Coach Trombetta, who had been quietly watching on from the side, flashed Zachary a knowing smile. He reminded Zachary about the time of departure of the team bus before excusing himself and stepping out of the press room.

“So, what do you wish to talk about?” Zachary immediately asked Éléanor.

Éléanor smiled and said, “I was expecting your call after the Lyon game. But you didn’t call!”

“I have a girlfriend,” Zachary stated. “A beautiful and understanding girlfriend!”

“Oh!” Éléanor seemed surprised. “But does having a girlfriend stop us from being friends?”

“Yes, it does,” Zachary stated. “One intelligent man once said that a wise man shouldn’t become friends with other girls if he has a girlfriend. It’s the surefire way to avoid trouble.”

Éléanor chuckled, glancing at Zachary with an amused expression. “Your girlfriend is lucky to have you as her boyfriend,” she said. “Is she with you here in Turin?”

Zachary raised a brow. “Please don’t ask me such questions. I don’t want to discuss my personal life with journalists. Have a good night.”

Without waiting for a response, he turned around and stepped away from the reporter. He was decisive as he didn’t wish to associate himself with any lady drama that could potentially distract him before he achieved his career goals.

**** ****

Éléanor’s jaw dropped when she saw Zachary stepping away from her like she was the plague. She blanked out for a moment and watched him absentmindedly as he left the room. Then, when his back disappeared through the doorway, Éléanor did some introspection. She couldn’t help but wonder whether her charms had fallen to the extent that she could even attract the attention of a 19-year-old who had just risen to fame.

“Our gorgeous Éléanor also has times like these,” the voice of the only other lady within her camera crew interrupted her thought process. She mercilessly laughed at her friend’s plight and continued, “He just gave you the cold shoulder without batting an eye. What an interesting lad!”

Éléanor’s eyes narrowed as she glanced at Beatrice, her long-time friend. “He didn’t reject me,” she articulated. “He just said that he had a girlfriend. So, I still have a chance.”

“Dream on!” Beatrice said with a chuckle. “If a guy says he has a girlfriend, it means he isn’t interested in you. Otherwise, he would have hidden the fact that he was in a relationship. My conclusion: You have no chance. So, better stop.”

Éléanor ignored her friend’s advice and asked, “Do you know there was a slight jolt in his emotion when I inquired whether his girlfriend was in Turin with him? He turned all defensive and immediately left.”

“Oh!” Beatrice’s eyes widened.

Éléanor smiled, her eyes filled with glee. “As I said, I still have a chance since the relationship with the girlfriend seems unstable. They must be having problems. Otherwise, there’s no sensible lady who would willingly let her rich and dashing boyfriend stay alone in a city like Turin.”

“You’re as sharp as ever,” Beatrice said. “But I still believe that you have no chance. I was watching the entire time. He didn’t even steal a single glance at your boobs during the interview. It was like he was talking to a robot the entire time.”

“That will change,” Éléanor said confidently. “I only need to create more opportunities to interact with him. When I show him my good side, things will work out.”

“You’re a lost cause.” Beatrice chuckled and shook her head. “Let’s pack up. We need to edit the content and send it to the station tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,” Éléanor agreed and pushed the thoughts about Zachary to the back of her head. Once again, she turned all professional and concentrated on doing her job.

**** ****

Zachary didn’t let his one good performance for Juventus inflate his ego. He continued working like a maniac and utilized all his day hours on Monday to polish up his ball skills. He was focused from morning to evening since he wished to elevate his fitness to the peak before the new Serie A season commenced on 30th August.

Monday quickly passed, and Tuesday arrived. He again woke up early and trained with his teammates for the whole day. And again, time passed quickly, and dusk arrived faster than expected. He had dinner with his teammates before returning to his hotel room and switching on the TV screen. Of course, he was about to watch Rosenborg’s Super Cup game against Real Madrid that evening.

“Dear viewers,” the commentator’s voice reverberated across the room a few seconds later, right after the TV finished booting up. “Welcome to the live broadcast of today’s UEFA Super Cup game. We are about to witness a historical battle between two champions of Europe. Rosenborg, a team from Norway that overcame all odds to win the Europa League, will be facing off against a star-studded Real Madrid side that won the Champions League last season.”

