Chapter 17

I snook out of Natalie’s room in the early hours, feeling extremely fucked and extremely tired. Her idea of a threesome was still rattling around my head. I got back to my room and had a couple of hours of sleep on the sofa.

My alarm woke me at six, but I snoozed it until seven. Then I had a shower and headed down for breakfast. I had porridge and fruit, a mug of tea and a smoothie. I sat with Brian Carothers, he was looking sheepish and stunk of whisky, I did not mention it, as it was not my place.

He was not in a talkative mood and that was cool with me. I had a head that was still spinning with Natalie’s offer for a threesome. I had another cup of tea and a croissant before I got up and cleaned away my gear.

Carothers was in a world of his own. Gazing into a mug of coffee. I was sure he didn’t even notice me arrive at his table.

Natalie was walking in as I was walking out, she wished me good morning and winked as she passed me. I headed back up to my room and made a coffee. I switched the television on and sat back to watch some crap American sitcom.

At nine o’clock I headed down to the gym, I had a free period, so my first lesson was not until ten-thirty. I had decided to do some tidying up in the storeroom.

I dodged rain showers and the puddles in the car park, I opened the gym and fired up my computer. I did some of my admin and checked my emails. Then I headed into the equipment store and gave it a good clean up. Perhaps I have OCD or something, but I hate a messy room. I made sure that everything was nice and tidy and in its place.

I went back into my office and checked to see if I had any replies to my morning emails. There were none.

Then I got into my work gear, shorts, and a rugby shirt, I could hear the lads arriving and they were soon changed and ready to go.

The lessons that day glided by, and I did not bother with lunch, I got a sandwich and ate it at my desk with a coffee. The afternoon went past just as fast. I was glad when the last lesson ended, I had a shower and got changed, then after the lads had showered and left, I did my normal clean up before heading up to my room.

I made a coffee, put some music on and checked my emails. There were a few to be just deleted and a few to be answered. Old mates, my old agent asking if I fancied going on a TV sports quiz and a few from mates.

I ate my dinner at the same table as a few teachers, who had also chosen to go in early. Most of them I knew by sight but not by name. after eating I headed down to the staff room and checked my pigeonhole. I had a few letters, a magazine I subscribed to and a few Amazon deliveries. I still bought CDs, call me old school but I like a CD even in this age of Spotify and apple music. I had a collection of vinyl but that was in storage with my very expensive stereo system. I had spent a few summers going to record fairs and music shops.

I walked across to the gym and had a coffee while checking my work email and doing some admin. I printed out the training plans for the evening.

Jo turned up just before the lads and we worked over the training plan for that evening. I wanted to work on fitness, as well as our defence that evening.

The lads came out and we did a series of sit-ups, press-ups, star jumps, squat thrusts, and burpees. Now burpees are a killer, but they do build fitness. For the basic burpee: you stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms by your sides. Then you lower your body into a squat position and place your hands on the floor. Kick or step your legs back into a plank position. Jump or step your legs forward to return to a squat position. Return to the standing position and repeat. So, imagine a hybrid between a squat and a star jump.

I had worked with one coach who used the exercise as a punishment for being late for training, and even gym bunny pro rugby players hated them.

Once the lads had warmed up, I led them on a two-lap run around the pitch.

Then we worked on defence for an hour, tackling first using tackle bags, then man on man. Then we worked on defensive patterns and lines. Then we had half an hour of ball skills, passing and kicking.

It is what I would call the basics for any rugby player.

The lads were improving, some more than others, but you could see that the training sessions were working. They were more aware of their space and of the players around them, they were looking for spaces to fill and making sure they had their opposite man marked.

We ended the session with a run around the pitch which Jo led as I put all the kit away. Once the lads had all buggered off to get showered, I had a chat with Jo about players that needed more training and where were short of skills. She had some good ideas for the team, and she was a good coach, I would miss her when she left.

As I walked over to the admin block, I wondered what I would be doing once this contract was over. Maybe I would try to get a job coaching at one of the lower-division clubs. I made a mental note to email my agent about it.

I slept well that night, and I slept alone. I went back to my room and had a shower and took a cup of tea and my magazine to bed. I woke before the alarm was due to go off and decided on a run before breakfast.

It was the sort of day the Scots call Dreich. It was wet, dull, gloomy, and dismal. I warmed up and headed out. I ran down through the woods and out into the moor, there was a herd of deer on the lower slopes of one of the hills that gazed at me as I ran past. It was a great place to run, full of nature, birds, deer, sheep as well as wild goats. I had been told there were some wild cats on the moor, but I had yet to see one.

I crossed a stream and headed back down a trail that led to the school.

By the time I got back I was soaked to the skin, I was glad of a hot shower. Once I had dried off and gotten dressed into jeans and a shirt I headed down for breakfast. I opted for porridge and fruit, Marcia Armstrong was at a table with another lady, whose name I did not know, she pulled a chair out as an invitation to join them. I got a smoothie and mug of tea and went over.

Marcia introduced me to the other lady. a scot called Emily Sanders; she was a drama teacher. I had seen her around, but we had never spoken. She was a Milf and a looker. I glanced at her hand and saw she had a wedding ring on.

We talked about the weather and the lads as we ate. When I had finished, I walked back to my room, a storm was brewing, the rain was hammering down, and the wind was hammering around the school buildings. Everyone was running rather than walking, like me they seemed eager to get out of the rain.

A look up to the sky told me that the weather would not be changing soon, the sky was dark and angry.

Lessons today would definitely all be indoors that was for sure.

I got changed and headed down to the gym.

The rest of the week was a washout, the storm stayed with us. I did lessons in the gym, indoor hockey, French cricket, and gym sessions depending on the ages of the lads.

The rugby sessions were all indoor, we halved the time of the sessions and just did fitness work and gym sessions.