2008

In Zurich, the headquarters of FIFA was crowded. Television, journalists, tourists, fans, and just the curious aspired, at least from afar, to plunge into the world of luxury, fame, brilliance, and obscenely huge money. But even just what they saw caused the crowd to be intoxicated and delighted on the verge of madness, which intensified when They appeared. Celestials. In their luxurious cars, in magnificent outfits from famous couturiers, bestowing a charming, indulgent smile on the crowd. Politicians, billionaires, film, music, fashion and sports stars - they all arrived at the Le Bristole Hotel in order to honor the Ballon d'Or ceremony with their attention. It will announce the name of the best player. Although all this was a formality and window dressing, since it was no secret to anyone who is and will be this best.

However, even those who understood this were excited and made to grit their teeth enviously by the fact that this grandiose event, as well as attention and admiration, from VIPs to ordinary people, would be dedicated to one person. That is why, when Bugatti Veyron drove up to the hotel, this already unceremoniously known hero of the occasion, the air was electrified from incredibly excited energy: admiration, blind adoration, envy, anger. A colorful range of feelings and emotions. And it was because of what! An incredible man stepped out of the car onto the red carpet. He radiated the strongest currents of sexuality, strength and charisma. It was impossible to take your eyes off him. Tall, muscular, with sculpted features. A mischievous boyish smile, addressed to all those gathered, strengthened his charismatic influence on those around him. Black hair was styled in a hairstyle that emphasized the image of a frivolous heartthrob, but a tenacious and penetrating look spoke of determination, intelligence and the knowledge that he was the best. And his confidence was unshakable, since he earned this title with hard work, blood and sweat.

He came from an ordinary average family. He had everything he needed. Parents loved, tried to ensure that he and his two sisters did not need anything, but they did not have any excesses. In general, everything, like everyone else. More precisely, like most of the population of the country. He was born in Portugal, although he himself was only half Portuguese. His mother was an Englishwoman, but when she married, she moved to her husband. Their family turned out to be friendly, but the joy in it lasted only eleven years. The head of the family, Gabriel Berket, died of bronchogenic carcinoma. When it was discovered, it was already the third stage. There was no money for the operation, so resigned, Gabriel pretended that nothing was happening. The children did not know what happened to their father until their death. The mother held on as best she could, but the cancer paralyzed the vagus nerve, and the father stopped talking. That same night the heartbreaking sobs of Megan Burket could be heard. The younger Burkets didn't know exactly what had happened, but they sensed that something terrible was happening. The children tried to behave as before, pleasing their father. When he died, the mother could not recover for a long time, and the children were inconsolable. But the son suffered the loss most acutely, he was always very close to his father, they developed friendly and trusting relations. Therefore, his death left a huge scar in the heart of the child and changed his trusting, cheerful nature. He became secretive, withdrawn and unsociable. Over time, thanks to the support and help of relatives, life in the Berket family improved, although it was very difficult for a woman to raise three children alone. Megan had no problems with the girls, they were obedient, diligent in their studies, and helped their mother around the house. But her son was very worried. He was constantly tense, studied very poorly, hardly played, rarely spoke, stopped smiling. Maggie could not find a place for herself, asked the girls to pay more attention to her brother, took him to a psychiatrist, but it was all to no avail. The boy still showed no interest in life, and she began to rely only on time and on the Lord. Once, when Marcus was seven years old, he saw older boys chasing a ball in the street, showing different tricks. The boy had a burning desire to learn how to do the same. Meggie saw in this desire the answer to her prayers, and without thinking twice, she gave the boy to football. From that moment on, for Marcus, everything else faded into the background. At first he trained because he liked it, he liked to play, to feel euphoria and freedom. Training forced him to concentrate on the case, and not on his experiences. Gradually, he began to recover, but he never forgot his father and really wanted him to be proud of him. Since Marcus was not doing well in his studies: he lacked perseverance, he decided to compensate for this lack in sports. Already at the age of ten, it was not enough for him to play like everyone else, he wanted to be the best. He trained in the courtyard of the house, at school during recess, on the way from school - wherever possible. And, probably, he would have slept with the ball if his mother hadn’t taken it away while the boy fell exhausted onto the bed. All these efforts were not in vain, when he was thirteen years old, a scout from the best football club in Portugal at that time came to the club, and choosing between him and his best friend, gave preference to him. This ended the friendship. The boy first tasted the taste of betrayal and envy. An understanding came to him: if you want to achieve the intended goal, you have to sacrifice a lot. He also learned the lesson that you should not let people get too close to you, because one day it will hurt to lose them. Having clashed interests in sports, the loss of friendship was inevitable. He did not stop talking to the guys from the team, but he was no longer friends with any of them, or even friends. I understood that sooner or later they would become competitors.

