La Reina | The Story of Melanie Kavitz

finally

The Stadio Olimpico was insane.

Thousands and thousands of fans can as early as they could to get to their seats, and by the looks of it, we were no exception.

Instead of seats, Bradley got us access to one of the VIP box at the top of the stadium; there were several of them scattered across the stadium, and I couldn't help but wonder just how fortunate we were. We had access to complimentary services, a great view, and we didn't have to worry about being crowded and ambushed in the stadium. I was under the impression Bradley arranged this for my safety, but I did my best to stop believing he would continue to do special favours for me.

"This is insane..." Adair whispered just loud enough for me to hear, and I couldn't help but agree. There was still a good hour left to kickoff, but getting the full view of the stadium, seeing the seats fill with Culers and Red there to support their teams in this historic of night... the gratitude I felt for being able to be here was unmatched.

It wasn't until a few seconds later that I felt my eyes widen at a seemingly simple yet ridiculous idea.

"Hey, we're official players, right? And we have a VIP pass too. Do you think they would let us meet the players before they go onto the pitch?"

Adair's face went white as the blood drained any warmth present. "Are.. are you serious?"

"Why not? Tell me you don't want to meet Cristiano!"

"You just wanna see Messi," he replied while rolling his eyes. He wasn't wrong; of course I wanted to see him. I wanted to finally meet him. I wanted him to see me for the first time. I wanted to see him, hug him, and tell him in-person to have a good game. Even though the chances of doing all that were slim, I wasn't going to walk away without trying.

"Come on, let's give it a shot." I pleaded as hard as I could to Adair. He didn't say anything for several moments; the unsureness of it all still creeping in his face. We were supposed to be on our best behaviour, but it should be fine; if we were denied, we would just turn the other way.

"If you get us in trouble for this, I'm taking absolutely no responsibility."

...

"I can't believe you and I got through." Adair laughs as we walked across metal detectors and into the floor where the two teams' locker rooms were. Getting past the hurdles of security wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but being professional players certainly helped us a lot.

"Just take it and don't say anything, please." I wasn't about to get thrown off the floor for improper behaviour, and I felt it was only fitting to remind Adair to be on his best.

"We have sixty-five minutes until kick-off. Everything has been covered, yes?"

That voice. It was in Spanish, and I noticed Adair's eyes crunching at the sound of the language, but I only felt my heart pounding even harder. I knew that voice. I knew that voice clear as any day.

Pep Guardiola.

"There can be absolutely no mistakes tonight. Absolutely none."

Neither of us could see who he talking to, and I knew Adair had no idea what he was even saying... or who was even saying it, so I just told him to follow me, and I myself followed the sound of the voice.

It didn't take us long to find him talking to his assistant and goalkeeping coaches.

It appeared as if our footsteps were loud, and the mere presence of us being there causing a commotion was enough for him to turn around and face us, and have my body turn completely into rigid stone.