For The Love of The Game

I woke up and looked at the alarm clock on my nightstand to see that it was 11 AM, leaving me with 2 hours before I had to be at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium to meet with all the players. Why we were using the Real Madrid stadium, I wasn’t sure, but Sergio seemed to like it because it was his club’s stadium and it was close. I must’ve fallen asleep once Fernando brought me up to my room. Neither of the boys were in here, so I took the time to take a shower and change into some casual clothes that would still look professional. I walked out of my room to bump into Sergio in the hallway, who was busy balancing a ball on his head. This was just like when we were younger in our parent’s house.

“Karmen, you’re up! I was going to come wake you in a few minutes, but now that you’re ready, let’s eat and go, Fernando made fajitas!” He smiled at me as he threw his arm around my shoulder and led me to the stairs. He was trying not to bring up what happened this morning for my sake, and I really appreciated it. Something I loved about Sergio was that no matter how furious he was, within the span of an hour, he’d be calm again so the people around him wouldn’t be upset, even if he still was furious. “Fernando made fajitas! Fernando made fajitas!” Sergio started to sing as he attempted to form a conga line behind me. Nando shook his head laughing as he stood over the plates he was filling with food for all of us.

“So I see living all alone in England has taught you to cook for yourself. As far as I can remember… you used to burn toast, am I correct?” I asked, teasing him.

“Eat it, and then we’ll see who is left teasing who.” We all sat down at the kitchen counter, Sergio quickly saying a silent prayer to himself and crossing over his chest, digging into the food before Fernando or I could even pick up our forks. I laughed, patting Sergio’s back as he began to choke on the food.

“Relax, it’s all yours Serg, no one is going to take it from you.” He gave me a sarcastic smile as we finished our meals. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit nervous during the drive to the stadium, I mean, I’ve never worked with an International team before, this was huge, and a great honor. Sergio drove through the security gates and to the back where, I’m guessing, all the players parked. I saw all the Audi’s, Porsche’s, BMW’s, and Ferrari’s lined up, Sergio’s Audi joining the rest, I rolled my eyes. Footballers, spoiled, really, but I couldn’t complain, it made life simple for our family, especially after our parents struggled, barely making it while raising us. And Sergio never forgot where he came from, as soon as he made it, the first thing he did was take care of our parents and I. He paid my tuition so I could get an education at prestigious schools, and after our parent’s accident, when it was just the two of us, he kept his promise to our mother of taking care of me, and now, even if I don’t want him to, he still does, and it honestly did make life easier. And he of course always donates to charities and hospitals, visiting the children’s centers whenever he can. We were brought up knowing the value of, at the time, a Peseta, but now we use Euros, bloody colorful money if you ask me. I took a deep breath as we entered through the main doors and into the stadium. I was overwhelmed by the size, I had never seen Sergio play here, I’ve never had time, it was enormous. My gaze fell from the surrounding seats to the pitch where various members of the team were currently stretching.

“Great, isn’t it?” Sergio asked as he looked around at the seats and let his gaze end upon me. Fernando placed his hand on my shoulder, causing me to turn to him.

“The Spanish, go big or go home.” I laughed at his words, nodding in agreement. Not even stadiums in England compared to this.

“It must have a great capacity, just imagine, every single seat filled.” I turned to Sergio only to hear a familiar voice that I hadn’t heard in a few years.

“You shouldn’t have to imagine, if you’d ever come visit once in a while.” I turned around completely to be met with Saint Iker himself, Iker Casillas. I grinned from ear to ear as I ran, jumping on to him, only to have him catch me in the air as I wrapped my arms around his neck for a hug. He held me in the air as he chuckled at my enthusiasm. “It’s only fair when Real Madrid comes to visit Manchester, but you can’t make the trip to Madrid?”

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” I asked as Iker let me down, still smiling. “I did miss seeing your smiling face, Iker.”

“I just missed seeing you. Welcome to Bernabéu.” He replied as he held his arm out as if he was presenting the stadium to me. “I think you’re going to like it.” I hadn’t seen Iker since Real Madrid came up to Manchester for a friendly. Sergio and him stayed in Manchester for a week with me after the friendly because they luckily didn’t have anything to do for the next month after that match. I insisted they stay longer, but they had to go back. Fernando greeted his old friend and stood between the two of us.

“I don’t think she’ll be switching to Real Madrid anytime soon, or leave the Premiership, if anything, she’ll be coming to Liverpool once International Duties are over.” Half a smile took over my face as I thought of this dilemma. Come the start of the 2008-2009 season, I don’t think I’ll be able to work at Man U anymore, especially with Ronaldo still there, after all of this that’s happened, I’m going to have to start looking for a new club…a new home.