Soon, continuing to work hard, he entered the youth team of Portugal. The family was very proud of Marcus. Money appeared. And although it was a success, he knew that he should not relax in any case, because this is only the first battle won, and there is still a whole war ahead. He continued to train hard, sometimes even at night, honing his punches. It was a mad longing, a longing, a need. He wanted to be the best among the best.

"Always improve. Be better than yesterday's self" became his motto. Even after he was taken to Manchester United at the age of eighteen, he continued to train at the same rhythm, if not more, because he was not enough ... He wanted more fame, more money, more power and knew that he could do this. achieve. Marcus has long understood that sport is a huge and profitable business, and it is not enough to be a quality product, you have to be an advertised, popular, bright product, you need to be on everyone's lips. I also had to work on this: to give the appearance a gloss with the help of designers, stylists, makeup artists ... To become one of the most desirable men. And he became one. Parties, scandals, advertising projects and of course, a lot of beautiful girls who, one after another, hung on a rising star, did their job - all this, combined with talent and hard work, brought to the world the best among the best. The football player who received his award for the third year in a row is Markus Berket. A man who achieved his goal and who hoped that somewhere out there ... his only friend - his father, is proud of him.

The thought of him is the last thing Marcus remembers about the evening. The reception was practically no different from the thousands of others that he constantly attended. As always, all eyes were on him: the eyes of agents, coaches, football players, businessmen and gorgeous ladies, most of which were just expensive whores. Selfish glances, each of which pursued its own goal. Someone wanted to lure him to their team. Someone needs a publicity stunt. Someone wanted him in their bed. Someone needed cooperation in business. After all, he skillfully earned on his popularity and appearance, and despite the gaps in education, he was an excellent businessman. In ten years, Marcus built a real business empire, investing his fees in the restaurant business, a chain of hotels, gyms, clothing stores and perfumes of his own brand. He was a perfectionist and tirelessly pursued his goal, spurring others on. He had incredible energy and curiosity, was self-taught. His decisions were non-standard and often contradicted by rationality, but he succeeded because, above all, he believed in himself. If the question arose whether to follow his intuition or rely on the opinion of experts, he always chose intuition. For it was she who made him be in the right place at the right time. For which he was considered lucky and really wanted to be on friendly terms with him. If the question arose whether to follow his intuition or rely on the opinion of experts, he always chose intuition. For it was she who made him be in the right place at the right time. For which he was considered lucky and really wanted to be on friendly terms with him. If the question arose whether to follow his intuition or rely on the opinion of experts, he always chose intuition. For it was she who made him be in the right place at the right time. For which he was considered lucky and really wanted to be on friendly terms with him.

Over the years of his successful career, he got used to all this, sometimes it even seemed to him that he did not have a difficult childhood in a small but cozy house. Now he didn’t care at all what others wanted, he had won the right to think only about his desires. And, apparently, the whole evening was just doing just that. Morning greeted him mercilessly.

- Mm, damn! Marcus groaned without opening his eyes. My head was just spinning with a hangover.

After lying around for a couple more minutes, he finally opened his eyes and found two sleeping girls next to him.

Everything is as usual - said bored.

For as long as he could remember, every party or reception ended with pictures like this. Sometimes he didn't even know who he was sleeping with. However, it was not important, the main thing is not to forget about the gum. All these famous girls of unknown employment could be unsafe and not only regarding STDs, each slept and saw how to get the famous athlete and his money. The child seemed to them the most successful solution to this problem. Marcus, on the other hand, twitched at the mere thought that some whore would use his child to live well at the expense of alimony, therefore, when he saw the used condoms, he grunted with satisfaction and left the room.

Half an hour later, he drove up to his hotel, where a bunch of journalists had gathered.

-Your mother! - Markus commented on the opened picture. The last thing I wanted to do right now was meet anyone, not to mention this pack of hyenas. Taking out his cell phone, he drove past the stunned crowd.

Let Rob deal with all this. By the way, where is that son of a bitch? - the man thought until he heard the voice of his assistant on the phone:

- Oh, Marcus! And I'm looking for you everywhere ... - he began, but Marcus interrupted him rudely.

- Rob, what the hell is going on outside the hotel?

- Do not get excited, I agreed. You wanted to quickly finish your business and go to Lauren's on vacation, - Rob Maguire hastily explained.

For a year now, he has been an assistant to a football player. And although he was on good terms with him, he was still a little afraid of him. This is for the public Marcus - a real darling. But Rob, like no one else, knew that under this husk lies that still beast. And now this beast is furious, and this is very, very bad.

“Listen, Robbie,” an insinuating voice came over the phone. - You are an excellent assistant, but one more such initiative and you will have to look for a job! I went to have breakfast, and you rake your joint so that in an hour and a half there will be no one at the hotel, otherwise I will find you a replacement!

Maguire wanted to assure that everything would be done on time, but Burket had already passed out. He was such a person - he did not forgive mistakes.