Chapter 10 - Trust

                                    

                                          
Eyes burning slightly due to the years threatening to spill over, Eleanor sat on the bench clutching her clipboard. 2-1. And this time it wasn't in their favour, again. Two losses in a row. Still, she had a job to do so she shoved down all of her disappointment and self doubt in order to concentrate on her job. She could deal with her own shit later.
                          
Her chest ached as she watched the disappointed faces of the guys as they shook hands with their opponents before making their way off the pitch. The lack of smiles was wrong.
                          
The deflated atmosphere was smothering as they waited for Zidane to give his post match debrief. Having never witnessed a loss so far, Eleanor had no idea what to expect from the French man but he looked as calm as ever.
                          
"I know you all tried, this was a mistake from me. The tactics were wrong and not enough. We're still Real Madrid."
                          
That seemed to be all they were getting today as they were all told to go home and mope today, but be ready in fighting form tomorrow. She didn't know what 'moping' entailed for all of them but she imagined that Cris would hit the gym, Sergio would punch things and the rest would get drunk.
                          
She didn't know whether she was right about any of those but she was almost right about Sergio, who was found head butting the wall. She sighed, this guy needs counselling.
                          
"Watch it, that heads pretty valuable to Madrid." She said as if chastising a child and got a rueful smile in return.
                          
"Well it wasn't exactly much help today." He said and it wasn't hard to pick up on the frustration in his voice.
                          
At this, she felt a little anger bubble up inside her, "You idiot." The defender looked a little shocked at her harsh words.
                          
"Stop with this bullshit and start believing in the fighting spirit that you put into this team. Yes, it sucks but you know that you've done great."
                          
Her tone allowed for no arguments and it was quiet as he considered what she said.
                          
"Stop letting it make me sad, let it make me angry, make me desire the wins even more." He said to himself and she nodded, pleased that he actually did know how to listen. She watched as he left, trying her best to keep her eyes above his waist, a small smile on her face. She wondered if his brain cell count made it into double figures.
                          
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Eleanor started off the day with a hot chocolate. Hardly healthy but she knew that she was in for a rough day. Her phone was off in the bottom of her bag as she tried to avoid all of the negative comments but she was well aware of people's opinions of her. The first two matches after her official hiring had been losses. It didn't stop her, she put her make up on as if it were armour and walked into the training grounds with her head held high amongst the unmistakable clicking of cameras.
                          
The only thing she was worried about right at this moment was the team's opinion of her. It would be easy to blame her right now and it would put her back to where she started with gaining their respect. However, once again she ended up hating how much she underestimated these guys.
                          
Lucas, Nacho and Marco made their way over to her during the stretches and circled her.
                          
"We all know you're doing great, you're just an easy target for crappy writers." Lucas told her, the other two nodding enthusiastically either side of him. The first genuine smile of the day broke out on her face at their attempts to comfort her and that seemed satisfied with that.
                          
She watched slightly suspicious as Lucas went back to his stretching partner, Sergio, who nodded at him before toggling his hair. He met her eyes for a fraction of a second before winking at her, replacing her smile with a scowl. Of course he hadn't sent them over, that would require possessing a heart.