How the conversation turned to the relative shaggability of each of the boys on her team, Rebecca couldn't say.
But really any conversation involving Keeley usually meandered its way to something sexual, even if it was only objectifying Rebecca in some way.
Then Sassy had joined them, a bottle of wine in hand which she promptly opened and passed around and things stepped up another notch.
"I thought the priest was going to swear" an awed and slightly scandalised Nora followed Deborah into the room in another attempt by the priest to calm them down.
It didn't take long for them to ramp up again, Keeley and Sassy egging each other on and becoming more and more raucous as the seconds ticked past until the priest himself walked in and asked everyone but Deborah and Rebecca to leave.
Shaking her head at Sassy's silent offer to take Addy with her, Rebecca eyed her Mother. She'd been avoiding being alone with her as much as possible and hopefully the presence of the toddler would be a good buffer.
"Have you decided what you're going to say in your eulogy?" Deborah finally asks.
"I don't want to do a eulogy…" Rebecca is truly baffled over how her mother can think she'll want to speak at the funeral of a man she has avoided for years. Not even seeing Deborah's face fall is enough to change her mind. She pushes on, not wanting to let her mother get going with the guilt.
"I have no desire to stand up there and wax poetic about a man I have no respect for. I will not stand up there and lie about him being a good father and husband and you don't want me to stand there and tell the truth either."
"What's got into you?" Deborah seems genuinely distressed by Rebecca's words "He was a good father and wonderful husband…"
"Mother, today is not the day for this conversation…" Rebecca tries to put her off but deep down she knows she won't be successful.
"Oh stop…" Deborah halts in her accusation of Rebecca behaving like a child, remembering how she reacted the last time. She takes a moment to choose her next words a little more carefully "just tell me."
"Dad cheated on you and I saw it…" Rebecca takes a deep breath and pushes on. "You were away for the weekend and I was supposed to stay with Sassy. After school we went back to the house to sneak a bottle of wine from your drinks cabinet and we heard a loud bang… and went to investigate and there he was in all his glory with his arse in the air and Mrs Reynolds screaming his name." she swallowed hard "And for the first time in her life, Sassy didn't say anything… I just screamed and ran… he chased after me but I kept going. I knew Sassy would eventually follow me… he begged me to stop but I couldn't and when I came home the next day he said nothing, it's why I've hated him since that day… why I'll always hate him."
She can't look directly at her mother, it's too hard so she fixes her gaze at a section of wall and waits. Waits for Deborah's denial or anger. What she doesn't expect is the quiet stillness that takes over the room. Even Addy is oddly still, resting happily on Rebecca's hip, head on her mothers shoulder.
"I know…" Deborah finally speaks softly.
"No you do not know how I feel…" Rebecca scoffs.
"I mean, I know about his cheating, about the other women. I know all of it."
It takes Rebecca several long and painful seconds to process the meaning of her mothers words.
"You knew and you did nothing?"
"Of course I knew, I know everything…"
It baffles Rebecca that Deborah doesn't even seem that upset about it. Has accepted Paul's infidelity as a mere fact to be acknowledged, but to live like that. To go back to him every single time and allow him to buy his way out of his bad behaviour… to never show Rebecca that men should be held accountable, that they could and should be left for good.
"Then I hate you as well" slips out of her mouth without her permission "I hate you for letting him treat you like that… I hate you for not showing me it didn't have to be that way…" the final words surprise even her. Rebecca hadn't realised she felt that way, and right or wrong how responsible she held her mother for the choices she had made and hadn't made.
"I'm sorry Rebecca, I'm just not as strong as you are… I was too scared to leave him for good."
"And you think I wasn't terrified, that I'm not still terrified? It's been fucking horrible, it's lonely and there have been days I don't know how I can keep going by myself… but it's also started to be rather wonderful. I have the freedom to come and go as I please, I have no one choosing my friends for me and I can raise my daughter without anger and hatred and violence infecting our lives."
