Another Night

Chapter 5 - Opening Match - Group A - Colombia vs. Croatia

"Mi amor eterno!" I yelled at the screen when a photo of James came on.

It's game day, and the 2018 World Cup is officially on its way.

No words can describe how excited and proud I am for this cup to start. I have my jersey on, my hair up, and my whistle in my hand.

The only thing I'm a tad sad about is that I'm not watching the opening with my family, but the fact that I got to send some of them to the ceremony and match is way worth it.

I was sat by the kitchen island in the shared staff house by myself just waiting.

The broadcaster went on about something when I heard the a knock at the front door.

It may seem a little rude how I secluded myself in here and let the rest of the team watch the match together outside by themselves, but I'd serve as a distraction. They're watching to study their opponents after all and I'm here to scream my lungs out for my national team.

"Joachim," I smiled. "Anything wrong?"

"Well we're all wondering where you are," he smiled through the screen door.

I opened the slight separation between us and laughed a bit.

"I didn't want to disturb your study session and I'd be a bit rowdy so-"

"Nonsense, Mara," he shook his head. "On the contrary, we want you to show us how to enjoy a match in the Colombian manner. Plus we'll study the game tomorrow."

"That's new," I chuckle. "Who else from the staff is out there?"

"Just two of the cooks."

"I'll sit with them," I nod.

"Front row, please," he gestured for me to go outside. "You're the host and we're the guests."

"No more of this beer crap," I took a bottle out of Lou's hand. "If we're going to do this right and Colombian," I gestured at one of the cooks to pass me the bottle. "We're gonna drink aguardiente."

The two cooks cheered me on as I passed around little shot glasses.

"The ceremony!" One cook yelled in Spanish.

I quickly sat down to not block the projected image and all the guys began to clap.

Shakira came on stage and I began to cheer louder than everyone else.

"You sure do love Shakira," Mario laughed.

"I love her so much," I completely ignored his teasing me because of all the joy.

A couple of us sang along with her and we all watched in awe at the performances.

After the ceremony was done there was a short period before the match started. One of the cooks passed around whistles and air horns as I began to pray.

"Are you okay?" Thomas asked me.

I turned to my left and nodded.

"I'm just praying," I simply said before going back to my long prayer.

I felt like I was shaking as Colombia took the stage against Croatia, but I knew with all the love and support, that we had this.

The Colombian anthem came up and I sprung up from my seat, followed by the two cooks and we belted our hearts out.

The team and managers clapped for us and our heartfelt performance and I bowed before sitting back down.

The game came to a start about two minutes later. The cooks blew their air horns and scared those around them.

The best thing about watching the match with them was that as the cooks and I yelled at the screen in Spanish for an offside or a foul, the team would do it in German. They all seemed to be enjoying the game as much as we were and it was a nice experience.

The first half ended 1-0 with Colombia winning.

Croatia's defense wasn't the best in the world and their holes allowed for the first goal, but come the second half they seemed to step up their game.

I talked with the two cooks for all of the half time as the guys went to go get drinks or snacks. The last thing on my mind was Marco, but when he got up and left I happened to see him and I can tell he was a bit down.

The second half started and everyone was back in their seats. I tried to catch a glimpse of Marco to see if I was wrong about before, but as soon as he looked back at me I quickly turned to the screen.

I'm so dumb.

Five minutes into the second half and there was our second goal. The whistles and horns blew and my hands hurt from clapping too much.

Half an hour later was our third and final goal.

The match ended 3-0 with goals from Guarin, James, and Bacca.

The team and the three of us staff hung out and drank and watched some of the discussions that came on after the match on TV.

We of course had our own discussions and I felt important because even Joachim asked me questions about the players and I got to bring out my knowledge in football. I even talked about the past German squads and spoke about plays with the managers.

Everyone was going around and music was blasting, people were in the pool at this point and Thomas was still trying to learn how to dance salsa so I taught him some moves for about ten minutes.

Then I caught up with Marco.

"Hi," I smiled and he did the same back.

"Good match," Marco started.

"Hey, are you okay? You look a bit sad."

"Look, I know nothing really happened between us last night-"

"Nothing should happen," I clarified.

"Okay, well," Marco continued. "Mario was talking an awful lot about you this morning and you two seem close and he seems to like you-"

"There's nothing going on between Mario and I," I shook my head instantly and shut down his thoughts.

"Ever since he broke up with Ann-Katherin he's been a bit of a flirt and on the look out," Marco explained. "I don't know I just got a bit jealous is all I'm trying to say and I guess that's why I looked a bit sad. Plus you were kind of giving me the cold shoulder and I thought I did something wrong-"

"No, no," I start."I wanted to apologize for last night when you left the game, I'm assuming it was because of me and I'm only trying to keep my distance from you-"

"Why?"

"Three days in, Marco, and I have a potential romance going on," I blatantly say.

"Romance," he chuckles a bit and I begin to blush.

"I can't do this, I can lose my job," I say. "Plus, I'll distract you and you really have the potential to be the best player in your team and at this cup. I wouldn't want to mess any of that up."

"Romance," he smiles again.

"Shut up," I grunt and swat his arm as I begin to walk away.

"Mara, wait," he calls after me and turns halfway. "I can't help it if I think you're cute."

The blushing intensified.

"That's it?" I ask.

"Well, like you said," he spoke. "It's been three days."

I couldn't help the smile forming on my face.