"Lin, you. You little bastard!"
"Ever since you decided to go all out to help Liverpool get back to their best this season, you haven't called me once!"
"Tell me, when was the last time you called? It was only because you wanted to ask how Firmino was doing in Saudi Arabia!"
"You've got six golf courses now. If you don't want them, I'll put my name on all of them."
"And those cotton candy shops of yours are doing better and better. They're all over Liverpool, Manchester, and London now. This old man has been running all of that for you!"
"I'm increasing my stake!"
"And Maria calls me every few days complaining that you haven't called her in ages. She even asked me to pull some strings and find out whether you've been fooling around with another model."
"You make me cover for you with Maria all the time. I tell her the truth every single time, and she never believes me. Who would believe that a footballer spends night after night at the training ground instead of going home, just because he wants to play football with a few friends? Do you know how many times Maria has called you and gotten no answer?"
The day after Liverpool beat Brentford, Barnett called over and over until he finally got through to Leo.
Leo had gotten into the habit of barely checking his phone because he received far too many messages.
Klopp had once sent him a message, and Leo hadn't replied until six days later because he genuinely never saw it.
So whenever Leo's friends had something important to tell him these days, they called him directly. Internet calls were almost impossible to get through.
Barnett had to call several times before Leo finally answered.
It was already nine at night. Leo had just finished an extra training session with Mac Allister and was about to grab a late-night snack when Barnett finally reached him.
"I'm calling to tell you that you're coming to my wedding tomorrow at noon!"
Leo was convinced he had somehow misheard the name.
How old was Barnett now?
He was having a wedding?
He was already in his seventies and had been with Delores for all these years. Why were they suddenly getting married now?
Had Barnett and Delores broken up?
"Uh, Barnett, let me ask you something first. The bride's name is Delores, right?"
Barnett immediately shouted from the other end of the phone.
"Who else would it be if it wasn't Delores?"
"Firmino?"
"I've really started feeling my age lately, so I don't want to keep putting it off. I'm going to marry Delores while I can still dance!"
"And I'm informing you right now that tomorrow you're going to be my best man. You can be my flower boy too, then give the wedding speech and be the emcee. Basically, anything that needs doing at my wedding is your responsibility."
Barnett hung up.
Leo was the only person he had personally called about the wedding.
Everyone else simply saw the announcement Barnett posted on his account.
That was right.
It wasn't an invitation.
It was an announcement.
Barnett kept it short and simple.
"Tomorrow, Delores and I are getting married at the Merseyside Grand Hotel in Liverpool."
"The wedding starts promptly at noon. If you need anything, contact Lin. Yes, that Lin. The best one in football."
That was the entire announcement.
Just the time and location.
There wasn't even a polite line inviting anyone to attend.
But Barnett knew plenty of people would show up.
Long before he met Leo, Barnett had already been one of England's top football agents. After meeting Leo and working alongside him for all these years, he had expanded his agency even further.
Across England, when people thought about football, Leo was the first name that came to mind.
Barnett was probably the second.
Even Leo's Ballon d'Or trophies were kept at Barnett's house, along with many of his other trophies, jerseys and boots from important finals, and all kinds of other memorabilia.
To Barnett, those were his honors too.
Barnett had called Leo personally because he was worried Leo wouldn't see the announcement on his account.
More importantly, Leo was responsible for organizing everything at the wedding the next day.
Once the news spread, every player who had ever had dealings with Barnett immediately headed back to Liverpool.
Firmino and Fabinho were among the first to arrive. Ocho and many of Leo's other close friends also gathered at the hotel Leo had booked.
Across England, practically every well-known player, every popular player, and every highly valued player immediately contacted Leo to ask about Barnett's wedding the following day.
Leo booked the best hotel in Liverpool and reserved all of its best rooms for the players.
That same evening, he even arranged several tables at the hotel so everyone could have dinner together beforehand.
It was almost impossible to see this many elite footballers gathered in one place.
Even major football award ceremonies couldn't guarantee that this many stars would all appear at the same time.
And even if you were rich enough to try paying them all to attend, it still wouldn't work.
Most of them weren't exactly short on money.
There were only two reasons they had come.
One was out of respect for Leo.
The other was out of respect for Barnett.
That was it.
"Firmino, move your chair over a little. Look what you're doing to Pedri!"
"Hey, Rodri, those are Busquets' utensils!"
"Ramos, move closer to me. Why are you sitting all the way over there?"
There were so many players that Leo had arranged sixteen tables on the hotel's first floor, with eight players at each one.
The combined market value of everyone in the room was enough to make the entire football world dizzy.
