billie_kent just posted:

liked by: maddsgreen and 52,012 others

billie_kent: see you at the gala <3

COMMENTS:
keeleyjones: FUCK YOU'RE FIT

alfiesykes98: smashing it!!!

maddsgreen: my gorgeous bestie <3

username1: is she going with brad?
↳ username2: I think she went with her brother

"It's better to be overdressed than to look like you haven't bothered." Were the words that Keeley had relayed to Billie when they went dress shopping on Bond Street several days prior.

Billie didn't exactly know why she'd been invited to the charity gala until she dropped by Rebecca's office the morning after receiving the invite, who then told her that her brother hadn't chosen a plus one, so in the end he just told Rebecca that he'd take his sister. The idea of being at such a classy event when most of the events she attended at uni ended up sitting fully clothed in a bath drinking prosecco straight from the bottle.

So in a hurry of panic she'd texted Keeley asking for advice on what to wear, and Keeley being Keeley jumped at the chance to help the girl pick out an outfit for the prestigious event, excited to have a girl she liked and trusted by her side for once.

"Bils?" The voice of her best friend Madison snapped her out of her daydream as she sat at her dressing table, Madison stood behind her, having just finished her work on the girl's hair for the gala that evening.

"Hmm?" Billie hummed, looking up at Madison in the mirror and then back at Alfie who was sprawled on her bed reading the latest issue of GQ, never one to miss out on the fun that the girls had while getting ready for nights out.

"What do you think?"

"Oh," Billie blinked, looking back at her reflection, her immaculate makeup and hair which was slicked back into a perfectly styled updo, "I love it, thanks, Madds."

"Shall we get you into that dress of yours?" Madison suggested, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Sure," Billie nodded as she sat in her makeup stained dressing gown.

"Alf, make yourself useful and pour some drinks in the kitchen," Madison smiled at the boy, hoping he'd take the hint that his presence wouldn't be needed for the whole getting dressed part of getting ready.

"Yes, boss," Alfie saluted before rolling off of the bed and hurrying out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

"Lets see it then," Madison grinned as Billie stood up from the dressing table stool, making her way over to her wardrobe and pulling out the sleek black dress that was so intricately designed that when she admitted to Keeley that she couldn't afford it before changing back into her own clothes Keeley pulled a store assistant aside and told her to put it on the same tab as her own dress, calling it a treat.

"What do you think?" Billie smiled nervously, having never worn something so expensive in her whole life.

"It's stunning, Bils." Madison grinned.

"Keeley said it's my revenge dress." Billie smiled as she slipped the dress off of its hanger and laid it on the bed before slipping out of her dressing gown.

"I think the point of a revenge dress is that you're meant to wear it after a break up." Madison sighed as Billie stepped into the dress, alluding to the aftermath of the night Billie spent at the nightclub with the Richmond boys.

As always Billie had visited Brad the next day and the pair patched things up the way they always did. She didn't want to fight, she didn't have the energy, and when he started littering kisses along her jaw and then her shoulder and collarbone she melted into him the way she always did. Madison could see it, she could see the effect that man had on her best friend and she didn't like it, but she also knew that some months ago Billie would never have the confidence to wear a dress like that, so she mentally thanked Keeley for whatever she had done to hype up her best friend.

It didn't help that Brad would also be at the event. The talent agency that he was signed to had paid for a table, meaning that some of the players they represented from other clubs would be up for auction, including Brad. So even though Billie wasn't attending as Brad's plus one, he'd transferred her a sizable amount of money to bid on him to make him look desirable.

"Everythings fine, Madds," Billie insisted as pulled the dress up her body, "I'm more bothered about having to spend an entire evening in the same room as Jamie Tartt."

"What's wrong with Jamie Tartt?" Madison mused as she helped her friend zip the dress up, deciding that prying about Brad wasn't going to have a productive outcome.

"He's insufferable," Billie answered with evident frustration in her voice.

"What's he done exactly?" Madison smirked as she adjusted the back of Billie's dress, not having heard her friend speak so passionately about something in a very long time.

