A/N- Thanks for the amazing response to our little story. Glad you all enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy writing it.

Disclaimer- Same as chapter 1.

John looked at the shiny cellophane packages he had laid out on his bed. The club had been generous in distributing the training gear. He had been given two navy blue tracksuits, four white polo shirts and three pairs of black shorts. Looking to the wardrobe, John smiled at the shirt that hung there, the green and black stripes of Downton Athletic. As a welcome present, Robert had presented John with the current home shirt, complete with 'Bates 10' printed on his back, the number he used to play in. Deciding on wearing a pair of the shorts, it was Summer and pre season after all, John also selected one of the polo shirts and a tracksuit top.

Once ready, John took a look at himself in the full length mirror which hung on the spare room wall at Robert's house. His eyes always diverted to his right knee, the scar left from various operations clearly visible. John couldn't understand why he wore shorts all the time, especially when the sight of his knee took him right back to the moment it happened. The moment his life changed forever.

The truth was, he had never been able to play football in tracksuit trousers, he rarely wore them when training the lads at Hounslow. In the prime of his playing days he would more often than not be the only player going on a cross country run in the winter in shorts, all his team-mates in trousers. Sitting on the bed, John began to tie the laces on his trainers before slouching his white football socks a little more so they hung half way down his shins. He had never pulled his socks right up to his knees, a trait which had annoyed many a coach in his playing days, Cheerful Charlie Carson included. What he lacked in looking smart, he made up for in scoring goals.

John ran his fingers along the 'JB' that had been printed in the right hand corner of his white polo shirt, before turning his attentions to the Downton crest on the other side. He smiled. John was finally home, where he belonged. The sound of Robert's voice shouting up the stairs brought John out of his thoughts, looking over his shoulder towards the door.

'Is my new assistant ready for day one?' Robert asked with a smile, peering around the door.

'Sure am, Creeps,' John replied, picking up his tracksuit top from the bed and resting it over his arm. He picked up the bag that was holding his boots and walked towards Robert. 'I appreciate you letting me stay here. It won't be for long.'

'Rubbish, you are welcome to stay for as long as you need to.' Robert insisted, stepping aside to allow John to leave the room. 'Are you nervous?'

'Nervous?' John asked, looking back over his shoulder at Robert as he closed the door. 'Should I be?'

'Not at all,' Robert answered with a chuckle. 'How is your knee by the way? I saw you looking at it in the mirror.'

'Oh,' John said weakly, looking down at his right leg. 'It's alright. I played for a further two seasons after I left United in the lower leagues and it was okay. Why do you ask?'

'No reason. Let's get to work, shall we Norm?'

Once at the training complex, situated next to Highclere Stadium, the players were busy getting reacquainted over lunch in the players lounge whilst John and Robert were sitting in the managers office, accompanied by Charles and Joseph. It had been decided to promote Joseph onto coaching duties with the first team. The youth teams had been flourishing under his leadership and Charles thought it was time to see if he could work any wonders on the senior playing staff.

'A goalkeeper should be our main priority,' Robert began, standing by a flip chart filled with the names of the players in his squad. 'Tony Strallan has been good for us but this will be his last season. He has expressed an interest in being a player coach, I think we should take him up on his offer.'

'Alright, well I have contacts at United.' John replied.

'Sheffield United?' Joseph asked, slightly impressed.

'No Pele,' John shook his head. 'Manchester. I tried to get this young keeper, Alfred Nugent down to Hounslow but he didn't want to drop down that low. I'm sure League Two would be right up his street. I can call after training today.'

'Great,' Robert clasped his hands together before looking at the chart beside him. 'Now, I managed to sign Tom Branson from Derby County on a permanent deal.'

'Only because he's your future son in law,' Charles pointed out. 'The same can be said for Matthew Crawley as well.'

'Yeah, but I had some favours to call in,' Robert explained before turning to John. 'Matt is my eldest's husband, they met at a family party, he's a distant cousin. It's all very complicated.'

