Extra Time

by Michelle Betham

  ‘Very nice!’

  Amber quickly swung round to see Ronnie standing in the doorway, a huge grin on his face.

  ‘Debbie said you were up here.’

  ‘You could have knocked first.’ Amber hurriedly tried to locate the whereabouts of her recently discarded bathrobe.

  ‘Come on, Amber. It’s not like I haven’t seen it all before. What’s the point in being shy now?’

  She looked at him, raising her eyebrows. ‘Because our relationship isn’t like that anymore?’

  He walked into the room, gently closing the door behind him. ‘It could be. If you want it to be. I know I certainly won’t be complaining if you decide you need some more sympathy sex.’

  ‘Sympathy sex?’ Amber raised her eyebrows again.

  ‘Yeah. You know, a little bit of a release from all the stress. I mean, there’s…’

  ‘There’s what, Ronnie? There’s nothing standing in our way now? Seeing as my marriage is all but over?’

  ‘That isn’t what I meant, Amber.’

  Abandoning the hunt for the bathrobe, Amber pulled her dress up off the bed and slipped it on, turning back to look in the mirror.

  ‘You look beautiful,’ Ronnie whispered, coming up behind her, gently pushing her hair away from her neck, leaning over to kiss it.

  Amber squirmed slightly, pulling away from him. ‘Don’t, Ronnie.’

  ‘What’s the matter?’

  She turned to face him. ‘I’m really not in the mood for any of this.’

  He held his hands up and backed away, sitting down on the huge king-size bed in the centre of the room. ‘You seen Jim lately?’ Ronnie asked, swiftly changing the subject.

  ‘I saw him yesterday. I was at the training ground recording a piece for Saturday’s show, about Red Star’s match against Daventry United. He was actually taking the training session, for a change.’

  ‘He doesn’t usually do that.’

  ‘No. I know he doesn’t. But Gary says he’s been a lot more involved in that side of things this season. Don’t ask me why.’

  Ronnie watched her as she began running her fingers through her hair, ruffling it up at the roots to give it a touch more volume. ‘Did you talk to him?’

  ‘No, I just blanked him. What do you think I did? I had to talk to him – I was working.’ She turned around, satisfied that that was as good as her hair was going to get. ‘We didn’t really break up on bad terms, Ronnie, I told you that. And, to be honest, I don’t really want to go over it all again.’

  ‘I don’t know why you don’t just try and work things out, if you’re getting on that well.’

  ‘Have you come up here to deliberately try and wind me up?’

  ‘No,’ Ronnie sighed, throwing himself back on the bed, flinging his arms up above his head. ‘No, I haven’t. You just confuse the hell out of me sometimes, Amber.’

  ‘Think what I do to myself, then,’ she said, turning back to the mirror to double-check her make-up.

  ‘I meant what I said, though.’ Ronnie hauled himself up off the bed, walking back over to Amber. ‘About being there, if you need me. For any reason. But especially if you need me for sex.’

  ‘Will you stop that,’ Amber laughed, playfully thumping his arm. ‘Anyway, I’m abstaining from sex for the foreseeable future. It’s safer that way.’

  Ronnie arched a surprised eyebrow. ‘Yeah. Whatever.’

  ‘Get out of here, go on,’ Amber said, still smiling as she pushed him gently out of the room. ‘Go get me a drink. Anything pink and sparkling’ll do.’

  ‘That’s all Debbie’s serving by the looks of things.’

  ‘Go on, out! I’ll be down in a few minutes.’

  ‘Nice to see bossy Amber back.’ Ronnie winked at her before practically running down the long, winding staircase to the party.

  Amber closed the door, leaning back against it and closing her eyes. Sometimes she felt as though her whole life was running on autopilot. On the surface she seemed cool and calm, but underneath she was frantically trying to keep it all together. And how long she could keep going like that was anybody’s guess. All she knew right now was that she was going to enjoy tonight, and try and forget about everything else, even if it was just for a few hours.