"He's just always there with that accent and that annoying smirk he does and he walks around thinking he's God's own gift to the world just because he knows how to kick a ball," Billie rambled the words she had been waiting to release since she started the job.

"Right." Madison pursed her lips to stifle her grin as Billie turned back to her.

"What?"

"Nothing." Madison nodded as she adjusted the front of Billie's dress.

"It's not nothing, Madds, you're grinning like a Cheshire cat," Billie replied sternly, picking up her rings from the dressing table and slipping them onto her freshly manicured fingers.

"I've just..." Madison sighed, "I've not seen someone get so under your skin in a long time."

"It's not like that, Madds." Billie insisted, aware of what Maddison was alluding to.

"He can't be worse than Brad, that's all I'm saying," Madison sighed.

"He's a prick, Madds," Billie huffed as she slipped her feet into her heels, "If this were Dance Moms he'd be at the top of the pyramid in the ranking of all the pricks that I know."

"Above Brad?"

"Yes, obviously." Billie sighed.

"Okay, babe," Madison grinned, "You tell yourself that."

"Why's it so hard to believe?" Billie called out as her friend slipped out of her bedroom and into the living room.

"You'll see." Madison replied with a smile, ready to relay the entire conversation to Alfie to get his take on the whole situation.

"You'll see?" Billie muttered to herself once Madison had left the room, "What the fuck does that mean?"

Roy had promised his little sister that he'd be outside her flat in the blacked out car that AFC Richmond sent in enough time to get them to the gala venue. So when the driver opened the back door of the car and Roy was nowhere to be seen, to say Billie was confused would be one hell of an understatement. She checked her messages, spamming her brother with texts until he simply replied.

ROYSTON: I don't like paps, I just want to miss the red carpet, I'll see you inside

BILLIE: No one likes paps...you owe me a drink for making me walk that carpet on my own

So there she was, Billie Kent walking towards the red carpet without the famous Roy Kent who they were all there to see. None of those photographers wanted a picture of her, she knew that. On her approach she saw Jamie and Keeley posing for photos as a couple while Rebecca hesitated on the sidelines, no doubt just wanting to get the whole affair over and done with. 

"Guys, sorry, sorry," Rebecca muttered to Keeley and Jamie as she tentatively stepped onto the red carpet, "I just need to get inside."

Billie glanced over to Jamie who was being spoken to by someone from the press then back at Rebecca who glanced at her for reassurance.

"I hate this part," Rebecca whispered, catching Keeley's attention as well.

Without a thought Billie hurried onto the red carpet, facing Rebecca with a subtle smile at Keeley, deciding to put her knowledge of which poses look best on camera to good use.

"Just put one foot in front of the other, yeah?" Billie smiled at the woman as the photographers continued to bark orders at the women of how they should pose, "And then put your hand on your hip and make, like a claw shape, it's the most flattering."

Clearly Keeley had caught onto the situation because as Billie stepped away from Rebecca, letting the woman have her moment she heard Keeley shouting from behind the photographers, "Look at her, she's fucking fit!"

"Can we get some of you, please, Miss Kent?" One of the photographers asked as she lingered beside the red carpet.

"Erm, sure," Billie sighed, not feeling a need to explain that she didn't feel significant enough to have her photo taken at such a star studded event. She stood in the space beside Rebecca, doing a similar pose, knowing in the back of her mind that the photos would be used the next time Brad was papped with a beautiful model he'd picked up at a club.

Once the photos were over Billie made her way inside, hoping or rather praying that her brother might have shown up or at least slipped through a back door so that she wouldn't have to sit alone waiting for him to show up. Even though she knew Brad would be there, she didn't like the idea of pretending to be a picture perfect couple under the prying eyes of the Richmond boys, especially after everything that happened at the nightclub.

As she entered the main room of the venue from the back of the hall she spotted her brother, strolling towards their table, so despite wearing uncomfortable heels she made a beeline for him.