'And slightly inbred,' Charles said under his breath, causing John to chuckle.

'He was playing for Huddersfield last year wasn't he?' John asked, in regards to Matthew.

'Yeah, but he was out of contract. I practically begged him to come in and strengthen our back four.'

'The amount of clauses he has in his contract is insane,' Charles remarked, 'but we're lucky to have him.'

'What about the midfield?' John asked, pointing towards the flip chart.

'Thomas Barrow is our star man. He came in on loan from Leeds in January, we signed him permanently at the end of the season. He kept the team in League Two almost single handed.' Robert cleared his throat. 'He'll need to be kept on a tight leash however.'

'I'll say,' Joseph piped up. 'His head is so big I'm surprised it fits through the changing room door.'

'Thank you, Joseph,' Robert interrupted, 'we all know what Thomas is like.'

'And who is captain?' John enquired. 'Still Michael Gregson?'

'Yes, and the lads are all happy with that so rather than damaging team morale, we'll keep him captain.' Robert said, looking to John. 'But there is no vice captain since Patrick left. So we can pick a new one today perhaps.'

'So that leaves us with the strikers.' John sat forward in his chair. 'Who have we got?'

'Well, there is young James Kent who only scored four times last year,' Charles said sceptically. 'We've just signed two American lads from the MLS. Jack Ross and Ethan Slade. Losing Patrick to Sheffield Wednesday was a big loss.'

'So, what we were thinking is asking if you'd like to be registered on the playing staff, Norm?' Robert walked towards his old friend. 'That's why I asked you about your knee earlier.'

'Creeps, you do know that I am forty two.'

'I'm not asking you to make forty appearances a season, I'm just asking if we can name you in the squad. You could be useful for five minutes here or there. What do you say?'

'I say you're crazy but okay,' John nodded, breaking out into a smile. 'Anything for Downton.'

Robert burst into the players lounge, followed by Charles, Joseph and John. The chatter instantly died down as the players noticed their management team standing at the top of the room. John looked around the room, taking in the sight of the men who he would soon be coaching. He caught sight of Anna sitting on the edge of a table at the back, texting on her mobile phone. She looked up and smiled, nodding to acknowledge him. John nodded back, reciprocating her smile in the process.

'Right then, here we go.' Robert began, now occupying all of the players attention. 'I think we can all safely admit last year wasn't good. Very few of you can come out of it with any credit.'

'Harsh, but fair,' Charles chipped in. shifting from foot to foot.

'Well, it's true.' Robert defended his remarks. 'We had a budget to finish in the top half, yet we finished above the relegation zone on goal difference. I was lucky to keep my job, half of you are lucky to still be wearing the Downton green and black. Because let me tell you, it is a privilege to play for this team, to play for those fans. And it's time some of you started to realise that.'

'Here here,' Michael Gregson agreed.

'To that end, I have brought someone back this season who is nothing short of a legend in these parts.' Robert looked to John, who was studying the players in the room intently. 'This man made just over three hundred appearances for Downton, scoring one hundred and ninety times. That's better than a goal every two games. He knew and understood what an honour it was to pull on the green and black stripes. Mr John Bates.' The room erupted into applause as John stepped forwards, waving as he did so. 'Now, John is going to take training today, it will only be a light session but I want you to begin as you mean to carry on. All your new training clothes are laid out in the changing room. We'll see you out on the training pitch in half an hour.'

John paced the floor in the middle of the training pitch as he waited for the players to arrive, Joseph busy laying out cones, Anna chatting to Robert and Charles behind him about which players had reported injuries. John knew he had a tough task ahead of him. The team needed a boost, yet kind words of encouragement were not what was needed, much the opposite in fact. The truth was a lot of the team thought they were better than they actually were, and John was determined to put that straight from the get go. Looking to his left, he saw the team leaving the changing room and walking towards the pitch in dribs and drabs. It seemed like team spirit was non existent.

