Cause and Effect

Three

"Hey Nia!"

I turned to see Alexis was jogging after me, as I headed out from the buildings, and towards the training grounds. Training was due to begin soon, but I smiled, and halted my steps to allow him to catch up with me.

"Hey Lex," I replied.

"Thought we'd see you at the gym today," he commented.

"On abs day? Give me a break," I chuckled.

He laughed too.

"That's not like you though," he questioned.

"Nah, I'm kidding," I said. "I was all for it this morning, but then Hector talked us into playing CoD, and you know how it goes..."

"Once you start, you can't stop!" He stated.

"That's right," I laughed. "I'll have to go after training now, that'll teach me."

"I'll come with you, if you like," he offered.

"Oh, really?" I asked, surprised. "But you'll be exhausted, you don't have to."

"No, but I want to," he smiled. "We haven't hung out in ages, and it's always better to go to the gym with a friend."

"That's true," I nodded. "Who were you with this morning?"

"Mesut," he replied.

"You know," I added, as we reached the door, and Lex pulled it open for us. "I don't think we've hung out since before the summer break."

"You're probably right," he nodded. "I went to Chile, so we wouldn't have been around each other much. Hey, do you think Thierry's gonna play us at the same time?"

"I hope so," I sighed. "Or I don't know, maybe he'll play you as a striker."

"Transfer window's not closed yet," he shrugged. "Is he looking to buy anyone else? I don't know."

"I guess we'll find out after today," I said. "If not, after the tour."

We'd reached the field now, and Thierry was there with a few others.

"Hey you two," Thierry greeted us. "How was your evening?"

"Great," nodded Alexis, smiling at him.

"Mine was great also, only if I can't feel my legs today, it's because I fell asleep in the media room with Hector on top of them," I sighed.

Thierry laughed.

"And here comes the culprit now," he said, looking over my head.

I turned to see the rest of the team that wasn't here already arriving on the pitch, Hector among them.

"Great, everyone's here, go for a run and then you can start warming up," said Thierry. "We're leaving for pre-season in Spain in a few days, so we have a lot to go through this afternoon."

By the end of practice, Thierry and the other coaches had pretty much decided on the line up for our first pre-season game, which was to be against Sevilla, although they had yet to finalise it. Alexis was playing striker, with Özil on the left, and myself on the right, in a 3-4-2-1. To give our new boss his due, I felt as though I'd learnt a lot from practice today, and I was actually ready for pre-season. Thierry still had an unparalleled skill of getting on my nerves, but I think we understood each other a little better now, and I was endeavouring to ignore him and push for my best in training.

"Alright," stated Thierry, at the end of practice. "All of you can go, except for Alexis, Nia and Mesut."

"What? Why?" Protested Alexis immediately.