“Excuse me?” a dark, gloomy voice cut in — it was goalie Moreau. “I’m the best damn goalie in the league.”
The woman sighed. “Moreau, please just keep on walking. I don’t need you here.”
“But this is about me,” he replied quietly.
“And I’m sure people talk about you all the time when you’re not around, so…”
“I’m staying,” he insisted. “Before you end up at each other’s throats. A dead team owner would be as bad for my contract as a dead agent.”
“Nobody here is going to kill anyone,” Gareth said, snorting.
“Speak for yourself.”
“Oh, dear God.” Her brother’s voice sounded so exasperated that Penny wondered if he’d already spent three hours roughhousing with a bunch of kindergarteners that morning. “You’re pissing me off, Hazel! If you can’t act like an adult, this conversation is pointless.”
“Good heavens, those words coming out of your mouth.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s just strange that you can see no evil, speak no evil, when all you’re really called to do is hear no evil!”
“Hey, I was always told to keep my mouth shut before my ears.”
“You should learn to negotiate rationally instead of insulting the agent of one of your best players! Then again, you’ve never been good at negotiating, have you? That’s why you were always second to me at the university. You never understood the wordcompromise.”
“I negotiate with those who earn it. With those who act in good faith. We both know your suggestion is unreasonable and that you would have made a better offer to anyone else! You vindictive, caustic…”
“Hello, can I be of help here?” Penny hastily interrupted her brother. Nothing that might have followed those two words would have de-escalated the situation.
Three heads turned toward her: Lucas Moreau, Gareth…and a pretty, tall woman with killer high heels and straight black hair. She was vaguely familiar to Penny.
“Have you hired an assistant or what?” she asked, looking down at Penny skeptically.
Great. She had put on a black skirt and a high-necked blouse today to look more professional, but apparently, she still looked young and subservient. Maybe the tiny lettuce heads printed on her top didn’t help, but Penny didn’t own any blouses without patterns – where was the fun in that? – and she had hoped they looked like polka dots from a distance.
“That’s my sister,” Gareth replied abruptly. Moreau’s agent’s eyes grew so big, you could have served tea on them.
“Your sister?” she gasped. “What the hell? Well, I guess the Clarks deserve one good egg to make up for your rotten one.”
Oh, wow. She had never seen Gareth so red in the face. If things didn’t work out with the Hawks, he could always get a job as a traffic cone. But before he could open his mouth and say something that would surely be scandalously malicious, Penny took the last step into the room and offered the agent her hand. “Hello, I’m Penelope Clark,” she said gently. “You must be Hazel Barrow? You sent Moreau’s contract extension by email last week.”
Penny had read the document. She didn’t know much about contracts, but she’d thought it wouldn’t hurt to glance over it.
“Yes,” her counterpart answered slowly and shook her hand. Then she cleared her throat and added, “I’m sorry, I thought you were his assistant.”
“No problem,” Penny replied lightly, though she appreciated the apology. “My brother is obviously unable to express himselfprofessionally... After reading your proposal, I think there are a few points that still need to be negotiated. Even if Gareth couldn’t communicate it at a normal volume, the increase in Mr. Moreau’s salary that you’re asking for is simply not proportionate — fifteen percent is too much. Naturally, we want to keep him, but not when we could buy two new goalies with his bonus. Lucas has been virtually injury-free for the last two years, but was absent for many months before that — and let’s be honest, with his grim looks and that assassin’s aura, he’ll be accidentally shot down in the street at some point.”
Moreau’s eyebrows furrowed in irritation, making him appear a bit more threatening, but Hazel Barrow’s mouth threatened a smile.
“I agree with you on that point,” she admitted. “However, Moreau has fought his way back up and…”
“He’s back in top form, yes. But if you take his absences into account, he’s played fewer games on average. And his knee occasionally still gives him trouble. His stats are good, but not significantly better than they were three years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I think we would be willing to increase his bonus slightly, but you have to meet us halfway.”
Miss Barrow narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and examined Penny carefully. Then she cast a quick glance at Gareth, who was grinding his teeth with his arms behind his back. Finally, she stated calmly, “I like you, Penelope. You have more sense in your pinkie finger than your brother has in his whole body.”
Penny doubted that, since Gareth was the smartest person ever, but she kept that to herself.
“Okay, I’ll take another look at the contract and send it back at the end of the week. Come on, Moreau, we still need to discuss the advertising deal with Omega.”
