Chapter 398 Dramatic Opening



'So, I can get rewards by just setting up things that help me improve?' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way into the house.

<Yeah, that's just about it>

'And you were trying to stop me from doing it?'

<I was just trying to see how much you really wanted to do it>

'And what if I had decided to stop?'

<Then you would stop and get no reward>

'You wouldn't even try to get me to do it?'

<I don't have any reason to so no, but it's a good thing you decided to see it through>

'You're just unbelievable, Catherine.' The goalkeeper replied before sighing inwardly.

He opened the door to find Emma coming down the stairs already dressed for work.

"Oh, so you're already done outside." She said as she made her way to him.

"Hey, baby, you're looking really fine today." He said before putting his right arm around her waist.

"You've already seen me this morning." She said looking quite amused.

"Yeah, but I was still a bit drowsy, plus that dress looks really nice on you." He said.

"Thanks." She smiled.

After seeing her smile, he leaned closer toward her neck with his lips.

Emilia closed her eyes to hold in the sound that was about to escape from her mouth because she really needed to say something to him.

"Hey, you know I have to get to work fast, right?" She managed to say in between her breathing which had gotten a bit heavy now.

"Yeah, I'm aware of that." He said with a nod before slowly moving his face away from her. "I didn't want to do anything."

"Really?" She said with her hand on her neck.

"Um…not really but you have to get to work."

"Okay. Well, in that case, can you drop me off at work?"

"Sure, let me just grab my key from over there." He said before making his way to the table in the living room to grab his key.

______ ______

Amber had to leave Mateo's place early to go get changed for work and right now, the winger was seeing her off at the door.

"It was really fun spending the night with you."

"Fun? I don't recall us doing anything fun together, I slept off before you could come back from your shower." Mateo said.

"Yeah, I was a bit disappointed, but it's not your fault, playing ninety minutes can be really tiring and it can be almost impossible to try and play another match right after that." She expressed with a straight face.

"Huh?"

"Anyway, I'll be heading off now."

She changed the topic so fast that Mateo had no choice but to just forget about it.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off? Things will be easier for you that way and you'll get to work faster." He suggested.

"No, it's fine, I can manage on my own, and besides, I'll be late for work if you come with me."

"Huh? And why's that?" The winger asked.

"Um…because you're a little too distracting." She said with a smile.

He didn't say anything after hearing her say that, maybe because he was trying too hard not to react in an embarrassing way.

"Hey, are you blushing?" She said, trying to hold in her chuckle.

"No, I'm not."

"I could swear I saw your cheeks turn red just now but it's okay if you don't want to admit it, I understand."

"Hey."

"Hmph, cute, I'll get going now see you later wonder kid." She said before she turned and began to make her way down.

She suddenly stopped in between her steps to turn her gaze back to him.

"That's what they call you, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Okay, bye."

Mateo kept his gaze on her until she was out of sight before he moved back inside and closed the door.

Now that the door was locked, he turned his gaze to the couch to find his phone lying there.

"When did that get there?"

_______ ________

Just like the commentators said after their match against Zetoro United, Unique FC had no league matches this current week which was the first week of December.

They were going to be facing Sunglow United at home for the second round of the Bilbeth Super Cup and on Thursday, they were going to travel to West Ham to face off against West Ham United.

Sunglow United was a Division Two team which meant that Unique FC were obviously the favorites to win the match.

They knocked out Frono FC from the competition so there was no way Sunglow United was going to be a big deal.

Then again, Sunglow United just knocked out seventh-placed Spree United in a hard-fought match that ended with a penalty shootout, there were also the runner-ups in the competition last season as they were beaten by Dynamo FC who took home the prize while Unique were knocked out in the quarterfinals.

The match was set to kick off today and everyone was ready to see how things were going to turn out.

Norman didn't really see this match as much of a threat as he once again had most of his elite players on the bench just like he did against Frono FC.

Maybe he just didn't consider the Bilbeth Super Cup to be that much of an important competition for him to risk getting any of his valuable players injured.

Mateo was being replaced by Fredinho on the left wing because he was the only person who could replace him at the moment, Fred was in the striking position and Carlos was on the right.

In midfielder, he also decided to rest two of his midfield Dynamos.

Henry could have easily started since he was benching Ferran but he decided to start Edward there and Harry in Minino's position.

Those two were quite good as central midfielders but outside of that position, they weren't really that good, that was the reason why Norman wasn't using them that much anymore.

Well, at least, he had Frankie in the defensive midfield position so their midfield had the chance of holding up.

This time, Norman didn't listen to any plea from anyone as he dropped Roland on the bench and started Jonas in the left back.

Luis Roberto was in the right-back position and the center was being occupied by both Aima and Pirlo.

Yeah, he had almost all of his starting players on the bench and most of the fans seemed really pissed off about that.

"I don't know if Norman just likes to experiment with these league cup matches, but one thing is clear, he doesn't take these matches seriously." Jim expressed.

The match kicked off with Sunglow being the first to touch the ball from the kick-off spot.

Sunglow weren't that good when it came to attack and that made sense given the fact that they were currently in fourth place in division two struggling to get into third place and secure a promotion spot.

They weren't good in attack in defense but they were quite good in one thing, and that was parking the bus.

Unique FC had to make sure to not let them score against them first, because if that happens, getting back into the game is going to be really tough, especially with the players they had on the field at the moment.

Sunglow currently had most of the possession so far in the match because Unique FC were still trying to organize themselves.

Still, they were doing fine in dealing with whatever they were throwing at him and Frankie was being quite efficient in stopping their fast striker whenever he tried to cause any problems.

This time the striker got hold of the ball as Frankie quickly closed up on him.

He knew it was going to be hard to get past the midfielder so he tried to pass it to the right winger but Frankie quickly took the ball off his feet with a neat tackle before pushing the ball to Edward who immediately sent it rolling to Harry.

"Frankie giving Mundo trouble once again."

Harry wasn't able to keep hold of the ball for long though as he was quickly ganged up by three players who took the ball from him and immediately sent it flying over to the right winger.

Frankie closed up on the area right on time to nod the ball back to Aima who immediately sent the ball rolling back to him.

"Wow, Frankie is really carrying this defense."

Frankie got hold of the ball and was about to take off with it when he felt an immense on his left leg causing him to crash to the floor.

That was a very careless challenge from one of Sunglow's midfielders.

"Oh, dear, that doesn't look good."

The midfielder was on the floor now screaming in pain with his hands on his leg and the referee had no option but to blow his whistle.

He saw everything clearly and his only verdict was showing the player a straight red card.

"That's a straight red card, a well-deserved one, but it doesn't look like Frankie will be getting up?" Jim expressed.

"Now, that's what I call a dramatic opening."