end up here ≫ marco reus

006

From: ELO135@yahooh.com

Sent: Wednesday, June 4, 2014, 08:45AM

To: MaR1989@hotmails.de

Subject: see you later

On my way to Germany now. I hope this is not a joke.

---

ELOISE

        And there I was. Suitcase packed at the airport of Paris on my way to Berlin. I had never been too far out of the country and I hadn't been to Germany before, so this was definitely a trip of a lifetime. I had been wondering for the past few days how Marco, yes I finally know his name, could afford all of this, because the price was visible on the ticket and it definitely said a price over a hundred euros on there.

        In other news, my plane arrives in about 15 minutes and I am sitting in first class – thanks Marco – next to an older woman playing sudoku. She had been quiet for the entire trip, which I am definitely glad about, because actually I'm horrible at small talk. I'm imagining my 'date' with Marco to go a little bit like this: There we sit in the audience, we don't really talk because we are 1) too awkward and 2) too much in love? Then we'd probably quietly watch the game. Marco seems like a guy that gets really out of his mind during games so I expect him to make lots of noises and accidentally talk German to me, which would make me laugh and just giggle a little. I don't know. I hope it would be better than this. I get my seatbelt on and I pack my belongings back into the handbag I took with me.

        About 30 minutes later I'm out in there in Germany. And it feels weird. Marco said he'd wait for me out there, with like one of those cute signs when people are picking up members of a host family. I am looking out for my name, but unfortunately, I can't find it. I sigh deeply, not sure what to do now, because I trust Marco, he'd be here waiting for me. And I'm not going to leave until he's here to pick me up. I check for free WiFi, because I have no connection here in Germany. I want to see if he'd emailed me that he'd be late or anything. No free WiFi here. I sigh and I look at all the family members being reunited and I feel like a loner, like this is all a joke.

        As all the people move away, and I am just sighing at my phone, I feel a little tapping on my back and I turn around. A tall, blonde guy in standing in front of me and I raise my eyebrow. He holds a little A4 sized paper in his hands and raises it to me. In a very tiny, not so neat handwriting it says: “Eloise”. And yes, it has one of those little hearts as a period on the I. I giggle and look up at him. The heigh different is astonishing, I mean, I'm not that small, but he is rather tall.

        “You found me,” I say softly.

        “I found you,” he answers smoothly. I don't know what to do to break the awkward silence and I pull him into a hug. He smells good, he smells really good. Scientifically, you're attracted to scent. And I'm definitely attracted to his smell. If this is Marco though. I'm not quite sure yet. I let him go, with the thought that this could possibly be a taxi driver – although he didn't seem like one. He was wearing fashionable clothing, not a suit like you'd expect of a taxi driver.

        “You're Marco, right?” I ask him and he laughs and nods. I laugh back at him and then it's again silent, “I didn't expect you'd turn up.”

        “Why wouldn't I?” He asks me and he carefully puts away the paper with my name in his back and relocates his baseball cap. I'm unsure why he is wearing that inside, I mean, there's no sun in the airport. I don't bother asking him and when he has stuffed away the paper, he carefully takes my hand. I feel myself blushing and I grab his hand a little tighter. I don't dare looking at him, but we slowly step through the airport, outside to the parking lot. I look around, trying to find a car that would take me to his place. Because I am assuming he lives in Berlin. He never really told me. He squeezes my hand and I dare to look up. I feel my heart beating in my throat, because I'm nervous.

        “We still have to go by train for a few hours, will you be able to do that without falling asleep?” He asks me and his English is endearing. It has a little raw edge to it. I wonder how I sound with my horrible accent. I hope Marco won't mind.

        “I think I will survive,” I say.

        We step in a tram and a few minutes later we are at the station where we take the train to where Marco lives. Dortmund. We'd have to travel again for the game against Armenia, which Marco seemed to be really excited about. He talked me through all the details and all the things that I had to know about the German National Team. I'm not quite familiar with that team, I only know the French team really and some details about the Portuguese team, because of Rosalie.

        The train ride is long and tiring. It's quiet too. Marco doesn't talk a lot, and I hope it's just because he is nervous. But he keeps holding my hand. Sometimes I look at him, when he doesn't look at me. And whenever he looks back at me, I pretend to be looking outside, but secretly I'm just looking at his reflection that shows in the window. I'm sure he knows. He smiles at me, and then lightly squeezes my hand. He is cute, his face, his jaw line, his eyes, all about him is perfect and I wonder why I never met him before. I wonder what he looks like without the baseball cap.

        It takes about 4 hours until we finally arrive at Dortmund Central Station. I feel separated from Marco when he lets go of my hand for a few seconds to take my suitcase, but he quickly takes my hand again. I hope he will talk more when we arrive at his house.

        A few more minutes in Marco's car. And I must admit, he definitely has one of those typical German cars. I mean, in my head, every German drives a Volkwagen or an Audi, which is probably not the case, but this is just me. He parks in front of a big house, which I assume is his and I'm glad to finally get the chance to fall asleep soon. I look at him and he looks at me. And we laugh. We laugh like teenagers that have just fallen in love. I get out of the car and Marco follows me to the front door with my suitcase in his hands. He opens the door with his keys and I'm welcomed by a huge hall and I gaze around, not sure what to think now. Do I really know this guy?

        I don't. He lives in a huge house and I'm not even sure what kind of job he has in order to be able to afford this place. I don't know what to do now. I look at him and he takes of his cap and I smile at his hair that I can now clearly see. He is really cute. He is definitely the type of guy I would date, given he is also a very kind and caring guy, but just by the looks I mean.

        “Should I show you your room?” he asks and I nod. I'd love to be able to lie down on the bed for some time. It's only 7 in the evening and I'm surprisingly tired. I follow Marco up the long stairs and I count the doors until he opens the one that leads to a bedroom, where I will be staying. I'm glad he understands that I would rather sleep alone in a room, instead of in bed with him. I mean, we'd have to know each other first. I guess. Not necessarily, but I mean, it would make more sense.

        “I'll leave you to get comfortable I guess, I'll be in the kitchen preparing some food, okay?” Marco asks. I nod at him.

        “Thanks,” I say and he smiles at me, “For everything I mean, for all of this, I wouldn't be able to afford this ever.”

         “Don't worry about it,” Marco says and he closes the door behind him. I miss his hands in mine and I miss him around. It is kinda lonely. I lie down on the bed and I start thinking. I really want to kiss him.