Dominik smiled from the obvious embarrassment the woman sitting next to him was feeling.“Don’t worry. You don't need to be sorry. Life was merciful to him, the people who suffer from the disease that killed him, usually agonize for decades …” he cleared his throat. My father never liked going to the doctor, so I think that's what kept him around for so long. “He had the disease, but he never had the symptoms. It only took him knowing he had it for it to consume him…”Samanta could sense the profound sadness Dominik's words contained. Although she had not experienced the loss of a parent, she was very empathetic and it always heartened her to see others in pain. She noticed her eyes were watering.The car stopped.“Your father must have been a great man” she said in a shaky voice, and then cleared her throat.“He was not only my father, he was my friend, my accomplice … my angel. He supported me from the start, with this whole football thing. Soccer, I mean. My mother, because of the

«Slip it under the door and leave», he repeated to himself mentally, for the third time. He took a deep breath and took two steps forward. «Leave, Carlos », his conscience snapped.He knew he was acting a fool. He used the silliest excuse to go over to Samanta's. Bring her her paycheck? Samanta picked it up every Saturday morning! It was absolutely unnecessary for him to be there. His only goal was to make sure Sam had already come home. If that was the case, it would only mean their date had been boring and that was that. However, on the contrary, Sam did not make it back home because she had had so much fun she lost track of time.He looked at the clock and realized it was almost 8pm, he took another breath in, put his hand in a fist, raised his fist, about to knock on that door, announcing his presence.«Why do you torture yourself like this? Go home!». Once again, that little voice in his head.He shut his eyes tight and let out a long sigh in resignation. He got down and slipped

Dominik headed for the JW Marriott Hotel. Traffic was heavy and that did not help his terrible mood. It was almost eight at night, as he approached his destination, he went through everything that had perspired that day. First, the inconvenient with the paparazzi at the beach, then Samanta's sister lecturing him to wrap things up in style. Right then, his own sister came to mind. Regardless of being a child from another marriage, years before his father met his mother, Karol was around during most of his childhood and a big part of his teenage years. She was always there for him, standing up for him when people would comment on him because of his condition. Then he understood how normal it was for Teresa to react the way she did. Still, Dominik could not help feeling annoyed and frustrated by the way things happened.Those paparazzi sneaking on them really pissed him off.The memory of that beautiful woman irrupted into his thoughts, making him remember what went on in that car, as sh

Screaming, applauding and cheering…All eyes were set on him.He looked again at the man in front of him. He knew he wanted him to make a mistake, but he would not give him the pleasure to see him fail. He took a big breath and a few steps back. Analyzed every angle possible to score that penalty shot until he finally found a breach in the rivaling team's defense. He breathed out slowly and kicked the ball hard as he could.The ball flew through the air, headed for the goal. One hand tried to keep it from going in, but failed.The bleachers erupted in a simultaneous scream of joy.¡GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAL!They shouted.The German team celebrated the score, set now on 2 vs. 1 against Nigeria, granting them 3 more points. “The bullet” had done it again. The foul committed against his team mate had been penalized, and he shot that ball right into the upper corner of the opposing team's goal. Right by the spider's nest, said one of the commentators.The game ended two minutes later.“Well

Ewald walked from one side to the other, like a caged animal. HE was mad and very frustrated from Dominik's attitude. He was used to Weigand going missing all of a sudden, but he never did it during a press conference. He knew Dom was overwhelmed by the spotlight, but this was only the second match in the championship, it was too soon for him to be tired. He loved his star player, he was like a son, he had known him since he was thirteen years old, supporting his career every step of the way. None the less, he would not put up with this, Dominik knew he had a responsibility to his team, whether he liked it or not.“You'll make a ditch” commented Friedrich after a few minutes alone with the head coach.“As long as I find a stone to crack Dominik's head open with” yelled Ewald. “I am not letting this one slip. He may be rebellious and leave us in the middle of practice, but he never evaded his responsibilities to the team in the middle of a championship. Did you know the federation can