'Okay lads, let's get moving shall we?' John yelled from his position in the centre of the pitch, his voice so loud those just leaving the changing room could hear him bellow.

'Way to go, coach,' Anna said as she walked past John, before taking a sitting position on the edge of the pitch alongside piles of footballs and various other pieces of equipment. Within a minute, all the players were gathered around John.

'Am I alright to have a chat with the team, Creeps?' John asked Robert. 'I have a few things I want to say.'

'Please do.' Robert insisted, standing beside John. 'Listen to John, guys.'

'So, one thing you should probably know about me from the get go is I want to win,' John began, his tone firm. 'I will do anything to achieve that. I am a moaner, you are all probably going to hate me to start with.'

'Way to endear yourself to us, coach,' Thomas quipped with a smirk.

'Lets start with you, shall we Barrow?' John said, moving slightly closer to him. 'Pink boots. What have you done in your career that warrants you wearing pink boots?'

'Hang on a minute,' Thomas began, furrowing his brow. 'This team was going down until I arrived.'

'In my opinion, only one player on the planet deserves to wear pink boots and that is Lionel Messi.' John continued, completely dismissing Thomas's excuse. 'Are you Lionel Messi?'

'That's not...'

'I said are you Lionel Messi?' John shouted, interrupting Thomas, looking him in the eye.

Thomas exhaled deeply. 'No, I am not Lionel Messi.'

'Right, so when we are finished here I want you all to throw your coloured boots away.' John instructed, Thomas retreating to the back of the crowd of players. 'Black boots is what you guys need. Black boots with white arrows pointing in the direction of the goal to be exact. But seeing as they don't make them like that, I'll allow the odd Nike swoosh or Adidas stripe. You wear boots that get the job done. Now Joseph is going to lead you in your training drills, mainly for fitness today but we'll see if there's time for a quick match at the end. Get moving.'

John folded his arms as Joseph called the players over to the cones he had set up. It seemed his words had struck a chord with the team, all of them enthusiastically following Joseph's instructions, all but Thomas. After saying goodbye to Charles, Robert moved to stand beside John, watching the players as he did so.

'Wow. What a way to introduce yourself,' Robert remarked, chancing a glance over at John.

'Over the top?' John winced, closing his eyes.

'Not at all. You have just summed up in one minute everything that was wrong. A team of Prima Donnas.' Robert looked down at the blue boots on his feet. 'Can I keep my blue boots, though?'

John laughed, smiling as he followed Robert's line of vision. 'You're the boss, you can wear whatever you like.'

Following an hour of running drills and ball control, John organised a nine a side match, himself and Robert on opposite teams. He used to join in with training matches at Hounslow all the time, but this was different. The players were better, John having to play to the best of his abilities to keep up with them.

He enjoyed it, and after a frosty start some barriers between him and the team were beginning to be broken down. This was emphasised by the fact that when John attempted a bicycle kick and scored it, his team mates literally jumped on top of John, forcing him to the floor. All were impressed, everyone but Thomas who didn't like the new assistant manager at all.

'Where did you dig him out from, Guv?' Thomas asked Robert as they broke for drinks.

'He means well,' Robert said in defence of John. 'He just wants to win.'

As the game began once more, John received the ball from a team mate before going past Joseph then beginning to run towards Thomas. Determined to win the ball, Thomas went to ground, sliding in towards John. John rode the tackle however, taking the ball past Thomas before crossing for Jimmy to score with his head.

'Should have stayed on your feet, Barrow,' John advised as he ran past Thomas who was still on the floor.

This was the final straw as far as Thomas was concerned. As the game restarted, he stuck close to John, just waiting for the new assistant manager to receive the ball. He didn't have to wait long as Michael Gregson made a cross field pass, John his intended target. His eyes firmly on the ball, John moved forwards to control the ball with his chest, but not before Thomas had stolen in with no other intention than sliding the studs on his boots down the inside of John's right thigh.

