heartbreak and apologies

Thirty Two

*

It's finally the week of the final and I've been cleared to return to training. I've mostly worked on my own but today I'm good to rejoin the team and train on the grass with them.

"Hey kiddo, ready for training?" Lucy asks, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"You bet I am" I smile.

Lucy has been a godsend this past week, checking in with me every day, asking how I'm doing, how my knee's feeling as well how I'm coping mentally.

"You trying to steal my girlfriend, Romero" Keira scowls from across the room, "I'm hurt you'd ever suggest such a thing" I reply, pressing my hand to my chest in sarcastic offence.

I lace up my boots and walk out with the two lovers not far behind.

The feeling is being back on the grass, even after such a short time away from it, is indescribable and I can't help but smile as I join the team at the side of the pitch.

"How are you feeling?" Janine asks.

"Nervous to see how my knee holds up" I reply, shivering a little, "alright ladies. Let's start with a little jog around the pitch to get you warmed up" Alan says and we set off.

"I can't believe I've never asked you this but what was it like to play in the Champions League final" she asks.

I smile, "amazing and weird at the same time. We wanted it so badly after losing to Wolfsburg in the way that we did the year before and Lyon the year before that. Of course there were no fans but we threw everything it into it regardless and managed to come out winners".

"I bet it was a big relief?" Janine smiles.

"Yeh, probably much the same as the feeling you had after winning your gold medal" I reply.

"Did I see a video about Vicky running off to find her partner or something?" she asks as we go round for another lap, Alan setting out cones ready for when we return, "yeah. Emma was there working for the UWCL YouTube or something and afterwards we raced up into the stands and interrupted their livestream".

"Much like somebody else I know" she nudges me with her shoulder, "yes, well not quite as public".

*

"Hola I'm Catalina Romero...".

"And I'm Vicky Losada and today we are doing a quiz on how well we know our teammates" she smiles at the camera and then at me.

"So Lina, obviously we have been here for a while, how do you think you're going to do on this quiz?".

I smile, "I'd like to think quite well, I feel like I know the girls pretty well. What about you?" I ask and Vicky looks a little worried, "honestly I don't know" she laughs.

The City producer hands us a whiteboard each and sets about asking us questions.

"Question one: what is the name of Ellie Roebuck's dog?".

"Oh that's an easy one!!" I smile, scribbling down the answer, turning around my board to show the camera once Vicky has hers.

"Lina you're correct, it's Johnny".

"What did you write" I ask Vicky, looking over and seeing her answer, "Freddie. Isn't that her mum's dog?" I say to no one in particular and the producer nods.

"Can I have an extra point?" I ask cheekily and she shakes her head, "question two: who scored her first four goals for her country in a 20 goal thriller against Latvia?".

I look over at Vicky, "got this one V?" I ask, writing my answer down, "I think so" she replies.

"Three, two, one".

"You are both correct, it was Lauren Hemp".

We run through some more, including some about past Conti Cup finals, before talking about the upcoming event.

"What are you most looking forward to with this final?" Vicky asks me, knowing she will most likely be sitting it out, "oooo, well firstly I know that City have never played Chelsea in a final so I think from that perspective it'll be a real challenge and something people can enjoy" I explain.

"Secondly, having the fans with us. Obviously when we won the Champions League last year, we couldn't have our fans in to celebrate with us and the City fans are absolutely brilliant, so I think to be able to share it with them. Hopefully we can put on a good show and bring the trophy back to Manchester with us".

The producer gives us the thumbs up, "ok to round things off, we have some questions sent it by fans and I'll give you some to read out".

She hands us each around five cards and let's us make a fool of ourselves.

"Ok, this person asks who would you rather have one dog, presumably one of the two you already own" I say, "or 100 of one?".

Vicky throws her head with laughter, "you know how much I love my dogs but I don't think I could have a hundred" she smiles, "so probably just one".

"Saki or Lolita?".

"Probably Lolita, she's a bit calmer than Saki".

I smile at the camera, "I can definitely testify to that. Any time anyone comes round Saki is all over the place".

Vicky picks up one of her cards, "ok, how did you feel when your PDA after the England game went viral?" she asks, "in case anyone doesn't know, Lina's girlfriend kissed her after Spain had played England last month".

I blush more than just a bit and hope I can get away with blaming it on the cameras.

"Umm... well first off let me say that Patri and I had been very private about our relationship and I actually wasn't expecting it to happen the way it did" I laugh, "however I am very grateful it did and I heard and saw nothing but positive things about it".

We round up the fan questions and then Caz, the producer announces the winner.

"Lina, with twelve points to Vicky's ten".

"Yessss!!" I throw my hands up in the air, "congratulations" she replies as I do a little victory lap around her chair, "make sure you get tickets for this weekends Conti Cup final, which you can buy through Man City's website and we hope to see you there".

*

A/N: sorry for the slow update.

I only recently discovered the video of Vicky and Emma, but it's really sweet. You should definitely look it up.

Also I was thinking of either doing another book linked to this one, maybe with Hannah Freeman or maybe Mapi? I was also thinking of doing some imagines or something so let me know if you'd be interested in either of those and who you'd like to see for the imagines and/or some situations.