With a shocked widening of her eyes, Deborah's mouth drops open at Rebecca's admittance "I was so proud of you when you left him" she finally says. "You knew you deserved better."
Rebecca is about to snap back with a question about why her mother has always been so nice to him when the priest reappears to tell them it's time to start.
Out of habit her gaze seeks out Rupert's whereabouts and Rebecca is relieved to see he is not in the church.
The service is nothing out of the ordinary, the hymns and the prayers all ones she had grown up with. Rebecca doesn't hear any of it still trying to work out what she can say in the eulogy she doesn't want to give. It's too late to back out now but nothing is coming to mind.
Then the priest starts talking about her father sitting in church every Sunday, listening to Greyhound matches instead of the sermon and the ice she feels towards her father thickens.
He remained loyal to the same football team his entire life and he couldn't remain loyal to his wife?
"They're the same passion and commitment which he showed both as a husband and a father to his family as well. And now we will hear a eulogy from Paul's daughter, Rebecca."
She really doesn't want to do this but something propels her to her feet. Turning she passes Addy to Sassy and walks slowly to the front of the church all the while racking her brain for something to say.
As she stares out over the people gathered, the doors at the back open to reveal Ted who salutes her awkwardly. Her gaze flitters over the rest of the crowd and she see's Roy and Keeley, Sassy and Nora, Beard and Leslie, all their Richmond boys, Emily… and a bolt of strength fires through her. Her eyes meet Ted's from where he'd seated himself in the back and he nods encouragement.
"My father…"
'Once I love something, I love it forever.' Maybe her mother is stronger than any of them give her credit for.
"Was um…" she sighs and inspiration finally comes "We're no strangers to love…" it starts almost as a whisper "You know the rules…" her confidence builds and she lightly sings the next part "and so do I"
"A full commitment's what I'm thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy"
She sucks in a breath.
"I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand"
Even though she is keeping her eyes fixed straight ahead, she can see everyone looking around, confused at the song she is singing but it doesn't matter to her. Rebecca is doing this for her mother.
"Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye"
Her voice breaks on goodbye and her head drops forward until Ted's own wavering voice takes on the next line
"Never gonna tell a lie"
Keeley joins in on the next line, then Sam and the next thing she knows the entire congregation is singing the call and response with her, even the organist joins in.
How the fuck did she end up rick rolling a funeral?
The wake is a wake.
Despite all of them being unique in their own way in other ways they are all the same.
Too much food, awkward conversations and Rebecca isn't allowed to get drunk until they all leave.
The evening is possibly one of the best and most honest she's had with her mother since she was 16 years old. The three of them curl up in her bed, looking at photos and videos of Rebecca's childhood. Watching her mother run gentle fingers through Addy's hair as the toddler sleeps, Rebecca wonders if without her father around to distract her, Deborah will be able to commit to a relationship with her granddaughter.
She's tempted to pick up their conversations from earlier in the day but decides to wait and see how things pan out over the next several weeks. It's been a hard enough day as it is.
The next day an email pops up from her solicitor, advising that Rupert had reached out and was willing to sell Bex's shares in the club back to her.
The amount he was asking for was nominal and immediately sent warning bells through her head. Firing off a quick message to Emily she replied back instructing that the offer be accepted as long as there was nothing hidden in the sales contract.
The arrival of Edwin Akufo at Nelson road was met with many raised eyebrows, his attempt to buy out Sam's contract was not welcomed but Rebecca could not in good conscience stop the young man from moving to a club closer to home if that was what he wanted.
So she let Edwin try to woo Sam over to his side.
Unbeknownst to Rebecca, Akufo had a very private meeting with Rupert Mannion. He was also followed closely by Scotland Yard and Interpol personnel.
The elder, late and vastly unlamented Akufo was well known to them.
He hadn't made all his money owning the biggest tech firm in Ghana and the son was well known to be unpredictable. The father had been disciplined and incredibly smart in his dealings.
