Chapter Seven

The bus made its way slowly through the streets of Madrid, hundreds of thousands of fans cheering as the players drove by. Iker Casillas stood proudly, holding aloft the coveted trophy. The gold shone brightly in the sun. Spain had brought home the Copa Mundial at last.

One player, however, was missing. Instead, he was sitting in the chair next to her bed, watching with her as the rest of the National Squad celebrated the country’s victory.

Adela glanced over at him, still surprised that he’d missed such a great moment in history to sit in a small hospital room with her, with the overbearing chemicals and obnoxious machines beeping. But he sat, watching the television with her, had grasping her own tightly.

He had come immediately upon landing in Madrid, catching another flight to Barcelona.

He hadn’t made a big deal out of it, simply telling Del Bosque, and a few of his teammates that he knew he could trust. He had also told Nina, hoping that the empathetic female might meet Adela someday, and that would give her a friend, especially whilst recovering.

They sat together in a comfortable silence. She pulled her gaze back to the television, watching as Pepe Reina and David Villa did a semi-drunk dance of celebration. Behind them, Xavi and Iniesta were mimicking them.

“You should be there,” she said at last, not taking her eyes off the screen. “I need to be here,” he answered, looking over at her. She felt her eyes water, but refused to break down in front of him. “Your teammates would want to celebrate with you.” “My teammates understand that you are more important.”

She choked back a sob, “You deserve to be on that bus, getting the adoration of an entire nation.” “I only care about yours,” he replied.

Unable to hold back any longer, the tears began to roll down her cheeks.

His grip on her hand tightened, “I’m serious, Adela.” She looked over at him, “Thank you.” He smiled, and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of her hand. “We’ll get through this, together, no matter how long it takes. I’ll be here for you. Just trust me,” he murmured.


~~

The city of Barcelona was alive under the summer sun. Nina smiled as she took off her hardhat, and set it aside. She was under the shade of a tree, recording the last of the taken data.

She sighed as she finished up, and signed the bottom of the paper.

She then took the paper with her as she left the Park Güell, and headed toward the government building where she reported all of her documentations to. After dropping off the inspection papers, which had taken several days to complete, she headed back to her place to shower and change.

She had just stepped out of the shower and into her bedroom when her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID, and smiled.

“Hola,” she greeted.

‘Nina, is this a good time?’ David’s voice asked. “Yeah,” she answered, sitting on the end of her bed, clutching her towel tighter to her body.

‘Um, so the girls and I are going to be flying to Barcelona tomorrow, and I was wondering if we could meet up and all?’ he questioned. She could imagine him rubbing the back of his neck, his head tilted to the side in apprehension. He would be standing, pacing every few seconds.

“I would love to. What time are you getting in?” she questioned.

“We’ll arrive in the late morning, and I have to talk with agents and all of that, but I’ll be done by three,” he answered. She frowned, “Agents?”

“Um…don’t tell anyone, but it looks like I might be joining Barça,” he said, volume dropping, almost nervously.

“Oh?” Nina asked, speechless as she tried to process the thought. “You’re happy about that, right?” he questioned her almost immediately. “David, that’s wonderful! You’d be playing here, and living here…” she answered, though she trailed off as she realized
what that implied.

“Yeah, about that…I was hoping that, since the distance would be cut out, if we could…you know…go on another date?”

She felt blood rush to her cheeks, “I would like that.” “Good!” he said brightly. “I get off work at two, so I can meet up with you somewhere, if you’d like?” Nina continued.

“That would be great. Um, how about the offices of FC Barcelona, if you know where that is?” David questioned. “Yes, that would be spectacular,” she agreed. They both said their goodbyes, leaving the female to look back at her closet in complete disbelief.

She had a lot to process before the following day arrived.