Chapter 1

Into The Storm

Chapter One: Starting On The Wrong Foot

The early light of the morning had set everything a glow, as she drove to the outskirts ofLondon. Excitement was in the air.

"I start my new job today! Yay!" She said cheerfully. Mellenia Brooklyn couldn't help feeling so excited, she had landed her dream job. She was going to start working as one of London F.C.'s sports injury specialists. She couldn't believe her luck.

As one of the more prominent teams, Mia had been surprised that the manager had even bothered to leave a message for her to come in for an interview. The interview, Mia thought, that itself had been another memorable moment.

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Walking in to the main building, Mia headed for the secretary's desk. "Hello! I'm Mia...I have an interview at9:30." She told the woman sitting behind the desk.

The elderly lady looked at her, and then at a sheet. "Sorry, you're not on the list dear." She told her.

"I got a call telling me to come here. There must be some mistake. Can you please check again? My name is Mellenia Brooklyn." Mia insisted.

Again, the lady looked at the sheet before turning to her. "Sorry, there is no Mellenia Brooklyn listed for any interview."

Something clicked in Mia's mind.

"Can you check for MBrooklyn...that's what I put on my resume..." She told the woman, sheepishly.

The secretary sighed as she looked over the sheet, but nodded. "Yes, you do have an appointment." She told Mia. "Wait right here. I'm going to let Felix know that you're here." She left Mia standing at the desk.

Mia looked around. The walls were covered with photos of the team and some of their best moments.

"Mr. Pettyfer will see you now." Came the voice of the secretary.

Mia tried to shake off her nerves as she headed to the door where the woman stood. "Thanks." Mia told her, walking past her in to the room.

An older man sat behind a desk, it looked as though he was finishing up writing something as Mia entered.

"Hello, mister Brook...lyn-" He started, the words coming to a halt as he saw the girl standing in front of him. "You're not a mister..." He said, shaking his head.

"No..." Mia said, trying to hold back her laughter.

"I'm so sorry...I thought M Brooklyn was for, well you know." He said shaking his head.

"Well Miss Brooklyn, I'm Felix Pettyfer. The manager of London FC. Please have a seat." He said, holding out a hand. Mia shook his hand before taking the seat in front of his desk.

"I'm very sorry about the mix up. Mellenia, is it?" Felix apologised. "It's okay. You can call me Mia." She told him. She found it rather funny.

Felix opened file full of papers, it was her portfolio, rifling through them, Mia saw him stop at one. He read it before turning to look at her.

"Well then, Mia. One of my former colleagues had a lot to say about you. He was the one who called and said that if I didn't give you a shot, I'd regret it." Felix chuckled, as he returned to scanning the papers in front of him. "You may know him. Dr. Mark Phillips."

Dr. Phillips? She wondered silently. The man had been in charge of her work at the university; preparing her for the theoretical and practical tests. She always knew when he approved of her work; he wouldn't say anything to her. It was when she would make a mistake, she would hear him. "Brooklyn!" He would yell, causing her to flinch. "Don't screw this up, Brooklyn!" Mia almost winced, his voice sounded as though it was right there in the room with them.

"I've been looking through your transcript. It's astounding. How old are you?" He questioned.

Mia stifled her laughter. Everyone always looked at her funny when she told them. "I'm twenty two..." She informed Felix.

"How did you finish so fast?" Felix sounded in awe.

Mia blushed. It was embarrassing when people asked her these questions. The story had always been the same...it was one of those things that once someone knew either they wanted to be her friend or they wanted nothing to do with her.

"I took more than the required courses during semesters and then I would take summer and correspondence courses." Mia said, quietly.

"That must have been a lot of hard work." He commented; he was now rifling through other papers. Mia looked closely at them. She grimaced; he had her high school report transcript. It seemed he had gone through, in depth, all of the items in the portfolio she had sent him.

"You're grades are very good. Mark told me that you scored the highest in both theoretical and practical, when you specialized for sports injuries." He looked at her.

"So tell me, where are you from?" Mia looked up at him. "I'm from Toronto, Ontario...it's in Canada." She answered.

"You were promoted twice in grade school?" Mia blushed again. "Yes..." She muttered. "Which grades?" "Three and six..." "You finished high school in three years? How?" "I took virtual school courses and summer school."

Felix interrogated her a little longer about her education. Mia wanted nothing more than to sink in to her chair.

"It says here you have a brother, Maximillion Brooklyn. What does he do?" Mia's heart hurt. Felix was going through every detail of her life. She had hoped he wouldn't go there.

"Max...umm...We were twins...I was ten minutes older..." That fact was irrelevant, Mia realized. "He's not here anymore..." She said, with a pause.

"Oh...I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Felix apologized. "Was this recently?" He asked her. "No...it happened years ago..." She hoped he would stop, to her relief Felix changed the subject. Asking her how well she got along with others, if she worked well in a team setting, and after several other intrapersonal skill questions, he finally got to what her work would entail.

He cleared his throat before speaking once more. "You must be wondering why I called you for an interview. Well, our team is looking for another sports injury specialist. I was hoping that it would be...well you know..." Mia smiled at him. He had been looking for a man to fill the position.

"None of the other applicants are as qualified as you are. I am aware that this will be your first experience as a professional, but Mark is backing you so I would be an idiot to ignore his advice. He was one of our best specialists." Felix said, as he closed her file.

"The job will require you to regularly check your roster of players. You will decide whether or not they are fit to play. Our players see two doctors; one for their regular physical check up, the other for sports injuries. So you will only be dealing with legs, arms, and maybe some broken ribs." He was setting the parameters of her work, for that she was more than grateful.

"You will also have the choice to stay in the women's dormitory. We have other women working here so you won't be alone. We're one of the few teams that still provide lodging for our players and staff, since many of them come from other countries; and we understand that it takes time to settle in." Mia already knew this.

She had loved the team since she was in high school. She had read up on the history and background. Her favourite soccer player even played for the team.

"So with all that in mind, Mia, I would like to offer you a place on the staff of London FC." Mia couldn't believe her dreams were coming true.

"I would love to work here!" She said, happily. "This is my favourite team...you have no idea how much I've wanted to work here! It's like a dream come true!" Mia caught herself before she said too much. Felix could be heard chuckling at her enthusiasm.

"Well, you will start Monday. So come by the field at nine thirty, I will introduce you to the team and staff. I'll tell you who will be on your roster then." He told her, after Mia had filled out and signed the contract. "Do you have any questions?"

"The dorms? Will I be staying there as soon as I start work?" Mia asked, she was living with her best friend at the moment.

"There has been a little bit of construction, but they will be ready soon and you will find out who your roommates are the week after next. Right now even the players are being lodged in one of the nearby hotels. " He answered. Mia nodded. One more week with Stacie should be alright...she thought.