"Hello, brother, good of you to show up," She smiled as she joined his side walking towards the table, noticing how he was wearing the same black suit he'd worn to her graduation, Phoebe's christening and the last family wedding they both attended, "Nice suit, makes a change."

"You look," He muttered, glancing at his sister who he had to remind himself wasn't the little toddler who cried everytime he left to go back to Sunderland after Christmas, "Nice."

"Wow, your vocabulary never ceases to amaze me," Billie huffed as they reached their table to see that Jamie and Keeley also happened to be seated at the same table.

"This is gonna be so uncomfortable," Keeley muttered, glancing at Billie with a reassuring smile.

"I'm switching tables," Roy stated before turning to leave the group.

"No, no, no, hey, come on back here," Ted replied as he arrived at the table where he was to be seated beside Nate, "This is my doing."

"I think he parent trapped you both," Billie smirked, glancing at her brother and then Jamie who's eyes were already on her.

"Billie's right, take a seat," Ted instructed the four of them as they sat at the table, Billie and Roy on one side opposite Jamie and Keeley, "Now listen, you two knuckleheads have split our locker room in half and when it comes to locker rooms, I like 'em just like my mother's bathing suits, I only wanna see them in one piece, you hear?"

"So we're fixing this," Ted continued, "Tell me what's the biggest issue you got with each other, go."

"He's a piece of shit," Roy answered without a thought.

"If his brain was on fire, I wouldn't piss in his ear," Jamie answered bluntly.

"Well, hey, you don't need to be best friends to be great teammates," Ted assured the group, "Think about Shawn and Kobe, right? Lennon and McCartney, heck, even Woody and Buzz got under each other's plastic."

"Wasn't Woody made out of fabric?" Nate muttered.

"I appreciate you Nate, but now's not the time," Ted replied, "You know what all those dynamic duos had in common? Mutual respect, y'all gotta find some common ground, so who wants to get the ball rolling?"

"I do," Keeley answered, "Nate, that's a very nice suit, I think you look chic."

"Thank you, it's actually only the second suit I've ever owned, the first one was my suit when I was a naked baby," Nate answered, leaving the rest of the table confused and bewildered, "Sorry, it's funny when Ted says it."

"The term 'birthday suit' would've helped you a ton there," Ted replied as Billie spotted Brad entering the room accompanied by a couple of his Chelsea teammates and of course some young women.

"I'll go next," Billie declared before Ted had the chance to open the floor, "Keeley you look mesmerising," She shot the woman a wink before turning her attention to Jamie who had opted to go shirtless, his unbuttoned suit jacket providing full view of his toned torso, "Jamie, I like the look, its unique."

"Cheers," Jamie nodded, his eyes lingering on Billie longer than they perhaps should've, noticing parts of her body that were often cover by the types of clothes she wore to work.

"Jamie, you wanna go?" Ted offered.

"Pass."

"Roy?"

"He's a piece of shit," Roy answered as Billie's eyes fell to Brad again who was sitting next to a young woman with copper hair.

"You gonna stick with that, huh?" Ted sighed, "Okay, here's an idea that's gonna help a little or hurt a whole lot, who needs a drink?"

The entire table put their hands up in unison as Billie's gaze lingered on her boyfriend, his arm resting on the back of that random girl's chair. She wanted to hate him, and she resented his actions, but the hurt that she felt watching him was far less painful than the alternative.

"Alright then," Ted smiled.

Once Ted had taken the table's drinks orders he disappeared to the bar, leaving his 'children' unsupervised, which arguably wasn't his smartest idea. The tension at the table was tangible, and Billie just needed something to distract her from whatever Brad was up to with the girl in the blue dress.

"What's everyone up to this weekend?" Nate asked, hoping to break the already awkward silence.

"No." Roy grunted before abandoning his sister and walking away from the table in search of literally anywhere else to hide away from Jamie Tartt and his annoying cocky grin.

"We'll probably be dwelling on another loss if Ted doesn't bang those two's heads together," Billie answered, glancing at Jamie.

