Charisse had been in love with Henri Bouleronde ever since he had made it into the first team at Manport Athletic.  She loved the way his long blond hair formed a halo around his elegant features as he chased down the ball, loved his long slender legs as he fired another shot over the cross bar.  Sadly most of his shots seemed to miss the target these days and League One Manport looked as though it would be as far as her beloved HB would go.  Henri had become very touchy about the subject so much so that he no longer seemed to want to touch her.  Charisse had to confess their sex life had become a little wham, bam and almost as tedious as the hours spent on the terraces watching yet another boring game when she would rather be at home checking the brochures sent to her by the many private plastic surgeons she had contacted.  She was seriously considering a boob job in the hope it would encourage HB back to her bed instead of drowning his frustration in vodka and worrying about little round balls.

The run up to Christmas had seen Manport lose three home games in a row.  Henri was out most nights and when he did get home he would often be too drunk to do anything but fumble in the dark before falling into a stupor beside her.  She longed for real man, one who could handle the ups and downs of real life without seeking solace in a bottle.  She longed for someone who could take her to bed with a roar and satisfy the yearning which ached inside her.

Manport's owner, millionaire Roman Chomsky, had arranged a glittering New Year's Eve Gala Ball for the team and their WAGs, it was rumoured Ronaldo and quite a few United players would be there.  Charisse was excited, she had spent months shopping for the event, planning what she would wear, she hoped Henri wouldn't be cross when he found out how much she had spent on her dress, she hoped he would love it and if not then maybe this was her chance to meet someone else, someone with a bit more fire, someone who could set her alight.

Charisse settled into the chair at the hairdressers, she waited until Danny was free as she wouldn't let anyone else touch her hair.  He was running late and she was getting annoyed with him, he seemed to spend a lot of time chatting with this silly little woman about a silly little game of rugby which had been played on Boxing Day.  Some rubbish about Wasps and Sharks, what silly names for teams she thought.  Charisse had never known Danny to be interested in rugby, it was a game for thugs not gentle, creative, talented men like him.  The silly woman whimpered on about ‘real men' instead of "poofballers" and Charisse was desperate to lean across and tell her that her Henri was a footballer and real man but she couldn't, she realised it wasn't true.  She sighed sadly.

Once Danny had touched up her roots and twisted in the foils for her highlights she was free to relax.  For the first time she noticed the calendar on the wall in front of her.  It was called Sharks Uncovered and pictured the most gorgeous men she had ever seen - all were semi-naked and one was holding a yellow rubber duck while pretending to wash his back with a loofah.  Charisse was confused, she had never heard of Sharks before today but it obviously had something to do with rugby as some of the men in the calendar had oval shaped balls.

She remembered the conversation between Danny and the woman in the next seat, she guessed the woman had some connection with whoever these Sharks were so she leant across and said:

"Excuse me, who are the Sharks and who are these gorgeous men?  Just look at those bodies"

"Impressive aren't they?" the woman sighed "Sale Sharks are the biggest rugby team in the North West and these guys are some of the best players in the country" She turned to a picture of a man with lots of tattoos and said "in fact he's probably the best player in his position in the world".

"But rugby is a game for thugs" said Charisse "it's played by Neanderthals who aren't quick or intelligent enough to play football".

The woman in the next seat turned an unattractive shade of puce and looked as though she might explode.  "Have you ever been to a game? No?  Why not try it and see, you can have one of my staff comps for our next game if you like."

Charisse new HB wouldn't like it, he preferred his balls round, but she was bored, she had seen too many games which ended 0-0, drank too many vodka red bulls in the company of men who talked more of their hairstyles than her female friends did.  Maybe New Year was time for a new start, time for a whole new ball game.

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