Better With(out) You (Sequel to Second Thoughts)

Eighteen

As December rolled around, the mood just seemed to increase for Sarah. It was weird feeling, but nothing felt better than feeling genuinely happy. She was able to walk into her job everyday with a smile on her face, and she was able to have a lot more fun as well. There was nothing like it, and she had a feeling that it would all continue for a very long time. It even was fun when the first Manchester Derby took place in the beginning of the month, despite City losing to United. There was nothing like getting constantly made fun of by your significant other for the entire week after, but of course Sarah had the last word between her and Harry. 

Her team was playing Champions League football, and Harry was stuck in the Europa League.

Speaking of the Champions League, it was the time of the year where the next draw would take place. It was time to find out who City were going to be playing in the round of 16, and the whole men's team and some of the staff were gathered in one of their rooms to watch the draw.  It was going to be an interesting draw, since there were only a couple of teams that City could play since group winners would not play each other and Premier League Clubs could not play each other.

"So who could we possibly play?" she asked as she sat next down to John and Kyle. "Well, Dortmund, Napoli, Lyon, and that lesser team that you were a part of before you came here." Kyle explained with a bit of smirk on his face. Raising her eyebrows, Sarah just folded her arms and sat back in her seat. That would be quite interesting if they ended up playing Real Madrid. There would be nothing like returning back to Madrid with all of the power Sarah felt like she had right now. There was no doubt that she couldn't be messed with if they went...

When it began, the huge group in the room all turned their attention to the huge screen in front of them. The anticipation was very high right now, and some of the players were already bouncing up and down in their seats. They had two easy round of 16 draws the past two years with Basel in 2018 and Schalke in 2019, so Sarah hoped for a bit of a challenge to better prepare for the later rounds. With the teams they could face, City were going to be pushed in different ways. 

It was already interesting from the beginning as the first draw was PSG vs. Borussia Dortmund. Both clubs were class teams with class players, so it was sure to be an interesting match-up for sure. Sarah smiled to herself as she thought of Zara, the biggest Dortmund fan, at that moment. That would be a nice win for them. 

It then got interesting once Real Madrid's name was the next to be pulled out. It got very quiet in the room as City were one of the teams that could play against the Spanish superstars. It could be the moment, but it was all going to be down to the next ball that would be taken out of the other bowl. 

"The team to play Real Madrid will be..." the suspense built up as the next ball was taken out of the bowl. The announcer took the paper out of the ball and revealed, "Manchester City. First leg in Madrid." At that moment, Sarah felt herself shake a little. This was going to be a very intense draw, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Sarah knew she needed to be there, and she already saw the hostile look on her brother's face. He was out for blood, and he was going to do everything to make sure that Ramos wouldn't win. Even if John didn't play, he was going to do something. 

Before the two siblings could make eye-contact, Pep pulled Sarah aside. She knew that he was going to talk to her once it all got announced. He would take care of her. Pep gave her one of his serious, yet reassuring looks. "We will make sure nothing happens to you when we make the trip there." He told her. The truth was, she was also going to make sure nothing was gonna happen. If Pilar tried pulling any of her tricks, Sarah would make her feel sorry for everything. It was always a little scary going back to Madrid, but she wouldn't back down to all of this. "Some people there should be afraid. I'm not going to be."