How Deep is Your Love

Chapter Three: Heartache and Distractions

Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos watched Iker as he shoved his stuff into his locker as they finished up after training; the Goalkeeper hadn’t been the same since he had arrived that morning.

It was even more clear that Iker was had a hangover, something that worried them since Iker didn’t really drink normally and if he did then it wasn’t during the season when they had important games approaching.

“Iker is everything okay?” Xabi asked as he approached his close friend, the Spaniard paused what he was doing and nodded; he had been a little disappointed when he had woken up alone that morning.

His one night stand having left and his thoughts had quickly returned to Sara’s betrayal and he had nearly found himself searching for alcohol in his house when he realised that he was late for training

. “I’m fine,” Iker said not looking at Xabi who looked over at Sergio who approached the two men; they watched Iker wondering what had happened.

“You can tell us anything Iker… you know that,” Sergio prompted however he wasn’t expecting the backlash that his words caused; Iker slammed his locker shut making everyone look at him surprised.

“I don’t need your help Ramos,” he snapped at the younger Spaniard who stared at him a little frightened; everyone knew the moment that Iker Casillas lost his temper that you didn't argue with him.

The team all stared at their goalkeeper, their captain wondering what had happened, they had never seen him like this.

“Iker, what happened?” Xabi asked curiously, he didn't want to push his best friend to far but it was clear that something was wrong; Iker shook his head as he took a deep breath.

“Do you need us to call Sara?” Sergio piped up as he tried to be helpful but Iker glared at him; he didn't want to think about her, the Spaniard wasn’t surprised that his home lay empty of her things.

“We broke up,” Iker said softly making everyone stare at him shocked, they couldn’t believe what they were hearing; the two of them had seemed so happy.

Xabi licked his lips as Iker sat down by his locker, his head dropping into his hands as tears filled his eyes again.

“What happened? I mean… you were going to propose,” Xabi asked as he stared at his close friend, he had never seen him like this; it was only last month that Iker had asked him for help to pick out an engagement ring for Sara.

“Yesterday after training, I found her in bed with another, apparently he wasn’t the first,” Iker said simply making his team mates look at him sadly; they couldn’t believe that Sara had done this to Iker.

Even Cristiano who didn't like her, after the fiasco that had taken place didn't say a word; he was too shocked at the reporter’s decision to rip out Iker’s heart.

***

Standing in his office, José Mourinho frowned as he looked over his notes from the practice; his team seemed distracted especially Casillas, though having heard the Spaniard’s outburst in the training centre’s locker room he wasn’t surprised.

The Portuguese manager sighed as he sat down at his desk and looked over his notes, he could tell that the players where over confident and that wasn’t a good thing in this case.

Aitor Karanka entered the office knowing what was bothering the manager, he had seen it to and with the start of the new season a month away, and it was important that the players focused.

“What are we going to do?” Aitor asked as he sat down across from the Portuguese who sighed and bit his lips, the players needed to get out of the spot light for a few weeks to focus on their game.

José smirked as a thought came to mind as he glanced at a photograph of himself and his close friend Nathaniel Garcia at their wedding.

“I have an idea… call a team-meeting, I have to make a phone call,” José said making his assistant manager furrow his brow and nod before he stood and left the room while José dialled a number into his office phone. He waited for a moment.

“OláNathan… it is José, I need a favor,” the Portuguese said when someone answered the phone.

***

The Real Madrid first team chatted amongst themselves as they waited for José and Aitor to arrive for the meeting; they didn't know what was going on but it was unusual that their manager called a meeting this soon after a training session.

“I wonder what is going on,” Kaka said as he shifted in his seat nervously as he sat next to Cristiano and a couple of the other Portuguese speaking players.

The team all fell silent as José and Aitor entered the room, the manager had a grin set on his face as he headed to the front of the room while Aitor set about handing out information packs to the players, who looked confused.

“We had a great season last season… this year I hope that we can do even better but you are all too over confident,” José said making the players stared at him confused before Cristiano snorted amused at the managers words.

“That isn’t a bad thing,” he said forcing José to sigh and shake his head as he looked at the team before him; the Portuguese shook his head as ran a hand through his greying hair.

“It is trust me, I have seen what over confidence can do to teams,” José said making the team frown at his words; the Portuguese cleared his throat as he prepared to announce his plan.

“I have decided that we need to step back out of the limelight, so I have consulted an old friend of mine and we’ll be heading into the mountains away from the press for three weeks,” José revealed making the team whisper between them about their manager’s surprise decision.

“Listen I know this isn’t what you want, but we need to do this or risk losing to Barcelona,” José said making the team fall silent, if there was one way of getting the Real Madrid players to agree it was to mention that it would help them beat Barcelona.

José’s eyes scanned the rows of his first team players, the twenty-four men that he coached; he focused on the players that made up his starting eleven. Finally his eyes rested on the team’s captain and goalkeeper, José watched him for a moment and sighed.

“This is a chance for you to step away from the limelight… to rediscover what you love about this sport… the love of the game matters for than anything else… lose that and what do you have?” José said making the team stare at him quietly as they took in his words; they knew that whatever the Portuguese had planned was probably a good idea.

“So what will we be doing?” Xabi asked as he glanced at Iker who wasn’t really listening to what was being said; this trip out of the city would be good for him. José smirked as he picked up one of the information packs that had been handed out.

“I have a close friend who owns a ranch-hotel in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range… he’s agreed to let us rent it out for three weeks,” José explained making his players look through the information pack, the next three weeks would be interesting.