John called out as he hit the floor, clutching his leg in agony. Reaching down, he felt a warm liquid running down his fingers. He was bleeding. A few of his team mates pulled Thomas away before Robert leant down to see John was alright.

'What is his problem?' John hissed, sitting up to better inspect his injury. Anna was soon on the scene, kneeling down beside John to assess the damage. 'It's alright. Honestly.'

Anna, already wearing surgical gloves, inspected the cut, John looking down awkwardly as she placed her hands upon his upper thigh. She was shaking her head, looking over at Thomas who was being calmed down by a couple of the other players.

'It won't need stitches but I'd still like to look at it properly,' Anna said, reaching inside her bag for a bandage. 'Hold this on the wound and come with me to the treatment room.'

'It's alright,' John protested. 'Honestly.'

'I won't take no for an answer,' Anna replied before smiling. 'Norm.'

Smirking in response, John nodded before Robert helped him to his feet. 'I think I'll call it a day.'

'Good idea,' Robert agreed before turning to the team. 'Hit the showers, lads. We'll see you tomorrow morning, nine am. With black boots.'

Once in the treatment room, John lay on the bed waiting for Anna to join him. He hated these rooms. They didn't smell particularly nice, plus they reminded him of when he received his injury, a time in his life he would rather forget. He looked at the walls, posters of various Downton Athletic squads over the years decorated them, as well as the usual pictures of the skeleton and different muscles.

Suddenly the door opened, and in burst Anna looking rather flustered. 'I told that Thomas to be more careful. Players on opposing teams are going to be going in hard and that's bad enough, but tackling one of our own players like that, it's just not on.'

'I'm only the coach,' John pointed out.

'Yeah, well,' Anna met his gaze, smiling slightly before preparing herself to treat John. 'That's not the point.'

'I'm a big boy, Anna.'

'This might sting,' Anna warned before pressing a piece of cloth to John's injury. Anna observed John was a big man, a lot of the players she had to deal with were young men still growing. Thomas studs must have connected with him quite forcefully to create such an injury. However, she wasn't prepared for what happened next. The squeal that emanated from John caused Anna to jump a little before looking up at him, biting back a laugh. 'I thought you said you were a big boy.'

'I am,' John moaned, 'but you try having antiseptic cream rubbed into a five inch long cut.'

'Don't be a baby,' Anna teased, moving her head nearer the top of his leg so she could more closely inspect her work. 'It's two inches at worse.'

'Are we still talking about the cut?' John joked, placing his tongue firmly in his cheek.

'Yes,' Anna blushed, reaching for another bandage and surgical tape. She wrapped the bandage over the top of the cut before securing it with the tape without another word.

'Thank you,' John said. 'I am really very grateful.'

'It's my job, coach.' Anna nodded, stepping away from the bed.

She couldn't put her finger on it, but John really was an interesting character, a charming man. Nothing like the coaches Anna had worked for before at Downton. He had a presence, he commanded respect. It was a very attractive quality for a man to possess.

'If you come in a little earlier I can redress the wound tomorrow morning.' Anna suggested, tidying up the mess she had made in treating John's cut.

'Alright then,' John nodded, swinging his legs around so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. 'I'll see you tomorrow then.'

Moving off the bed, John walked to the door, but not before looking over his shoulder to watch Anna at work. He loved her attitude, the fact she didn't let a squad of twenty or so egotistical young men overwhelm her. That was proved in the way she told Thomas where he had gone wrong. One thing was for sure, having a female physio might have kept a few of his former team mates on the straight and narrow.

Freshly showered, changed into a pair of cream chino shorts and navy blue shirt, John ran a comb through his hair before leaving his room. Robert had planned a get together to welcome him to Downton, introducing John to his family. His thigh was sore, but compared to snapping a ligament in his knee, the pain was bearable. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, John smiled as he heard a chorus of female voices coming from the kitchen.

