billie_kent posted (one month ago)

liked by: jamie_tartt and 62,219 others

billie_kent: an honour to be awarded best sports media newcomer at the soho house media awards! thank you for such an inspiring evening!

COMMENTS:
keeleyjones: SO FIT! SO TALENTED!

colinhughes: so deserved you talented legend!

isaac_mcadoo: the coolest person i know :)

alfiesykes98: proud of you!!

maddsgreen: you superstar <3

"And I thought that watching 101 Dalmatians at four years old was one of the traumatising dog based experiences a person could have."

"You found a cartoon about dogs traumatising?" Nate turned to Billie who was perched on top of the office shelving unit.

"The Glenn Close version," Billie corrected him, "The best live action adaptation in history."

"I really do wanna be like you-oo-oo but I'll have to go with Balou and say The Jungle Book," Ted told the young woman, "What'd you say Nate?"

"Probably Maleficent," Nate sighed.

"Ah, yes, Angelina Jolie, the owner of the greatest cheekbones in Hollywood," Ted grinned, glancing at Beard who had his head in a book, "Coach?"

"Shrek."

"But they haven't made a live-"

"The Musical, on stage." Beard interjected.

"Well, my point still stands, I'm now going to have to rethink my order of traumatic dog based experiences," Billie told the coaches, "Dani and the Earl incident might just take the top spot."

Billie and the coaches looked out into the locker room at the players who had been deprived of their post match showers due Dani's spiral caused by his accidental involvement in the pup-slaughter of the club's mascot. Ted had managed to do a good job at damage control in his press conference and Billie had made a social media post for the club using a black and white photo of Earl with a statement from Rebecca.

But it seemed that Dani was struggling to compartmentalise the day's events, or rather his involvement in the whole disaster. So while the team discussed the benefits of baths instead of showers and the coaches debated the best live action remakes, Dani was 'washing the death off of him'.

"I really thought that we'd break the draw streak today," Billie sighed, "And it feels wrong to even contemplate blaming it on the dog."

"I'm telling you, all these ties are my fault," Ted assured her, "It's straight up celestial payback for the Man City game, there I was wishing and hoping for a freaking tie, and now the karma police are making good on showing me what I get when I miss with them."

"The team's playing well, Ted, just a little unlucky, that's all," Nate assured him.

"'Unlucky', yeah, man, I love the way y'all use that word over here," Ted smiled at the two locals in the office, "Back home, if a team was playing poorly we don't call 'em unlucky, what do we call 'em Coach?"

"New York Jets." Beard answered.

"There it is." Ted nodded.

"Hey, Coach, sorry to interrupt," Will, the kitman appeared in the open doorway with a nervous smile, "Can I leave a little early today?"

"But part of your job is to stay until the whole team's gone," Nate replied with a frown.

Will glanced at Billie for reassurance who was quick to give him a nod of approval, given that he'd already asked her if she thought Ted would say yes earlier that day, "No, yes, of course, it's just, it's my mum's fiftieth birthday-"

"Oh, and what position does your mum play on the team again?" Nate remarked with words that left a sour taste in the air. Billie respected Nate, she respected the way he had earnt his position as an assistant coach, but she didn't like the way he seemed to find it so easy to talk down to the young kit man.

"It's okay, Will, tell your mum a happy birthday from all of us," Ted smiled at the young man, "And if she ever wants to try out for the team, she's more than welcome."

"Which candle did you choose in the end?" Billie asked Will with an eager smile, referring to the online browsing they had done together in her office on a lunch break a few days prior.

"Watercolour Skies," Will replied, "And I also got her the moisturiser you recommended."

"Good job, kiddo," Billie gave the young man a thumbs up.

"Lovely, thank you," Will nodded before swiftly leaving the room as Billie, Ted and Beard all turned their attention to Nate.

"You gotta stay on 'em," Nate sighed, "Pressure makes pearls, right?"

