Paul James is a man under the spotlight; often for all the wrong reasons. At age twenty-three; many people believe it's now time for the out-of-control Paul to grow up and kick his old party-boy ways which has given him the "ticking time bomb" stigma for so long. With all the potential in the world; Paul could find himself losing the one thing that got him to this point in the first place; the faith of his family; the respect of his friends; and most importantly . . . he could lose himself. One event will change the life of Paul James forever. With his dreams over and nothing to live for; the one thing that has criticised Paul for so long could turn into the one thing that will give him his big break and last opportunity to fulfill what the close people around him believe to be his destiny. However . . . There are more than a handful of people that wouldn't mind seeing Paul James fail in what will turn out to be one of the most controversial decisions New Zealand has ever seen.

HEADLINE

By Michael Pulman

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2012 Michael Pulman
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-5217-1

Contents

Chapter 1: The Big Game.......................................................................1Chapter 2: The Party..........................................................................14Chapter 3: Harsh Discoveries & Settlements....................................................27Chapter 4: The Middle Of Nowhere..............................................................41Chapter 5: A Different Life Style.............................................................49Chapter 6: Dreams.............................................................................72Chapter 7: Emotions Deep Down Inside..........................................................87Chapter 8: A Happening ... A Quick Changing...................................................108Chapter 9: Greener Pastures...................................................................137Chapter 10: Land Of The Long Hot Sun..........................................................151Chapter 11: Building Up For Kickoff...........................................................176Chapter 12: Australia vs Black Hawks @ Melbourne..............................................187Chapter 13: Events Engraved On Our Minds......................................................196Chapter 14: Finally Meeting...................................................................212Chapter 15: A New South Wales Day In Paradise.................................................230Chapter 16: Australia vs Black Hawks @ Sydney.................................................249Chapter 17: Wandering.........................................................................257Chapter 18: It's Not A Day To Remember........................................................274Chapter 19: Verdict...........................................................................293Chapter 20: Back To The King Country ... Back Home.... Where It All Began.....................300Chapter 21: Chloe's Confession................................................................314Chapter 22: Reservations For The Wanting......................................................325Chapter 23: Public Relations..................................................................333Chapter 24: You're A Money Making Machine.....................................................342Chapter 25: A Moving Moment...................................................................357Chapter 26: For The Love Of How Things Used To Be.............................................367Chapter 27: The Bottom Line...................................................................375Chapter 28: Time..............................................................................389Chapter 29: Rugby Nations Final: Black Hawks vs Australia @ Auckland..........................398Chapter 30: Mark's Only Fear..................................................................410Chapter 31: 10 Days Later.....................................................................429

Chapter One

THE BIG GAME

It was a cold and wet old Sunday afternoon in Auckland. The look outside did not offer up anything positive to mind, grey skies with on and off showers of rain does not make many people jump for joy. Like it is on most days in Auckland, the motorway heading into the city was gridlocked, and you could see the frustrations on the faces of other motorists trying to get to their desired destinations. You would have to question why so many people were traveling on a horrible wet day like this. The traffic was moving slowly at around 20 KPH and although slow, progress was finally beginning to be made. In the middle of the massive gridlocked was a bus, and inside that bus there was no talk, just complete silence. All you could hear inside this bus was the creeks of the brakes and the tooting horns of frustrated motorists alongside. At the back of the bus on the right hand side young Paul James was sitting in almost a trance like state. Paul James was 23 years old, a short height, with short and sharp brown hair. Paul had a very good build, buff and plenty of muscle. The perfect athletic sports body for a young man. All the hours of pumping the weights in the gym had more than paid off for young Paul James. All he could hear was the blasting rap music that was playing through the headphones he was wearing, which were connected to a $400 MP3 Player. He had brought that MP3 Player earlier in the day and had made it his mission to tell everyone just how special it was. However at this point in time that was the last thing on Paul's mind, he was only 30 minutes away from the biggest game in his rugby career. Ever since Paul could remember he had been interested in sport, and rugby was his specialty. None of that was on his mind though. It had been an incredible year for Paul, he had only being playing rugby professionally for 8 months and all of a sudden he was about to take the field in the hopes of winning his team the national championship. Paul James was a first five for Waikato and for as long as his memory serves he has hated Auckland, the very team he was coming up against today. In his mind Paul was thinking that he would be the determining factor in this game as all season long he had been the one man responsible for all his teams success to this point. Its not cocky thinking, Paul just believed he was the best on the team and that his actions had more than proved that in past games. Finally the Waikato team bus managed to get off the gridlocked motorway and was now driving at 50 KPH through the streets of Auckland's CBD. Looking out the window you could see fans wearing Auckland shirts, some were walking and others were sitting, but you got the feeling that this was very much an Auckland based support heading in the same direction as the bus was. On the radio inside the bus a man's voice came on the loudspeaker, '10 minutes till we arrive' said the man, 'get your things together'. So Paul decided to turn off his MP3 Player and packed it away. Almost immediately after turning off the music Paul began to analyze the game ahead. Music was something that always managed to calm Paul but as the years had gone on he did not need to rely on it as much. The bus Paul and the Waikato rugby team were traveling in was no ordinary bus, it was almost double the size of an ordinary bus. Each compartment of seats was fitted to be a storage device. In front of each seat there was a little table like construction where everyone could put their bags, because rugby players do not travel lightly. Paul had packed a lot for this game, much more than usual. He had three bags with him, the first of which contained all his personal items like his MP3 Player, Cellphone, and all those other important things including a couple of oranges and bananas in case he got hungry. He also had a couple of pages of notes for the game, including specific plays for both attack and defense. The Auckland side was known for being tough defensively so the major focus in mid week training was attacking and making sure all the set plays were working to the best if their ability. In the other two bags Paul had with him was all the rugby gear he would need for the game, kicking tees, tape, the list went on and on. Paul decided to look out the window again and this time he could see the lights of Auckland's Rugby Stadium, known as "The Green" dominating the skyline in the distance. This meant that it was not long at all until they would be arriving. It would not be long now until the Waikato boys would...