Become A Football Legend
Chapter 46: Der Big Ask

Chapter 46: Der Big Ask

"Oh come back, I’m kidding!" He shouted, laughing as he went after Lukas.

"All of a sudden, you’re a rich man."

"No I’m not, I haven’t signed the contract yet. We just opened discussions. I won’t even be able to sign it until I’m 16."

"Yes, and we have to celebrate your birthday in style."

"What style? I’m just gonna have a little gathering at home."

"Yeah, no way in hell will that happen under my watch. Leave the planning to me; it’s gonna be a great day."

"Hmm... Okay then. Just remember I’ll be turning 16, not 36."

"Of course. All age-appropriate stuff, I’m not stupid."

"Are you sure? I doubt that sometimes..."

"Hahaha... Very funny.

On a more serious note, though, congratulations. I can’t believe how fast you’re progressing, it’s really motivational."

"Thanks, João. I really appreciate it. Your turn will come soon."

"I hope so."

"What are you guys talking about outside here when classes are about to start?" A teacher asked as he came up the stairs.

"We were just discussing the homework, sir," João replied as he dragged Lukas back to their class.

* * *

Same day, break time.

Lukas walked down the hallway, he knocked on a door at the end of the hall, opened it slightly, and peeked inside.

It was the school’s science laboratory.

There were a few students placing test tubes and beakers in their holders and disassembling an experimental setup.

As he looked in, a girl who was standing beside Joanna in the room tapped her shoulders.

"Your football star is here," she whispered while giggling.

"What are you talking about? He’s not mine, we’re just friends," Joanna responded quietly as she gently set down the tubes she was holding and headed to the door.

"Hey, Luke," she said as she got to the door. They both turned and started walking back down the hallway.

"Hey, Jo. How are you doing?"

"I’m doing great, final year of school isn’t easy, though, but what can I say? How about you?"

"Trust me, you’ll be fine. I’m sure of it. As for me, though, I’m alright. I got your text this morning."

"Yeah, since you decided to not talk to me, I chose to reach out first."

"C’mon, that’s not fair. You asked me to give you time to think."

"Yeah, but I didn’t ask you to give me space as well."

"I’m sorry, I didn’t wanna come over as pushy or something of the sort."

"Hmph... Since you sound so sincere, I will forgive you this time. Before anything else, I wanted to ask. What made you pick that date to tell me how you felt?"

"Hmmmmm... It’s kinda a long story."

Lukas thought about what happened a month ago. The day he confessed.

* * *

It was a cloudy day, the whole day looked like the sun was on a sick leave. It was the first Sunday of October. Summer was rounding up quietly for winter, but that day was particularly dark.

KNOCK KNOCK

Lukas knocked on the door of an apartment located at the fourth floor of a residential complex.

"Ruben, there’s someone at the door. Go check who it is," an elderly female voice called out from the kitchen.

Ruben, a 10 year old boy with a cone hat, rushed to the door.

"Ohhh Lukas is here!" He smiled wildly as he spotted Lukas.

"Happy birthday, Ruben. Here," Lukas handed the kid a wrapped box which he took immediately and ran to his room.

Lukas walked into the apartment and closed the door behind him. He looked around the beautifully decorated sitting room.

A wedding portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Gimenez hung on the wall above the flat screen TV. Beside it was another portrait of the family— the parents, João, Joanna, and the birthday boy.

"It’s been a very long time since I was here," he thought as he looked around.

It was his first visit to the Gimenez’s house since he returned and he had been putting it off for several reasons.

Today, though, was Ruben’s birthday and they planned to celebrate it by attending the Eintracht Frankfurt vs Bayern Munich match played later that day.

"Lukas! It’s been a while, you’re here early," a man in his late 40s walked out of the bedroom with a Bayern Munich Schweinsteiger shirt, and a black trouser. He brushed his black hair backwards and adjusted his wedding band.

"Mr. Gimenez, it sure has. How’ve you been, sir?" Lukas greeted the man who might one day be his father-in-law.

"Lukas, it’s nice to see you. I’m fine. I heard about your performance with Eintracht Frankfurt reserve team, my kids won’t stop talking about it. Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir. I see you’re not going to support us today."

"Unfortunately, not. It will always be Bayern Munich. By the way, I heard you got us the tickets, it must have been difficult to get."