"I'm not sure that's what you mean," Billie muttered awkwardly.

"It's diamonds isn't it?" Nate frowned, "Shit, I messed it up."

"No you didn't mess it up, you were just-"

"Unlucky!" Beard finished Ted's sentence.

"Yes." Ted nodded in agreement.

Which was exactly what Billie said when she and Ted entered Rebecca's office, where Keeley and Higgins were also sitting, and the club owner asked if she'd like a cocktail.

"Look on the bright side, Ted," Rebecca smiled in reassurance of their lack of wins, as she handed both Billie and Ted their cocktails, "We are still undefeated."

"She's right." Billie grinned as she sat beside Keeley.

"How's Dani doing?" Higgins asked.

"Oh, he's a little shell-shocked, but Dani's a lot like an expensive tape measure," Ted assured him, "He snaps back real quick."

"He also uses all the hot water in the showers," Billie told the group, "Do yourselves a favour and steer clear of the boys for the rest of the day, they've all decided to bathe at home."

"What about Earl's owner?" Ted asked, "He doing alright?"

"Yeah, fortunately he is," Keeley nodded.

"Yes, and you're now looking at the very new, very generous, very guilt-ridden benefactor of Richmond's largest dog shelter," Rebecca sighed with a smile.

"Barkingham Palace."

"That is a phenomenal name," Billie remarked.

"It's a good name." Ted nodded.

"To Earl." Keeley raised her glass.

"To Earl." The group said in unison as they raised their glasses too.

"Okay, I should go," Higgins placed his glass on the coffee table, "I promised the boys we'd watch Empire Strikes Back tonight, and I have to get my thoughts together for when they ask about Luke and Leia making out."

"Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you'd had five daughters instead of sons?" Billie asked.

"Yes, and it often keeps me up at night," Higgins sighed, "I think I was just destined to be a boy dad."

"I think I'd be a boy mum," Billie replied, "I feel like one half of the time when I'm with the team."

"I know your pain," Higgins held his hand to his chest before making his way towards the door.

"Good luck, Higgins," Keeley called out.

"Hey," Ted whispered, "May the force be with you."

"And also with you." Higgins nodded before leaving the room as Rebecca's phone pinged.

"Oh my God!" She chimed as hurried over to Billie and Keeley.

"Oh, is that him?" Keeley squealed as Rebecca sat between her and Billie on the sofa.

"Yes, yes, yes," Rebecca grinned as the two women paid eager attention to her.

"Hey, him who?" Ted asked.

"Shush, shush," The women hummed before returning their focus to Rebecca's phone screen.

"And?" Billie remarked.

"Well, I mean..." Rebecca sighed.

"Okay, but?" Keeley replied.

"Oh, no, totally." Rebecca agreed.

"Good, I'm proud of you," Billie smiled.

"Am I allowed to speak yet?" Ted whispered.

"Oh, sorry, Ted, it's just a little bit of girl talk about a gentleman suitor I've gone out with a few times," Rebecca explained, referring to the man she had recently started dating.

"Nice, a little girl talk, I get it," Ted grinned, "What's his name-"

"Shush." The women replied, keeping their eyes on the phone.

"Oh," Rebecca looked to Billie and Keeley, "Are you guys up for a triple date next week? Let him prove his mettle."

"Who would I even bring?" Billie huffed with a smile, even though she hadn't had one romantic interaction in the last four, almost five months, which when asked about she repeatedly blamed on her past failed relationship with Brad.

"You could bring Alfie," Keeley suggested, having noticed how her friend had changed in the months that followed Richmond's relegation, and she had tried everything to get her sparkle back, "As friends obviously."

"Wait," Billie paused with a mischievous grin, "If it goes south, me and Alfie could pull a stunt, pretend to have a massive bust up, then that'll give everyone something to talk about for the road."

"So you think Alfie will be up for it?" Rebecca remarked, having been impressed by the young man's ability to hold a conversation the few times she'd met him.

