CHAPTER 100: BACK HOME

"I am an Eintracht Frankfurt player. At no point have I ever considered playing for another club." Lukas Brandt’s response to wearing the Bayern shirt as per @Kicker.

Lukas scrolled through the comments on the Fabrizio Romano post.

He had been flooded with notifications of being asked to come to several clubs after his performance against Bayern. So much so that he turned off his Instagram and X notifications after he got back to the hotel after the game.

It was a day after the match, though, and he was now at his apartment at the ProfiCamp and scrolling through the comments.

@ManSanMia: "We don’t need him. Who would he bench? Musiala? No way in hell. The kid is having a decent string of form and now thinks he’s Messi."

@Frankfurter4life: "We aren’t selling him even if you give us Musiala and €100M, so keep your statements to yourself. The kid was asked a question, and he gave a factual answer."

@Bayern_in_my_blood: "When Bayern knocks, no player in Germany will not answer. Just watch and see. Rekordmeister for a reason."

"Pfff... These guys are funny, I’ll give them that," Lukas said as he scrolled through the comments.

As he scrolled through the comments, his phone rang.

"Hello, Marco."

"Ohh Mr. Wonderkid! How are you doing?"

"Ahem... I’m doing alright. It sure is such a pain having the white lights on me."

"To be a superstar, you have to be capable of handling those lights."

"I know... Doesn’t mean I can’t complain, though. What’s up?"

"Quite a lot. I’ve been working on a few things since the last time we spoke. I think we should discuss them in person with your dad."

"Hmm... Okay. We were given two days off, so no training until Wednesday. I’ll be heading to Darmstadt today. We can go together if the meeting doesn’t have to be done here in Frankfurt."

"Sure, that works. It doesn’t matter where it is. When do you wanna leave?"

"In a couple hours."

"Okay. I’ll see you in a few."

The call ended and Lukas stood up from his seat and stretched his body while standing on the tip of his toes.

"Arghhh... Even after the real life recovery session and the LTC one, I still feel sore. I guess it is Bayern Munich for a reason."

He had been looking at his heat map and stats online from the game against Bayern, and he was everywhere on the pitch.

He covered the most distance, made the joint-second most attempted dribbles tied with Olise, only Musiala attempted one more. Completed the most dribbles. Was fouled the most.

He was by a country mile the best player on his team in that match, but his body was now feeling the pain.

"TT, the special training is not gonna pause until I’m 100% fit again, right?"

[Of course it won’t.]

"That’s what I thought."

[You’ve done your post-match recovery session. You’ve been determined to not have picked up any injuries. Don’t worry, the training won’t induce any injuries on you as long as you do them properly.]

"Can’t I take a day off, though?"

[Oh that you definitely can do. As long as you don’t go sulking after losing again next week.]

"Ugh... Fine. I’ll be there tomorrow."

The thought of losing back-to-back games made Lukas feel sick to his stomach. No one likes to lose, but it’s a fact of life that not all losses can be avoided.

This is even more pronounced in a team sport like football. It doesn’t matter how good you are individually, your team has to be at a certain level for you to win games. Even the best player on the planet could not single-handedly drag his team to the biggest trophies all on his own.

He did come close to doing that, though.

"There’s no use thinking too much about it. Let me go prepare to head home," Lukas said as he walked to the bathroom.

* * *

The time was 3:48 PM when Marco’s car parked in the garage of Javi’s apartment building in Darmstadt and Lukas came down from the car with Marco.

"Dad? Why are you out here in the cold?" Lukas asked, surprised when he stepped out of the car and saw his father sitting on one of the seats in the parking garage.

"Lukeyy! I watched yesterday’s game! I’m so proud of you," Javi said as he hugged his son tightly.

"Dad... You’re gonna suffocate me here," Lukas said as he went from hugging his father back to hitting his arm to release the tightness of the hug.

"Ahh... My bad. Marco, thank you for bringing him home."