"It wasn’t too difficult, sir. Don’t worry about it. Unfortunately we will be cheering on different teams, though."

"Hahaha... There’s no problem with that, by the way, where’s your father?"

"Oh, he’s going to pick up Anne, they’ll meet us at the pitch."

"I see," he turned around and faced one of the doors that presumably connect to a room. "Joanna, why did you run into your room?"

No response.

"I don’t understand what’s wrong with that girl. She was sitting here just now."

"Really? Maybe she went to get ready? I’ll be in João’s room, sir."

Meanwhile inside Joanna’s room.

She was lying on her bed, in a blue pajamas decorated with white hearts all over.

"Why’s he here so early? There’s like five hours before the match starts. And why would dad say something like that?"

She sat up abruptly, "wait a minute, why am I hiding from him? I live here!"

She stood up and walked to the door, opened it slightly, and peeked out.

"He’s in João’s room, you can come out."

"Ahem... Dad what are you talking about? I’m not hiding from him."

"Yeah, right. Just go prepare, João’s already taking a shower. We have to get there early. It’s gonna be packed."

* * *

The match ended as a 3 - 3 draw. It was as gripping and entertaining as matches get.

The home supporters — including Lukas’s group except Mr. Gimenez — went crazy when Eintracht Frankfurt snatched the draw through a Marmoush 90’ + 4 goal.

Lukas was sitting next to Joanna and after the goal and in the heat of the moment, they had hugged each other tightly.

The hug was only for a brief moment — 10 seconds at most — but it felt longer for both of them.

"Why am I getting butterflies from a hug? Get a grip, Joanna, he’s your brother’s best friend," she thought as she occasionally sneaked glances at Lukas.

Lukas was unaware of the turmoil he was causing her, because he was going through even more storm from the same hug.

This was a guy who lived his first life single, he had crushes — people he found attractive — but that never went anywhere further than a crush; he never even talked to most of them.

[*Don’t think about it too much, Luke, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Just ask her on a date, if she agrees, great, if she doesn’t, it is what it is. What’s the worst that could happen?*]

"You’ll not say that if you’d seen the way some people were rejected online. Also, you can miss 100% of the shots you take."

[*Bruhhh...*]

"I’m kidding, but I just don’t want things to get awkward between us if she doesn’t feel the same way."

[*How do you think you’ll feel if you hear she started dating someone else tomorrow because of your indecision?*]

"Then it is what it... Who am I lying to? That’ll suck."

[*That’s what I thought, so just talk to her.*]

"Okay, fine!"

They were walking out of Deutsche Bank Park, the huge crowd causing the group to temporarily separate from each other.

Lukas squeezed through the man between him and Joanna, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Jo."

"Who’s that!? Oh... Lukas..."

"Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you."

"No it’s fine, you didn’t. It was just reflexes."

"How did you find the match?"

"It was so good. Watching a match like this, is rare. I can’t believe one day I’ll be watching you play in this huge stadium."

"Ahem... Thanks for believing in me."

"You’re welcome. If I don’t believe in you, who would I believe in?" she responded as they walked out of the stadium together in awkward silence.

Throughout their walk, Lukas was encouraging himself to go ask her for a date.

"Lukas, it’s simple, just say ’would you like to have dinner with me, sometime?’ How hard can that be?"

[*Exactly, that’s simple, and innocent. Just don’t say anything crazy.*]

"Shut up, you’re disturbing my brain. I’m tryna piece the words together. What if she says ’no’? What do I say? Even worse, what if she says ’yes’? Then what do I do?"

[*I already feel sorry for this poor girl. Don’t think about it too much, just say it how you practiced. Nothing wrong with dinner.*]

After a few more minutes of practicing the speech in his head, forming the replies he would give depending on her answer, he gathered up the courage to open his mouth and tried to sound as natural as possible.

"Hey, Jo."

"Yep?" She raised her head from her phone.

[*Remember, "do you want to have dinner with me?" It’s only eight words long.*]

"Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

"Huh?"

A/N: Just from reading this Chapter, I’m sure the answer to the question, "has Writ ever been in a relationship?" is clear as day.

Chapter was late cause I had to use all the imagination in the ’imaginary glands’ of my brain to write this one.

Still, stay safe.

No girlfriend, but I’ve got y’all

Love you.

-Writ