Stay With Me

"Julie ma'am, Red Stars security is here with Rory and Arnim." Julie's building concierge, George, buzzed up to her apartment.

"Alright send them up please." Julie hadn't stopped pacing the hallway of her condo since she had called Paul and told him what was going on. Paul had rounded up a couple of his officers, Rory, and Arnim before heading over. She continued to pace until they knocked on her door. The blonde verified that they were through her peephole before she unchained and unlocked the door.

"Julie. Paul got ahold of us as soon as you called him. Are you ok?" Rory checked on his star player while Paul and his officers went and cleared the apartment, leaving no stone unturned. They had never had to deal with anything like this before.

"Yeah they didn't get in my apartment but um now I don't really want to stay here." Julie had chewed her bottom lip so bad at this point it was bleeding. Rory put his arms on the shoulders and did his best to reassure the young woman.

"You don't have to. We will get you somewhere safe and you can stay there until we move you." Rory reassured the young woman.

"Rory is right Julie. We will take care of you – you are family. Is there anyone you want to crash with?" Arnim spoke softly behind his coach. Julie needed to feel safe and that was his top priority.

"Uh...can I go crash with Lyssa?" Julie cocked her head over to look at Arnim.

"Of course. Paul and I will go call her and figure out how to get you out of here without anyone noticing, ok?"

"Thanks, Arnim." Julie shot him a watery smile. Arnim gave her a warm smile in return and went to find his head of security while Rory comforted his player.

It took Paul and Arnim a solid 45 minutes to develop a plan they were both happy with. Arnim spoke with Alyssa and got her approval that Julie could crash with her for as long as necessary. He left the details of what happened of the blonde out. Julie could fill Alyssa in as much as she wanted to once she was safe. Paul and his team told Alyssa they would clear the building common areas and the apartment before allowing Julie in the building. The goalkeeper readily agreed. If something had Julie spooked, it had to be serious. Paul and Arnim then negotiated down how many security personnel to station at the building. They had a small staff, but they needed to make sure Julie was safe. It was settled that they would put one man at the front desk with the concierge who would have eyes on the cameras on all entrances and exits so that if anyone tried to sneak in, they would know. They would accompany Julie and Alyssa to practice and anywhere else they went for the next few days until the determined the seriousness of the threat. Alyssa wasn't thrilled, but she wanted to keep Julie safe and if that is what it took, so be it. Paul would be working around the clock to make sure this threat was neutralized and didn't escalate. They were only halfway through the season and needed to make sure all their players were focused on soccer, not scared to leave their own homes. Arnim went to find Julie and Rory to update them of the plan. They were in Julie's bedroom, zipping shut a second suitcase.

"Julie?" Arnim's voice made Julie spin around quickly before she let out a long breath and closed her eyes. She had zoned out for just a moment, going over her mental checklist to make sure she packed the essentials. Then Arnim spoke up and made her heart jump and begin to race, adrenaline flooding her system. She had to close her eyes to focus on getting her heart to stop racing.

"Yeah Arnim?" She opened her blue orbs and looked at the blonde man.

"We have got everything sorted out. Paul has sent his team to clear Alyssa's building. We are going to smuggle you out of the back entrance here and take the long way to her place with Paul following behind to ensure we aren't followed. You're going to have a member of our security team with you at all times over the next few days until we can nail down what happened and make sure it doesn't escalate, ok?"