Kai• ros | Julian Brandt

2.

My teenage self would probably be ecstatic. Asking why? The answer is actually simple. I, Carlotta Watzke, sat at the same table with two of my five sex idols, to whom I dedicated my adolescence. If I were a few years younger, I would probably have hearts flying out of my eyes and streams of saliva flowing from my mouth. Thank God for the wisdom and self-respect gained over the years!

The same, however, could not be said about Diana. She kept her eyes on Mats Hummels, our centre-back, as if the fact that he had a wife and a son was completely irrelevant. As teenagers, we were strictly forbidden to have any relationship with the Borussia players that would crossed the standard boundaries. Either that or my uncle would cut off our access to Brackel. Diana's adult self obviously needed something to compensate for this ban.

I, unlike her, tried to have a casual conversation. I would underline the word try at least three times and go over it with a pink highlighter. I absolutely failed at it! Not my fault though.

Marco introduced me with my full name. I can tell you that the expressions on individual faces were really worth it! Not only were they shocked, as time showed, they also remained shy and reserved, careful enough about what they let out of their mouths. I understood them, and what's more, if I were in their place, I would behave similarly. After all, no one wants to sound like a fool in front of someone who is associated with their breadwinner. So much for how my last name sometimes managed to make my existence miserable.

Fortunately, it was different with Marco and Mats. Relaxed and friendly. Marco, has been part of the club since childhood, minus the few seasons during which he starred in Mönchengladbach. Thanks to them, Borussia once again showed their trust in him and put him back where he always belonged. Home. And he never stopped repaying that trust. Opposite him, Mats, was a member of the academy of Bayern Munich, one of our biggest rivals, as far as the club level is concerned. He, therefore, had to fight hard for his place and not only for the trust of the club, but above all that of the fans. His departure to Bayern was generally considered an unforgivable betrayal, which many made him feel when he returned back under the yellow and black flags.

"So," began one of my counterparts, whom Marco introduced to me as Nico Schlotterbeck "you're Watzke's daughter?" he guessed.

"Niece." I corrected his assumption.

After this information, the atmosphere at the table somewhat relaxed. You could tell that I was suddenly less of a danger to them than I was in their eyes at first.

As I learned during the evening, they transferred to Dortmund from three different clubs. Nico and Niklas only joined Borussia last season. One left SC Freiburg and the other Bayern Munich, thus completing Mats in the ranks of our defense. In the case of Julian, who was familiarly called Jule in the club, it was quite different. He played the last few seasons with BVB, coming at a time when I completely cut football out of my life. They took him out of Leverkusen, from a club that Diana and I also called Loserkusen internally. It's quite a paradox, considering the fact that they are doing significantly better than us this season.

The friendly dinner was slowly coming to an end. The only thing left on the tables after a good meal were soft drinks.

"I thought Marco was crazy when he tried to convince me after training that he saw you sitting in the stands," admitted Mats "It's been forever since you stopped doing that."

"They were probably at every of our training." Marco explained, noting the comfused looks adorning the faces of his teammates.

"What can I say about that?" my lips spread into a smile "It's always been a pleasure for me to watch you. And so it will continue to be, despite what I had the opportunity to see and hear."