“During the final, Javier kept kicking me and insulting me continuously. I ignored most of it, as that’s what rivals usually do. But during a heated moment, he said something against my mother. Something terrible and filthy. Something snapped inside of me and I grabbed his neck and pushed him back. He fell like he had been shot, and the ref came over and threw me out of the game.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. The moment has played in my mind a million times by now. If only I had shown restraint. I would be the captain of the first England team to win the World Cup in fifty years.
“In a matter of minutes I went from hero to villain. From being an all-time great to someone fans hated. Now I’ll only be remembered as the guy who punched a rival player and threw away the World Cup.”
“Oh David. I'm so, so sorry to hear this. This is not fair. That guy provoked you. What else could you have done?” Carrie sits back up, her eyes fixated on my face.
“Nothing is fair, Carrie. Now this guy is back in the league and the media, the sponsors and everyone else will once again build up our rivalry. And I know that this guy will leave no stone unturned in fueling old flames. This is going to get much uglier by the time the season ends,” I say ruefully.
I hate feeling like this but I’ve been in this game for far too long. I know how things work behind the scenes. Turning to look at Carrie, I wonder why I’m telling her all of this. Especially when I haven’t talked about all of this to anyone before, not even my own family. I’m surprised by what she says.
“David. I don’t know much about soccer but I can tell that you were not in the wrong. To beat yourself up over this guy seems the easy choice but what purpose does it serve? You gave me a speech on not giving up the other day and I say the same thing back to you today. Why give up? Why not let your performance on the field do the talking? Forget everyone else, you don’t have anything to prove. Heck, you played in a World cup final. How many people can even claim that? You're going to be the MVP of the league David. Please don’t throw it away because of some jerk!”
I’m not sure if it’s the genuine concern in her voice or the common sense in her words, but it really gets me thinking. I have a choice to make here. Either keep worrying about what Javier or the media will do to provoke me or just ignore everything and put in great performances on the pitch. In that moment, the choice seemed so simple that I wonder what I’m fretting about at all.
For the first time in an hour a smile spreads on my fa
ce.
“Thank you Carrie. Once again, for giving it straight to me.”
“I really should be charging you these straight talks y’know,” I giggle.
An hour later, as I go out to see Carrie off, I realize that Scott and Shauna are still waiting out in the living room. Willie, however, already left.
“David, are you okay?” Shauna asks.
“Why? Why shouldn’t I be okay?” My answer confuses them and they both look at each other. Maybe they think I've gone mad.
“David, we can file a complaint against Miami if you want. I double checked, and there is no rule that specifically…” Scott trails off as I raise my hand.
“We don’t need any of this, guys. The task is really simple. I'm here to play football and that is what I'm going to do. Everyone else can do whatever they please, my focus is only on my job. Understand?” They both nod. From the corner of my eyes I can see a proud smile on Carrie’s face.
“Oh my God! That is awesome. I was worried you had a breakdown or something.” Shauna clasps her hands.
“Not possible. I've a guardian angel looking over me.” I wink at Carrie, as Shauna and Scott stare at me with confused looks on their faces.
Chapter 90
“Honestly, if I could avoid it, I wouldn’t even go,” I say, tilting my head to balance the phone as I dress up.
“Just like how I didn’t want to go to that damn bachelor auction,” Carrie replies.
“Well but then I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to play the white knight and save you from falling, would I?” I smile.
“You're never going to let me forget that embarrassment will you?” she says.
“I'm just joking, love,” Damn David. It just slipped out of my mouth. An old habit. Calling a woman ‘love’, is a common practice in England but here in America they take it literally. I quickly change the topic. “Well, I hope Javier won’t behave like an arse this time around.”
“What is this event anyways?” she asks.
“Well, as fate would have it, we both have the same shoe sponsor and this is some sort of a promotional event... I told you, the sponsors and the media will try to capitalize on our past rivalry. There’s already a lot of excitement as this is the first time we both are going to be in the same room since the World Cup incident.”
“Meh. I'm not worried,” she says confidently.
“Neither am I. I'm more worried that I can’t choose which suit to wear and it’s already getting late.”
“Then, silly, what are you doing talking to me on the phone for?” Carrie laughs.