The joyous, muddy, and slightly biscuit-scented chaos of the Apex FC dressing room was a distant, happy memory.
Leon sat in his small manager's office, the tiny non-league trophy gleaming under the single lightbulb, and stared at his phone.
Marco's words echoed in his head, a beautiful, brilliant, and utterly insane symphony of madness.
"He wants to offer you a new job, Leo. He says… he says he has made a terrible mistake."
The phone was still in his hand, Marco on the other end, breathing with the heavy, emotional weight of a man who had just witnessed a miracle (and was already calculating the commission).
"A mistake?" Leon finally managed to say, his voice a disbelieving squeak.
"He sacked me! He sent a man in a suit to fire me like I was a middle manager who'd messed up a spreadsheet! And now he's made a 'mistake'?"
"LEO! MY BOY!" Marco roared, his passion returning in a tidal wave.
