So it Goes : Erik Durm 🗸

:CHAPTER 7:

The two girls walk in, and are met by the goaltender of Borussia Dortmund, Roman Bürki.

"Welcome you two," he says with a smile.

"Hi Roman," says Isabel and points to Stefanie, "This one here is Stefanie, my new photography partner."

Roman smiles at Stefanie, "Well, I think everyone is here, do you want to introduce yourself to the whole team?"

Stefanie's palms start sweating, but she ignores them, "Sure, I guess."

"Ok, follow me."

As they followed Roman, Stefanie could not believe that she is about to talk in front of 50 plus people. Mein gott why did I do that? She wonders, imaginarily slapping herself, Ok, ok keep it cool. Oh gott, I hope I don't say something stupid and make Erik hate me. She shakes her head, clearing her mind of that last thought. The trio stop at a stage with a DJ, and Roman whispers something in his ear. The DJ turns the music down and Roman grabs the mic.

"Hey hey hey, who's having a great time," Roman says in the mic. The partygoers raise their glasses and cheer. "Well, that's great because I have someone here who I'd like to introduce."

Roman motions for Stefanie to come over and hands her the mic. Stefanie thanks him, then walks over to the middle of the stage. She looks out at all the unfamiliar faces, until she recognizes one, who gives her a smile and two thumbs up. She smiles, "Hi, I'm Stefanie. I'm Isabel's new photography partner, and the new face you've probably seen recently on the field with her nose in her camera." The others chuckle as she continues, "So, I'm from Toronto, Canada-"

"Neighbors!" Yells a voice that sounds likes Christian, and is Christian.

Isabel deadpans and whispers, "Mein gott, someone teach this kid some geography."

Stefanie laughs and continues, "I came here to try and become an aerospace engineer at Dortmund University-" cue some whistling and applause "-and found a flyer for this position on my apartment building's notice board-"
"Thanks to me," Marco yells.

"Yes, thanks Marco. So, obviously I couldn't resist, since I love photography with all my heart and have a degree, too. Plus, I already had some knowledge about photographing sports teams since I used to photograph hockey teams back in Canada. Except, there is no protective glass or anything to shield me from your stray fußbälle, but I'll learn to manage," she says, ending with a smile and laughs from the audience.

She hands back the mic to Roman who takes it. "Hey, round of applause for Stefanie." The crowd claps and Stefanie smiles, heading back to Isabel.

"Girl, you did amazing," she says, giving her a high five, "It honestly takes guts to talk to a whole team of professional fußball players, especially if you don't know a majority of them. Heck, I wouldn't even do that now, and I know this team like the back of my hand."

The pair are walking over to the drinks area, when Stefanie feels a tap on her right shoulder. She looks to the right, but sees no one there. She looks to the left and sees a chuckling Erik.

"Oldest trick in the book, and you fell for it," he says with a smirk.

Stefanie tries not to smile, and rolls her eyes, "What do you want, Durm?"

"To pay you back for almost destroying your camera lens today," he says, scratching the back of his head. "Do you want a drink?"

Stefanie frowns slightly at him, and replies, "Hm, ok then."

Stefanie finally notices Isabel, who is standing awkwardly next to her, "Hey, I'm gonna hang out with Erik, is that ok?"

Before Isabel could answer, Christian comes over and hugs her from behind, placing his head on her shoulder, "Isa, come dance with me."

Isabel blushes, before mouthing a quick save me to Stefanie, who giggles, "Go, I don't want you to be alone this whole party." She pushes her and Christian towards the dance floor, "Go."

She turns back to Erik, who quickly adverts his eyes to where Isabel and Christian are heading.

"Ok, didn't you say you will get me a drink?" She asks, grinning.

Erik looks back at her, and starts slightly blushing, "I, um...I was about to ask you what type of drink you wanted but then you started talking to Isabel-"

"Erik, it's fine, I was joking," she laughs, "But I would take a Canada Dry, do they have that?"

"Um, I'm not sure let me ask."

As Erik walks away, Stefanie starts feeling awkward being by herself. Thankfully, he comes back with a Canada Dry in one hand, and a beer in the other. He hands her the drink and she thanks him. Erik's lips start forming words, but since it's so loud, Stefanie can't hear what he's saying.

"What?" She says to him, furrowing her eyebrows to show that she didn't hear a thing he said.

He gets closer and puts his lips to her ear, "Do you want to go somewhere quieter?" Stefanie feels herself go red, but nods as he takes her hand and takes her outside to a porch.