My Goalkeeping System

<Congratulations, Dave, after a hundred and sixteen games you have finally reached the passable record of thirty clean sheets>

'Are you mocking me, Catherine?'

The match was over now and the goalkeeper just wanted to make his way to the locker room and get some rest no matter how stupid that might sound with Minino already starting his after-match party but it looked like Catherine had a couple of things to say to him.

<Did it sound like mockery to you?>

'Obviously, is that even supposed to be a question?'

<Hmm, I guess I do come off like that sometimes but that wasn't my intention this time>

'Huh?'

<What I'm saying is that you're doing okay that's why I said passable, thirty clean sheets in a hundred and sixteen games is not great but that doesn't mean it's bad or terrible either, it's in between good and okay>

'In between good and okay?'

<Yeah>

'Can you explain this ranking scale of yours so that I can know what I'm dealing with?'

<You want me to explain it? Okay, sure. The scale goes like this from highest to lowest, great, good, okay, bad, and terrible>

'Oh, I see, so I'm in between good and okay.'

<Which is impressive if you think about it given the fact that only a select few goalkeepers make it into the great goalkeepers when it comes to their games to clean sheets ratio>

'Yeah, I was about to say that.'

<Still using your inner thought I see>

'Why wouldn't I use it? I feel more comfortable knowing that you don't have access to my thoughts.'

<Hmph, don't get too comfortable, your thoughts will leak out every now and then, and I will make sure to catch them, little boy. You're probably thinking dirty stuff now that I can't hear you>

'Please, don't call me that ever again.'

The goalkeeper had gotten to the locker room and just as he expected, Minino was throwing a party in the room.

It didn't bother any of them anymore and since the coach haven't bothered saying anything about it all this while they just let him do whatever he wanted.

He ignored the party corner of the room just as always and made his way to his seat.

Mateo was already in his seat going through his phone when he sat down beside him.

"Good job today." He remarked.

That was enough to get the winger's attention as he turned to him with a smile on his face.

"Thanks, I wish I could have done more but we still won so no problem." The winger remarked. "You also did well."

"Eh, if you count their flimsy shots then I guess but other than that I was standing in between the sticks most of the time. Honestly, this game was boring for me."

"Our next one certainly isn't going to be boring?" Mateo commented.

"Yeah, we have Dynamo FC in the quarter-finals."

"They're the only team that we haven't been able to beat this season, we've faced them twice and it was a loss and a draw."

Mateo's gaze turned to the floor as he muttered those words, the fact that he had been unable to beat Dynamo FC in six games was quite frustrating, four losses and two draws were the result of his matches against them and that was also the same for Dave.

"Yeah, do you know the other four teams still in the competition?" Dave inquired.

"Yeah." The winger responded before raising his head. "Other than us and Dynamo FC, we have Litno FC vs Olona FC, Junami United vs second division side Norlin FC, and Supreme United vs second division side Zetland United."

"Hmm, I see, so two second-division sides made it to the last eight. Is there any chance of us meeting Supreme United in the semi-finals if we get past Dynamo FC?"

"It's possible but I doubt that's going to happen if we somehow get past Dynamo." Mateo replied.

"Huh, why's…Oh, I see."

<I thought you were about to ask that question>

'Keep quiet.'

"Well, anyway, we'll have to hear what coach has to say about how we're going to approach that game since everything he's tried against them so far has not worked." The goalkeeper remarked.

"That's not entirely through though, they sort of got lucky the last time we faced but it was our mistakes that caused it so I guess it was our fault at the end of the day."

"If that's the case then I hope we make fewer mistakes during the game."

_________ _________

After staying in the stadium for a while after the game, Dave decided to make his way home after Norman was done telling them a few things.

It didn't take him long to get to the house with his car, and once he opened the door with the house remote, he drove into the house, and just as always, he parked his car in a whatever manner.

<You know, you should try to put a little more effort into parking your car well, it's not that hard>

Dave didn't say anything in response to that as he opened the car and slowly stepped down from it, he closed the door afterward and locked the car before he began to make his way to the door.

He got to the door in no time and unlocked it with his key, he expected to find her in the living but she didn't seem to be there.

"Maybe she's in the kitchen."

He made his way to the kitchen to check but it turned out she wasn't there either.

"She's probably sleeping upstairs then."

It made more sense to find her upstairs after not finding her in those other places but surprisingly she wasn't anywhere upstairs and Dave was starting to get worried and a bit confused.

<You know you could try calling her or check around the house, this is a huge house after all>

'Yeah, I know.'

He had his phone in his hand now and had already brought up her contact but the moment he pressed call something began to vibrate on the bed before the ringtone suddenly came into full bloom.

"Oh, come on." He sighed before shaking.

<That settles it>

'Settles what?'

<Your wife is missing with your unborn child>

'If you don't have anything helpful to say then just keep quiet.' Dave said subconsciously before he began to make his way to the bed.

When he got there, he sat down on the bed before picking up her phone.

'Hey, Cat.'

<Huh?>

'You can hack into people's phones, right?'

<Obviously>

'Then aren't you supposed to know where she is?'

<That would be true if I was constantly monitoring her phone before she left or she took it to wherever she went but since none of those conditions were met here, I can't possibly know where she went>

After getting that response, the goalkeeper let out a sigh before slowly bringing his gaze down.

<Yeah, on a serious note this is really worrying>

"And I don't want to be too quick to call…."

He wasn't able to finish that statement as he turned his gaze to the side at that moment to see that her wardrobe was open and that was when it clicked in his mind.

"Oh…"

_______ ________

Just after helping his wife get the hang of swimming he bought her a swimsuit, he always saw the swimsuit anytime she opened her wardrobe but it wasn't there when he looked at the wardrobe just now.

That was the only hint he needed and just like he thought, she was in the pool.

Well, technically not in the pool because she was sitting on the edge while kicking her feet in the water.

The swimsuit he bought for her was a blue swimsuit that wasn't that revealing but it still looked good on her.

"Hmm, so she got in the water by herself today." He could tell from where he was standing that her hair was wet.

'She seems to be enjoying herself, that's good.'

<I'm worried about the fact that she didn't hear you drive in>

'Well, I'm worried about the fact that you couldn't make use of the cameras on the fence to find her, and besides she must have been in the pool at that time.'

He didn't want to disturb her peaceful alone moment so he turned and fled from the area before she could spot him.

"Huh?" Emma turned her gaze to the right just after he had left and of course, there was no one there. "I thought I heard Dave's voice for a second there. Is he finding it that hard to find me? It's been a while since he returned."

<Oh, Dave> Catherine sighed as he walked into the house.

'What now?'

<Nothing, just felt like calling your name>

'If you just felt like calling my name then I would appreciate it if you didn't sound disappointed.'

<Oh, you want me to use a more seductive tone?>

'Nothing I said

implied that.'

<Oh, Dave>

'Please leave me alone, Catherine. Where is that button to turn you off anyway?'

<As long as you don't know where to find it, it doesn't exist>

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