My Goalkeeping System

Since Dave still had the problem of moving around freely, Mateo was the one who had to go get the drink, and after returning to the living room, he poured some for Clark and himself, Dave didn't want any.

"Okay," Mateo said before he sat on the couch beside Clark and picked up the remote control.

Dave had his gaze on the floor, and he kept it there for a while before he slowly turned to Clark who was sitting beside him.

"So, what is this big news that you have for me?" He asked.

"Yeah, about that," Clark said before he took a sip from his drink. "I have been getting a lot of calls since last week."

"A lot of calls?"

"Yeah." He replied with a nod before dropping the glass on the table.

"Calls about what?" The goalkeeper asked.

"Well, apparently, you've become a big-shot goalkeeper and a lot of clubs want you in their squad."

"And by a lot, you mean how many?" The goalkeeper asked.

Mateo wasn't even paying attention to what they were saying as he was busy watching the Troham United Versus Tereville United match expecting Tereville to make a comeback anytime soon.

"Let me break it down for you, four clubs from England, three from Spain, and one from Germany."

"Four clubs from England and three from Spain?" The goalkeeper said with a shocked expression on his face.

He wasn't really surprised about the one from Germany as he already knew about it.

"So the four clubs from England, which ones are they?" He asked.

"Um…we have Arsenal, Brighton, Manchester City, and Manchester United who are still interested in you because they believe that Patti Moreno may leave as a free agent at the end of the season as a free agent as he has not yet said anything about renewing his contract," Clark explained.

"Oh, I see, and who are the ones from Spain?" He asked.

"Villarreal, Atletico Madrid, and Sevilla," Clark replied.

"Okay, and the one from Germany is still Frankfurt, right?" He asked.

"Yeah," Clark replied. "Some of them are even willing to make a move for you when the transfer window opens next summer, especially Manchester City."

"That's nice." The goalkeeper said with a warm smile on his face. "But you know I'm not leaving Unique FC until the end of the season, and even if I wanted to, I'm not sure they would let me go like that."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, and don't worry about making a decision either, I'll access all the clubs and their situations at the end of the season and give you the information to help you make a better decision, I wouldn't want you to end up in a club where you would have no playing time." Clark expressed.

"Thanks, Clark, you're the best," Dave said with a bright smile on his face.

"I guess trying to believe in Terevile United to make a comeback against Troham United was a big mistake," Mateo said before letting out a deep sigh.

Dave and Clark had not even looked at the television since Mateo turned it on but they had to look after what Mateo said.

They turned their gaze to the television to see that the score was now three goals to nothing in favor of Troham United with the clock just hitting the forty-fifth minute.

"A three goal lead in the first half? They're dismantling them." Clark said.

"Yeah, there's no way they're coming back from that," Mateo said. "Down to fourth place and probably fifth Place tonight."

"But that's just about it, right?" Dave said.

"Huh?" Mateo said before quickly turning his gaze to him.

"I mean that's just about it until the next match days, right?" The goalkeeper said.

"Yeah," Mateo replied.

"Sure that loss against Dynamo FC was a drawback and I can't really say if it could have gone differently or not if I was on the pitch, but it's not over yet, we may end up in fifth place tonight, but that doesn't mean we're that far off from the top of the table.

"They're only a point ahead of us, the only team that's being a threat so far is Supreme United who are at the top of the table with all nine points.

"Let's just focus on the matches ahead and do our best, this season will be different from the previous ones I just know it."

"Yeah, if we keep working together as a team with great chemistry, we'll pull it off," Mateo said.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Clark said as he reached for his drink on the table. "No team in the Bilbeth Premier League is going to take you for granted after all the things you've done so far, Supreme United had their own share in the charity cup."

He was about to pick up the glass when Mateo's phone which was lying on the table began to vibrate.

"Umm…who's Sofia, Mateo?" Clark asked with his gaze on the phone.

As soon as he asked that question, Mateo quickly reached for his phone and picked it up but he didn't pick up the call.

"Wait, is that really Sofia calling you, Mateo?" Dave asked before turning his gaze to the winger.

"You know who the person is?" Clark said after turning his gaze to the goalkeeper.

"Yeah, she's this girl we met during our pre-season tour at Barcelona, she's kind, sweet, and likes football, I think Mateo picked an interest in her." The goalkeeper explained without giving a thought to how Mateo was going to react.

"Hey, you don't have to put it that way." The winger said before shooting a glare at him.

"So, are you two together or something?" Clark asked.

"No, we're just friends, there's nothing like that, besides, she's just seventeen years old." The winger said.

Suddenly, he was talking fast and his breathing was a little paced compared to the way it was before that question.

"Oh, so the problem is age, she's underage, but you know that's not a problem, she'll be eighteen soon anyway so just go for it," Clark said.

His face was really close to Mateo's now and it was making the winger quite uncomfortable.

"I said we're just friends and that's because I think she's an interesting person."

"Oh, really, then why are you so flustered all of a second because of this conversation."

He didn't have an answer to that question and luckily for him, his phone began to ring again.

"Um….Dave, can I use your bathroom, please?" He asked before quickly getting up from the couch.

"Sure, help yourself." The goalkeeper replied.

As soon as he said that, the winger quickly headed toward the staircase and disappeared upstairs.

"I forgot to tell him to be careful with this kind of stuff," Clark said before picking up his glass. "Oh, well, he'll come back soon anyway." He said before taking a sip from the drink.

"I think I'll go get myself a glass of water." The goalkeeper said before getting up from the couch.

He forgot to pick up his crutch in the process, but he was standing just fine without it.

'Hey, Catherine, I don't feel like I need that anymore.' He said subconsciously before taking a step forward.

His leg was a bit shaky and it looked like he was going to fall for a second, he was staggering.

"Hey, you should use your crutch before you fall," Clark said.

"No, I don't need it for this." The goalkeeper said as he continued walking toward the kitchen with his staggering motion.

Clark watched him half expecting him to fall so that he would say 'I told you so.' to his face, but the goalkeeper ended up getting to the kitchen without hitting the floor.

After watching him enter the kitchen without falling, he couldn't help but smile before turning his gaze to the television.

*****

Mass release goals.

A magic castle= one extra chapter.

Two magic castles= two extra chapters.