10. Connor
CONNOR
TWO DAYS LATER ON INSTAGRAM
EDEN: Hi
CONNOR: I appreciate a woman who understands astrophysics.
EDEN: Pretty sure that’s astronomy.
CONNOR: I’m going to trust you on that one.
EDEN: Stick around, and I’ll drop more knowledge on you.
EDEN: Did you go to LA??
CONNOR: Yup. [sends photo of hotel window view].
EDEN: Nice. How is it so far? It must be a whirlwind to go from the wedding to that?
CONNOR: Yeah, my brain is a shit show. Lots of family stuff on Sunday, then packing and the red-eye here. Today, I met a bunch of the people who work out of this office.
EDEN: Sheesh.
CONNOR: I’ll be okay after a good night of sleep. I’m crashing early, but I wanted to write you first like I said I would.
EDEN: :)
CONNOR: Sorry we won’t be able to hang soon, but how about when I’m back?
EDEN: Yeah, I’d like that :)
EDEN: Well, hope you get some rest!
CONNOR: Talk soon.
CONNOR: Sooner than July 4
THE NEXT SATURDAY, FIVE DAYS LATER
EDEN: Thanks for liking my post from earlier :) How are things going out there?
CONNOR: Alright. My first weekend in LA and I’m going to dinner at some fancy place with Milo and Jace Tilius.
EDEN: OMG, I saw him play in the World Cup for Greece ten years ago as a kid.
CONNOR: Yeah, he’s a longtime client of Milo.
EDEN. That’s wild. So Milo manages the finances of soccer players like him? That’s what you’re doing?
CONNOR: A little more than that. He advises on business investments, definitely. We also make sure that all the day-to-day things these players need are handled too.
EDEN: Okay, that’s right, you explained some of that in the wine cellar. What are the day-to-day things?
CONNOR: It can be almost anything, it feels like. Appearance requests, travel arrangements, bookkeeping/budgeting, making sure brand arrangements go smoothly. Agents and PR reps set up opportunities too, but the business manager makes the trains run on time in the execution.
EDEN: Sounds cool. Especially if you meet legends like Jace Tilius.
CONNOR: It’s definitely not boring.
CONNOR: You had a good week? The aura was strong in the pics on your post.
EDEN: Yeah, I ran a bunch of captain practices. They went fine.
CONNOR: Just fine?
EDEN: I mean, I made the post look all fired up because that’s what captains do . But I’m nervous. My last year to win the College Cup, and I’m not sure we have all the pieces in place.
CONNOR: I hear you. More pressure on you, huh?
EDEN: You’re getting the picture. Pressure is my middle name.
CONNOR: Do you like that?
EDEN: On the field, in a big moment, yep. It’s fuel.
EDEN: Off the field, it can be exhausting always being “on” for everyone else.
CONNOR: I get that. You’re like my sister Grace that way.
CONNOR: You’ll be shocked to hear IDGAF about being “on” for others, though.
EDEN:
EDEN: For me, as captain, it’s part of being a leader. So I shouldn’t complain.
EDEN: ANYWAY, I hope you have a great dinner. Jealous.
CONNOR: Thanks
CONNOR: Talk soon.
EDEN: Sooner than July 4.
CONNOR: Yup.
A WEEK LATER
CONNOR: Happy Saturday.
EDEN: Hi
EDEN: Your second weekend in LA...any plans with famous soccer stars?
CONNOR: Ha no. Just me, myself, and I to entertain.
CONNOR: Been a long week though. Went with Milo to a ton of meetings and spent two days at a commercial shoot with a 5 a.m. start time.
CONNOR: I guess that’s normal for LA though.
EDEN: God, it does sound very fabulous. Very grown up.
CONNOR: Maybe, but it’d be nice to get paid like a grown-up.
EDEN: HAHA. Welp, I had another week of captain practices in not-glamorous Orlando, so you aren’t missing much here.
CONNOR: Trust me, half the time I wish I was there.
EDEN: Really? Lonely?
CONNOR: A little. The days are so busy though, that helps. My brothers are about to start Waves training camp, as I’m sure you know. They’ll blow up our family text chain at night when they’re stuck at the team hotel.
EDEN: Nice :) You’re close?
CONNOR: With my siblings? Very. Rawley is probably my closest friend.
EDEN: That’s really cool. I can see why it’s hard to be away from Orlando.
EDEN: I always wished I had a sibling growing up. Although my parents tried to keep me entertained.
CONNOR: I didn’t get so lucky in the parent department, so there’s that.
EDEN: I’m sorry. If you ever want to talk about it…
CONNOR: Another time maybe.
EDEN: :)
EDEN: Put us together, and we’d have the perfect family
CONNOR: Genius…
EDEN: What are you doing with your free day?
CONNOR: Hiking I think…seems like a very LA thing.
CONNOR: What about you?
EDEN: Not the most exciting day for me. I need to get the secondary submissions done for my med school applications.
CONNOR: Secondary? Like it’s a second round of requests after your main app?
