control - Alexia Putellas

2.8.

i bet some of you neither like Erin, nor Ria right now. but trust me, you will. you will. ☕️✍🏼

The following morning, a warmer late summer day in the capital of Catalonia, Erin and Ria found themselves seated at a table within the serene cafeteria of the contemporary FC Barcelona training grounds.

Across from each other they sat, a mass of papers and documents spread out on the giant table between them, each document representing a piece of the plan Ria had been working on for the last couple of days.

Without any rest, the head coach's mind was focused on creating the perfect plan, the master plan with to reconstruct the Spanish National Team, formed from elite athletes.

World class was the goal.

Ria wanted this team to become the best. The best in the world. The team that would achieve all its goals.

Anything less would be below her own standards.

On the table were contracts, schedules, to-do lists, treatment plans and statistics, a visual representation of the challenges Ria Thomas was about to face.

"I can't wait until we can finally digitize all these documents... what Jorge left behind is... a mess", Ria murmurs as she inspects one of the papers, a pair of glasses perched up on her nose, "It's hard to keep track of everything"

"Perhaps if you weren't burning the midnight oil and jotting notes in your notebooks... if you conserved your thoughts for daylight hours, then-"

"But a few more appointments remain to be scheduled before I can present the master plan to the President", Ria interrupts the therapist unintentionally, her tone focused but also tingled with excitement, "We should rerun Mariona's strength test. Some values appear... unusual. I want to make sure she's not overloaded. Either she was overworked under Jorge's management, or her stats are really that unusual... I hope not"

With a nod, Erin punches the coach's information into the laptop, appending a reminder to delegate this task to an athletic trainer later on.

Another point on Ria's perpetually recurring list of checks.

Ria Thomas was an accurate person.

A very accurate person.

"Also, please schedule an additional session for Jana with the therapist on the inaugural day of camp. According to her file, she's expressed discomfort in her knee on a frequent base... given her serious injury, we need to make sure we don't run the risk of further damage or deterioration", Ria continues, forest green eyes engrossed in Jana's file, "Optimal workout conditions for everyone are imperative"

"Noted, boss", Erin chuckles in amusement as she jots the information down in the calendar, while sipping from her glass of water.

Seated in a crossed-leg position on the cafeteria bench, clad in the national team polo shirt and pair of comfortable sweatpants, the blonde emanated a serene ease, juxtaposed against the poised, mid-length brunette across from her, whose attire exuded a touch of elegance.

The head coach needed to make a good impression on everyone, after all.

"Also, note extra therapy sessions for Irene and Alexia... in case they decide to rejoin the team", Ria adds, tapping her pen against her bottom lip as she glances up at Erin, warning, "And stop calling me that"

"In return, if you stop calling me ‚Sweetie'", Erin quips, her fingers gliding through her blonde strands of hair.

"I'm not", Ria smirks, the next file already clased in her grasp as she adds, "We're at work, after all. We're professional here. And we need to keep going. Otherwise we'll never manage this chaos"