From Me To You

Chapter 12 - Madrid to Warszawa

Toni and I rush past the crowds of people to make it on the flight on time.

A couple of hours later, Toni and I arrive in Poland and we get into a cab and tell the driver the name of the hotel we needed to be at half an hour ago. The driver gets on his way, but the traffic is terrible and the only thing to do is stare out the window and talk until we make it there.

"This has to be exciting," I point out. "The last national team match was Scotland right?"

"Yep," Toni turns to face me. "Can't wait to see the guys again."

"Can't wait to meet the best national team-"

"You don't have to say that," Toni begins to chuckle.

"In all honesty," I smile. "You guys are the absolute best."

"I think you just want to meet the guys," Toni says.

"That's a plus."

We arrive to the hotel a couple of minutes later and we run into Löw.

"Toni!" He exclaims then meets my eyes.

"Hi," I put my hand out. "I'm Katalina-"

"You guys are late," he interrupts.

"The flight was delayed," I begin to explain.

He puts a hand on each of our shoulders and begins to push us out the hotel where a car was waiting for us, the bus full of the rest of the players was already on its way.

"I'm sorry," Löw begins and sticks his hand out again past Toni to me as we're sitting in the back seat. "Nice to meet you Katalina, I've heard a lot about you."

I greet him once again and apologize for the tardiness before he begins to talk to Kroos. I just find myself staring out the window, taking in Poland until we catch up with the bus full of players as we make a left to get to the stadium.

The driver parks right behind the bus on the lot and the guys begin to file out the bus as Löw slides out the backseat first. I go for the handle of the car and open the door to get out. As I shut it and turn to face the guys my eyes meet Erik's.

"Toni!" he yells after taking his eyes off me.

I catch the eyes of some of the other guys as I walk up to Toni so I could introduce myself. I part my lips to speak but Toni cuts in after greeting some of the players.

"This is Katalina," he points at me.

"Hi, Katalina!" They all cheer in unison.

"Hello," I smile and wave back nervously. "It's an honor to meet you all."

The coach rushes them all into the locker rooms soon after and I make my way onto the field while I wait for them. I spot a soccer ball on the ground and take it between my feet. I dribble it a bit between my feet before I hear a voice behind me, making me turn abruptly.

"Do you play?" Joachim speaks.

"Oh, no," I let out a sigh. "I'm not any good."

"That's a shame," he sticks his hands in his pockets. "Are you just being modest or-"

"No, I've just never been any good."

"Well, you should try," he steps closer. "You never know. Practice with the guys a bit."

"I don't want to serve as a distraction, or the weakest link-"

"Nonsense," he cuts my sentence short. "Try it out a bit."

"Alright," I smile.

"I just wanted to thank you for taking care of Toni," he starts. "God only knows what he'd be doing out there in Spain without many German speaking friends."

"It's my job, but it's no problem at all either," I state. "He's a great guy."

Just then the guys come swarming out of the steps that lead to the halls of the stadium and Löw makes them all gather round. I step out of the way so they can get their details for the training and their pep talk, juggle the ball around a bit more as I stand there patiently.

The group breaks and Mats comes up to me.

"Let's go," he smiles.

I smile warily back and follow him to the far right corner of the whole set up and we meet Erik and Jérôme.

"Löw wants you to have some fun," Mats says as he throws me a ball.

"Does he now?" I ask making them smile.

"Show us what you got," Erik joins in.

"I got nothing," I correct him as I place the ball between my feet. "Show me something."

Mats begins to smirk and Toni appears by my side.

"Anything you've got in mind?" Hummels speaks.

"Pullback," I flash him a smile and Toni begins to chuckle. "Defensive."

"Careful with this one," Toni says passing through the group to his own.

I kick the ball towards Mats and the guys start to teach me some tricks.

I leave the field about a half hour later so they can get to the real warm up and then begin practicing heavily. All I did was learn some pullbacks and a drag and scissor. We all headed back to the hotel that night and I got to spend some time with some more of the players.

The following night I found myself sat in the stadium awaiting the Poland match in the cool weather. Meanwhile, I text Neymar a congratulations on the Brazilian win against Argentina, his first match as a captain. I also text James on the Colombian win against El Salvador and we talk for a while about Jersey and the guys before the match officially starts.

The match was pretty tense, and the Polish goalie was at his best. Sadly, Germany ended up losing 2-0 and I stayed away from the locker room because I expected Löw to tear them apart.

After trying profusely to cheer some of them up we all ended up in the hotel, a couple of us in Toni's room.

"Let's head out," I sit up in his bed. "Before we leave, let's have some fun."

"I'm up for some fun," Manuel speaks.

"Come on," I say too cheerfully for these gloom guys spread all over the room.

"I'm in," Mario smiles after a bit.

"Let's go," Mats says.