Unexpected (bayern munich)

Chapter 29

The following morning Thomas and Natalia arrived separately at the training grounds to keep up appearances. After gawking at Cat's engagement ring for several minutes, Natalia pulled her aside.

"Listen, Thomas and I agreed to keep our relationship kind of a secret," Natalia said quickly trying to get it all out before Naomi came to talk to them, "So Naomi and Pep can't know."

"You know there's technically nothing in the rules," she said thoughtfully.

"But its still frowned upon," Natalia pointed out and Cat nodded in understanding.

"My lips are sealed," she said with a smile.

"Great. Now if only Bastian can be as discreet as you," Natalia said returning her voice to a normal volume.

After announcing another fundraiser several weeks away, which Natalia and Cat would have to organize, the girls sighed and looked at each other.

"Nothing good has ever come out of a fundraiser," Natalia said exasperatedly as the mass of people walked out of the conference room and milled about, conversations buzzing.

"Is that so?" Thomas' form came out and stood next to Natalia and Cat a smile playing on his face.

"Well almost nothing," Natalia said smiling back at him.

"I might cry," Cat said dramatically as Bastian joined them.

"Thomas!" Pep's voice called him away from the group.

Natalia and Cat went about their business as usual, doing several rounds amongst their charges. Natalia noticed she had several missed calls from her parents, and returned them during her lunch break.

"Hi Mama," she said cheerfully, taking a bite of her salad sitting on the balcony of the training ground. The weather was getting progressively warmer—spring had sprung in Munich.

"Hi love, how are you?" her mother said kindly, filling her in about her father's newest obsession with restoring guitars. Retirement suited them well.

"I'm good mama, just eating some lunch," she explained her trip to Doha, as well as this upcoming fundraiser.

"Listen love, Tanya and Marco are going to Barcelona on holiday and they're leaving Jamie with us. How would you feel if the three of us came to you on our own holiday?" her mother asked.

"I would love that! When were you thinking about coming?" Natalia said trying to mentally schedule her family's trip into her head along with the fundraiser.

"Wonderful! The week after next?" Her mother said, alleviating any fear of clashing with the fundraiser.

"That sounds fine, Mama," Natalia responded, and noticed Naomi waving her over, "Listen, I have to go back to work, love you," she said quickly

"Alright talk soon," her mother responded quickly recognizing her daughters' schedule.

After practice Cat and Natalia handed protein shakes to the players as they headed into their afternoon meetings.

"Thanks Nat," Manuel said, winking at her as he strode by into the conference room, throwing a towel over his shoulder.

"Natalia?" Thomas' voice echoed over a few of the other players from several feet back.

Natalia nudged Cat, who winked at her and she made her way against the wave of people trying to get into the conference room.

"I'm having some trouble finding my bottle," he said seriously, staring at the table in front of him, with the distinctly labeled bottle.

"Tom, its right—whoa!" Natalia resisted a squeal as the crowd thinned and Thomas put his hand over her mouth, and tugged her into a nearby alcove.

"Hi," he whispered, letting go of her face, and smirking at her.

"Hi," she whispered back, resisting a giggle, "What are you doing?"

"Sneaking around," Thomas murmured into her ear, causing goose bumps to shoot down her legs. Whoa.

"Thomas," Natalia whispered back, trying to keep her wits about her, as he kissed her neck.

"You are so sexy when you're working," he whispered into her ear, before kissing her. Natalia felt her cheeks burn red. Holy shit.

"And I'm about to be fired for being late," Natalia said with her eyes still closed.

Thomas pecked her once more, before turning out of the alcove and grabbing his water bottle, shaking his butt in Natalia's direction, before heading into the conference room.

Natalia stifled a laugh and hoped her cheeks were less red when she followed him in, but judging from Cat's expression (she bit her lip to keep from laughing), she was still flushed.

She noticed Bastian shove Thomas under the table, but he remained straight faced. She heard Cat stifle a giggle, and tried to put on a straight face herself.

This is going to be fun.

Thomas and Natalia's routine continued much of the same way. They would sleep together (usually in Thomas' apartment, it was bigger, and closer to the training grounds), then arrive separately to keep up the illusion of their friendship.

During lunch, Natalia would sneak off to watch the team practice, and Thomas would sneak away to do some "private training", which generally involved joining Natalia for a drink near the water cooler, or better yet, a stolen kiss or two in a deserted hallway.

One day, after a match, they were headed back into the busses from Allianz—they just beat Freiburg 2-0, and were walking back to the bus. A number of photographers gathered. The news about the summer transfers leaked to the press, and they were flocking like moths to a flame.

"PEP, is it true you're getting fired?"

"Is Neuer transferring to Man United?"

"Is Naomi Kreutz leaving Bayern Munich?"

Natalia shook her head—none of those things were happening, and they just needed to get home. She was tired, and her head hurt but through her internal monologue she heard

"Thomas! Are you seeing anyone?"

She stared at his profile—he was about 5 feet in front of her, and she noticed him hesitate for a few moments, and some silence fall over the crowd as he paused.

"No, I'm not," he said with a smile and continuing forward.

Natalia felt Cat grab her hand. Oh.

When they got on the bus, he patted the seat next to her, and she sat down, staring straight at the seat in front of her.

"Sorry," he muttered grasping her hand for a second, before dropping it.

"It's okay," Natalia whispered back, "We knew it was coming."

He moved his fingers to the charm he gave her and played with it for a moment, silently.

This is not going to be easy at all.

--

I'm so sorry for the lack of updates, work has been absolutely nuts, and I got sick this week.

Hope you're all good!

--Parker xx