A Lucky Break

The Phone Call

Hayley's POV:

The next day I'm having my lunch break like normal when an out of breath Emily drops down in the seat beside me. I look at her with my eyebrows raised. "What's the rush? You don't start for another 15 minutes," I ask her as I look at my watch.

She takes a moment to catch her breath before she says anything, "My club called me today, asking about you."

I roll my eyes, " You know I'm only here for another two weeks so I can't join a team."

"I think you might reconsider when you hear this offer," she says seriously.

"There's no point. My contract here finishes in a week and then so does living in the flat the week later. You know that," I explain to her, like she doesn't already know.

"No, this offer is better," she says. "Arsenal want to talk to you."

I sigh slightly, "Emily that doesn't mean much." I know shes just trying to find I reason for me to stay in London. "Playing for one of their teams doesn't mean I can stay here. I need a job and somewhere to live," I explain the logistics to her.

"You don't understand. It wasn't the academy that were asking about you, it was the manager of the women's team, Joe. Like a full professional team, that pays real money, possibly offering you a job," she say's excitedly. "Anyway, he going to ring you this afternoon. Just hear him out, see what he has to say, see what he has to offer."

"Emily... I can't play for a professional team; I've only play five games my whole life."

"Six," she corrects me. "And you're already so good. Imagine what you would be like with some real training," she continues to push.

"That's not how it works," I explain. "People work there while lives to play a professional sport and the football over here is a crazy step up. I can't just walk in and expect it to all work out like that."

"Listen, he'll ring you this afternoon. Just hear him out and then make a decision. He obviously sees some kind of potential if he wants to talk to you," she says. With that she stands and leaves the break, also leaving me with my thoughts.

-

I pace around the kitchen waiting for the call Emily was certain that I was going to receive. I had been home for an hour just waiting, nervous. She can't have been playing a joke, right? She was so serious. Am I working myself up for nothing?

Just as I am beginning to doubt this is going to happen, my phone lights up with a call from an unknown number. This is it. I take a deep breath before answering, "Hello, Hayley speaking."

"Hello Hayley. My name is Joe and I'm the head coach for the Arsenal women's football team. How are you," he introduces himself.

"I'm well. How are you," I ask politely.

"Good. I'm good," he says before taking a breath. "Hayley I'm going to jump straight into it. I watched the footage from your game last night against the academy team and I'm extremely impressed. I have a goalkeeper that is leaving the team last minute and I'm in need of a new player. I would like for the position to be filled by you."

"Wow, ah thank you, Joe. This is a great opportunity but I'm not sure if l will be the right person for the job," I explain.

"I understand this is a big decision to make. Do you have any concerns," he asks.

"I don't know if you know this but I am from New Zealand and I'm supposed to be going home in two weeks, for good. I would need to work out some of the logistics in order to stay but... also I haven't actually played a lot of football. I feel like you could use someone with a little more experience than me," I say shyly.

"I see Hayley, I see. We can work out the logistics for you but in terms of your experience, you are already an unbelievable player and with the right coaching, who knows what you could do," he explains to me.

I sigh before thinking of a reply, "Ok, I think I'm going to need to think about this."

"Of course. I'll send you the contract so you can have a read through it and you can have a think about it. Talk to whoever you need to talk to and you can get back to me on this same number. I don't want to put pressure on you, but I do need a decision by next Tuesday," Joe explains.

"Thank you, Joe," I say.

"You're very welcome Hayley and I expect to hear from you soon," he says before hanging up the phone.

Oh boy, what to do?