"Oh, absolutely, it'll be fun," Billie replied, "Good luck convincing my brother, though."

"Will Roy be free?" Rebecca asked Keeley.

"Oh, he's free, don't worry," Keeley assured her.

"Hey, did Roy come to the game today?" Ted asked.

"Oh, no, he didn't, Sorry, Ted," Keeley smiled at the coach.

"Oh, that's okay, I'm sure he'll swing by at some point, right?" Ted replied, and Billie could tell that he was affected, as though he wanted to see the former captain, as though he missed him, "Hey, he knows he's always got a ticket waiting for him at will call, yeah?"

"Yep."

"Good, and don't forget, I don't put it under his name, I don't want folks messing with him, it's under an alias," Ted explained, "Like last week it was Loretta Lynn, this week was Dolly Parton, and next week is, if I remember correctly, Shania Twain."

"You should add Mariah Carey in there for good measure," Billie told him with a smile.

"It's nothing personal, it's just that he's been so busy with this new coaching gig," Keeley assured Ted, before turning to Billie, "Speaking of which, are you joining us for post training hot chocolate?"

"People will start thinking I'm your daughter if the three of us keep hanging out, you don't look old enough, but my brother?" Billie smirked, "Oh he could definitely pass as my dad."

It was yet another opportunity to third wheel Keeley and Roy, and most of the time it wasn't her own doing. She'd been doing a lot of that since she pushed Jamie away and broke her own heart in the process.

The third wheeling only started because Keeley and Roy were both concerned about her. Roy might not have known what exactly was affecting her mood, and although Billie didn't tell Keeley how she pushed Jamie away, it didn't take Keeley long to put the pieces together and work out that something had gone wrong between the pair.

And something had gone wrong, because when Billie had let him go she expected that they'd be able to continue as friends, but it wasn't that easy. She'd messaged him several times since that day, but all she got back was radio silence. In the end she just concluded that he must've only wanted her for one thing, and decided to park the memory of whatever she had with Jamie Tartt as a fleeting error of judgement.

Calling whatever she and Jamie were a mistake felt much easier than admitting the way he truly made her feel. She also convinced herself that it would allow her to actually move on with her life, which she had yet to prove.

"Oi! You listen to me!" Roy shouted at the team he was responsible for coaching, "You play like that next week, you can kiss the trophy goodbye, 'cause today, you all played like a bunch of little pricks! You hear me?"

"Yes, Coach!" The children exclaimed.

"Except for Kokoruda, way to put your body on the line out there," Roy assured the young girl, holding an ice pack to her head.

"You know it, Coach," She nodded with great enthusiasm.

"Alright, Monika's mum brought orange slices," Roy sighed, "Don't eat the peels you animals, off you go."

"Keeley and Billie!" Phoebe ran towards the two women who were waiting pitchside for Roy and the young blonde girl.

"Hi, Pheebs!" The two women exclaimed in unison as Phoebe wrapped her arms around them both.

"You been good, kiddo?" Billie asked as she watched Phoebe's teacher talking briefly to Roy before passing the group of girls.

"As good as Uncle Roy," Phoebe replied with a beaming grin as the three girls approached Roy.

"Alright, who's for hot chocolate?" Keeley smiled at the group.

Roy, Billie and Phoebe answering, "Me!" In unison.

With Roy and Billie's sister, Hannah, being so busy with work, the four of them had become a bit of a family unit. Phoebe would often spend the night at Roy and Keeley's or at Billie's if her mum was working the night shift, and she loved it. The young girl thought of Keeley and Billie as two honorary big sisters, which they did the very best job of being.

Passersby who spotted the group on the bench beside the river looked at them with intrigue, recognising Keeley, Roy and even Billie, but respecting them and the presence of a child enough not to ask for pictures.

Or they were just absolutely terrified of Roy Kent.

