hard feelings - an erling haaland story

two

Training had been tiring but he liked it. It kept him busy. With pre-season matches around the corner, the entire first team squad had decided it would be a good idea to go out for some drinks and let some steam out. He took this as an opportunity to get to know the team he would potentially be spending five years with. He walked into the dim bar, he could hear the group before he could even see them. A smile plastered on his face as he slowly approached them.

"There he is!" A birmingham accent greeted him. "Was wonderin' if you'd show up! We started without ya!"

The night had been slow, he wasn't a big drinker but everyone around him had been tipsy or were already drunk. He scanned the room, eyes landing on a woman at the bar watching them from afar. He couldn't make out her features but he knew she was intrigued by the rowdy group.

"I think it's time that big Erl gets a round in." A man from behind him chirps up. It was Jack again. He was definitely one to be a bad influence. The tall man shook his head, a small laugh escaping him.

"No promises I'll remember what everyone wants to drink!"

Everyone took it in turns typing away what drink they wanted on his phone and he couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor staff on the bar who would have to make the drinks. He glanced over at the bar, the woman was still standing there but this time her back was turned to the group, leaning into the bar to, presumably, give him her drinks order. As he approached the bar, he couldn't help but feel intimidated, as she now fixated her eyes on his looming figure. Questions filled his mind. What if she were a journalist keeping mental note on their behaviour? He watched as she pulled her phone out of her bag before rapidly tapping away at her screen. She waited until he approached the bar before giving him a quick smile and walking away towards the left of the building.

He greeted the bartender with an apology instantly saying sorry for all the drinks he was about to order. She responded with a quick smile and shrug. "It's okay. I'm more sorry about the wait you'll have. Just two of us on tonight!"

"Don't apologise. They could use the wait."

He stood at the bar in silence, for what seemed to be eternity. He had decided to hand his phone over to the bartender to prevent confusion of the drinks order, although most of it was as basic as a whiskey and coke.

"Erling Braut Haaland, fancy seein' you here!" The voice snapped him out of his thoughts as a woman stood next to him, leaning against the bar. He followed the direction of the movement and was met with a woman whom he was somewhat familiar with. He remained silent as he tried to process who was standing in front of him. "You know, I wasn't sure if I was seeing correctly so I had my friend stare you down until she could confirm it was you. She's a Dortmund fan, you see."

She was a lot more confident than she was as the young teenaged girl he last saw. Somehow, the confidence looked good on her. "How are you, Mia?" he spoke. "Pappa did mention to me that you lived here!"

"God no one has called me that since...well...I last saw you. You look good, Erling. I always fancied you growing up. Even with that ugly buzzcut you had." She laughed.

He was taken aback by her bluntness and directness. He questioned whether it had been the alcohol that gave her this new found directness or whether she had just grown more confident as she got older. Nevertheless, he wasn't expecting it from her. She had always been a little shy around him as a child. Maybe her crush on him explained the shyness he was used to.

"Thank you, Mia." He responded, a bit stumped on what the correct response would be. She just shook her head at him, placing her hand on his arm. His gaze followed her hand, watching as she gave it a squeeze.

"I should probably let you continue flirting with Chlo who's workin' the bar. You know where to find me if you want to catch up. My friends are waiting for me."

"At least let me buy you a drink." He mumbled slightly, if her friend had gotten him feeling intimidated, then he wouldn't even be able to describe the feeling he was getting from his old childhood friend. He was more than intimidated.

"You don't have to, E!" and with those words spoken, she walked back to her table. She was within eye line from their corner of the bar and he wasn't sure as to how he hadn't spotted her previously. He remained at the bar, in disbelief that the woman his parents had been bugging him about was in the same bar as him. A weird coincidence that he would not be mentioning to them in the slightest. Even though Manchester was a big city, they somehow ended up at same place.

He looked back at his group, all eyes on him as some of them gave him an approving nod. Some of them giving him a thumbs up. He knew that the entire interaction with the woman had been watched by twenty person group. He knew he should've been a bit more suspicious when their loud chatter turned into quiet whispers. He turned back to the bar, a smile on his face as the woman approached him. "I can bring the drinks over to your table so you don't have to wait."

"No, it is okay, I shall bring them to my table myself but do you see that woman over there? In the matching pink skirt and shirt." He almost whispered to her. "If I add a drink on for her, are you able to bring it over to her? Do you know what her drink of choice is?"

The young woman followed the direction of his nod, he assumed that her eyes landed on the correct person, or he had hoped so. "Oh, Mils? Yeah, I live with her. I'll add that on for you." A grin was smothered on the bartender's face. He cringed internally knowing that this would be a discussion in their household sooner rather than later.

Chatter at the table had continued as he approached with a tray of drinks, followed by the male bartender, with whom also had a tray of drinks in his hands. He could feel the gaze of the woman he had spoken to previously and fought the urge to look up and meet her eyes. Jack, on the right of him, however, did not. He gave her a wink followed by a small wave and tried to urge her to approach their table. In the corner of Erling's eyes, he could see her shake her head to reject it, causing a small groan to escape Jack's lips.

"Bro, stop flirting with her from across the room." Kevin spoke up. "Go to her."

"Actually, I'd rather you not." Erling spoke up.

"Claimed her already, have ya, Erl?"

A shake of his head was the only response he gave to Jack. No more was said. He thought it would be sufficient enough but Jack, however, mistook this. Pushing himself up from his seat.

"Bro, do none of you recognise her?" Phil Foden added to the conversation, distracting Jack from going over to her table. "I swear her dad played for us."

"He did. Same time as my dad, I grew up with her." Erling nodded.

"Great, you can introduce me."

A groan escaped his lips as his teammate pulled him up from his seat. Before he knew it, he was stood at the bottom of the table. "Mia, my friend wanted me to introduce him to you."

The woman stood up, straightening her skirt as she did, pulling Jack into a hug. "I know who he is, I mean who doesn't? Most gorgeous man on the England squad. Not the City squad though." She looked over at the blond man, who kept his gaze away from her. "Cheers for the drink by the way, Erling. I appreciate it."

Jack cheesed next to him. "Confident. I like it. How about we head off somewhere more quiet?" He winked at her.

"I'd rather you not." Erling disrupted. "I grew up with her bro, that's weird."

"If I remember correctly, E, the last time we saw each other was eight years ago." Amelia scoffed, taking hold of Jack's hand and directing him away from the table.

Her friends gave him a small apologetic smile, one of them looking up at him. "I'm sorry about her, she's just come out of a relationship. She's a bit of a menace right now." It was the woman that had been eyeing him up from the bar earlier. He waved off her apology before returning to his table. A sigh escaping as he sat down. He looked up at his new teammates who all gave him a sympathetic smile, as though they knew something he didn't.