“Who will emerge as the victor tonight?” The commentator continued. “Will Rosenborg overcome all odds and win again, even without Zachary Bemba, their young playmaker that has just joined Juventus? Or will it be Real Madrid? Let’s look at the line-ups before we move on to the game.”

Real Madrid’s line-up came up first, and Zachary immediately noticed that all their stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Luka Modrić, and Iker Casillas, were on the squad. But when Rosenborg’s line-up appeared, he realized that a few names that should be among the starting eleven were missing. He couldn’t see Eric Bailly, Paul Kasongo, and Nicki Nielsen among the players on the squad. The three of them were not even on the substitute’s bench.

“What happened?” Zachary wondered, recalling some rumors he had heard about his previous club. “Could the transfer speculation be true?”

Over the past two weeks, there was a lot of gossip about Rosenborg’s situation in the transfer market. Many media houses and famous sports journalists reported that top clubs like Villarreal, Lyon, Atlético Madrid, and Manchester United, among others, had approached Rosenborg to sign some of the young players that won the Europa League. They even hinted that Rosenborg was taking a positive approach towards the potential deals due to the ample sums of money involved. And they predicted that if negotiations went well, the Norwegian giants might lose three or more of their young players before the transfer window’s closing date.

Zachary found the entire situation a bit unsettling. Deep down, he still had favorable feelings for his first club. Zachary wanted them to continue dominating Norwegian football while also putting up incredible performances in European competitions. But it seemed that he couldn’t realize his wish as the board of his former club seemed intent on selling most of the young players that had already shown potential.

“Most probably, Rosenborg is about to sell Eric Bailly, Paul Kasongo, and Nicki Nielsen,” Zachary mused. “That should be the reason they are not on the squad.”

During Zachary’s previous life, both Kasongo and Nicki hadn’t gotten a chance to play for well-known European clubs. Kasongo had passed away before he could kick-start his football career, while Nicki had only played for small-time clubs like Esbjerg FB and Lech Poznań after leaving Rosenborg.

But in Zachary’s new life, circumstances were totally different due to his influence. The two players had already garnered interest from famous clubs like Southampton, Tottenham, and Lyon due to their incredible performances in the previous Europa League. They were already on their way to stardom due to their association with Zachary, causing him to sigh in wonderment about how small things could change entire trajectories of fates of various people.

“I wonder how they will turn out in the future!” Zachary sighed and silently wished them luck on the journey to realize their full potential. He hoped to see them become top players that would dazzle the world with their skills.

After pushing all the distracting thoughts to the back of his mind, Zachary focused on the screen. He watched with bated breath as Real Madrid dominated his former team on the field of play from the very first minute. The team from Madrid outclassed Rosenborg in all areas of the pitch and utilized its fast forwards to break open the floodgates. Before long, there was a goal fest that caused misery to all the Rosenborg fans watching the game.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the first to find the back of the net with a long-range effort that caught the keeper napping during the 31st minute. Then, five minutes later, he stunned the Norwegian giants again by connecting with a long-range cross from Luka Modrić before heading the ball into the back of the net to score Real Madrid’s second goal.

But that wasn’t the end of the nightmare for Rosenborg that night. Five minutes into the second half, Karim Benzema added a third before Sergio Ramos multiplied Rosenborg’s despair with a header after connecting with a corner ball during the 67th minute. It was a total thrashing.

Zachary watched for a few more minutes until he couldn’t take it anymore. He sighed and switched off the TV before cleaning up and diving into bed. He pushed all thoughts about the game out of his head and soon descended into a deep slumber.

As usual, he woke up early, at around six the following morning. First thing, even before going through his morning yoga routine, he checked the score of the previous night’s game using an app on his phone. The next moment, his eyes almost bulged from their sockets as he rechecked the score. He couldn’t believe that Real Madrid had scored three more goals during the final twenty minutes and won the game by seven goals to one. They had mercilessly decimated his former club by seven goals to one before becoming the winners of the 2014 UEFA Super Cup.

**** ****