"Why are you looking at me like that for?" Jamie frowned, "It takes two to tango, princess."

Princess. She hated that nickname. Brad liked to use it a lot, and Billie hated it because it made her feel weak, it made her feel inferior to a man who was worshipped like a king by all those adoring Chelsea fans.

"I know what you said in the locker room after that last loss," Billie told him, leaving Keeley cluelessly blank, "To Sam."

"That was just a joke," Jamie scoffed.

"So was your failure to pass the ball in the seventieth minute, but none of us laughed at that," Billie quipped, watching as Jamie's face turned from smug to stunned.

"What did he say to Sam?" Keeley asked, her brain reeling for the worst case scenario.

"I won't repeat it," Billie told her with a smile of reassurance, "Not on a night like this."

After what felt like an eternity, Ted returned with a tray of drinks, closely followed by Roy who placed a glass of vodka and lemonade in front of his sister as a peace offering for letting her down. It was meant to be a nostalgia trip, because it was what she had been drinking the first time he found her getting drunk at fifteen when he promised not to tell their parents.

"Good evening and welcome to the Tenth Annual Benefit for Underprivileged Children," Rebecca spoke into the microphone as she stood on stage, the room quieting at her presence, "If I could hug each of you as a thank you for your kind donations...I probably wouldn't because as we all know, I'm not a hugger."

The room filled with laughter for a moment as Ted offered the woman a quick thumbs up. Billie couldn't concentrate as she sipped on her drink, staring past Jamie at her boyfriend who was whispering sweet nothings to the girl beside him.

"Now, I do hope you've all brought your chequebooks with you for our auction later, because you can bid on our very own Richmond players, as well as a few surprise guests from other Premier League teams." Rebecca told the room, gesturing to Brad's table as the room erupted in applause.

"Same rule as always, no hanky-panky unless the player signs a waiver," The voice of Rebecca's ex husband echoed around the room, the ex husband who everyone was sure couldn't make it.

"Rupert?" Rebecca muttered.

"Hello, darling," The man grinned as he strolled down towards the stage.

"What a...lovely surprise," Rebecca remarked.

"Weren't you expecting me?"

"Only 'cause you RSVP'd no." Rebecca smiled.

Jamie watched as Billie sat up straighter than she had been. She had only met Rupert Mannion once, but once was enough to form an opinion of the man. It was when Roy had first signed for the club, when they got him to do one of those family press photoshoots, with the parents and siblings standing with Roy behind the desk as he 'signed the contract' and also on the pitch. She didn't know what it was exactly but Rupert just didn't seem like the sort of man that anyone would trust.

"Well, one of the perks of being a wealthy good-for-nothing, sometimes my nights just magically free up," Rupert smirked, causing the room to laugh again, "May I?" He took a champagne flute from a random man, "Thank you."

"Twat." Billie muttered under her breath, earning a smirk from Jamie who was just about in earshot.

"Gals and gents; with your help we raised eight hundred thousand pounds last year," Rupert announced, the room applauding him yet again.

"And this year, hopefully even more!" Rebecca exclaimed awkwardly.

"Well, I know I'm crashing your party, but I so badly want to help," Rupert remarked, "My fingers and toes are crossed that you will have me."

Billie hoped that the woman would say no, a woman as wonderful as Rebecca didn't need a man like that who so desperately wanted to steal her thunder.

"Of course, let's get him a seat at the boring table," Rebecca nodded, "Only joking...Table four, Rupert Mannion, everyone!"

The room applauded him again and he all but lapped it up, and Billie couldn't think of him as anything except a glory hunter.

The evening went on as expected, making awkward small talk with the people Billie shared a table with. She made light conversation with Keeley about all sorts of things while ignoring the looks Roy and Jamie kept shooting at each other while attempting to ignore Brad's behaviour.

"I don't believe we've met," A voice stunned her as she made her way back towards her table, armed with two bottles of beer, one for her and one for Roy, looking up to see Rupert Mannion in his white suit.

