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"Morning babes." Grace beamed at Keeling walking into the building, startled when she didn't greet her back, grabbing her arm dragging her along with her as she walked up to Rebecca's office. "Oh, okay." Keeley knocked before letting herself in, putting a smile on as both girls greeted Rebecca and Higgins.
"I've been up all night doing deep dives on all the players. Did you know that Richard was raised on a goat farm? And that Isaac's mother has two left hands? And I called a couple of contacts
about some sponsorship opportunities. Even got myself a little work planner. And a little assistant." She placed her hand on Grace's back.
"It was after a load of drinks last night." Grace whispered to Higgins.
"You couldn't have got a work planner with the word unicorn on it?" Rebecca chuckled.
"Fuck off, it's adorable." Keeley blurts as Grace and Higgins gasp. "What?"
"Well it's just if I said that to this one." Grace pointed to Rebecca behind her desk. "...I'd be dead within a second."
"'This one'?" Rebecca repeated in a stern tone.
"See!"
"There with you Gracie." Higgins had out his hand as Grace high-fived him.
"That will be all Higgins." Rebecca dusted her hands off from biscuit crumbs, giving everyone a slight smile as Higgins nodded leaving immediately closing the door behind him.
"I'm really happy to see you smiling. I just came by, and dragged this one-"
"Physically." Grace added.
"Just to see if you're okay."
"Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Oh, Christ. Have you not seen the news yet?" Rebecca shook her head. "I really wanted to be the one to comfort you, not to break it to you. So, you remember that stunning girl, Bex? The one that Rupert left with the night of the gala?" Keeley left a moment of silence. "Do you really want me to pretend that she wasn't mad fit?"
"I'd appreciate it."
"Okay, well. That hideous cow, whose name's Bex, which is actually short for..."
"Rebecca." Rebecca finished off Keeley's sentence.
"So the press is calling her-"
"'New Rebecca'.. shit." Rebecca sighed, not seeming to that bothered about it.
"No. They're calling her Rebecca and you... Old Rebecca." She mumbles the last part Rebecca not hearing as Grace's eyes widening in shock after hearing.
"Wait what? Grace's eyes just widened! What are they calling me?"
"Old Rebecca!" Keeley blurted as Rebecca's face dropped. "But ignore all those fuckers. Grace tell her."
"You don't need to worry about it. You're your own woman now,... not tied to anyone... and if you're ever having a moment, you call me, yeah?.... Well- well me or Keeley." She stutters.
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On her way out of the building at the end of the day, Grace got a text from Ted asking her to meet him and the rest of the team at the local pub just around the corner, literally, from where Ted was living. And although he did mention the whole team would be there, but Grace was still shocked to see the small room in the back packed with the whole team, all except Rebecca. She walked up to Higgins, standing between him and Ted. "What's going on?" SHe whispered to him.
"We're getting rid of a curse." Higgins whispers back.
"Oh okay.... wait what?"
"Right guys settle down, settle down. You guys are all probably wondering why the heck I've dragged you here. Well it's because of this poster behind me. Higgins."
"'Are you a fast, fit, fan of football?'" Higgins read the poster aloud.
"Hundreds of those posters were put up around Richmond on the 18th of November, 1914. It was an invitation for young men to try out to be a professional footballer. It said to come to our stadium that day." Mae continued. "It was a lie. In 1914, the war was raging. There was no tryout. Just recruiters, waiting to encourage those boys to fight the fight. They enlisted 400 lads that day. Very few of them came home."
"And after they enlisted... do you know where they went for their physical?"
"Oh Christ it's our physical room, innit?' Issac blurted as the boys flared up in a panicked chatter as Ted tried to shut them all up but made it worse by denying it leaving a few moments of silence before confessing that it was actually true with caused another uproar.
"Wait, so, Coach, how do we fix this? We can't change the past." Sam spoke up.
"No Sam we cannot. But we can choose to honor it. Now, those young men, they made the ultimate sacrifice. So I think it's only fair that we sacrifice something of our own. I'm gonna ask each and every one of you to go home tonight, find something, an item. Something personal. Something that you truly value. And I want you to bring it tonight to the clubhouse, at midnight"
"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" One of the boys called out.
"Shut it! We're all fucking doing it!" Roy yelled back.
"Gracie, get Rebecca on aswell would you?" Ted whispered to her as she nodded in return. Grace walked out of the pub getting back into her newly fixed car and driving to Rebecca's house, knocking on the door confidently as ever.
Rebecca opened the door with her usual stunned face. "No! No! I thought it was just going to be colleagues from now on."
"I'm not here for that. Jesus! I wanted to talk."
"If it's about all the papers, and what Keeley said this morning, I don't want to hear it."
"No, it's not about that either... can I come in?"
"No."
"Why?"
"We both know what happens whenever I invite you in here."
"Okay... fairs. We're having this seance or some shit like that at the clubhouse tonight, on how our treatment room is cursed and we're getting rid of the ghosts or whatever curses in there... don't judge it's all Ted. But you're coming, bring something that has value to you, all meeting there at midnight."
"Oh I can't."
"You can and you will."
"I don't want to Grace."
"Oh please Rebecca... for me."
"I'll think about it."
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Everyone was stood round in a circle round a barrel in the treatment room, with all their items in hand, Ted making some space as Grace dazed out, her daydream breaking by the sound of the door opening, Grace smiled to herself when she saw Rebecca walk in and stand next to her.
"I better not regret coming here this late, Taylor." Rebecca whispered to her making her chuckle as a few of the boys went and put their items in the barrell. Ted nodded to Rebecca for her turn as she stepped forward without saying anything dumping a paper in there.
"Is that today's paper Boss?"
"There's something in there about me, as usual, and I'm trying not to care.... Fuck the haters!"
"Gracie?"
"Um this is a letter my Dad wrote to me, before he left me and my Mum, he left us for... let's say a younger model, somewhere off in Spain married with kids now. It's not the letter you'd expect by the way. You'd expect the expected, apologising that he had to leave, that he'd always love me and make time for me. Not my Dad. He left after I came out to him. And in this letter he wrote the divorce was my fault, because the arguments they had was my Mum sticking up for me because he didn't accept me. I was 15. I don't know why I kept hold of it, probably not the healthiest thing."
"Well at least you had you're Mom right Gracie?"
"Yeah, you're right." She slightly sniffled as she quickly put the letter into the barrel stepping back in her place, hanging her head letting a few tears flow, she looked in the corner of her eye when a hand slipped into hers, she smiled to herself when she recognised Rebecca's hand in hers as their fingers intertwined, Rebecca giving her hand a squeeze in comfort.
Everyone took their turns to put everything else in, Jamie showing up in the end, opening up about his Dad as he threw a pair of boots in. They took the barrel outside, Grace giving Rebecca her coat as they stood with Ted and Higgins watching the boys gather round in a circle round the barrel with everything burning inside.
"Hey, fellas. I think the only way to know if the curse has been lifted or not, we need to ask the spirits for a sign." Grace and Rebecca shared a confused look. "Spirits... speak to us."
"Dani Rojas. Dani Rojas." Everyone cheered as Dani ran out onto the field, eventually passing round a bottle of alcohol.
"Oi! Grace." Roy nodded for her to join, rebecca taking her coat off her shoulders and returning it back to Grace as she went next to Roy, both he and Colin wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they sang their song. Whilst singing Grace turned her head with a smile to make eye contact with Rebecca, wanting her to join but her face dropped when she saw her walking off.
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