Chapter 13 - Dominik

Mixed feelings were whirling around Dominik's chest as he walked up to a bunch of taxis. For the first time ever, he felt powerless, like he'd rather be someone else. He wanted to stay a little bit longer, talk to Samanta, get to know a little more of Carlos, he thought he was actually a good guy. Right at that time, we wished he was normal, like any other person walking by, being able to go out for a walk whenever he felt like it without feeling like the whole world was watching.

“Need a ride, gentleman?” A brown-skinned, chubby man with a bushy beard asked.

Dominik nodded, adjusting his hood with his hands and making sure his shades covered his eyes. The driver soon opened the back door to let him in. He jumped into the cab immediately, not even taking the time to look at the man offering to drive him for only few dollars.

“Where to, sir?” the driver asked as he boarded the vehicle.

“To the JW Marriott” Dominik answered, keeping his head down, avoiding risk of being spotted through the rear view mirrors.

“Right away” the driver replied and got the car going.

It was an almost 50 minute drive, all the while Dominik had his mind in utter chaos. His own thought overwhelmed him and kept him from reason, they went from Samanta's smile all the way to the last play he practiced for tomorrow's game. He tried to keep his head on the game, but to no avail, Samanta's eyes disrupted his thoughts, distracting him.

The driver looked a couple times through the rear view mirror and for a second, he could have sworn the person sitting in the back seat was someone he had seen before. His brain tried to do all the connections necessary in order to determine who this was, but dropped all efforts seeing how this passenger put on a jacket that made it evident how he worked at the hotel he asked to go to. Bottom line, the taxi driver thought he was some sort of a celebrity look-alike, the city was full of them  anyhow.

The car pulled over right outside the impressive building and Dominik took a couple seconds to notice he had reached his destination. He paid the taxi driver and got off the car in no time. He quickly looked into his bag, the rest of the waiter uniform he used to get out. Luckily, he'd manage to dodge the couple Fox Sports reporters out of the hotel. HE walked in fast, not looking at the sides, walking fast toward the elevator. Luckily, there were not a lot of people at the lobby, so this was an easy task.

As soon as he stood before the elevator, he pulled out his VIP access card, the floor he was staying in had been restricted to the Germany National Football team exclusively. As requested by FIFA, they did not want any of the players, coaches nor attendees to be disturbed by anyone.

When the elevator doors closed and it started to ascend, Dominik took of his “costume,” shoving it back into his bag, he also pulled out a bottle of water to splash his forehead and part of his shirt, simulating sweat. In case anyone saw him coming back, he'd lie saying he went out for a run.

The doors opened and he looked out cautiously, Dominik wanted to make sure there was nobody down the corridor, once having verified nobody was out, he darted into his assigned room, slid his card down the slot and the door opened.

Dominik let out a sigh once he found himself back in his hotel room and was thankful for the fact that nobody saw him come back. He turned on the lights and startled at the sight of a man's silhouette sitting on the couch by the window.

“Where have you been?” Friedrich's voice made every hair on his body to stand.

“Uhmmm… Hello, Friedrich, I have been out, running” Dom hesitated.

“I've been expecting you for the past three hours. Called you several times and you did not answer any of my calls” the man sounded truly upset.

“I'm sorry, I guess I got too caught up in my own thoughts” Dominik excused himself.

“I see” Friedrich stood. “Rest well. Tomorrow will be a long day. It would be a pity if the cup slipped your grasp, after all the work you've put in to reach it.”