The son not so much. He's already made a number of mistakes that would most likely lead to his downfall, and based on his actions since arriving in the UK he would take several others down with him.
It seemed as though the only thing keeping Edwin from completely crashing his fathers empire was Francis. How long that would remain true was anyone's guess.
Emily and Clyde are delighted at this development.
They already had people watching Akufo's operations in Takoradi and within weeks of the meeting in London, Mannion's people started popping up there as well.
As the day of the Brentford match got closer and closer the tension at Nelson road rose exponentially.
After a less than auspicious start to the season, the Greyhounds had found their rhythm and with one match left to play sat third on the table and winning guaranteed them promotion back to the Premier League.
A lose or draw left them fighting for the third and final place in a series of playoffs.
The business woman in Rebecca wants them in the playoffs for the bonus and advertising payments the club will get if they win but the boss and friend knew an outright win was better for everyone.
Rebecca wouldn't admit it to anyone but she woke the morning before the match more jittery than she would ever admit.
"So then, next year we get ourselves a promotion, which looks good on any résumé. Then we come back to this league and… we do something that no one believes we could ever do. Win the whole fucking thing."
Ted's words from a year previous, right before he blasted half a litre of Pellegrino in her face, kept rolling around her head.
Ted… she was both incandescently enraged and heartbroken for her friend when she saw the headlines.
Picking up her phone she sent a quick message.
Ted… fuck the haters
Call if you need anything
Later that morning in her office, she doesn't believe Ted when he claims to be ok with the article and all the press attention.
Especially when she gets a taste of her morning biscuits.
"Oh god, these taste like shit." she nearly spits the mouthful out.
"Oh, yeah. Well, it was a rough night, and I am now absolutely positive that I switched the salt and sugar. I'm sorry about that." he holds his hand out to take the box back as she retches slightly and then frowns.
"No, no, no… it's interesting" she holds a hand out to stop him as the full balance of flavours hits and intrigue takes over "she's a sneaky salty bitch" she studies it closely as someone brings up Heather Locklear and Melrose Place.
Once it's just her and Leslie in the office she gestures for him to sit.
"Did you believe Ted?" she asks, and only gets a choking noise in response which she takes to mean no but he isn't willing to say it.
"Leslie, I won't ask you to break a confidence but I already knew about the panic attack at the Tottenham match. What I'm asking is, did you know and do you know who else knew why Ted left early, because a betrayal of this level is something you are not just ok with and if it's someone in the club… well they won't be for much longer no matter what Ted wants."
Leslie takes a moment to consider the woman in front of him, he knew how important loyalty was to her and while she didn't demand personal loyalty, she demanded it to the club.
"I found out before the Man City match" he finally admits "Ted told myself and 3 others."
"Well it wasn't you and it definitely wasn't Beard whom I'm assuming is one of the other three. My guess is the other two are Nathan and Roy and Roy would chew off his own testicles before voluntarily speaking to the press which leaves us with Nathan." Rebecca muses as Leslie makes another choking noise so she assumes she's correct.
Seeing Leslie's eyes darting back and forth and still unable to speak a word let alone a sentence she continues, hoping it won't be too long before he can form words again.
"So you agree it was Nathan, which begs the question what do we do about it. The way I see it we have several options. Firstly, I can pull Nathan in and tear answers out through his tiny little arsehole and then fire him for breach of contract, or I can tell Roy what he did, watch Nathan's brains spatter everywhere when Roy puts his forehead through Nathan's skull then fire him…" she pauses and considers her other options "Lauren might be willing to shoot him for me, she has an odd fondness for guns, although she is American so maybe not that odd."
Leslie lets out a genuinely distressed noise at Rebecca's increasingly violent scenarios.
"Or, we could leave it up to Ted to handle" he finally manages to speak. "As the wronged party I do believe it would be best to allow him to deal with Nathan as he sees fit."
Rebecca stares at him for a long moment before scoffing "Why do you have to be so fucking sensible?"
