"Have you had any breakfast yet? Would you like something to drink?" Zachary inquired after they entered the living room.

"Yes, of course," Emily replied, settling in one of the comfy sofas by the heater. "I came here straight from the airport. I only stopped briefly to drop my luggage at the hotel but didn't get anything to eat. I'm actually quite hungry."

"Then, I'll make you some breakfast," Zachary intoned as he drew the curtains to let the morning sun into the living room. "But, I would like to take a shower before settling down to discuss business. Is that okay with you?"

"Go, ahead. I also need a few minutes to sort through my papers." Emily replied, smiling. "I really admire your dedication to your training. You even wake up to run in such weather!"

"Exercise is all about consistency," Zachary replied, nodding his head. "I have to sustain the stability of my training regimen, especially now that the start of the season is drawing closer. That's the only way I can maintain my fitness. If I miss even a single day just because of a little rain or cold, I could significantly hamper my progress."

"Why not just train indoors?" Emily asked. "The gym at Lerkendal is well fitted with treadmills and exercise bikes. You could easily stay in top shape by making use of their facilities."

Zachary sighed, shaking his head. "I'm also attempting to acclimatize my body to the cold temperatures here in Trondheim. Fun fact; the weather here remains virtually unchanged throughout March and April. I don't want my performance to take a hit from the cold during the opening matches of the season."

What he didn't mention was that he'd been running six miles daily, for the previous four months, in the cold weather to complete a system mission task. If he could finish the daily tasks of the mission, he would obtain a dosage of a B-grade mental conditioning elixir.

The elixir had a seemingly magical property of honing one's mind. If Zachary managed to consume it, his mind would become much more focused, improving his ability to solve abstruse challenges on and off the pitch. In other words, he would become more intelligent with time. That was a perk he coveted in his footballing career. His game intelligence attributes would probably soar soon after ingesting the elixir. So, he had toiled in the cold every single morning starting from the previous November to win the mission prize.

"That's a great training objective." Emily nodded, probably buying Zachary's dubious reason (adapting his body to cold weather) as his actual motive for the intensive morning training. "But, be careful while running out there. Don't hurt yourself on the slippery ground before the season even starts. We wouldn't want any delay in your debut."

Zachary smiled. "You don't need to worry about that. I've already purchased several good pairs of sneakers made specifically for running on frozen ground. I won't fall and injure myself."

He didn't continue chatting with Emily for long. He excused himself after a few minutes to take his shower and quickly cleaned up. He was eager to hear the new terms of the contract.

Twenty minutes later, he had finished preparing a quick breakfast of hot coffee, milk, fried eggs, and toasted bread. He joined his agent in the living room to start the official meeting concerning his contract.

"So, how much did they offer this time around?" Zachary inquired after taking a sip of his coffee.

Emily smiled mysteriously before raising four slender, manicured fingers.

"140,000 per month," Zachary guessed, smiling. "That's quite an improvement compared to their previous offer."

Emily shook her head, maintaining a light smile. "Four hundred thousand per month. Not fourteen thousand." She emphasized.

"Four hundred thousand!" Zachary exclaimed. It took a second or two for the information to sink through his skull. "Four hundred thousand!" He mumbled once again, his eyes widening.

"Were all the Rosenborg officials kicked in the head by some donkeys?" He asked, pivoting his gaze to Emily, his expression a mixture of shock, disbelief, and sheer incredulity. "How did you manage to negotiate such a lucrative deal?"

Emily smiled mysteriously. "I bypassed both the sporting director and the legal representatives to get the offer. I 'simply' approached the club chairman himself and showed him videos of your past performances. He was instantly struck by your talent and took a liking to your style of play. He immediately ordered the legal department to draft a new contract with a monthly salary of that amount."

"Really?" Zachary inquired.

"Yes, really," she replied. "I didn't do anything other than showing the chairman videos taken at your games. Maybe, I might have mentioned that Valencia was looking forward to gaining your services. That's all."

[How could negotiating a deal be that simple?] He could easily tell that Emily had probably used a few other unique approaches. But he didn't try to probe about the whole negotiation process since he trusted her to do the best for him.

Emily fished a couple of folders from her enormous handbag. "Here is a copy of the new contract," she said, removing a set of papers from the folder and handing them to Zachary. "Just read through and see whether the new terms are agreeable to you."

"Anything I need to look out for in particular?" Zachary inquired after receiving the papers. He flipped to the last page and noticed that the contract had a total of 48 pages. He couldn't read through the entire document in only a few minutes.

"You can focus on the Rights and Obligations of Parties section first," Emily replied. "That'll give you an idea of the duties you need to fulfill while under contract. You should also read the Remuneration section to understand your income for the next two years—that's if you agree to sign the contract."

"Please note that in addition to the 400,000 NOK monthly income, you'll earn medical insurance, housing allowance, and a few other additional payments." She added in-between sips of her coffee. "You'll also get match-winning bonuses—depending on your performance during the season. If you're able to score goals in every match, you could rake in a total of 500,000 NOK from the bonuses alone per month."

"That much!" Zachary looked at her agent, his eyes widening in disbelief. 500,000 NOK was the equivalent of more than 110 million Congolese Francs. If he earned such bonuses for ten months, he could turn into an investor on his return to the DRC, his home country. He could construct apartments, securing himself a steady income for the rest of his life.

"Ivar Koteng, the club chairman, accepted such a deal?" Zachary probed once again, eyeing his agent with doubt. A deal with such benefits seemed too good to be true. He couldn't help but wonder what Emily had done to force such a deal out of the chairman.

Emily smiled mysteriously. "If you hadn't signed that contract that tied you to the club for two years, I could have negotiated for a better bargain. But that ship has already sailed. If I try to sue the club, I'll also harm you in the process, hindering your career's progress. This offer is the best I could manage."

Zachary nodded before busying himself with the document. For the next hour, he read through the sections of the contract that mattered the most. Whenever he had trouble understanding a clause, Emily would expound on it, quickening his reading pace.

"So, what is your take on the contract?" Emily asked once Zachary finished reading through the whole document. "If you find the terms of the contract satisfactory, we need to finalize the signing quickly. We don't want the situation to change while we're dilly-dallying."

"Of course, I find it very agreeable," Zachary replied, lips stretching wider into a grin. "This is a much better contract than I anticipated. If we can, we should sign it today." He emphasized, locking gazes with Emily.

"That's great." Emily nodded. "I'll call Mr. Malvik right away to schedule an appointment," she added, fishing her phone from her handbag.

She spent the next few minutes on her phone, arranging the meeting with the club management. Zachary didn't try to listen in on the conversation, choosing to trust his agent with the contract issues. He busied himself by gulping down breakfast until Emily finished talking on the phone.

"Mr. Malvik says we can come to the club offices at 11:00 this morning," she said, shoving her phone back into her bag. "It seems the chairman has ordered him to finalize the deal as quickly as possible."

Zachary cast a glance at his wall clock and noticed that it had just turned 9:00 AM. They still had about two hours to the scheduled meeting time. However, they needed thirty minutes to travel, by bus, to Brakka. That was where the club's head offices were located. "We can set off at 10:00 AM if that's okay with you." He intoned, locking eyes with Emily.

"That's fine," Emily replied.

**** ****