La Reina - Alexia Putellas

5.

It was the next morning and after Erin finally fell asleep at 3 in the morning it was now her alarm, taking off at 6, that was ripping her out of her dreams.

"What the hell", Erin mumbles when she turns tiredly under the sheets, not wanting the short night to be over already.

Today was the last day of the preparation at the Barcelona training center before the friendly against Atlético Madrid will take place in a couple of days.

Erin turns in her bed, now being even more tired than right before she fell asleep, when her hands slowly shove the blanket aside as she sits up to get ready for the day.

As usual she took her time for her morning routine. A nice cup off coffee, an ice cold shower and a few minutes of yoga to prepare herself for work.

She always felt refreshed after that morning routine  and soon she was strolling towards her therapy room from her parking lot at the training center.

Just like yesterday it was only Martha who was there already. They had some very early therapy sessions with some team members today, due to the upcoming trip to Madrid they were training on the pitch later that day.

So the morning was reserved for the physiotherapy of some athletes. Erin checks the agenda tiredly, counting a sum of 8 appointments within the next four hours.

The therapist looks over her schedule, searching for an specific name on the sheet when finally her eyes are on the second appointment early that day.

Alexia.

Her mood changes immediately and even she knew she shouldn't be this happy about seeing the captain, she was excited to catch up with the woman she was thinking about all night.

Soon after there was a soft knock at the door an the central defender, Maria, makes her way inside the therapy room.

"Good morning, Er", she greets the therapist when she pulls off her boots and hops onto the therapy bench.

"Well, good morning to you to, Maria. Looks like someone can't wait to experience some pain", Erin laughed, referring to the last therapy session they had the other day.

Erin was very good at finding specific points. Her skills with removing pain and pressure of the muscles and tendons were really solid.

"The therapy was really good the other day, Erin. And I'm not lying. But don't put as much pressure on it like last time", Maria warns, turning into her stomach when Erin takes a look over the defenders ankle and calf, touching it gentle.

"I'm always gentle, Maria. Don't worry", Erin laughs sarcastically.

"I knew that was a lie", Maria mumbles with her head pressed into the bench, while she was holding tight onto the handle in front of her while Erin increases the pressure a little, starting of a little softer than last time.

"So, how were your first couple of days?", Maria mumbles, her words a little hard to understand because she was laying on her stomach.

"I guess they were... alright", Erin shrugs, concentrates on her work at the players ankle.

"Alright? You mean finally meeting your lover again was just alright?", Maria laughs, making clear of what topic she wanted to talk about.

"Oh, I see where this is going", Erin chuckles, releasing her grip for a second just to increase pressure the next.

"Ouch. Okay, I got it. But for real now. How are things going between you and Ale?", Maria asks while Erin rolls her eyes to the back of her head with a smile on her face. Of course Maria would ask her about it.