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Authors: Olivia Lancaster
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no big deal.”
“No, these people are different. I think you know them. And they-- they sounded like they were working against you. It was a blonde woman and some sleazy-looking guy with a bad fake tan,” I explained quickly. There was a long pause.
“That sounds like Janet Walker and Paul Franklin. She’s the team manager and he’s the owner,” Kieran replied, his tone more serious now. “And you think they were saying… bad stuff about me?”
“Y-Yes. That’s what it sounded like. I know I’m overstepping boundaries here but I just couldn’t pretend like I didn’t overhear it. I’m sorry,” I said, walking briskly over to my own car. I rarely drove it these days, preferring to just take public transportation. I only really used the old clunker when I needed to go somewhere outside my usual living radius, like the stadium.
“No, you’re good. Don’t worry. And I’m sure it probably sounded a lot worse than it was. I trust those two. They’ve never steered me wrong before,” Kieran said, but there was a hint of suspicion in his voice, all the same.
“I just don’t want anyone to hurt you,” I admitted flatly.
“I know. Thank you for looking out for me. Anyway, I guess it’s a good thing we have plans tonight. We’ll talk about it at dinner. I decided on a restaurant, by the way. I’ll text you the details. Drive safe and I’ll see you later,” he said.
“Thanks. See you,” I replied, then hung up. I drove out into the mid-afternoon sunshine, pondering how big a mess I was getting myself into.
CHAPTER 6 - KIERAN
Going to the team manager’s office was an unpleasant chore on the best of days. Even as I pulled up in the parking lot, though, I knew this was going to be the worst of days, and I was already bracing myself for what was about to come.
Janet Walker was a complicated woman. I didn’t pay much attention to the politics of sports administration, usually. I was a man of action, and my place was on the football field doing what I did best--none of the nuts and bolts of what went on behind the scenes were my concern, and all of us had always relied on our managers to handle that, unless there was a dispute.
And this was a dispute, to say the least, which put me in hot water, because I’d never had to deal with Janet before. At least, not under these circumstances.
I was always the type to look for the best in people. I was always taught to have full confidence in someone until they gave me a reason to betray that trust, and it had gotten me a pretty good ways in life thus far. But the more I thought about everything Danielle and I talked about last night, the stranger it sounded to me. Mom always had a bad impression of Paul and Janet, and I couldn’t blame her for that, because she was already worrying about me in my day-to-day career, so it would be natural for her to vent those frustrations onto my administrators. Maybe her impressions had been right all this time, though. In any case, talking to Janet today would settle that one way or another.
Janet was one of the first female managers in local football. The casual misogyny of the culture around her job must have taken its toll on her over the years, because she was both a fierce manager and an aggressive negotiator. But none of those things made her any less tricky to talk to than any other decent manager. Most, if not all, of everything that made her hard to work with came straight from Paul Franklin, the team’s owner.
But that was a can of worms I didn’t want to spend too much dwelling on. I was here on a very simple mission that simply had to be taken care of personally--and in person.
I stepped into the office and gave the receptionist
“No, these people are different. I think you know them. And they-- they sounded like they were working against you. It was a blonde woman and some sleazy-looking guy with a bad fake tan,” I explained quickly. There was a long pause.
“That sounds like Janet Walker and Paul Franklin. She’s the team manager and he’s the owner,” Kieran replied, his tone more serious now. “And you think they were saying… bad stuff about me?”
“Y-Yes. That’s what it sounded like. I know I’m overstepping boundaries here but I just couldn’t pretend like I didn’t overhear it. I’m sorry,” I said, walking briskly over to my own car. I rarely drove it these days, preferring to just take public transportation. I only really used the old clunker when I needed to go somewhere outside my usual living radius, like the stadium.
“No, you’re good. Don’t worry. And I’m sure it probably sounded a lot worse than it was. I trust those two. They’ve never steered me wrong before,” Kieran said, but there was a hint of suspicion in his voice, all the same.
“I just don’t want anyone to hurt you,” I admitted flatly.
“I know. Thank you for looking out for me. Anyway, I guess it’s a good thing we have plans tonight. We’ll talk about it at dinner. I decided on a restaurant, by the way. I’ll text you the details. Drive safe and I’ll see you later,” he said.
“Thanks. See you,” I replied, then hung up. I drove out into the mid-afternoon sunshine, pondering how big a mess I was getting myself into.
CHAPTER 6 - KIERAN
Going to the team manager’s office was an unpleasant chore on the best of days. Even as I pulled up in the parking lot, though, I knew this was going to be the worst of days, and I was already bracing myself for what was about to come.
Janet Walker was a complicated woman. I didn’t pay much attention to the politics of sports administration, usually. I was a man of action, and my place was on the football field doing what I did best--none of the nuts and bolts of what went on behind the scenes were my concern, and all of us had always relied on our managers to handle that, unless there was a dispute.
And this was a dispute, to say the least, which put me in hot water, because I’d never had to deal with Janet before. At least, not under these circumstances.
I was always the type to look for the best in people. I was always taught to have full confidence in someone until they gave me a reason to betray that trust, and it had gotten me a pretty good ways in life thus far. But the more I thought about everything Danielle and I talked about last night, the stranger it sounded to me. Mom always had a bad impression of Paul and Janet, and I couldn’t blame her for that, because she was already worrying about me in my day-to-day career, so it would be natural for her to vent those frustrations onto my administrators. Maybe her impressions had been right all this time, though. In any case, talking to Janet today would settle that one way or another.
Janet was one of the first female managers in local football. The casual misogyny of the culture around her job must have taken its toll on her over the years, because she was both a fierce manager and an aggressive negotiator. But none of those things made her any less tricky to talk to than any other decent manager. Most, if not all, of everything that made her hard to work with came straight from Paul Franklin, the team’s owner.
But that was a can of worms I didn’t want to spend too much dwelling on. I was here on a very simple mission that simply had to be taken care of personally--and in person.
I stepped into the office and gave the receptionist
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