Chapter 365: NY
Lukas frowned slightly.
[3 weeks ago, you needed nearly eight hours of rest after sessions like this. Now you’re down to around five. Your body is adapting. Your strength, balance, coordination, stamina, and recovery speed have all improved significantly.]
Lukas looked down at his arm before flexing it absentmindedly.
"You’re right."
[Of course I’m right.]
"But I still feel like I’m dying."
[That is because you enjoy exaggerating.]
A laugh escaped him despite himself.
"I hate you sometimes."
[No, you don’t.]
Lukas rolled onto his side and slowly pushed himself back to his feet.
Unfortunately, TT was right.
The sessions were still brutal, but he could feel the difference. Every week his body felt a little sturdier. Every month the recovery became a little easier. The progress was real, even if it hurt.
The music continued playing as Lukas wiped the sweat from his face and resumed training.
A few moments later, the world around him dissolved.
When Lukas opened his eyes again, he was staring at the ceiling of his hotel room in New York.
For several seconds he remained completely still.
The previous day’s defeat lingered somewhere in the back of his mind. Not as sharply as it had after the final whistle, but it was still there. Chelsea had advanced. Manchester City had been eliminated. His first tournament defeat as a professional footballer.
The feeling hadn’t disappeared overnight.
It probably wouldn’t disappear for a while.
Lukas slowly raised an arm before letting it fall back onto the mattress.
Then he sighed.
The door opened.
"There you are."
Joanna stepped into the room carrying a coffee cup in one hand.
Without waiting for a response, she crossed the room and pulled the curtains open.
Sunlight immediately flooded the suite.
Lukas squinted.
"That’s aggressive."
"It’s almost noon."
He turned his head toward the bedside clock.
11:17 a.m.
"That is not noon."
"It is close enough."
Lukas muttered something under his breath that made Joanna smile.
The suite occupied one of the upper floors of the Park Hyatt New York, and the view stretched across much of Manhattan. Towering skyscrapers rose in every direction. Streets below were packed with traffic. Yellow taxis moved through intersections while thousands of people filled the sidewalks.
The city looked alive.
Restless.
Constantly moving.
Lukas climbed out of bed and walked toward the window.
For a few moments he simply stood there, taking everything in.
It was his first time visiting New York. His first time visiting the United States at all. Even in his previous life, he had never made the trip.
Joanna stepped beside him and followed his gaze.
"So?"
Lukas glanced at her.
"So what?"
"Are you ready to go explore?"
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
"I was born ready."
Joanna immediately rolled her eyes.
"Of course you were."
"Just give me a minute."
"A minute?"
"Maybe fifteen."
"You’ve already slept for almost eleven hours."
"I am a professional athlete. Recovery is important."
"You were unconscious."
Lukas pointed at her.
"Exactly. Elite recovery."
Joanna laughed and headed back toward the living area.
"You have fifteen minutes."
"Twenty."
"Ten."
"That’s not how negotiations work."
"It is when you’re negotiating with me."
Lukas shook his head in defeat.
As Joanna disappeared into the other room, he turned back toward the massive window.
Below him, New York continued moving without pause.
The season was over.
Training would not resume until 28 July.
For the first time in months, there was nowhere he needed to be and no match he needed to prepare for.
There would be time to think about football later.
Today, New York was waiting.
* * *
By the time Lukas finally emerged from his room, João was already sprawled across one of the couches in the living area with his phone in hand.
The Portuguese teenager immediately looked up.
"Took you long enough."
Lukas rolled his eyes.
"You’ve been saying that since we were 12."
"And I’ve been right since we were 12."
Joanna laughed from beside the window.
Unlike the previous few days of football, media duties, and travel, today was completely free. No schedules. No tactical meetings. No flights waiting for them. Just a day to explore one of the most famous cities in the world.
Lukas had dressed simply.
The July heat in New York was impossible to ignore, so he wore a slight oversized white t-shirt, light beige shorts that stopped just above the knee, a pair of white Puma trainers, and a black Yankees cap. A pair of sunglasses hung loosely from the collar of his shirt while a simple watch sat on his wrist.
João had gone for something even more casual. He wore a loose white t-shirt, navy blue shorts, and trainers, with his hair slightly messy from having only recently gotten out of bed. He looked more like a university student on summer break than one of Germany’s most promising young footballers.
Joanna, meanwhile, had clearly put more thought into her outfit than either of them.
She wore a light blue summer dress that reached just above her knees, white sneakers for walking around the city, and a pair of sunglasses resting on top of her head. The sunlight coming through the windows reflected slightly off her hair as she adjusted the small handbag hanging from her shoulder.
João looked between the two of them and sighed dramatically.
"You two look like you’re about to star in some romance movie."
Joanna immediately threw a cushion at him.
The three of them left the hotel shortly afterward and hired a car for the day.
The moment they stepped outside, the energy of New York hit them.
The noise.
The crowds.
The endless movement.
Cars filled the streets while people from every corner of the world seemed to occupy the sidewalks. Massive screens flashed advertisements overhead, and towering skyscrapers stretched toward the sky in every direction.
It was overwhelming.
And it was exciting.
Their first stop was the Empire State Building.
Standing at the observation deck, they spent nearly half an hour simply looking out across the city. From above, Manhattan seemed endless. Rivers cut through the landscape while bridges connected district after district. The sheer scale of New York made even cities like Frankfurt feel small in comparison.
João must have taken a hundred pictures.
At least.
Most of them were terrible.
Lukas made sure to tell him that.
From there they made their way toward Lower Manhattan and eventually boarded one of the ferries heading toward Liberty Island.
The Statue of Liberty stood exactly where every photograph and movie had promised it would.
Even though all three of them had seen countless images of it growing up, seeing it in person felt different.
"It looks smaller than I imagined," João admitted.
Joanna nodded.
"But also bigger."
Lukas looked at both of them.
"That sentence makes absolutely no sense."
"It makes perfect sense."
"It doesn’t."
"It does."
The argument lasted almost the entire ferry ride back.
Later they walked through sections of Manhattan, crossed portions of the Brooklyn Bridge, visited several famous streets, and spent hours simply wandering without any real destination.
That ended up being the best part.
No thoughts about football, or training, or matchday.
Just enjoying the city.
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