"Before I forget, Rebecca wanted to see if we could do some triple date action next week," Keeley told Roy as Billie and Phoebe sat in between them, as though they were Roy and Keeley's children.

"You in on this?" Roy looked at his younger sister.

"I'm bringing Alfie as a laugh," Billie told him as she sipped her hot chocolate.

"Fucking hell," Roy sighed.

"Bad word, Uncle Roy, you owe me one quid," Phoebe told him.

"Put it on my tab." Roy sighed.

"Can you hold this please?" Phoebe handed her hot chocolate cup to Billie before pulling her fluffy pink notepad out of her bag.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Keeley assured Roy.

"Fine."

"Thank you," Keeley smiled, even though both she and Billie knew he could never say no to Keeley.

"Pheebs, how was the match today?" Keeley asked the young girl.

"Outstanding," Phoebe remarked with a smile, "I got a red card for elbowing a girl in the neck."

"And I'm very proud," Roy kissed the top of the girl's head.

"Proper Kent behaviour, I like it," Billie nodded.

"Well, I know that you guys are gonna smash it next week," Keeley told the young girl.

"Me too."

"So, once the season's over, you're gonna have more time to see some friends, right?" Keeley asked Roy.

"I see friends all the time," Roy quipped.

"Yeah, our yoga mums." Billie nodded, in her imminent slump after she cut things off with Jamie her brother had invited her to yoga nights, and she liked the women as much as they liked her, allowing her to become one of the gang, just like her brother. It was a welcome distraction and as much as they loved asking the typical 'any boys we should know about?' questions, she knew they were harmless.

"Don't you ever want anything more than sitting in child's pose, getting buzzed on rosé and gossiping about reality TV with a bunch of women that know nothing about you?" Keeley smirked.

"No, I love it." Roy remarked with a smile.

"Sky Sports reached out again," Keeley told him, and while Roy had said no to the idea on countless occasions, both she and Billie thought that he'd be perfect for it.

"No."

"I think it's a good idea," Keeley assured him.

"Last time I did one of your good ideas, I made a fucking fool of myself," Roy huffed in frustration as Phoebe added to her swear tally.

"Your retirement press conference was beautiful, Roy, people loved it," Keeley insisted, "It got like fifteen million views."

"So your way of alleviating my embarrassment is to tell me how many millions of people have seen me look like a knob?" Roy remarked.

"Good point." Billie nodded.

"I just want to go on record saying that I think you'd be an amazing pundit," Keeley insisted.

"I don't want to be a fucking football pundit, sat on fucking telly in a dumb fucking suit like a know it all twat, it's a shit job for shit people, I'd rather shit out my own fucking mouth than do that fucking shit," Roy rambled, making his feelings towards the matter abundantly clear.

"Could've just said no," Billie sighed under her breath as Phoebe counted the last few swears on her fingers, "How's the league table looking, Pheebs?"

"Uncle Roy's on £2105, Auntie Billie's on £1451, Mum's on £47, Alfie's on £17, Keeley and Madison on zero and Jamie's on £2," Phoebe explained as Billie glanced down at her niece's notebook to see that she had in fact added a row on the table. She didn't know when Phoebe added it, but assumed it must've been the visit before the last match against Man City.

Billie looked up at Keeley, who was already looking at her with a fond gaze, because as much as she didn't know what was going on inside Billie's brain, she had enough of an understanding to know that whatever happened was more complicated than she'd let on. 

"Why the fuck is Jamie fucking Tartt on your list?" Roy frowned at his niece.

"Because he's Billie's friend," Phoebe answered innocently with a smile, as unaware as the complex situation between Billie and Jamie.

"Friend is a strong word," Billie muttered under her breath.

"Has he fucking upset you?" Roy looked at his sister with a furrowed brow, leading her to realise her words hadn't been so quiet.

"No, it's fine," Billie insisted, knowing that unless Keeley had let something slip, Roy didn't have a clue what had happened. 

