Everybody's Romeo, Nobody's Juliet

Chapter Four: Borussia Dortmund

When Rose and Marco exited the other side of the building, the sun was still shining brightly that it illuminated the whole field. The training ground smelled of dew and grass. Rose saw the team doing their warm up on the field, looking like bumblebees in their black and yellow uniform. Thomas Tuchel, their head coach, was standing on the corner of the field with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey coach, sorry I'm late." Greeted Marco.

Mr. Tuchel bobbed his head in response and said, "Kevin told me." He pointed at Rose. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing serious." He answered.

"Good. Off to the field then."

"Yes, sir." Marco replied. He turned his attention to Rose and said, "No running off."

'Where the hell will I go?' she thought but she just gave him a single nod and a curt smile. She watched him sprint off to the field.

Rose stood there holding on to her backpack with both hands, unsure of what to do until Mr. Tuchel said, "Thomas Tuchel, pleasure to meet you." He raised his right hand.

She took it and replied, "Rose Alvarez. The pleasure is mine sir."

"Please, call me Thomas."

"Umm, I'm not sure if I'm comfortable calling you by your first name." She said. "Is Mr. Tuchel all right with you?"

Mr. Tuchel let out a hearty laugh. "That's my father but sure." He pointed at the dressing on her head. "Does it hurt?"

"No, not really. Those guys were just overreacting."

"They did the right thing bringing you here. It might've been serious."

She shrugged.

"You can take a seat over there by the shade." He pointed to a row of seats. "Do you need anything?"

She shook her head. "Oh no, I'm good, thanks." She smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Well, if you need anything, don't be shy to ask." He said. "Excuse me though, I have to prepare the drills."

"Don't mind me. Go ahead, please."

She was left standing all by herself. 'Should I sneak out?' she thought, looking back at the building behind her. 'Will I remember my way back though?' She thought hard, eyebrows scrunching together on the middle of her forehead, and her hands on her hips. After a few minutes, she let out a deep breathe. 'He's right. I'm already here. What's the point of leaving?' She stomped off and sat down on one of the seats and settled her backpack on the seat beside her. She saw Marco on the side of the field stretching and doing his warm up exercises. The other squad members were setting up the equipment for their drills. Kevin was juggling a ball around with Ciro Immobile while Marcel was with hauling some agility ladders with both of his hands. Mitch Langerak was talking Roman Weidenfeller. She saw Erik carrying a bunch of disc cones. When he spotted her, he put the cones on the ground and waved at her. She smiled and waved back. Nuri Sahin, Mats Hummels, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were setting up the speed hurdles on one side. It wasn't long before the assistant coach blew his whistle and the team started their drills.

"There's Daddy! There's Daddy." A tiny voice said.

Rose saw a tall, young woman, hand in hand with a child, walking towards her direction.

"There's Daddy." The child repeated, pointing to the field. Rose turned her eyes back to the field to find out who the child was calling "Daddy" but the team was huddled close together, it was hard to determine who.