November 18^th, 2021

The plane touched down on time and I grabbed a taxi to the Boston Harbour Hotel. I had decided overnight as I flew to America that I might as well use this as a short break, after all I had nothing but time now and it was a long time since I had visited Boston for pleasure. Normally it was as a staging point with the Underground or on the way to visit one of the franchises East coast farm teams.

A power nap and a shower later I headed down to reception shortly before noon. Asking the desk clerk if an ‘HM’ had been asking for me he indicated in the direction of a person sat in the window seat just inside the bar. “Wow !!” I thought “That’s not what I expected at all”

I sat down opposite the stunning young woman, put the note on the table and just raised my eyebrows. She poured a glass of wine from the bottle chilling in the bucket and motioned for me to do the same which I was more than happy to do. “My boss thinks you should read these” She said, handing over a large heavy packet “He’ll phone you tonight for your decision, time is of the essence”. With that she necked her drink back stood up and headed out the door. I stared after her, savouring the lingering smell of her perfume. When the last vestiges had vanished I turned my attention to the wine and the large package on the table. I raised my hand in the direction of the waiter, indicated that he should bring another bottle and settled back to open the package.

Emptying the contents all over the table I noted that I had seen a lot of this in my Kuwana days, pictures of fan protests, disparaging local newspaper headline clippings and tables that showed team after team in the organization failing miserably. The last two documents really caught my eyes though, a précis for consultation about Sporting Venue finance from New Bedford City Hall stamped by the mayor’s office and even more strange, a document in French entitled Un mode de financement de la relocalisation d’une équipe PEBA à la neuvième arrondissement also stamped by the Marseille  Mayor’s office. This might be a good read after all I thought as I sank into the chair and poured a bigger glass of wine.