"Billie," Roy remarked sternly, "What's he done?"

"She said she's fine, Roy," Keeley assured him, and even though she knew it wasn't entirely true, she knew that Jamie Tartt was the last thing Billie wanted to talk about with her brother.

"So something's happened that both of you know about, and neither of you are telling me?" Roy continued to push his sister for an answer.

"Thanks for the hot chocolate, Keeley," Billie sighed as she stood up from the bench, "I should get back, Alfie's cooking for us tonight."

Billie didn't want to talk about Jamie with her brother because she knew that his opinion of the young man was only negative, and while she struggled to understand him since he effectively ghosted her attempts at maintaining a friendship, she could never hate him the way her brother did. She had too much to thank him for, to be mad at him.

"Dinner should be ready in twenty minutes," Alfie sighed, handing both Billie and Madison their second bottles of beer each as they slumped on the sofa in front of the TV.

"You're a star cooking for us, Alf," Billie replied, "The press room must've been carnage after today's match."

"Can't have been worse than what you were dealing with in the locker room," Alfie answered, "Colin told me that they all had to shower at home because Dani was 'washing the death' from his body."

"You would too if you'd just killed a greyhound," Madison remarked.

"You make a valid point, Madds," Alfie smiled.

Billie looked down at her phone, clicking on Jamie's contact and looking down at their text conversation, or rather the messages that she had sent, some of which he'd read and ignored, the most recent ones remaining delivered.

Billie

I'm visiting friends in Manchester this weekend, want to meet up for food? x

(read 4 months ago)

Billie

Phoebe asked about you today,

said she misses her favourite Mancunian

(read 3 months ago)

Billie

Are we okay, Jamie?

(read 3 months ago)

Billie

Richmond's weird without you

(delivered 3 months ago)

Billie

Jamie please talk to me

(delivered 2 months ago)

She didn't know why he'd shut her out, and even though she'd asked to be just friends and he'd agreed to it, she still missed him. Whenever she saw something she knew would make him laugh or reminded her of him, she wanted to send it to him, but she couldn't do it, because she felt like she was talking to a brick wall.

"Billie."

"Hmm?" The Kent girl frowned at her two friends who were staring at her with concern.

"You're doing it again." Madison sighed.

"Doing what?" Billie glanced between her two friends.

"Thinking about him." Alfie replied.

"No, I'm not," Billie frowned.

"So if I said let's watch Lust Conquers All this evening, you'd be cool with that?" Alfie asked, even though he knew the answer, because he had seen the way his best friend's face changed when the man she'd been missing appeared on the TV screen and she made up some story about needing an early night. The man who she would've preferred to not having to watch getting off with other girls on TV.

Billie Kent hadn't had an early night since she was twelve.

"I'd say I've got work to do this evening." Billie replied, and that was a lie, because apart from the tribute to Earl, the team's social media account was on a blackout period for the day, in respect of Earl.

"You've still not told us what happened, Bils," Madison sighed, "We can see that you're hurting, but we can't help you if you don't tell us what happened."

"It's not something I want to talk about," Billie answered.

"Billie, you're the one always telling the two of us that it's better out than in," Alfie added.

"I know," Billie huffed, pinching the bridge of my nose, "But talking about this won't solve it, once he's done with that TV show, it'll be fine, because I won't have to see his face again and he'll be up in Manchester, and I'll be here."

"And if Richmond gets promoted?" Madison replied, "They'd be playing Man City twice a year."

"Well, the boys in the newsroom reckon City won't take him back," Alfie told them, utilising his sports journalism connections, "They reckon Pep's fuming that he's missed the start of the season."

Billie wasn't angry with him, she couldn't be when she was the one who pushed for them to be just friends. But she was hurt, hurt that he'd do that without saying a word, because he knew as well as anyone close to her what that meant to her, and it was because he knew her as well as he did, that the whole thing weighed so heavy.