Kai• ros | Julian Brandt

9.

I walked the Brackel corridors in a sullen mood. I was tired, sleepless, and instead of caffeine, ordinary blood was flowing through my veins. In my case, literally a killer combination.

We returned from the North Sea coast late at night. It was almost midnight on my watch when I collapsed into the fluffy, soft covers of my bed. Even though I could barely keep my eyes open, I couldn't fall asleep.

Moments from the beach kept replaying in my mind. As if they were some kind of movie that was recorded on a broken tape that had no end and thus repeated itself over and over again. Old tape with a classic black and white romantic movie.

Nala's loud barking mingled with Julian's playful laughter. His face, while watching the crazy four-legged pet, was decorated with a wide smile. That and the little dimples in his cheeks thats was making by his smile. A typically boyish sparkle was playing with his eyes and a stiff wind was blowing with his hair, that was covered by one of his many caps. The background of all this was completed by the stormy waves washing the sandy beach.

I was the weirdest one in the whole thing. The figure of Carlotta Watzke, who walked silently by Julian's side, her lips stretching into a soft smile.

The warmth that spread through my body at the sight of Nala and Julian at that moment on the beach spread through it even as I returned to it in my thoughts.

With each closing of my eyes, his face appeared in my mind and his voice was heard. That night he stole all my sleep for himself.

The corridor I was walking was unusually quiet. The usually quite busy and frequented corridor yawned empty. There was not a single medical professional in sight or, on the contrary, a player scheduled for rehabilitation or another physio procedure.

The silence strengthened my hope that it could be a relatively peaceful end to the work week.

"Good morning," I muttered as I passed Bastian's office. His door was open as always.

"Morning!" not one, but two voices greeted me at the same time.

The first one belonged to Bastian, and the second one, which prevented me from walking and forced me to take a few steps back, belonged to Mats.

"Do you need anything, Carlotta?" Bastian asked after I peeked into his office.

"Actually, no, but I'll take advantage of the fact that you have Mr. Hummels here," I rested my eyes on the mentioned one, who, although his back was turned to me, was curiously looking straight into my face from behind his robust shoulders, "at least I won't have to chase him all over the training ground center."

"Mats needs to consult something before tomorrow's match against Bayern," explained Bastian.

"When you finish, could you stop by my place for a word?" I spoke towards our central defender "It won't be for long, just a little thing." I assured him.

My anger towards Mats has faded a long time ago. And despite the fact that I wasn't angry with him anymore, I still couldn't help myself and wanted to make it clear to him what I think about his association with Julian. After all, it was a bad move, not only to me, but to Diana as well. If they wanted to fight, they should have reached for fairer weapons than just exploiting the naivety and weakness of a mad woman.

My initial intention was to go put my things away, change into my work uniform and go to the canteen to get fresh coffee, without which I would not be ready to start my work schedule. However, my whole plan collapsed the second I found myself in front of my office.

The door was ajar, which was strange, as I clearly remembered locking it before I left the day before. I always do it that way, even in cases where I just pop off for a short moment to the canteen or Diana's for a quick chat. After all, file cabinets are filled with stuff that contains sensitive information and is embargoed.