“Now’s not the time to ponder on that boys, let’s go down to the pitch, I have some physicals to take care of, and a very important coach to meet.” The three of them led the way as I followed a step behind, files now in hand that I took out of my bag. Down to business now, I just hope I met their expectations.

+++

Once taken down to the field, I was immediately introduced to all the players and Aragones himself. I was at a loss for words, but Sergio kicking me in the shin brought me back to reality pretty quickly.

“How bad is it that I have the physical therapist for the team icing her shin?” Sergio laughed until a beautiful petite woman, about 5-foot-2, who looked like she carried a lot of authority around here, smacked him upside the head. He grabbed the back of his neck, turning to the woman in question. “Addison, that hurt!”

“She’s your sister, you shouldn’t have kicked her in the first place.” Now I was confused, she knew who I was, but I had no idea who she was. My question was answered on her identity when she turned to me, hand out to shake, introducing herself. “Hi, I’m Addison, the head physical therapist for Real Madrid. You’re going to be using my office while the National Team trains here, I thought I’d introduce myself and show you around, knowing your brother wouldn’t bother.” She gave him a dirty look that he just laughed at. Sergio kissed my head and went to join the rest of the team.

“You’re just cranky that your boyfriend isn’t here Addy, just not good enough to play with the big boys.” Sergio flexed his muscles before finally leaving. This time I was annoyed with the way he was acting, I took the bag of ice that was on my shin and flung it at him, hitting him square in the back of the head.

“Asshole. I’m going to apologize right now in advance for anything my brother has ever said or done that annoyed, irritated, or disrupted your life in any way.” Addison smiled and helped me walk over to her office.

“It’s alright, I’ve put up with him enough to know that’s just the way he is. But thank you, I have the feeling you and I will get along very well.”

“Anyone that has put up with my brother and isn’t afraid of hitting him is my best friend…so now I have three.” I smiled as Addison laughed.

“Who are the other two if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Not at all, Fernando and Iker, but I think it’s also because they’re older than him.” We had reached her office by the time we finished our conversation. We sat around for about an hour just telling each other about the clubs we work for and gossiping on a few of the players. Turns out Addy’s boyfriend Sergio was talking about is Gerard Piqué, a defender that I knew very well from Manchester. “He’s moving to Barcelona though, I remembered hearing about his move, I was very happy for him, but I will sure miss him. He’s not like the other players when he gets hurt, doesn’t whine and moan, very calm and listens very well.” She laughed, nodding her head.

“Yeah, that’s my Geri…he’s not the only one moving though, I’ll be going to work for Barcelona with him come this new season. We decided we were both in for a change, and he couldn’t stand the fact that I would be working for his teams rivals. I mean, it's like a homecoming for him, but it'll be a bit different for me.” We both laughed, stopping when there was a knock on the door. “Venga.” (Come.) Iker entered in, all smiles.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I was told that I was to be the first to be checked out.” I nodded as Addison got up from her seat.

“I hope to speak with you again Karmen, it was a great pleasure meeting you, call me sometime, or if you just need help getting these boys in order, my office, is your office.” She said as she patted Iker’s shoulder and exited the office.

“Alright Iker, let’s get started.” I shut the door and had him move towards the examining table, removing his shirt in the process. I grabbed my stethoscope and opened his file, looking through a few things before going to check his heartbeat.

“So Karmen…tell me about all this craziness that I’ve been reading in the papers. How’s Cristiano doing back in Portugal?” Iker raised a brow looking at me as I attempted to ignore his comments.

“I already have Sergio as my big brother, I don’t need you too. And do you honestly believe the filth they write in those papers? Besides…I don’t want to talk about him right now.” Iker nodded as I asked him to inhale and exhale deeply.

“What about Fernando?” I tried not to show the shock that spread through my body.

“What about Fernando?” I asked. He dropped the conversation and let me finish the examination in five minutes. I turned to write a few notes in his file as he pulled his shirt back on. He got up and walked to the door, not leaving before he got one last word in.

“We’ll talk about this later Karmen.” I smiled and kept my head down, writing in his file.

“Bye Iker.” I heard the door shut behind him, only to have another knock shortly after. Albiol walked in, number 2 on the roster…this was going to be a long afternoon. “Shirt off please.” I smiled as he obeyed my order and sat on the table that Iker was occupying only moments ago. I didn’t even want to think about examining my brother right now, he would make it very difficult, I was sure.