EDEN: Basically. That’s a good way of describing it. I got requests from seventeen schools total…so it’s a lot.
CONNOR: Jesus. Then do you find out if you’re admitted?
EDEN: Nope. If you make it past this round, you have to interview with each school.
CONNOR: Damn. But I guess they need to make sure you want to be a doctor.
EDEN: Exactly. Meanwhile, it’s no fun for me today.
CONNOR:
EDEN: Well, happy hiking. You can message me whenever if you want to.
CONNOR: I like how we have this weekly thing going. Better than yearly.
EDEN: Definitely
THE NEXT SATURDAY
CONNOR: Saturday morning weekly check-in.
EDEN: Haha, I was wondering if you’d stick to the schedule.
CONNOR: I never deviate from a plan. Well, unless a better one comes along.
CONNOR: How was your week?
EDEN: We started training camp, so I basically spent the last five days sucking down water in between drills and scrimmages.
CONNOR: Sounds familiar.
EDEN: You don’t miss it?
CONNOR: Not that part, no.
CONNOR: Plus I’ve been hiking almost every day. I’m a hiker now. [sends pic of himself in a bandanna, glasses, sleeveless shirt, and running shorts with hills in the background]
EDEN: Hawt.
CONNOR: Hardly.
EDEN: Fishing for more compliments?
CONNOR: What? Nah…
EDEN: Don’t go sliding into another girl’s DM with that thirst trap photo, okay?
CONNOR: I’m not sliding into any other DMs, period.
EDEN: Well, thank you for making the time for me, then. :)
CONNOR: Now you’ve got me into a routine, so let’s not break it.
EDEN: Until you’re back here and we can actually hang in person.
CONNOR: Until then.
THE FOLLOWING SATURDAY
EDEN: Guess what?
CONNOR: What?
EDEN: Sorry, didn’t mean to be so abrupt. I’ve been waiting for two days to tell you this.
CONNOR: You can write me other than Saturdays.
EDEN: Noted.
CONNOR: You’re a rule follower.
CONNOR: Sorry, what happened?
EDEN: I got invited to the next U23 training camp!
EDEN: Fifth in a row…
CONNOR: Incredible.
CONNOR: You’re going to play in the World Cup one day.
EDEN: :) There are too many good strikers for me to make the senior team for the next one, but my time will come if I decide to keep playing.
CONNOR: Yeah, I mean most of the senior team players are in their mid-20s. Or older.
EDEN: You’ve been scouting for me?
CONNOR: Maybe Hey, it’s good for my job too.
EDEN: True. The press release goes out Monday, so keep it quiet till then.
CONNOR: I was about to say who would I tell, but of course Milo would love to know inside info like that.
EDEN: How’s work going?
CONNOR: It’s okay. Now that it’s been a few weeks, he’s started having me review draft contracts. Not that I’m adding lots of value, but he and an associate are teaching me what to look for.
EDEN: That’s neat!
CONNOR: It’s interesting, so far.
EDEN: What kind of contracts?
CONNOR: One is a shoe deal for a big name in the MLS. I can’t say who, I’m sorry.
EDEN: No, I get it.
CONNOR: And one is a clothing company NIL deal for a college player like you. Again, can’t say who.
EDEN:
EDEN: That’s interesting. I didn’t realize that any of the collegiate players had managers helping them. Soccer players, I mean. Obviously the football, basketball, and hockey players rolling in money and appearances I get.
CONNOR: Yeah, even with smaller deals it can be a lot to manage. Negotiations, taxes, etc.
EDEN: For sure.
CONNOR: Enough business talk. What are you doing today?
EDEN: [sends screenshot of phone Note with her daily task list]
EDEN: My head hurts already.
THE NEXT SATURDAY
CONNOR: Happy Saturday.
EDEN: Hey hey…How was your week?
CONNOR: Same old same…
EDEN: Yep. Me too.
EDEN: We’re getting closer to the season starting, at least. We have five games before classes begin.
CONNOR: I noticed.
EDEN: You checking out my game schedule?
CONNOR: Maybe.
CONNOR: I have news of my own, we’re coming back to Orlando for four days, before the last two weeks out here.
EDEN: Oh, awesome!
CONNOR: Yeah, Milo’s boyfriend has some event for the Orlando MLS team that he wants to attend.
EDEN: Great, when is it? Maybe we could meet up?
CONNOR: Literally next week. I guess Milo wasn’t planning on including me, but some of the guys I grew up playing with will be there, so he realized it would be good for networking.
EDEN: Next week? I’m leaving for the U23 training camp on Tuesday.
CONNOR: Shit, that’s when I’m flying in. Flying back on a Saturday red-eye.
EDEN: We’ll just miss each other.
CONNOR: Damn.
EDEN: My first Tolliver game is the week after. You won’t be here?
CONNOR: I know, I saw. I’ll be back in LA.
EDEN: We seem to have bad luck managing to be in the same city
CONNOR: Well, soon I’ll be moving there, for good.
CONNOR: What else could possibly happen?