Jennie
"Please, Mino," I was pleading for the fifth time this morning as Mino sat in the driver's seat of my Honda Civic, rolling his eyes at my persistence. "Promise me you'll meet me at the high school at seven o' clock on the dot. I cannot miss this flight."
"I'll be there!" He exclaimed, not for the first time.
"And keep my bags in the trunk, okay?"
"I promise."
I nodded and thanked him one final time as he pulled out of the LA Chargers facility parking lot, headed off to do his errands that he had mentioned as a perfect excuse to use my car during the day since he had to take me to the airport to avoid parking fees anyway. I tried to push away the unease I felt as I watched him accelerate onto the main road past the gates. Mino wasn't the most responsible friend I had but he was the only one with the free time to do this favour for me and he always came through when it was important. So far...
I turned and headed into the office, heels tapping as I passed the locker room and made it to my desk. Jimin looked up, smiling as I approached. "Ready for today, boss?" He asked, happily. I nodded.
"As I'll ever be," I answered. "You sent out that memo to tell the team to stick to their assigned players, yes?"
"Yes."
"And you told Nayeon to keep an eye on Mr. Kang? If he tears that ligament at a skills camp for children, I'll never hear the end of it."
"I reminded her."
"Oh, the shirts! I forgot my-"
Jimin held a familiar article of clothing out in front of him, allowing it to dangle from an index finger. I smiled and reached out to grab it. "You're the best assistant on planet earth," I gushed.
"I'll have to challenge Mars to a duel," he joked and I snorted. "But we should be going. You've got to meet with the school administration before the players show up. They're taking the team bus over there at two this afternoon so everything will have to be ready by then."
I nodded, "Tell the team to come over after-"
"After lunch, I already did."
"I could kiss you."
"I should be so lucky."
I smiled and followed him out of the office, back to the parking lot where I climbed into the passenger seat of his Lexus. I ran a finger along the leather interior. How could my assistant afford a better car than me? Oh, right. He didn't have crippling law school debt.
He pulled out of the lot and we reviewed our morning schedule all the way to the school. Then it began. First, a meeting with the superintendent, then the school board members themselves to review safety protocol and permission slips signed by parents, then the principal and a few of the supervising teachers. Then, finally, we were led out onto the football field to meet with the coaching staff of a few local schools who were very friendly and highly eager. I noticed, already, that we had quite the audience. Parents, teachers, and local teenage girls lined the fences as security manned the gates.
"The players?" I asked the head coach of the high school whose field we were currently standing upon, noting the absence of the most important group of people. The coach smiled. "Finishing classes though I highly doubt they are paying much attention in them. They'll hit the locker rooms at noon and be out here by 12:30. The school scheduled an early release so your guys would have more time with them." I nodded.
"The players won't be arriving until around two," Jimin was telling him as my eyes scanned the field. "But the coaching staff and some of the execs will be here around noon. If your boys want any time in with them-"
"The cheerleaders," I interrupted and they both looked at me. "We were told you had a few local cheering troupes who wanted a photo op with the professionals."
"Ah, yes. Miss Jeon will know more about that. Somi!"
"That's quite alright. I just wanted to know where your girls will be set up as ours will be arriving around one or so."
The rest of the morning went on like this until the first players began emerging from the locker room, trying their best not to look as excited as they felt, and our coaching staff started arriving as well, engaging with news media at the gates. Jimin and I made ourselves useful in telling everyone where to go and when but once they set foot on the field, their natural instinct took over and they had grouped the players out by position in no time. They would coach the players through some fundamentals while we waited for the professional players to arrive and then they would take the coaches inside for an educational seminar while the guys taught the kids their skills outside.
"Jennie!" A familiar voice called as I was giving some of my teams instructions to assist the coaches however needed. I turned to see Jeon Somi, head of cheerleaders, making her way toward me. I checked my watch. One thirty. The girls always were fashionably late. I led her and the primping cheerleaders over to the track where several local cheerleading troupes awaited them. They fell into it easily enough and I left them to it, turning away just as the team bus pulled into the parking lot and started a veritable media frenzy.
I found Jimin at the gates and motioned for security to push some of the reporters back. There would be time for them later. These boys had limited time with their heroes. That was my priority. I gestured to my team and they approached to guide their players in the right direction. I left Jimin to oversee mine and made my way to the head coach.
"I'm guessing that's our signal to take it inside?" He asked with a smile as I approached. I smiled back.
"Sorry, Coach. Your time is up."
"Too bad. It's nice coaching kids again," he said, tossing a ball to a nearby ball boy and gesturing for the coaches to head inside. "You've done good here, Kim. This is what it's all about."
With that, he left me with one of the largest organizational jobs of my career and went inside to the podium set up in the gymnasium to address the local high school coaches with his team. I ran through my mental checklist of what needed done, concentrating on herding the defensive players from the Chargers and the high schoolers to one side of the field so that the offense, and Jimin, could take the other.
