand on the confused bartender's shoulder, "I should go after her; sorry about this, mate."

He didn't wait for Harry to respond before jogging after the frenzied girl, likely to cause her even more trouble. Phil's night had improved greatly, but the same could not be said for Maeve.

———

MAEVE LEANED UP against a random building after she had made it to the end of the street, which was mostly empty. She ran her fingers through her hair to keep it out of her face. She didn't understand much of what had just happened, but she did know one thing,

Phil Foden is insane and needs help. Serious help.

Her few moments of peace were cut short when the Manchester accent she had grown to despise filled her ears once more, "You gotta give it to me, that was really funny. I mean, did you see his face? It's w-"

"No, that was not funny," Maeve said quickly as she turned around. "You're completely insane. Who do you think you are?" Phil's laughter died away, and his smile dissipated. "Ugh, Phil Foden? Come on, Maevey, I was just kidding. Lighten up."

"You better have not just told me to lighten up." The brunette girl pushed past him and began walking back up the street, wanting to get as far away from him as possible. He didn't let that happen, instead following her closely. "Phil, stop following me." She continued walking while shouting back at him.

"Admit it, Maeve, it was funny. I should have been an actor, I was impeccable back there," he protested. He was rambling on about nothing in particular, the couple of beers he had were starting to get to him.

"Phil, I swear to God, you are so annoying," the brunette said as she came to a halt in front of the footballer. She screamed at him. She kept shouting anything and everything at him, oblivious to the crowd she was attracting, which included not only a group passers-by's but also a swarm of paparazzi.

"You should stop, Maeve-" Phil tried to stop her, but she just kept yelling because he had riled her up to the max, She always had a short fuse, but when she was around Phil, she seemed to lose her temper faster than usual, and tonight was no exception.

"No. I'm not going to stop, you went way too far-" She could finally hear the voice's of other people.

Maeve's face slumped. She turned slowly to face the flashing cameras and yelling fans. She awkwardly waved at the cameras, which were snapping fifty photos per minute. The throngs of cameras and screaming fans clamoring for autographs became too much for her.

Her vision became limited as she could only see bright flashes. Her ears started ringing in an attempt to drown out the million questions yelled at her. She'd grown accustomed to the paparazzi's lack of boundaries, but she'd been caught off guard tonight.

Phil yelled at them to back off but that was background noise to her. They didn't listen and kept pushing closer. She took a step back and collided with Phil. She lost her balance and started falling over their two feet, expecting to hit the concrete ground, but she didn't.

Maeve's eyes had closed, and when she slowly opened them, she found herself in Phil's arms. The media were going to go crazy over this. "You're alright, let's go." Phil said this before dragging the anxious Maeve away from the uncouth crowd.

———

author's note :

hola hope everyone is enjoying the book so far bc their journey is only starting 🥹🥹

word count | 1277