  The sound of people arriving downstairs, and music thumping from the marquee outside in the garden, told Amber the party had started now. It was time to go and show her face, show everybody that the past couple of months hadn’t got her down half as much as everyone might have thought they had. She could put on a good act if she needed to.

  Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, ran her fingers through her hair one more time and walked downstairs, fixing a smile on her face that she was determined was going to stay there all night. She’d make sure of that. After all, she was good at hiding the truth, wasn’t she?

  ‘Where’s Ellen?’ Gary asked as Ryan wandered into the conservatory, his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans.

  ‘She’s gone out with her mates. There’s some gig on at the arena she’s had tickets for since January, then they’re off clubbing.’

  ‘You don’t look too fed up to be here on your own,’ Gary said, handing him a bottle of lager.

  Ryan shrugged, taking a swig from the bottle. ‘She’s got her life, I’ve got mine.’

  ‘That’s a strange way to talk about your relationship when you’ve been living together for months.’

  Ryan said nothing, turning to look outside at the garden decorated with fairy lights hanging from the trees and fences, the huge marquee which was acting as a makeshift nightclub, and a patio area surrounded by heaters and more fairy lights that had been set up as an outdoor bar area. People were swarming everywhere, all fake tan and high heels, designer gear and bright-white smiles, laughing and drinking and enjoying the party. Which was exactly what Ryan intended to do – enjoy himself. He had a reason to now, didn’t he?

  ‘You look shifty,’ Gary pointed out, flicking the top off a new bottle of lager. ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘Nothing’s the matter,’ Ryan protested, looking outside again. ‘How’s Debs? Everything going okay with the baby?’

  ‘Everything’s fine, apart from the fact I still can’t get me head around the fact I’m gonna be a dad. But stop changing the subject. You were in with the boss for hours this morning, and I know Max was with you, too. And the only reason you and Max would be in with the boss together, especially for that amount of time, is if something’s going on. You gonna tell me what?’

  Ryan took another drink, turning back to face Gary. ‘I’m leaving, Gaz. Temporarily. But I’m leaving. Soon.’

  Gary frowned. ‘Leaving? You mean…?’

  ‘The loan’s been agreed with CD Adeje. I’m off to Tenerife at the end of the month. It’s all sorted. But keep it quiet, all right? The boss has called a press conference at Tynebridge tomorrow morning, he’s going to make the official announcement then. You’re the only one I’ve told so far.’

  Gary let out a low whistle. ‘Wow. You’ve kept that one quiet. I just assumed it’d all died down because you hadn’t mentioned anything for a while, but…’

  ‘To be honest, for a time it did look as though it was all going to fall through. The boss had a job persuading the board to let me go, and then there’s been his own personal problems to deal with…’ Ryan stopped talking, staring down at the ground as he remembered how he’d felt the day he’d heard that Amber and Jim had separated. A trial separation. That was the official line. No divorce, no word from either of them publicly about how long that trial was going to last, and even though, just for one brief second, it had almost been enough to make Ryan think twice about what he was doing, the rational side of him told him that changing his plans wasn’t an option. He couldn’t let what had happened between Jim and Amber sink him deeper into some make-believe happy ending that lived only in his head. They were having problems – the world knew that now. But they hadn’t said their separation was forever. Amber and
Jim Allen would never be over, no matter how much they might think they were. ‘But, Newcastle Red Star are doing well,’ Ryan sighed, wishing he felt happier than he did, ‘…and anyway, I’ve been out with this ankle injury for a couple of weeks and you’ve managed fine without me, haven’t you? You don’t need me.’

  ‘I need you, mate,’ Gary said, leaning back against the window. ‘Jesus, Ryan, I never actually thought you were serious. I thought you were handling everything okay, that you and Ellen were…’ He looked at Ryan. ‘What are you gonna do about Ellen?’

  Ryan didn’t know. He really didn’t know. She was obviously going to find out about his imminent loan spell now, and he assumed that she’d more than likely want to come with him. But he didn’t want her to. He wanted to do this alone. That was the whole point of this move in the first place, to forget all the crap he’d got himself into and try and make a new start, away from it all, before returning home the Ryan Fisher he really wanted to be. Someone who didn’t spend every waking minute of every day wanting something he could never have.

