Free Score by Jessica Ashe

international affairs for the World Bank for a few years, but is now semi-retired. He gets offered consulting and teaching gigs all the time, and accepts the ones that pay the best. There was a trade conference the other day where he got paid so much for an hour long speech that he was earning more than me for a short period.”
    “Not as fun as earning millions of dollars a year playing soccer though,” I said. I still couldn’t get my head round the numbers. I had worked hard all my life, and graduated from Harvard University. My reward was a job that paid less in a year than what Jaxon earned in a week. Okay, so he wouldn’t earn that money forever, and my salary would go up with time, but it still seemed unfair.
    Jaxon laughed. “I guess not. But I have him to thank for where I am now. He was the one who used to drive me around the state, and sometimes even the country, so that I could play as much soccer as possible. Mom had nothing to do with it. She just reaps the glory. So, shall we go for coffee?”
    I hesitated, but then nodded and stood up from my desk, careful not to walk in front of Jaxon in case he saw my blouse still stuck to my back. I shouldn’t be doing this. Coffee could be innocent enough, but things were rarely innocent where Jaxon and I were concerned. This was how things had started four years ago. We’d hung out as friends: gone for coffee, grabbed milkshakes, and ate brunch at the weekends. Everything had been so innocent. Until it wasn’t.  
    Now history was repeating itself, and the image of Emilia and Jaxon kissing didn’t seem to be enough to make me hate him. Not when he was right in front of me. I needed his summer tour to go as quickly as possible, and for him to go back to England. I wanted to be left alone with my heartbreak before I did something stupid and made things worse.  
    Mom and Dad always told me how clever I was, and to them going to Harvard University had proven that. However, clever people didn’t do things they knew were stupid, and going for coffee with Jaxon was definitely stupid.

Jenny relaxed around me when we were in a public space. She didn’t even flinch when we sat down at the table and our knees pressed together. The table was small, so it wasn’t like there was anywhere else for them to go, but I still expected her to give me grief about it. Instead, she just ignored the contact between us, and we chatted like we used to four years ago.
    Well, not quite like we used to. Jenny was a little stiffer and held something back, but it was a big improvement on the conversation we’d had back in England. She was treating me like a human being now, at least.
    “I didn’t realize you made quite so much money,” Jenny admitted. “You must be a multi-millionaire at this point.”
    “I suppose. But I probably have less money than you expect.”
    “Did you blow it all on hookers and coke?”
    “I don’t touch drugs,” I replied seriously. “And I certainly don’t need to pay for sex. I do need to pay tax though. That takes a big chunk of the money. Besides, I haven’t been earning millions of dollars a year for that long. My first contract was for a mere $3,000 a week.”
    “Wow, however did you survive?”
    I smiled. “Fair enough.” Jenny was in a devilishly sarcastic mood today, but that was a big improvement on hating me, so I accepted it willingly.
    “Why weren’t you paid the big bucks straight away? Was it because you were young?”
    “God no. In Europe, if you have the talent they will pay you the mega-money, no matter what your age. When I first went to Europe three years ago, I could only get a contract with a smaller club in the third tier. I did well for them so a club from the second tier came in for me. We got promoted, and I got snapped up by Liverpool United. That was only a year ago so I haven’t accumulated many millions yet.”
    “You must have a lot of sponsorship deals though?” Jenny asked. “Didn’t I once have the