Kai• ros | Julian Brandt

17.

Quick, hasty decisions that come without thinking. Decisions that are driven by feverish emotions. Impulsivity. An unexpected opportunity. By intuition.

My heart was pounding and my lungs were on fire. I could barely keep up with Julian. If it weren't for the fact that he held me tight, I would have lost him somewhere in the streets of Dortmund a long time ago.

The tips of his fingers dug into my wrist. With each other hasty step, his grip intensified. Almost as if he was afraid that I would try to get out of his grip.

The street noise spread around us. Despite the advanced evening hours, the streets were filled with a mass of people, covered in yellow and black shades. The last echoes of the celebrations from the match against Atlético were heard, accompanied by excited fan voices, singing Dortmund's team anthem - You'll Never Walk Alone.

I caught a glimpse of how Julian pulled the peak of his cap closer to his face. He did this whenever he tried to blend in with the surrounding crowd.

"Julian," I addressed him. I needed to stop. At least for a moment to breathe and catch the lost breath. Among other things, the shoes I was wearing on my feet were definitely not designed for hurried walking on an uneven asphalt surface.

He looked over his shoulder at me for a moment, but didn't say a word.

"Brandt!" I tried again, a little more fiercely.

"What?!" he roared.

He stopped suddenly and turned in my direction. This unexpected gesture caused only one thing. I bumped into his masculine chest and staggered gently. I could barely keep my balance on the high stilettos, and if it weren't for his refined reflexes and hands with which he firmly grabbed my hips, I would have landed on the cold ground on my butt.

Without thinking, he pulled me closer to him. It only took a few seconds and the hellishly sexy smell of the cologne he was using suddenly hit my nose. A typically masculine, spicy scent that made my knees buckle more than once and which I adored on him.

"What, Carlotta?" he repeated his question after I remained silent.

"I can't!" I complained "My feet are dying in those idiotic shoes and you've obviously decided it would be fun to do a midnight brisk walk across Dortmund. Well, you know what, Brandt? It's really not fun!"

"You really are a true drama queen, Carlotta." as his eyes sparkled with amusement, the corners of his lips lifted into a soft smirk.

"I may be a real drama queen, but you know what you are, Brandt? You, Julian Brandt, are incredible! For several months, you don't speak a single word to me, and I don't even know why, and suddenly, you grab me by the wrist and, like a rag doll, drag me across half the city. That enlightened you out of the blue, or to what do I owe this sudden change in your behavior?'

"I want to talk." Julian shrugged his shoulders.

"You want to talk?!" I repeated his words in disbelief "Fine, I'm listening! What is so important and urgent on Mr. Brandt's mind that he needs to talk about it out of nowhere?" I snorted.

I could sense the irony that radiated from me, and no doubt Julian must have sensed it as well. It reminded me of our beginnings. That period when we could barely stand each other or say a single kind word to each other. But the difference was that now we were both connected by the past. Short, but still the past. Our fall silly romance.

"Could we move somewhere with more peace and privacy? I don't need or want anyone to listen to us.'

"Where do you want to go?" I asked.