  ‘Ryan?’

  Gary’s voice shook him back to reality. ‘What? Sorry, mate, I…’ He trailed off again, looking up just as Amber walked into the kitchen. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. For a woman who was going through a difficult time in her very short marriage, and going through it all very much in the public eye, she looked as though she didn’t have a care in the world. She looked incredible. With her dark red hair hanging loose over her shoulders, her make-up minimal, and those perfect legs of hers on show, accentuated by the sexiest heels he’d ever seen her wear, she looked stunning. ‘Jesus Christ,’ Ryan gasped, his hand gripping the bottle he was holding as he watched her float around the kitchen, smiling at everyone, hugging her friends, exuding that air of celebrity she seemed to have honed to a fine art lately. ‘I thought that shoot she did in Ice magazine was hot, but…’

  ‘As hot as you can get without showing anything,’ Gary mumbled, not altogether comfortable with the way Ryan was looking at his ex. ‘I mean, come on. I thought we might at least have got a glimpse of those tits of hers, but she went down the tasteful route, didn’t she? Take it all off, but show nowt.’

  Ryan looked at him. ‘Are you for real?’

  Gary raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, yeah. I forgot. It wouldn’t have bothered you, would it? You’ve seen it all before.’

  Ryan ignored him, turning back to watch Amber, their eyes briefly meeting as she turned to take the glass of pink champagne Ronnie held out for her. ‘She looks amazing,’ he whispered, unwilling to take his eyes off her just yet, waiting for her to break the stare first. Which she did, as she turned and made her way out of the kitchen.

  ‘You’re walking a dangerous road there, mate,’ Gary warned. ‘Her and the boss, they’ll never split up, not for good. We all know the problems they went through, or we do now, anyway, but… You know, maybe this loan period will do you the world of good.’

  ‘Yeah. Maybe.’ Ryan put his drink down on the table beside him, an idea forming that he was determined to see through, before he lost his nerve.

  ‘Ryan… where you going?’

  ‘I’ll see you later.’ He almost ran out of the conservatory, determined not to lose sight of her, pushing his way through the crowded kitchen, following her into the slightly quieter back room.

  ‘Are you stalking me?’ Amber asked as she turned round to face him, her hands in the pockets of her pale pink dress.

  He stopped dead in his tracks, grinning at her. ‘I could do, if you want me to.’ His eyes dropped down to her cleavage, although there wasn’t a great deal of it on show. But he knew what lay beneath the thin material of that dress. He knew only too well.

  Amber couldn’t help smiling. ‘Yeah. Still the same old Ryan. You on your own? No Ellen?’

  ‘Why’s everyone asking me where Ellen is tonight?’

  ‘Because she’s your girlfriend?’ Amber pointed out.

  ‘Yeah, well…’ He stopped himself from saying anything else, not sure how much information he should give her just yet.

  ‘Yeah, well – what?’ Amber asked, cocking her head.

  ‘Nothing,’ Ryan sighed.

  ‘Okay… Do you want to go check out the nightclub?’

  ‘You mean that big tent in the back garden?’

  Amber smiled again. ‘You know, sometimes you’re quite rubbish at this footballer lark.’

  He grinned again, giving her the full-on Ryan Fisher charm. ‘I can kill ’em on the pitch, but I don’t always get it right off it, huh?’

  ‘Something like that. Come on. It might be a bit livelier outside.’

  Ryan couldn’t move for a second, it was like he was rooted to the spot, unable to get his head around the fact she was being so friendly. So forthcoming. And it felt good, talking to her like this. It felt like old times. Was he reading too much into it? Probably. He wasn’t naive enough to think she was giving him any kind of green light. But, then again, the night was young, and he’d be stupid to ignore any signs she might just give off later. If he played his cards right.

  ‘I wouldn’t.’

  Ryan swung round to see Ronnie standing there, his hands in his pockets, his expression serious.