"It’s nothing, Javi. I’m his agent. This is my job. I do have something to discuss with you, though."

"Come in, both of you, it’s cold," Lukas said to the two men as he headed for the stairs.

"You were literally playing in colder temperatures less than 24 hours ago and you even took off your shirt after the match. Now you can’t handle simple cold weather?" Javi teased.

"It’s not the same when you’ve been running for 90+ minutes, though. I didn’t even feel the cold except for the first few minutes after the match started."

The men chuckled as they walked to the apartment.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Huh? Is there someone else in there? Why are you knocking?" Lukas asked Javi as his father knocked on the door.

Before Javi could respond, the locks turned and the door opened.

"Jo?" Lukas couldn’t believe his eyes for a brief moment. He hadn’t told her he was coming back as he planned to surprise her, but he had been surprised instead.

"What are you standing out there for? Come in," Joanna said to Lukas who was staring at her dumbfounded while Javi and Marco walked into the apartment.

She grabbed his hand, pulled him in, and closed the door behind him.

"Did you miss me that much? You can’t even speak?"

Lukas gently took the hand she was holding him with, and interlocked her fingers with his. "Yes I do. So much," he whispered as he looked in the direction where the living room was and saw Javi and Marco had their backs towards them.

Swiftly, he leaned in and stole a peck from her lips.

"Mmmm that strawberry flavor... I missed it."

"Oh God... Stop it... Someone might see," Joanna said, smiling as she hit Lukas’s arms gently.

"Ouch that hurts."

"Oh no, are you okay? I forgot you’re still weak from the match."

"Hahaha... I’m just kidding. I’m alright. See how worried you— OUCH! That hurts," Lukas winced in pain as Joanna grabbed his ears.

"Don’t play with me like that again."

"Yes your Highness. Forgive me."

"Is everything okay over there?!" Anne’s voice came from the living room as she walked towards the door.

"Yes it is!" Joanna replied as she immediately let Lukas go.

"Anne. You’re here?"

"Yeah. I spent the weekend. We all watched yesterday’s match together at Joanna’s. You played really well."

"Thank you. By the way, where’s João? I tried calling him when we got close, but he didn’t respond. Is he at home?" Lukas asked Joanna as he sat down on the sofa.

"He’s at the academy."

"Oh that’s right. The U19 Bundesliga season has started already, I keep forgetting that. How’s he doing?"

"He’s doing really well. They haven’t lost a game yet and he’s started all 3."

"Yeah I remember the first game, he was terrific. I should go see another game soon," Lukas said as he pulled out his phone to check the Darmstadt U19 schedule.

He had attended the first game of the U19 Bundesliga season where João started at center back and put on an impressive performance in a 0-0 draw against Gonsenheim U19. He was able to attend that game, despite Eintracht Frankfurt having a game on the same day due to his ankle injury which sidelined him.

"Their next game is on the 1st of March... That won’t work. It’s the same day we play Leverkusen. 8th of March... We have a game the next day. Huh? Why are all his games either the same day or just a day before or after mine?"

"Don’t worry, we’ll make something work," Javi replied.

"I have to go now, Luke. I have a lot of studying to do."

"Alright, take care, I’ll stop by to see João later tonight."

"Okay... He will be expecting..." Joanna said with a slick grin as she sneakily winked at Lukas and walked to the door.

"She’s already left, why are you still watching?" Marco asked, bringing Lukas, who was staring towards the direction Joanna had just left from, back to reality.

"Ahem... Yes what are we talking about?" Lukas asked as he sat upright on his chair and tried to play it cool.

"Look at you... Things like these are what reminds me that even though you are making top defenders sweat, you’re still a kid," Javi said with a smile.

"Okay. Let’s talk business... Lukas, there’s a reason you haven’t been able to see me for a while."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I have been busy with something. Huge sponsorship offers from a few companies came in for you a few weeks ago and I’ve been reviewing them."

"A few? More than one?" Lukas asked as he tried to mask his surprise at the news.