Treading the hallway, John moved towards the kitchen. Upon reaching the doorway, he was taken aback at the vision before him. Cora was busy preparing a salad, Edith helping by chopping tomatoes. Sybil and Mary were comparing mobile phones but they weren't who had caught John's eye. Standing beside Mary was none other than Anna, looking much different to how she usually looked at work. She was wearing a knee length dusky orange dress, her blonde hair was flowing down her shoulders. She looked breathtaking.

'Ahh John, there you are,' Cora said, stepping towards him with a jar of beetroot. 'Assist some helpless ladies and open that.'

'Alright.' Suddenly feeling under pressure, especially with Anna watching him, John was relieved when he opened the jar with relative ease. He handed it back to Cora. 'There you are.'

'John, I know you have only just started today so I doubt you have had a chance to become properly acquainted with Anna...'

'We actually met yesterday,' Anna interrupted Mary, smiling at John as she brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. 'And got to know each other a little better this afternoon. How is the thigh, John?'

'A little sore, but not too bad,' John answered, pressing a hand to the top of his leg.

'What did you too get up to?' Sybil asked, raising her eyebrows.

'Sybil dear, don't be disgusting,' Cora scolded her youngest daughter. 'One of the players studded John during training today, Anna treated him.'

'He was a very brave soldier,' Anna teased before meeting John's gaze. 'Weren't you, John?'

'So, what brings you here, Anna?' John asked, leaning against the door frame.

'She's my best friend, why wouldn't she be here?' Mary replied, walking to the side and picking up a couple of serving dishes. 'These ready to go out on the table, Mum?'

'Yes dear,' Cora said before looking over at Sybil. 'Sybil help your sister. Robert is outside, John, alongside two of your new players, Matthew and Tom.'

'Right,' John nodded, reluctantly turning his attentions from Anna to Cora. 'Is there anything I can help with?'

'No, this party is in your honour. Just take Anna with you and show her to a seat, like the chivalrous gentleman I know you are.'

'Very well,' John cleared his throat before walking towards Anna, gesturing outside the kitchen door. 'Shall we?'

John allowed Anna to walk put before him, following close behind as they moved into the garden. A long table had been set up, food lined up along the middle of it. Robert was busy at the barbecue, Tom and Matthew were chatting intently beside him.

'Alone at last,' John whispered, pulling a chair out from under the table for Anna to sit down.

'Norm,' Robert exclaimed, holding his tongs in the air to salute his friend. 'Welcome to the party.'

'Thanks Creeps,' John replied, nodding his head before Anna looked over her shoulder at him. 'What?'

'You'll have to explain those nicknames to me,' Anna requested as she sat down.

'I might do,' John replied with a smile as he sat beside her. Just as he was about to speak again, Tom and Matthew joined them at the table. 'Hello lads, hope I didn't work you too hard this morning.'

'Ahh, not at all, boss,' Tom replied jovially, helping himself to a bread roll.

'We are the consummate professionals.' Matthew said in agreement, reaching for a bread roll himself before he felt a hand tapping his arm. 'Ow.'

'Those are to go with dinner,' Mary snapped, placing a selection of dressings on a space she found on the table.

'Consider me told,' Matthew said under his breath before looking at John. 'You'll be pleased to know myself and Tom have just been into town to purchase some black boots.'

'Glad to hear it,' John replied, Anna beginning to chuckle beside him. 'What?'

'Well, it was funny to hear your rant earlier,' Anna said, Tom and Matthew beginning to laugh as well. 'It was good to see Thomas brought down a peg or too.'

'Well, pink is just silly,' John shrugged, checking to see Mary wasn't coming before taking a piece of bread. 'Especially for a player in League Two. But maybe I am just a fun sponge.'

'On the contrary, I have found you very entertaining from the moment you arrived,' Anna admitted. John turned to face her, smirking at the expression he found on Anna's face.