  ‘Wouldn’t, what?’ Ryan asked, his eyes meeting Ronnie’s.

  ‘She’s incredibly vulnerable right now, and you know that, so I’d be very careful if I were you.’

  ‘You warning me off?’

  ‘I’m just letting you know that Amber doesn’t need any more mess in her life, okay?’

  Ryan narrowed his eyes, smirking slightly. ‘You waiting for your own chance to get back in there, huh? Literally. She feels good, doesn’t she?’

  Ronnie looked down at the ground for a split second before looking back at Ryan, his face still darkly serious. ‘I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.’

  ‘But you and her – you were sleeping together, right? Just before she split from Jim?’

  Ronnie ignored him, walking away from him without another glance. Ryan pushed a hand through his hair and laughed quietly to himself. Nobody knew for sure that Ronnie White and Amber Allen had been having an affair, but it was quite obvious to Ryan that, at some point, they’d become best friends with benefits, even if that time had been brief. It had happened, Ryan was sure of it, and that, combined with everything else that the public did know about – her and Jim’s baby battle, the revelation that Brandon Palmer was Jim Allen’s son – it had all added to the reasons why Amber and Jim had separated. But no matter how much he wanted to believe that this could mean a re-entry back into her life – and he wanted that so much he could almost taste it – he knew that was exactly the reason why he needed to leave here for a while. Still, it didn’t mean to say he couldn’t enjoy tonight, before the big official announcement at Tynebridge tomorrow.

  Ryan Fisher had never really said goodbye to Amber, not properly. And, as far as he was concerned, the time had come for him to put that right.

  ‘Sorry, I… Brandon, hi!’ Amber smiled, looking behind her at the man whose shoulder she’d just connected with as she’d made her way through the crowded marquee. ‘It’s… it’s good to see you. You okay?’

  ‘I’m fine. I’m doing great, thanks. How are you? I mean, I know you and my dad are…’

  He trailed off, and Amber briefly looked away. To meet his eyes when she was thinking about Jim was such a bad idea. Brandon reminded her so much of those early days with his father – he reminded her of how ridiculously handsome Jim had been back then, how he’d managed to draw her into his world with a grip so strong she’d never been able to sever it. And look at the consequences. But, once again, she had to remember that none of that was Brandon’s fault. He was just another innocent victim in Jim’s web of secrets and lies.

  ‘Me and your dad, we’ll work something out,’ she said, forcing that smile back onto her face. ‘Our relationship’s never been straightforward so…’ She shrugged, ‘… this is just another hurdle we h
ave to get over, that’s all.’

  He looked at her for a few long seconds; right into her eyes. ‘And do you think you will get over it?’

  She broke the stare, looking over at the marquee entrance. Ryan had just made an appearance, a small flock of women instantly surrounding him. ‘I don’t know,’ she whispered, turning her attention back to a slightly confused Brandon. ‘Yes. Yes, we… we’ll work something out. We’ll be fine.’

  ‘You okay?’ Brandon asked, frowning slightly.

  ‘I’m fine. My mind’s just preoccupied with work, that’s all. Your dad’s announced a press conference at Tynebridge tomorrow and I’m just curious as to what that’s all about. He hasn’t said anything to you, has he?’

  He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. ‘You think he shares anything work-related with me? I play for the enemy, remember?’

  She smiled, looking down at her far-too-high heels. Sometimes she wondered what she was doing wearing stuff like that when it had never really been her. Debbie’s influence must be sinking in far more than she thought it had. ‘You’re getting used to the local rivalry between Wearside Spartans and Newcastle Red Star, then?’

  ‘I’ve been doing my homework, yeah.’ He grinned, and Amber felt her stomach give a tiny leap. He had so much of Jim in him it hurt to even look at him sometimes. ‘Do you want me to pass any messages onto my dad?’

  She looked right at him, his voice shaking her back to reality. ‘Hmm, sorry? Oh, no. No, I mean, I only saw him yesterday, so… Anyway, I’ll be at Tynebridge tomorrow for the press conference. I’ll see him then.’