The locker room was a mess after a hard fight. The Everton player expected to be furious with the manager when he returned to the dressing room, after all, he walked into the tunnel before the whistle. Surprisingly, Nicolás Flores doesn't blame them too much, and even, his praise is more than accusation. But on the whole, he doesn't talk much, and his expression is elusive. Touching two strong opponents in a row and getting 4 points, if it were another manager, he might have been very satisfied. But he said early on that he had to get all 6 points - it can only be said that life is not perfect.

"Rest well, we'll see you tomorrow afternoon. ”

The players will have a half-day off tomorrow morning. This month's competition is in full swing, and the Christmas-New Year schedule is just around the corner.

The battle for points has just begun.

Nicholas turned around and asked a few questions from the coaching staff, and the first-team coach answered him, listening intently, and a song popped into his ears.

He was confused, thinking he had misheard. He looked back, and it was Osman's phone.

It was a song in French.

est-cequetum'aimes？

Do you still love me?

Two or three years ago, on the streets of Madrid, on the streets of Paris, on the streets of Rome, you could always hear this song. The last time he heard it was at Barajas Airport in Madrid, where he was about to leave for that flight to London.

Distinctive rhythm, rich voice, opera-like singing.

He thought the lyrics of the song were stupid and pathetic at the time.

The man sang over and over again:

Do I still love you?

I don't know if I still love you.

Do you still love me?

I don't know if I still love you.

I should have loved you dearly, but I saw a downpour.

I blinked, you're not what you used to be.

"Nick. Juan called out to him.

Nicholas came back to his senses and muttered in Spanish, "We'll talk about this tomorrow." ”

He said he was going to the post-match press conference. But he stood by the door and didn't close the locker room door, and the song was suddenly cut out and replaced with one of the most popular English songs of the moment.

He closed the door.

Actually, I know.

He looked up and across from him was written "Away Locker Room".

She was right behind that door.

Then, that door opened.

She was coming out sideways, still facing the locker room, and seemed to be talking to her players or assistants, and Nicholas couldn't really hear her.

She walked out and closed the door. She didn't look back. Go straight to the post-match press conference.

Lu Ling's afterglow had already swept to that figure, but she planned to pretend not to see it. She walked over to a fire door and realized she didn't know where the media room in Goodison Park was.

She paused for only a moment before she heard his voice behind her.

"It's close, open this door, go upstairs, turn right and you'll see. ”

She looked back, looked at him, and after a moment's pause, asked, "Why did you refuse to shake my hand?"

His expression told her that she had asked a stupid question. She had long been used to him like this.

Nicholas put his left hand in his pants pocket, stared at her, and said, "There will definitely be a reporter asking me about this in a while, I just didn't expect you to ask too." ”

Lu Ling was silent for a while before he said, "Maybe my guess is wrong. ”

"You should trust your instincts. He said.

She took a few steps towards him, and was already very close. She felt the heat and cold of his body, and it made her feel uncomfortable anyway. She looked at him, and he looked at her, and the meeting of eyes didn't make the atmosphere any more harmonious.

"Nick......" she took a breath and looked away, "you go first, I'll be there later." ”

He nodded.

"Happy birthday. She concluded. His expression changed, and she was a little embarrassed, adding, "Although it seems like it's too early to say this......"

"I try. He interrupted her and called her name, "Christine......"

She answered, and a pair of beautiful eyes looked over again.

He could have hugged her, or even kissed her on the cheek, and she might not have refused, but what was the point? He didn't want that. His eyes swept over her lips, which were still pale in color. He had a lot of questions to ask her, a lot of things he wanted to tell her, but he knew he wouldn't do that.

And so it came to an abrupt end. He took a few steps forward and pushed open the fire door.

Anyway, sooner or later, they will see each other again.

****

It was full of people, the seats were full, and the seats were flanked by reporters, who had been waiting for a long time with computers, tablets, mobile phones, voice recorders, paper and pens in their hands.

Before the Everton boss walked into the press conference, a number of reporters were recording the Spaniard's televised interview 10 minutes earlier.

"I'm not happy with the result, we should have won the game. But I'm happy with the performance of my players. QPR are still unbeaten this season? yes, they haven't lost yet. But now in the Premier League it's impossible not to lose and I think it's good to lose the first league game early. I don't have anything to comment on. ”

Before the reporter could ask him why he walked into the players' tunnel earlier, he left the TV camera.

Now, at the press conference.

As soon as Nicholas sat down, before he could unbutton his suit, a BBC reporter asked the first question.

"Nick, do you want to explain why you didn't shake hands with Kristen Lu at the end?"

