June 29th, 2017
I took the day off from the course. I told the instructor I had a family emergency, which was not entirely a lie. The club was my family now, and this was an emergency. The first day... just for the new signings. The day the new era began for real. I needed to be there.
I got to the Beckenham training ground before anyone else. The sun was just coming up, casting long shadows across the perfect, empty pitches.
The air was cool and still. I walked through the building, the only sound the click of my shoes on the polished floor. It was quiet. But it was a different kind of quiet to the day before. This was the quiet of anticipation. The quiet before the storm.
My staff were already there when I got to the manager's office. Sarah, my assistant, was at her desk, a coffee in one hand and a tablet in the other, already going through the day's schedule.