"We have," Billie smiled politely before attempting to resume her journey back to the table.

"I think I'd remember if we had," Rupert replied, placing a hand on her back and making her skin crawl, "Who could forget a face like yours?"

"I'm here with my brother," Billie answered, trying to step away from his hand that remained in its place.

"Your brother?"

"The only Champions League winner on the team, yes." Billie nodded, hoping that the notion of her notoriously protective older brother might diffuse the uncomfortable situation.

"Oh, you're Kent's sister?" He sighed, "I still can't remember meeting you, and I'm sure I would."

"I suppose old age can have that effect on people." Billie sighed, eager to return to the safety of her brother's side.

"Beauty and wit?" Rupert remarked, "What a pretty little mascot you'd make."

Billie really wanted to get out of there, not the room, just away from that man, the man who was making her skin crawl and who had a tendency to go for women who could easily be his granddaughters. She searched the room of people for someone to save her, locking eyes with Brad who was still wrapped up in a flirtatious conversation with the woman in the blue dress. He stared back at his girlfriend, doing nothing despite the look of despair in her eyes.

She couldn't see her brother either, she really need her brother.

Before she could conjure up a smart enough answer to serve Rupert her unknowing SOS strolled past.

"Jamie, it's so good to see you!" She exclaimed, stopping him in his path as she took a step away from Rupert and wrapped her arms around him as though they were two old friends reunited, before she whispered, "Get me away from this man and I will have a stack of twenty photos for you everyday after training."

Jamie frowned to himself, looking up in realisation that Billie had been cornered by Rupert Mannion. Having been in rooms like this before with that man he knew what he could be like, so as he let go of Billie he knew he had to think up a quick exit strategy.

"You know Jamie Tartt, do you?" Rupert glanced at Billie with intrigue.

"We met when she was studying in Manchester and I was at City," Jamie was quick to think up a lie that'd be convincing enough, "I need to borrow her I'm afraid, me mother would kill me if she knew I'd seen Billie and not called her to say hi."

"Was lovely talking to you," Billie faked a smile as Jamie guided her away from the man, his hand resting on her back. But it didn't feel sleazy or cold the way it did when Rupert was talking to her, appearing overly friendly. Jamie's actions were innocent and a simple effort to guide her to the safety of the bar.

"You alright?" Jamie asked as Billie leant against the bar at the back of the room.

"I am now, have this," She handed him the beer meant for Roy, "Thank you for that."

"It's alright," Jamie assured her, "I've known men like him."

"You have?" Billie remarked, taking a sip of her beer.

"I grew up on a council estate in North Manchester, there were men like that on every street, dressing them up in fancy suits don't change anything," Jamie told her.

"Well thank you for being my getaway car," Billie smiled with complete honesty.

"To getaway cars," Jamie smirked, clinking his bottle against hers. 

"To getaway cars," Billie laughed, glancing over at Brad, who was sitting beside the same girl as before, filling Billie with anger.

"You want me to be your hitman next?" Jamie asked as he followed her eye line, laying eyes on Brad.

"No," Billie shook her head with a smirk, "I've got a better idea."

She knew what got under Brad's skin, and she knew that what had happened in the club wasn't enough of a statement. As she made her way back to the table, leaving Jamie at the bar, an idea, arguably one of her best ideas of how to handle Brad, came into her mind.

She crouched beside Keeley, offering her a nervous smile, "Hey, babe, you alright?"

"Do you mind if I bid on Jamie?" Billie asked, watching Keeley's face grow from confusion to intrigue, "Brad's been all over that girl all night, so I've just concluded something big is the only way to make him take a hint, besides we both know how he feels about Jamie."

"Of course, babe," Keeley grinned, "It's about time you took that boyfriend of yours down a peg or two."

"Thank you," Billie smirked as she stood up, "The twenty five grand Brad sent me to bid on him should do it."

"God, you're fucking incredible." Keeley clapped her hands together, proud of the change in the woman she had met just a few weeks ago.