"So, what are we looking at?" Ashton chewed his food and patted his mouth as if to clean the surroundings of it. Calum had pulled out a pen that was probably worth my college tuition and a black-leather bound, white-paged notebook.
We had been sitting at this restaurant for a while now, and the guys discussed budgets and cuts that were to be made. However, I just sat quietly and ate my pasta, as if I wasn't even there. Sometimes I would catch people looking at us and taking pictures, but I suppose that's what happens when you own the local football team.
I was sitting across from Ashton and to my left, was Calum, in all his glory. Calum hissed and scrunched his nose up as he tried to do complicated mathematics in his head. "We have around 9.5 million-10 at most."
"Okay, so, where does that leave us?" Ashton replied and Calum was quick to check his printed-out stats.
"Well," He looked over the chart and saw the team'a name highlighted in bright yellow, then he answered,"Miami is above us, but we're pretty high up, either way,"
"Who are we competing with?" Ashton was losing his patience as he began to look at the numbers. I had a solution that might help us in mind, I always did, but I kept quiet. It's not like he would listen to me either way.
"The Jaguars are at 26.6 million," Calum whispered, but it seemed as if all of us had heard it. The restaurant went dead silent. Ashton ran his hands through his hair and let out a loud sigh.
The Jaguars have been our rivals for a while, besides the Steelers. So, as soon as they find out that we're falling behind, they'll most likely swoop in and take any good players we had. It was bad. And we had to keep this under wraps or else our chances at the Super Bowl, were totally ruined.
"Mother of God," Ashton muttered, running his hand up and down his hair and face. "So, what do you suggest we do?"
The place was quiet and I supposed that Calum was thinking. But I was dead wrong. Quietly, I looked up to see what was the set back. However, I was only met by Ashton's dead stare and Calum's considerate one.
"Um," I muttered. This had never happened before. He had never asked for my opinion. "are you asking me, Mr. Irwin?"
"Yes, Layla," Ashton nodded, not phased by my confusion.
I sat up straight in my seat and straightened out my hair before I took the business perspective of the whole thing. "Well, due to previous mistakes, I believe that the solution is not in cutting the fitness section employees, yet the corporate side."
"Are you insane?" Ashton scoffed,"you'd rather cut the employees that keep us running?"
Calum tried to speak, but I interrupted him, not really caring about the fact that he probably knew more about this than me. "Good job, you have good hearing," He seemed offended by this comment, but I didn't mind,"unless we cut the corporate side, we will have to split up the best team that we've had since 2000,"
"She's right," Calum interrupted,"if we have any chance of winning the Super Bowl this next season, we can't mess around with the team we have,"
"You're only saying that because you're hung up on her," Ashton waved Calum off and Calum widened his eyes and chuckled at this idiotic remark.
"You're the boss, but I suggest you listen to the guy that has budgeted this team for two years," Calum snapped and shook his head.
Ashton rolled his eyes and sat back on his chair,"I've been head for three,"
"Then you're smart enough to listen to your budgeter," I rolled my eyes, and Ashton seemed appalled by the fact that I had this. This would have been the ideal time to fire me. But he never did. Instead, he gave me a minuscule smile and nodded his head.
"Would you like to join us on our journey to the Fitness Center?"
--/--
Before this, I had never even been to the center and I was about to turn down Ashton's offer. However, I did accept and arriving at the premises was surreal. The building itself looked like a mansion and the flora of it consisted of tall trees and light grass.
The inside of it was even more beautiful. You entered through two sliding doors and were met with a silver couch and stairs to the right. Ones the followed all the way across to the left. This place was even bigger than the outside made it seem.
Ashton and Calum took me outside, where a large football field was. Two goals were on each side and the numbers were clearly marked with white paint. There were bleachers lining one of the sides of the field, whilst the other side held some equipment.
A hoard of guys, all sweaty and tired, came out laughing. Most of them had tight tanks, shorts, and running shoes. There must be a gym inside of the building. How cool is that?
However, one boy in specific caught my eye. His hair was blond and perfectly styled, even though he had just worked out. His shoulders were broad and he had a towel wrapped around his neck.
Ashton clapped his hands and they all seemed to shut up. They sat down on the grass in front of us three, who were all standing up. I recognized some of the faces as the team members, so by what I could see, these guys were the ones that made up the Baltimore Ravens.
By the looks of it, I was the only girl in this pool of clearly stronger men. But this didn't phase me. Whilst it was intimidating, I felt right at home. Ashton spoke loudly enough to be heard,"I just wanted to drop by and say how exceedingly proud I am of you all, and that this weekend will be great,"
A guy came forward, slightly older than Ashton, perhaps mid-thirties. He had tanned skin and blue eyes and I knew him to be the Coach(sadly, I had never met him before this encounter). While he might be an alcoholic, he's the best chance we've got. May I say, his playbook is genius,"They're not gonna fucking do anything unless they put their big boy panties on."
"Logan, how are you doing?" Ashton shook the Coach's hand, but the Coach seemed to have other thoughts. He didn't even glance at Ashton, and just kept his gaze straight on me. I had to look down a few times to escape his fixed gaze.
"Who is this fine madam, Boss?" Logan asked over his shoulder as he held my right hand in his.
"That would be my secretary, Layla," Ashton responded, and he looked pretty ticked off. Why he seemed this way was beyond my comprehension but I went along with it.
Logan pressed his lips onto my knuckles and a strange heat flooded my cheeks. The guys in front of us 'ooh'ed and cat-called their coach, saying how much action he was getting. However, Logan chose to ignore this and muttered,"Nice to meet you,"
"Likewise," I nodded and he returned at me with a grin. Then, Logan winked at me and took a spot in between Ashton and Calum. That did not just happen.
It took Ashton a few seconds to calm himself down enough to talk to the guys like nothing had occurred. I couldn't help but drift away to think why he had gotten upset over such a simple gesture, but his own voice brought me back to reality,"Anyways, our third-to-last game is this weekend and if we win these games, we get to go to the Super Bowl. Sadly, I won't be here to cheer you one for the next one-out-of-three, so I wish you the best of luck,"
"Will Layla and Calum stay behind?" one of the players, Clifford if I'm correct, had spoken up, not even raising his hand or anything. Just blurting things out. That must be in his nature,"You know, for support?"
"If you're trying to say that you want a sex tape," Calum scoffed, a smug smile on his face,"you and I are both out of luck,"
Murmurs and chuckles were heard across the small crowd and frankly, I couldn't help but giggle as well. But truly, what made everyone laugh was Logan's comment that followed up,"Yes, Clifford, that would be extremely unprofessional,"
Honestly, I didn't quite get what he meant by that, but it was the way he said it that had this comedic streak to it. However, something was pissing off Ashton, and I really couldn't tell what.
Ashton sighed and announced,"No, Layla will be coming with me to France,"
"I will?" I looked over at Ashton, who just nodded at me.
"You are my assitant after all," He responded.
Right, just an assistant.
--/--
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