Many years ago, I wrote "Winners and Losers" that I never finished. I subsequently rewrote it in 2016, but never published the 27 chapters to Literotica.
This is the complete 70,000 word story from eight years ago.
* * * * *
The newspaper's coverage was considerable. Initially, my heart raced as adrenaline was pumped into my bloodstream. I read the headline in the broadsheet and my spirits sunk - "Bisexual sports porn star fired over sexuality." I was on the front page of the national newspaper; on page eight the story continued with a picture of me.
But the story was complimentary. It detailed my team's popularity as footballers as much as the sexual forfeits and it highlighted equality issues with my ex-employer in that they discriminated against people of alternative sexuality.
My Twitter feed was dominated by messages of support, interspersed with messages of disgust. Betty repeated her offer of a pornographic collaboration and I began to seriously contemplate the offer.
I also had a job interview to prepare for, and the two gentlemen who interviewed me for a role with their software company were at pains to stress that if they didn't offer me the position, it was not on the basis of my sexuality. "We are an equal opportunities employer," he stressed.
"Sure. I didn't leak my encounters to the press. That was my colleagues aghast at my treatment. I don't flaunt my ... sexuality." The elder man's eyes narrowed; he was uncomfortable with me and I knew I wouldn't succeed in getting offered employment.
For all the rhetoric, the company clearly weren't comfortable; either it was the pornographic nature of my extra-curricular activities or my sexuality or both, but it was not because of a lack of skills that saw me rejected. I was well-qualified, if not over-qualified, for the role.
Training was far more competitive that usual, and I was just as combative; a weight had been lifted from my shoulder as the world had discovered the truth, and ferocious tackles were being played by everyone.
The showers were raucous; muscular bodies soaked as mud flowed from tired limbs. We felt ready. We were due a victory against AFC Kerlon and the coach communicated his tactics the following day.
We would play a 4-2-3-1 formation with myself and Ryan as the two holding midfielders. It felt so real. Playing in a proper league stadium -- in a major town twenty miles away -- in front of thousands of people.
The interest in the game had increased; tickets had sold out within hours of the news article appearing and the league had cheerfully reported that a cut of the sales would be split with each club; Woodford Wanderers stood to make a large five-figure sum from the game and more if we won.
We didn't need any additional incentive to win; we had that already. The social media accounts of AFC Kerlon's players was enough; they were acting like they had already won the trophy. I was excited on the morning of the game, nervous when I stepped onto the minibus. I wasn't the only one.
A camera crew filmed us disembarking and we had a large changing room to ourselves. It was a world away from what we had in our league.
Immaculate, tiled floors; coat hangers and lockers and even a medical bench. It was impressive. ManLube had provided us with brand new kits; shiny and flawless in the harsh light of the clinical changing room, they hung on our pegs. "LOWTON 4."
I had butterflies.
It was unreal. I tweeted a picture of my spot in the changing room. I didn't know what else to do.
The next ninety minutes flew past; we trained on the pitch, we got changed, we had our tactical talk about AFC Kerlon and we had a talk from the referee. I felt like a spectator.
The roar of the crowd was deafening. Ear-splitting and thunderous, ten thousand fans yelled as two lines of players ran onto the pitch.
I don't remember the kick off; I can't remember too much about the first ten minutes. Our coach told us to keep it tight and not concede and we didn't. Every moment I was thinking about my position or the runs of the opposition. Every moment I was focused, disciplined and attentive.
Suddenly, I knew how the players felt who pulled on the jersey of their national team and played in a World Cup; every second counted: too scared to make a mistake and yet eager to be the magnificent hero.
I can't deny I dreamt of lifting the trophy. It may have been silly, but at that moment in time it was a massive occasion. I didn't see the crowd, or concentrate on them, just kept AFC Kerlon's attacking players at bay with well-timed tackles.
It was 0-0 at half-time; we'd closed them down when they had the ball and Lee had rattled the post with a scorching volley. Woodford Wanderers were dominant.
The second-half started with the same high tempo; it was natural that both teams would tire. Dmitri's scrambled goal gave us the lead and we celebrated like we had won the World Cup; their curly-haired forward equalised, before an 89th minute corner was headed into our net by our full-back.
It was heart-breaking.