'Meat is done,' Robert announced, appraoching the table carrying a tray filled with sausages, burgers and chicken. 'Make the most of it Tom and Matt, it's purely grilled food from here on in for you after this afternoon. Got to have you fit for the new season.'

As they ate, John informed Robert he had been on the phone to his contact at Manchester United and not only was he sure Alfred Nugent would be interested in joining Downton on a season long loan, he could also get hold of the services of Kemal Pemuk, a young winger deemed a hot prospect by those in the know at Old Trafford. Tom and Matthew were both very impressed with the new assistant manager, a season which they weren't relishing was suddenly looking up.

Conversation soon turned to the old days when Robert and John were playing alongside eachother at Downton Athletic in the eighties. Robert observed when he first met John he thought he was too serious, taking it upon himself to loosen the striker up a bit. Little did Robert know John would turn out to be the biggest prankster in the squad. On a night out whilst celebrating a promotion, everyone drank way much more than they should, resulting in Robert ending up with both of his eyebrows shaved off.

'He fell asleep in the nightclub, such was how much we had drank,' John explained, chuckling to himself as he did so.

'I remember it well, Mary was a baby and I was pregnant with Edith,' Cora rested her chin on her hands. 'What possessed you to do such a thing, John?'

'Alcohol,' John shrugged.

'I got my own back though.' Robert winked in John's direction. 'Didn't I, Norm?'

'Yes, but I'm sure everyone's had enough of our stories by now.' John replied, standing up. 'Anyone else want another drink?'

When no one responded, already listening to Robert as he told the story of how he got his own back, John moved away from the table into the house. Watching from the kitchen window, John smiled as he saw everyone laughing as Robert weaved his tale. Taking out a couple of cans of lager and a bottle of wine to be on the safe side, John made his way back into the garden.

'So there was John, fast asleep at the back of the coach. Gibbo, the goalie at the time was tickling his face with a feather whilst Jonesy sprayed his face with shaving foam. John kept reaching for the feather, foam went everywhere. I nearly killed myself laughing.'

'And all this happened on the team coach?' Anna asked Robert, struggling to get her words out for laughing.

'On the way back from an away game at Wrexham.'

'Yes, yes. It's all very funny.' John interrupted, sitting back at the table and setting the drinks down. 'Then the idiots let me get off the team coach with shaving foam all over my face.'

'Couldn't you feel it?' Anna enquired as she gently nudged John in the ribs with her elbow.

'I didn't know where I was, we got rather merry on the way home as we'd just won a cup tie, I drank too much as was normal in those days. The lads woke me up as we arrived back at the stadium.'

'But that's not the best bit,' Robert continued. ' Because it was a big win, the local news were there. They wanted to talk to John because he scored the winning goal.'

'No way,' Anna exclaimed, giggling even more. 'What happened?'

'Well, somewhere on You Tube is an interview on Calendar news of John chatting to the interviewer covered in shaving foam.'

'Yes, thank you Robert.'

'Well, I had to get you back for the eyebrows, didn't I?'

'Yeah, I guess so,' John said with a smirk as the memory of that night ran through his mind. 'I missed the banter when I moved to United.'

'And we missed your goals,' Robert said. 'And I missed my best mate.'

'Well, you're re-united now, aren't you?' Cora pointed out with a smile. 'The dream team back together.'

After hearing the story, Matthew insisted he try and find the clip on You Tube. Going inside and finding Robert's laptop, he called to those gathered to come inside, he had found the clip and would hook the laptop to the television in the living room.

'Extra press ups for you tomorrow, Matthew,' John warned as he stood at the back of the room.

'I love press ups,' Matthew replied mockingly as he connected a lead from his laptop into the back of the TV. 'This will be so worth it.'

'You are quite the orator,' Anna remarked, standing beside John at the back of the room as Matthew got the clip ready. 'I loved hearing your stories.'

