August 2012 was a glorious month for the city of Brandermill and its favorite sons at the Brandermill football club. Out of the four league games the team played in this month, three victories and a draw were the result. This miraculous run of form combined with the fact that the team won their first-round league cup fixture against Burnley ushered a sense of celebration throughout the city.
All doubt about Pelletier's style of play and the fact that the average age of his team was 24 were instantly cast out of people's minds. He was instantly lauded as a hero with local newspapers and news stations putting him under the limelight almost daily.
Pelletier, however, was not the only hero to emerge from the club during this month. The team captain and oldest player, Tim Dupp, who was 25 this year became a local hero. Acting as the team's number ten and their player maker, he made his mark by either scoring or assisting almost every goal the team had.
Considering Pelletier's very defensive style of play and his document abhorrence for any form of all-out attack opting instead for a slow and methodical approach, Dupp's role as the only avenue of attack in the team made him extremely visible to the supporters.
Simon on the other hand was relishing in the effect the teams run of form had on the club's finances. The two league home games as well as the league cup match produced a bit short of a million pounds. Add in the sale of merchandise and catering revenue, and the club's finances were almost nearly balanced.
The club's successes, while beneficial to the overall atmosphere in the dressing room and boosted the confidence of the players and the supporters, it led to the casting of intense scrutiny on Simon and his business practices.
The source and size of Simon's wealth was often the talk of financial and sports pundits since he seemingly spent millions of pounds through numerous avenues and held stakes in more than 8 major companies in or around the city of Brandermill.
His origins were not unknown to any of the higher echelons of the city since his family and even himself, for a short while, ran the only Bank in the city. However, no one was able to figure out exactly where his immense wealth came from since Simon made sure to claim his lottery winning anonymously.
Another focus of the pundits was mainly on Simon's business practices, specially his use of only affiliated companies that he indirectly held a stake in for any and all projects involving the club. Most questioned the legality of something like this and about the implication that this might have on the city's economy.
Simon, however, paid no attention to such a thing since he had a host of lawyers headed by his granduncle Jon to make sure that all his contracts and deals were above board. Jon, who was one of the oldest residents of the city, was well versed in commercial law and even more well versed in local laws which made this very easy.
On the other hand, Simon's major focus this last month was the repurposing of the old school to the Brandermill FC Youth Academy after leasing the area from the city council for a small amount. Simon spent almost 20 million pounds working with the EPD associated construction company to build a state-of-the-art training facility.
The cost was nearly halved since the school's main building was already. This fact combined with the football field with stands and all that was already there made it easy to progress quickly with the construction of the academy.
The plan that the construction company drafted involved the construction of four extra training fields as well as converting the indoor gymnasium into a turf field. The old school was not extremely big and had about two dozen room which would be converted into offices, lockers, and lodging rooms for players from elsewhere.
Pelletier, who was the former youth team manager, was instrumental to the development of the academy which he undertook with unusual fervor as if this was where he was most comfortable. He proceeded to request an indoor steam room, a few weight rooms and even an inhouse medical room fitted with an x-ray machine.
Simon had a slight heartache at the sheer amount of money that was going into this project, but he was not too worried since he simply got the project financed through Emerson Bank. Simon had most of his wealth in a trust with a high interest so that he would have constant returns, so he didn't dip into that, but rather used the Bank.
Given that Simon owned a substantial stake in the construction company through EPD, he was in reality gaining money, but he was still alarmed at the cost. However, he was committed and the fact that he has long learned that one must spend money to earn money helped keep him going. Even though this academy of his would not be as extravagant as the ones owned by major clubs, it would be leagues above those clubs in first and second leagues.
Simon, who was wearing a pair of athletic jeans and a white t-shirt, was staring at the buzzing atmosphere around the construction site where his academy should be. The way he was dressed, and his meticulously comped black hair made him standout amongst the workers and the pedestrians walking by.
Simon did not plan to go into the construction site to get a closer look. He simply pulled over to see how the work was progressing as he was heading to Shepard's to get drunk with Charles and Silver. Seeing the hundreds of people going about doing one thing or another, he simply nodded his head in satisfaction and was about to get back in the car and head to the bar.
However, as soon as he turned around, he noticed a lady in a light summer dress walking near his car with a pair of headphones in her ear. The first thing that caught his attention was the flowery sundress which complemented her rosy skin perfectly.