Really.

"I didn't refuse to shake her hand, I just forgot about it. The Everton manager glanced at the reporter and looked unfazed.

The BBC reporter immediately asked, "Why did you forget to shake hands? This has never happened to you before." ”

"Sometimes people forget things, probably because, as Christine said, I'm too old. Like you have forgotten, there is no rule that says coaches must shake hands with each other, and the FA does not punish me for that. Nicholas shrugged his shoulders.

"Does it have anything to do with Patrick Amber's late goal?"

"No, if we win in the end, I'll probably forget to shake hands as well. He said quickly.

"Nick, the goal conceded in the final moments of this game was very disappointing, but did it prove that your team was slacking off in the last moments?" the Mirror reporter asked.

Nicholas sneered, but did not immediately answer the reporter's question. His cold gaze swept over the Mirror reporter's place like a cold wind.

The temperature in the press room suddenly became as low as outside.

'I don't think anyone with common sense can deny the effort of our players, they turned the tide in less than ten minutes, scored two goals and I'm proud of them. It would be insulting to be labelled as 'lax' for such a performance. You're insulting my team. He pointed at the reporter.

The air is cold and frozen.

The scene was extremely quiet, and the sound of tapping on the keyboard was very abrupt.

Finally, another reporter from The Telegraph asked a question.

"Nick, after this fight, do you think your former assistant Kristen Lue will be a tough opponent for you?"

Hearing this, Nicholas smiled. It's like a mockery but it's not like it, and if it's a mockery, who is he mocking?

This was a bit unexpected by the reporters on the spot.

"I've always thought so, you don't need to go through this game. He put away his smile, paused, and continued, "I think she was right, I lied before. It's always just about me and her, no one else. ”

In the midst of the uproar, the Everton boss rose from his seat and prepared to leave.

There are also many reporters asking questions, maybe he heard one of the questions clearly, or maybe it was just a murmur in his ears, it doesn't matter, he won't speak again tonight.

****

Leon's eyebrows fluttered as he described Patrick's late-minute barb goal. The atmosphere on the bus back to London was very different from the bitter cold outside the window. But Patrick, the main character the players talk about, seems to have fallen asleep.

Lu Ling whispered to Tim about the physical and mental state of the players and the upcoming fixtures. But she was still irrepressibly replaying the picture of the press conference just now in her mind.

She learned what Nick said from a reporter.

"There are eighteen teams in this league besides Everton. ”

"He refused to shake my hand? I think he might have just forgotten. ”

'We went through some difficulties and for a while it was difficult for us to threaten the Everton penalty area, but my players got over that in the end. We scored three goals and put in a good game. As much as I hope we can win games, you know, my players and I always want to win games, but sometimes that's it. When it came to the equaliser, I was as excited as everybody. Unfortunately, Pat received a second yellow card for stripping to celebrate and will miss Sunday's West Brom game. I don't want to talk about the first yellow card, but I'm pretty sure he's not a player who likes to fake falls. ”

"My relationship with Nick? ”

Tim saw that she was a little absent-minded and kindly reminded: "Christine, are you okay? Everton have finished the game and we have got one point, which is not bad. Aren't you happy with the result?"

"Acceptable. Satisfied? Of course not. That's what she seems to say to the reporters.

"There's also a Christmas dinner at the club tomorrow night. You have to say something to encourage the players. We can't afford to let up. The TA said as he looked back and lowered his voice, "They seem to be happy with tonight's results, but I think ...... Their physical condition ......"

"I understand. "The season is still long. All managers like to say that. It seems like nonsense. But the meaning of this sentence is actually very profound. The season is still very long, and the results of a period of time, or even half a season, whether good or bad, are only temporary, and they cannot be relaxed until the last moment of the league.

“…… Did Nick influence you too much?" asked Tim.

"I don't think so. Lu Ling's face and tone did not change, but she wanted to end the topic, "Tim, I have never been worried about not only Everton, but many other teams. ”

Tim glanced at her and continued to talk about the schedule, "Fortunately, there will only be one strong team in the near future, Arsenal." That one, Patrick can make a comeback......"

Lu Ling was still absent-minded, she got up slightly, and turned her head, Pat was still sleeping, he might be really tired, it's good to rest.

Near London, Patrick woke up. He slept well, and he was just about to stretch when Ian handed over his phone. He glanced at his buddy, sleepy-eyed, not knowing what he wanted to show him. Ian nodded, and he took it slowly, glancing at it.

“iguesssheasright,’else.”

else.

Patrick tugged at the corners of his mouth.

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