'Thank you, although I think I am going to hate this bit.' John winced as a still of him in his twenties adorned the screen. 'Oh God.'

'Ding dong,' Anna mocked before adding. 'You look like Captain Birdseye. How could you not notice the foam?'

'I'd drunk my bodyweight in tequila, I wouldn't have recognised my own mother.'

'Everyone ready?' Matthew announced, pressing play on the video.

'Please no,' John groaned once more, covering his mouth with his hand as the sound of the interview began to fill the room.

'Erm, so John, you scored the winning goal,' the rather confused interviewer began. 'How does that feel?'

'Wemb-er- leeeeee,' was John's drunken reply. 'Wemb-er-leeeee. Were the famous Downton Athletic and we're going to Wemb-er-leeeee.'

'Dear God,' John rested his head in his hands as laughter erupted around the room. 'Make it stop.'

'That is hilarious,' Tom exclaimed looking back to John. 'And now me and Matt have something on you, Boss.'

'Alright, alright.' John said, holding his hands up. 'You got me. Can we turn it off now?'

'We've tortured him enough,' Robert conceded, switching off the television. 'Besides it's probably best to call it a night. We need to be up at the crack of dawn for training. Got to wear those new boots in.'

Walking into the players lounge, Anna noticed John at the canteen window, limping after a morning of training with the players. After sending them on a run through the Downton village, John had insisted they come back to the training complex to work on various aspects of their game, such as tackling and shooting. John was impressed all the players had taken his advice of buying new boots, all of them wearing new shiny black ones. He had insisted on demonstrating how he wanted the shooting drill for the strikers to take place, resulting in opening up the wound Anna had tried to heal the day before.

'The thigh still giving you trouble?' Anna asked as she approached him, taking a plate from the pile situated at the end of the canteen window.

'It's alright,' John winced, slowly bending his right knee. 'It will heal.'

'It will,' Anna agreed moving closer to him. 'But not if you practice full volleys the day after sustaining an injury such as yours. You'll open up the wound even more if you're not careful. Once you've finished your lunch come and see me in the treatment room.'

'Honestly, it's alright.' John insisted, moving to the cutlery table that was laid out to his right. 'You've got enough to do without worrying about a little cut on my leg.'

'John, I mean it. It could get infected. Please. It will make me feel better to have a look at it again. Else I'll worry. '

Letting out a sigh, John relented. 'Well, we can't have that. To put your mind at ease.'

'Great, then you can buy me a drink afterwards.'

Agreeing to taking Anna for a drink to show his gratitude, John didn't count on Mary, her sisters and Cora being in the pub as well. He ended up buying a round for everyone, so much for a quiet drink. Excusing himself to use the gents, Mary took the opportunity to get Anna on her own by asking her to help buy some more drinks for everyone.

'So, what's going on?' Mary asked, leaning on the bar before looking back at Anna with a smirk on her face.

'What do you mean what's going on?' Anna asked, furrowing her brow. 'We are buying some drinks.'

'Come off it, Anna.' Mary dismissed her friends remark. 'You and John. You seem to be getting on very well.'

'Erm, he's new and I'm just being friendly.'

'I can read you like a book, Anna. Tell me the truth.'

Anna stuttered, unsure of what to say next as she met her friends eye. She couldn't lie to her, Mary was right when she said she could read her like a book. Anna and Mary had known each other for a long time, she was certainly the best friend Anna had ever had, meeting each other at college.

'He's nice,' Anna remarked, looking over at John as he exited the bathroom, immediately being stopped by a fan for a photograph. 'He has something about him.'

'Do you fancy him?' Mary continued with her line of questioning.

'As I said Mary, he's nice. That's all you are getting out of me.' Anna then went on to garner the barman's attention.

'Right,' Mary replied, 'well that's a start.'

'He has lovely thighs, that I will say.' Anna added. 'Same again please, barman.'