Page 93 of Fever Dream
“Riley Hart, Casey’s agent,” Riley adds for finality. “And I think you all know Casey and Harrison.”
Harrison and I sit quietly while all this transpires around us, the nerves ratcheting up with each passing moment. The entire room looks at us expectantly and I guess that’s my cue to start.
I squirm in my seat. “Guess you all want to know the goss about me and Harrison, huh?” Harrison snickers under his breath beside me and my shoulders loosen a notch.
Coach cuts in. “Maybe if you can just cut to the chase here, Casey.”
“Yeah. Okay so, yeah, Harrison and I are in a relationship. Guess that’s not all that surprising given how many of you are here for today’s meeting,” I say. A glance around the room confirms that no, nobody here is surprised by this revelation.
Renee from HR steps in at this point and all eyes turn her way. “And how long have you been in a relationship?” she asks.
Harrison and I glance at each other, wondering if she wants the real story or the fun story. I go with the easier answer. “Around two or three months.”
“And forgive the intrusion, this is a sexual relationship?” Renee asks.
“Is this really necessary?” Larry Kimber cuts in.
“We need to know the extent of the relationship before we can consider the implications,” Renee cuts back.
I glance at Harrison. He steps in for me. “Yes, it’s a sexual relationship.”
“Also for around the three-month mark?” she adds, jotting notes down on her notepad.
“Yes,” Harrison confirms.
“There’s nothing in a player’s contract that forbids relationships outside of one where there are power dynamics in play,” Larry adds and I’m feeling kind of glad Riley invited him along.
“That’s where the concern lies,” Renee replies, eyeing Larry with a touch of ice. “Harrison’s role at the club puts him in a position of authority over Casey—”
“That’s incorrect,” Coach cuts in. “Harrison isnotin a position of authority over Casey.”
“Not in a hierarchical reporting line,” Renee agrees. “But he does have authority to decide on Casey’s fitness to play games.”
Renee silences the room for a moment and Harrison and I both squirm in our seats. Riley had instructed us not to speak unless directly asked a question so neither of us volunteers anything.
“That is true in a sense,” Coach concedes. “However, none of those decisions on Casey’s playing fitness are made in isolation by Harrison. His advice is instrumental and obviously holds appropriate weight, but every decision made on Casey’s match fitness is done so in concert with Ben McLean, Tim Masters and myself.”
“There,” Larry says. “There are no power dynamics in play.”
“That doesn’t remove the potential for conflicts of interest,” Renee cuts back in.
“Not entirely,” Alice from Legal adds. “But relationships between players and staff are not without precedent. We can record a conflict of interest on the register and ensure properprocedures are put in place to ensure Harrison has no delegation for decisions on Casey’s fitness.”
“Easy,” Coach agrees with a nod. It’s nice to realise how much he is on our side. “We can fix that without any trouble and ensure Ben signs off on all of Harrison’s decisions relating to Casey.”
I let out a breath of air. It kind of feels like this has come back in our favour somewhat but I’m not completely at ease yet.
“Alice? Can we do this?” Larry asks.
“I’ll sign off on this provided Harrison and Casey sign an acknowledgement of conflict of interest and we formalise the delegation,” she says.
“Harrison? Casey?” Coach asks, eyes on us.
“That works for me,” Harrison says, and I nod along because this all sounds far too corporate and wordy for me. I did not go to university for good reason.
“Okay. Good. Good,” Coach says, smiling at us before nodding at the table.
“The other issue will be Harrison’s ongoing contract with the Fever,” Riley says. “There may be some issues with the non-compete clause from Tottenham come the end of the contract.”
