And there she was again.
With the same black, expensive camera, the same ID badge on the same black lanyard, and the same part her dark brown hair has been, falling around her face like it had always been like that. He would have said the lens were the same as well, but he doesn't know the difference between the various lens she had brought with her every time she was here. The only different thing he saw was her clothing. She had worn shorts and leggings stopping mid-calf with various t-shirts each saying a different thing back in July and August. But as the transition from August to September came along, she had switched to jeans and sweatshirts, but it would be only Erik who would notice this.
After all, he was the only one out of all the players on the pitch right now who noticed her.
She was on his mind for so long. The reason being that she wasn't at that certain spot or anywhere last season, and if she was, Erik would have noticed her immediately and would have her name by now. The change was so sudden. One day its a stocky bald man kneeling at near a corner and the second he's no longer there, and she's crouching at her own spot, occasionally running to the photo she wanted.
And no matter what he did, Erik could not get her out of his head. He just couldn't. It was the mystery around her that made him want more of her, to walk up to her and ask her all of his questions.
But during training isn't the best time, is it?
On the pitch while in a training uniform with a bunch of grown men and a bunch of footballs. He's supposed to be training not glancing at the girl with every little moment he had.
"Erik, my man." He felt the hands of Auba pat his shoulder, and he was brought was to life just like that. "You okay?"
"Huh? Me? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Erik managed to say without stuttering. He was not fluent in English to explain where this was or what the hell that is, but enough to hold a friendly conversation.
On the other hand, Auba nodded, but he knew something was distracting his friend. "What are you looking at?"
"I, uh..." Come on, Erik! Just ask! Auba probably knows who she is! He knows everyone! "Do you know," he points at her direction where, thankfully, she is looking down at her camera to check a photo she took, "do you know who she is?"
Maybe now, Erik can finally get a name at least. And maybe even start up a conversation, because he will admit, she is pretty.
But Auba stands there, his eyebrows furrowed, looking defeated. He shrugs. "I don't know, man. New photographer or something like that. Don't worry, I got you covered." Erik knows that's not a good sign of what Auba is about to do. "Mats!"
Erik could just die right now. Like I want the world to explode kind of die.
He knew he should have handled this with Marco.
The current Borussia Dortmund captain jogs over to Auba and an Erik about to die of embarrassment. "Was?"
"Do you know who she is?" Auba asks, pointing at her, this time she's looking at them, confused.
If Erik was confident and knew what he was doing, he would have probably left and asked her for her name himself. But he's not, and it's such a disadvantage for him.
Mats shrugs as well. "Go ask her yourself, Erik."
Not gonna happen.
But he's not sure how long he can keep that up with his two teammates nudging him on the back and whispering, "Go ask her!" over and over again.
One part of him is telling him to go and do it while the other is hiding behind a bush, never to talk to her. One wants this, the other wants the opposite. He cannot bear their bickerings.
The twenty-three year old Erik Durm should be able to do this, right? With fans asking him to sign jerseys, pictures, even their phones, he should be able to do this. But he cannot. Erik Durm, the footballer with thousands of fans cannot even talk to a girl.
"I'll do it later," he tells them and regroups with the rest of his teammates.
What actually goes on in Erik's mind is what if he did go and ask her? He imagined her voice to sound pleasant and her name to be Aloisia or Cathrin or Julia or whatever her name actually is because he's sure as hell that it's not going to get out of his head. He was never able to get her out of his mind. She stuck there like glue, and she was completely unaware of it. But Erik was, and he was doing nothing to rid her out of his head.
And God, is it driving him crazy how doesn't know a single thing about her.
He wants to talk to her. But he can't. He wants to touch her sweatshirt that's the color of crushed blackberries and run his fingers through her hair because that's how crazy just the presence of her made him. And she was there every time, and it just made him weak at the knees.
So weak, he would fall onto his knees in front of her and let her photograph hin like that.
For God's sake, Erik would even buy her photos if she was selling them. He would buy her photos and hang them up on the dull walls of his house, placing her business card somewhere safe just in case he had the guts to pick up the phone and call her and take her on a date to some fancy restaurant that he would pay for. He would walk her home and offer her his jacket if she ever got cold and stare into whatever color her eyes were and get lost in them.
There are so many things he wants to do, but he is forgetting that they don't know each other. He is so obsessed with the what ifs rather than what is actually true.
But there is one thing that Erik is afraid of.
If he asked her, "What do you think of me?"
Her reply will be, "I don't."
so i know there wasn't anything really mindblowing but then again, its only the first chapter. second chapter should have some action and be longer ))
comments, votes, love and supprt are so greatly appreciated from the bottom of my heart
i love u ♡
nadezhda
