Harbinger Of Glory

”Thank you.”

Leo said it without looking up, already sliding his phone back into his pocket as the barista nodded and called the next order.

He stepped to the side of the counter, giving space to the morning crowd filtering in.

Glory Café was already alive in that quiet weekday way.

Cups clinked.

A grinder whined while others laughed in ways that pointed to them having a better-than-usual start to their days.

And with the newfound recognition, it was like having a target on his back, though it wasn’t that excessive.

Most people in Wigan had the common sense that, just like them, Leo was a normal human being, even if he was a very talented up-and-coming footballer.

So all he got were stares, a few waves and some slight small talk usually made up of greetings and what people expected from the team.

That was the Wigan way.

A quick look, a second glance to be sure, then back to their own business.

The local star standing in line like everyone else, jacket half zipped, waiting on a cappuccino.

Leo leaned against the wall, scrolling aimlessly until a small voice broke his attachment to the phone in hand.

”Excuse me?” the boy said as Leo looked up, and a few feet away was a kid, no older than eight or nine, clutching his mum’s hand with both of his.

His eyes were wide, darting between Leo’s face and his mum’s like he didn’t know what to do.

”Are you... You are Leo Calderón, right?” the boy asked after a moment.

The mum smiled apologetically towards Leo, trying to make things easy for her son.

”You don’t have to, honestly. He just—” she tried to say, but Leo’s expression softened immediately.

”I am,” he said. ”What’s on your mind, mate?”

The kid swallowed.

”Can I get a picture?”

Leo slipped his phone into his pocket and crouched slightly so they were closer to eye level.

”How about more than one?” he said. ”We’ll make sure at least one of them’s good.”

The boy’s face lit up as people nearby started paying attention to the interaction.

Leo wrapped an arm lightly around the kid’s shoulders while the mum took the phone, smile widening with each snap she took.

One photo turned into three, then four, while Leo changed expressions, even making duo poses with the kid and pulling a face that managed to get the kid to laugh.

”Wait,” the kid said suddenly as he fished for anything he could find.

”Can you sign something?”

Leo looked around, then up at the counter. ”You got a pen?”

One of the staff members already had a Sharpie out, sliding it across with a grin.

Leo took a napkin from the dispenser, rested it against his knee, and signed carefully.

He handed it over once he was done and tapped the napkin slightly.

”Keep that safe,” he said. ”I am going to be good one day. Very good, and when I am, this’ll be worth a lot more than it is now.”

The kid nodded like he’d just been given a mission.

Leo ruffled his hair gently, stood up, and heard his name called from the counter.

He grabbed his cappuccino, lifted it slightly in a goodbye gesture toward the boy, and headed for the door.

On his way out, he held it open for an elderly couple coming in.

The woman thanked him warmly, but the man paused, squinted, then leaned toward his wife.

”Isn’t that—” he started, but by then Leo was already outside and on his way.

At the station, he wrapped a scarf loosely around the lower half of his face and found a seat on the train to Manchester.

On a Monday morning, as such, it was very rare to find the train not full.

After entering, Leo sat beside a schoolboy in a jacket, earbuds dangling uselessly around his neck as he watched something on his phone.

Leo glanced over out of habit, and on the phone, a football analysis show filled the screen.

”...four wins on the bounce now for Wigan in the league,” the pundit was saying.

”All starting from that Luton Town game last month. Since then, they’ve continued in the league and even carried it into the cup, with that FA Cup fourth round win over Grimsby.”

The schoolboy leaned closer to his screen.

Leo looked out of the window instead, though he could still hear everything.

”There are two reasons for this turnaround,” another voice said.

”Or maybe just one, depending on how you look at it. It started when Dawson came in back in September. And the first thing he did was bring in a kid no one knew.”

Leo smiled faintly.

”And when we say no one knew him, we mean it,” the pundit continued.

”Not even some people at United’s youth setup, where the kid came from, knew the kid.”

”This signing even got a bit of backlash from the Wigan faithful,” the pundit said as Leo scoffed a bit, taking a sip of his drink as the screen flashed with stats.

Six goals and eight assists in just the Championship and 2 G/A in 2 FA cup games.

”Especially impressive when you remember he’s often playing as a defensive midfielder,” the voice went on. ”Yes, he’s given freedom, but still. First professional season and in one of the toughest leagues in the world. With his help, Wigan have now managed to climb to 5th, level on points with West Bromwich Albion but ahead with goal difference.”

The schoolboy sighed heavily with a little smile as the video continued.

”And next up,” the pundit said, ”an FA Cup fifth round trip to Southampton. Premier League opposition. That’ll be a real test because if Wigan can beat them, they will be in the FA cup quarters. Fans are already calling it the re-enactment of their FA cup triumph in 2013 when they won the final against Manchester City.”

At that exact moment, the train announcement crackled to life.

”Next stop, Manchester Piccadilly.”

Leo stood, cupping an empty cup in one hand and a tray with three untouched cappuccinos in the other.

He nodded politely to the schoolboy, who just stared widely as Leo stepped into the aisle.

The doors opened minutes later, and Leo joined the exiting people as Manchester swallowed him whole in noise and movement.

After getting down, he pulled his scarf up again and blended into the crowd, walking with purpose now.

He headed toward his aunt’s apartment, coffee still warm, the city stretching ahead of him, and the season moving faster than he ever expected.

”It was never going to be easy,” Leo muttered, repeating the words Dawson had said to him a while ago.