Leslie takes the very rare win and considers for about 3 seconds sending Beard a warning text. That would only make things worse as the idea of Rebecca and Beard conspiring to defend and avenge Ted made him want to cry.
He does however quietly warn Ted later that afternoon.
"Rebecca worked out it was Nathan that leaked the story to the press. You need to deal with it quickly as I can only hold her back for so long." he whispers.
Rumours coming up from the locker room is that they were planning on playing with a false nine. She's seen false nines played in the past and they either work brilliantly or not at all. Rebecca wasn't sure it was the best idea but she trusted the managers.
Well, she trusted Ted, Beard and Roy… she's giving Ted until the end of the season to deal with Nathan. If he hasn't she'll step in and deal with it herself.
And she makes sure both Ted and Beard know they're on a time limit.
Her spies in the locker room (Beard and Will) confirm the players are just as angry about the betrayal as everyone else.
Rebecca avoids Nathan, knowing if she has to speak with him she'll rip his greying little head off.
Then she's distracted by Keeley asking to speak with her.
The younger woman's news is unexpected but when she stops to think about it unsurprising.
Rebecca had seen her potential, had seen the brilliant mind waiting to be acknowledged and put to work and she is ecstatic that she isn't the only one to recognise Keeley's value. Having her own PR company will open up so many opportunities for her friend.
Not seeing her friend every day would be hard but Rebecca could not and would not hold Keeley back.
As they hugged, tears still streaming Rebecca vowed to herself AFC Richmond would be Keeley's first client and she would do everything possible to ensure her success.
Then her phone dinged with the news that Rupert had bought West Ham and so much was making sense now.
Emily had never been to Albania before and if Durrës was an example it seemed like a country she would enjoy visiting. As a tourist she would enjoy exploring the history of the port city, unfortunately she was here for work.
Although it wouldn't be hard to take in a show at Aleksandër Moisiu Theatre as Lauren Reynolds. It was a well established part of the cover that Lauren enjoyed live shows.
She had been back tracking Edwin Akufo's movements from before he arrived in London in an attempt to pin down where Mannion may be moving his operations to next.
Given the damage they had dealt to Mannion's business and reputation over the last few years it wasn't surprising that many of his previous business associates were refusing to work with him and Akufo was young and brash. It was obvious Mannion thought he could control the younger man in some respect, that he had the power.
Rupert Mannion always assumed he was the most powerful person in a room, unfortunately so did Akufo. In the long run the business relationship would break down violently and result in a massive turf war between the two which was good for their investigation.
The more damage they did to each other the better all around.
Finally finding the warehouse she was looking for, Emily pulled the balaclava over her head and slipped into the shadows.
She had containers to tag.
By the end of the first half, exactly what Rebecca had feared was happening.
They were down two nil to Brentford.
When the team came back out for the second half, it didn't escape her notice that Ted and Nathan appeared several minutes after the rest of the team, nor that when they did finally appear she could feel the tension between the two of them.
She could also feel the change in the players. There was a confidence that hadn't been there before as well as a steadiness in the play.
They managed to stop Brentford from scoring again and then in the 80th minute they got play close to Brentford's goal, Dani stole the ball and passed it to Jamie who kicked it over to Sam. With her hand wrapped tight around Keeley's they cheered as Sam scored.
Another 10 minutes passed and the referee called 2 minutes extra time.
Thierry rolled the ball to Jan who kicked it downfield to Jamie who was taken down by the opposing goalkeeper giving the Greyhounds a penalty kick.
Jamie was a sure bet, he hadn't missed a penalty all season so they were all surprised when he passed the ball off to Dani who hadn't taken a penalty since accidentally killing their mascot 6 months earlier.
That more than anything showed how much the young man had grown and changed in the last year.
Rebecca's right hand was still wrapped in Keeley's and her left clutching at her throat as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.
When Dani planted the ball in the back of the net, her legs gave out and the entire stadium roared.
They'd done it, Richmond are going back to the Premier League.
END CHAPTER 16