"hey, maybe you'll meet jude."
one.
"ok kendall i'll see you in a couple of days. love you" i say down the phone to my sister, hanging up on her. tomorrow my sister is flying down to london to live with me for 6 months. she said she "needed a break from mommy dearest" which i totally get.
although, as much as she loves me, i am not the only reason that kendall was so keen on travelling half way across the world. i am nearly 100% sure she has a thing with my best friend, marcus rashford. they had met multiple times before as marcus usually accompanies me to family dinners etc. but marcus and kendall have always had a rather flirtatious relationship, but it never really evolved into anything because she lived in la and marcus lived in manchester.
marcus is a full time footballer for manchester united and the england national team. which is why he lived in manchester.
the football season finishes after one more game, so my bright idea was for kendall to surprise marcus at the game.
i cant go with her though, i have been asked to attend a football game in dortmund, borussia dortmund vs rb leipzig. and after the game attend the borussia dortund end of season banquet, where they give out awards within their team. for example, 'best tackle of the year' 'best goal of the year' 'player of the year' etc.
i have never been to a borussia dortmund game before and didn't really know much generally about the team. the reason they asked me here today was because starting next football season i'm going to be some kind of social media face of this club. and at the end of season banquet i am going to be presenting an award of 'player of the year'. which is essentially the most important award of the night, if there were to be one.
which is why i am currently packing for a four-day trip to germany. i fly this evening for the game and then spend all of tomorrow spending some time in dortmund cause why the hell not.
i have to leave for the airport in precisely 1 hour, i am very late if you can not tell.
i had finally finished packing when my phone rang, marcus. "what's up mashford?" i answer the phone. "wanted to ask you what time you're coming up for the game tomorrow?" marcus asked me. "for the millionth time, dingus, i'm not going to manchester, i have to go to the dortmund game. "
"hey maybe you'll meet jude." marcus says. "am i supposed to know who jude is?" "depends how much you paid attention during the euros?" marcus said and i could practically hear the smile on his face making me smile.
"you know i have the memory of a goldfish, mashford" "stop calling me mashford, it's rashford. for the hundredth time" he argued. "i have to go to the airport now mashy. see you later, love you" "safe flight, love you too"
i knew the dortmund colours were yellow and black but i didn't see much black, only a sea of yellow jerseys. this was very different from the games at old trafford supporting marcus playing for united.
i don't know if the bold yellow had much to do with it but everyone seemed louder, more passionate, more in love the sport and their team. don't get me wrong united fans are also like that, but these dortmund fans just seemed so proud of their team, it was admirable.
kick off. my eyes darted around the pitch trying to follow the ball and see if i could recognize any of the players. a couple caught my eye, for example the tall blonde striker. i knew him, erling haaland. i think he is moving to man city next season.
another tall player caught my eye, but in a different way. i couldn't quite see the name on his back only the big '22'.
he was attractive, and very skillful. he was graceful with the football at his feet. dummying the defender contesting him and continuing to run down the pitch at a high speed. he knew exactly what to do, when to do it, who to pass to, the exact moment he should aim for the goal, where to be on the pitch. and how to impress all of the 40,000 people in the stadium.
the opposing team seemed to know this about him because everyone he got the ball, two or three defenders would team up on him to try and stop him. key word; try.
this number 22 had me looking for him on the pitch. and i don't think it was only because of his football skills. he was tall and muscular, smiling at the right times, showing passion when one of his teammates gets a foul. that almost made him more attractive.
the game went on and of course dortmund won, 4-1 number 22 having scored two of the goals.
my agent told me that after the match i was to go down to the pitch to get photos and whatever for my instagram.
when i got to the pitch most of the team were still there i didnt see number 22 though. but i went over to the coach to greet him.
i was briefed on what i was supposed to do. speak to the coach, edin terzic, and he will introduce me to some of the players. go back to the hotel, get ready for the banquet. meet the coach again and go to the ballroom for the banquet. smile, be polite, charm them all. easy right?
that is easier said than done.
"hello kaia!" the coach greeted with a lot of enthusiasm and in his strong german accent.
"hello edin!" i said shaking his hand, smiling. "how are you?" "i'm good i'm good. nice to finish the season with a victory! and of course have you as a special guest!" he says smiling brightly, making me smile as well. "it was a great game to watch, you can clearly see how talented the team is." i say.
"here let me introduce you to some of them, GIO, ERLING" he yelled across the pitch gaining attention of the two footballers and some others around them.
"kaia, allow me to introduce you to, two of our own, giovanni reyna and erling haaland." "it's a pleasure to meet you both" i said holding my handout to shake. "nice to meet you" haaland smiled, shaking my hand. "would you believe me if i told you, you were the first american i have spoken to in real life in over 3 weeks" the other guy, giovanni joked. i could tell he was american too from his accent. "would you believe me if i said the same" i replied. they laughed.
the four of us were in deep conversation when the two footballers had to go and get changed and get ready for the banquet. "8:00 don't be late" their coach yelled out to them. "that reminds me, i should probably go back to my hotel and get ready for tonight. i will see you at 8 o clock" i said to the coach.
"bye kaia"
@kaiajenner posted
@kaiajenner 💛🖤
liked by @marcusrashford, @taylorswift, @gigihadid and 1,456,739 others
@marcusrashford we all know you're still a united fan ;)
^@kaiajenner you wish mashford
@erling.haaland It was so nice to see you today, kaia!
^ @kaiajenner same to you erling
@bvb09 one of our own 💛🖤
@user1 pretty!
@user2 she probably calls it soccer
@user3 I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this post.
@user4 Feel bad for dortmund fans rn
@user5 i'm in the same country as kaia rn omg.