So Leo hired more than five hundred security personnel to protect every player there.
Fortunately, the major leagues had all entered a temporary break, and most players had one or two weeks without matches.
"First, I want to thank everyone on Barnett's behalf. Getting this many players together for his wedding isn't easy. I know you're all busy, so I'm genuinely happy to see everyone here."
"I'm sure you all know what Barnett is like. Unless it's me talking to him, he usually just pretends he can't hear you."
"Don't blame him. He's getting old and his hearing isn't what it used to be. It's not that he deliberately doesn't want to talk to you."
Everyone in the hotel laughed.
As Barnett had gotten older, his temper had only gotten worse, and he often refused to talk to anyone at all.
These days, Leo was practically the only person who could consistently communicate with him.
Sometimes even when Delores spoke to him, Barnett barely acknowledged her.
Of course, that usually ended with Delores giving him a thorough lesson afterward.
"For tomorrow's wedding, if you have your own car, drive there yourself. If you don't, I've arranged plenty of cars outside. You can drive those yourselves too."
"There won't be any drivers. Hiring drivers is too expensive."
The players burst out laughing again.
Leo had always been like this.
Whatever he wanted to say, he said it clearly.
Of course, the part about drivers being too expensive was a joke.
The real reason was that having too many outside drivers involved would create unnecessary security concerns. It was safer to let the players drive themselves.
"Anyway, tomorrow isn't just Barnett's wedding. It's also his seventy-third birthday."
"So I hope everyone has a great time."
The next day, large numbers of fans waited outside the hotel and watched the players leave one after another.
When Leo finally came out, he was surrounded by a huge group of players.
He chatted with his close friends while arranging more vehicles and sending everyone off toward the wedding venue.
When Leo arrived, Barnett and Delores were sitting outside the entrance cracking sunflower seeds.
Yes.
Leo had bought the sunflower seeds for Barnett.
The two of them looked nothing like a bride and groom.
They looked more like two cleaners who had just finished a shift and decided to sit outside for a break.
"Lin, if I weren't getting married today, I probably still wouldn't have seen you!"
"You've been running yourself into the ground at Liverpool every day. When is Klopp finally going to give you some time off? If he won't, I'll call him myself!"
The moment Barnett saw Leo, he tossed the sunflower seeds in his hand behind him, hurried over, and wrapped Leo in a hug.
Firmino and the others greeted Barnett as well.
Barnett smiled and nodded back.
The moment Leo arrived, Barnett's mood seemed to improve dramatically.
"I'll play for a few more years. Whenever I get tired of it, I'll retire."
"Then I'll take you out every day. No Delores, no Maria. Just the two of us."
Barnett immediately started laughing.
He could already see Maria behind Leo, preparing to take him down.
"Without me?"
Maria wrapped her arms around Leo.
"If I'm not coming, then you're not going anywhere!"
There were so many people at Barnett's wedding that Leo could only do his best to make sure every player had somewhere to sit.
Even if that meant Firmino sitting on Fabinho's lap and Pedri sitting on Rodri's.
Pedri had also brought along his younger teammate Gavi.
Gavi was now part of the national team as well. His place in the squad wasn't completely secure yet, but Leo enjoyed talking to him and often treated him to meals whenever they were together with the national team.
Once everything was ready, Barnett and Delores danced their way into the venue.
There was nothing formal or traditionally wedding-like about their entrance.
And neither of them looked remotely like they were in their seventies.
The players around them laughed and cheered, clearly enjoying themselves.
Barnett wanted Leo to say a few words on his behalf.
"Honestly, I don't really have much to say because this isn't my wedding. But you all know Barnett isn't exactly good at speeches, so I'll say a few things for him."
"I've known Delores for a very long time. She's an incredible wife. If she can put up with Barnett, that alone should tell you how incredible she is."
Firmino laughed louder than anyone.
"Sometimes it feels like Barnett has been with me every step of the way. I can always tell what he's feeling, and somehow he always understands me too."
"So I'm really happy that all of you were willing to come to Barnett's wedding. Once we've all retired, maybe we can travel together."
"Maybe we could even make a reality show. Barnett can pay for it. He's rich anyway."
"We're players from all over the world. We all have different personalities, but football keeps bringing us together as brothers."
"When we've all retired, we should make a show that belongs to our generation of players."
"I think that would be a lot of fun."
Barnett's wedding had turned into a gathering for footballers.
And that was exactly what Barnett had wanted.
The more friends Leo had, the happier Barnett was.
If holding a wedding meant Leo could make even more friends, while Barnett himself got to see Leo again after so long, then it was more than worth it.
...
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