Simon immediately walked towards the lady who was walking at a leisurely pace before speaking:
"Ms. Howard."
Simon's words, however, got no response from the lady as she kept walking. Simon saw the headphones in her ears, so he quickened his pace slightly to catch up before tapping her on the shoulder. Ms. Howard immediately turned with freight as her deep blue eyes stared at the cordially smiling Simon.
However, seeing that he startled her, Simon immediately looked apologetic as he put his arms up in disarmingly while speaking:
"Sorry if I scared you Ms. Howard."
Seeing that it was only Simon, Ms. Howard took off her headphone and spoke with a suspicious and slightly irritated tone:
"Mr. Emerson. Is something the matter."
Simon who did not expect such a cold reception smiled sheepishly while replying:
"Nothing much Ms. Howard. I just saw you and wanted to say hi."
Ms. Howard looked at him with the suspicious look still on her face before speaking again while turning to walk away:
"Well, hello to you too. Now if you don't mind."
Simon was at a loss at her odd behavior as he walked up to beside her and continued speaking as if he didn't notice her brushing him off:
"So where are you headed to Ms. Howard? Can I call you Elaine by the way?"
Elaine simply cast him a sidelong glance before speaking with some irritation:
"I am meeting some friends to get some early dinner before heading to see a film. And no, you might not call me Elaine.
Simon was starting to get disheartened by her attitude, but he didn't take it to heart as he simply continued talking:
"What a coincidence, I am also going to go get dinner with friends before heading to the movies. Would you mind if I tag along till we get there?"
Elaine who was also getting agitated replied with a nod and tried to put on her headphones, but Simon interrupted her by talking again with his overly cheerful tone that was starting to get on her nerve:
"So, how have you been Elaine. How's work?"
Elaine looked at Simon without even attempting to hide the annoyance in her face before speaking:
"Fine."
"I see, that's good. How's the family doing?"
Elaine raised her eyebrows at his question as he questioned him with a suspicious tone:
"You know my family?"
"Of course….not. I was just inquiring about them."
The irritation was back on Elaine's face, but it was much less than before. Seeing this, Simon was encouraged as he continued bothering her with a barrage of questions which she answered out of polite consideration.
As they walked further downtown, Simon who was constantly chirping at Elaine was starting to make headway as he figured out the best way to get a response out of her was to arouse her curiosity or ask something unexpected.
Eventually, the two of them reached the vicinity of a small restaurant with 4 ladies and two guys standing outside while wearing casual clothes. The moment the gang laid eyes on Elaine and Simon, they walked towards them while smiling and waving.
Simon also smiled and waved back at them as they got closer. Seeing this a hint of a smile flashed past Elaine's face before being replaced by her usual irritated look. When the group reached other, one of the girls was the first to speak:
"Hi Elaine. I thought you said you were coming alone, is this your boyfriend?"
Elaine and Simon were caught by surprise by the girl's words, but Simon was the first to recover as he immediately extended his hand to the girl who spoke while replying with a smile:
"Nice to meet you, am Simon. Elaine has told me a lot about you guys."
Elaine was surprised once again as she stared speechlessly at Simon who was introducing himself to her friends without correcting her friends misunderstanding. She wanted to jump in-between him and her friends and tell them that he was not her boyfriend but didn't know how to go about it.
She simply decided to tell them straight away, but before she could speak, Simon who just finished shaking everyone's hand spoke while laughing:
"Well I'll let you guys get your food. My buddies and I will be eating at Shepard's pub before heading to the movies. Swing by if you want so that we can head to the movies together."
"Oh, that sounds like a fun idea, we'll definitely take you up on that."
As soon as Simon heard the reply from one of the ladies in the group, he nodded and turned to the still flabbergasted Elaine and got close to her as if he was about to hug her before stopping halfway and speaking with a playful smile:
"I'll see you later El. Call me if you need a ride home later."
Elaine who could barely keep up with what was going on was once again shocked by Simon's words which not only gave her a nickname but also told her to call him later so that he could take her home.
Simon immediately walked away from the group while waving goodbye as he made it his way to Shepard's. This was a slightly cheap blow from his part, but he really couldn't help it since it was presented to him on a silver platter.
Elaine's shocked look was extremely adorable, especially her deep blue eyes that exuded innocent exuberance. He couldn't help but have a smile plastered on his face as he thought about that face of hers.