The Secret - Alexia Putellas

43.

Thank you Eliza!!!

Yes, Erin could hardly wait for the afternoon. That was ironic. And it was like she had a premonition.

Her and Alexia had just arrived at the Barcelona training ground, where Jonathan had asked Mapi in the morning to join him at a press conference regarding yesterday's match.

The two didn't know what had happened during that press conference until Martha was the one telling them about it.

"Guys, guys, guys. Emergency meeting at my therapy room in 5", Martha greets the couple, putting her paperwork aside and rushes towards her room.

This must be very important.

Erin and Alexia look at each other with a puzzled expression, unaware of what was going on.

"What's the problem here?", Alexia asks worriedly after shutting the door behind them. Martha hops onto her therapy bench while Erin leans back against the wall, one hand tucked into her pocket, her splinted arm hanging down.

"The problem? The problem is that I didn't know you told Mapi about your secret", Martha complains, throwing her arms up in the air as she watches her friends looking at her in absolute confusion.

"Well... yes... I... um", Alexia stammers, nervously scratching the back of her neck.

"We told her yesterday at the hospital... it just happened", Erin finishes the sentence, causing Martha's expression to contort.

"You did what?", she asks indignantly.

"We told her. Is there... what's wrong about that?", the blonde asks curiously, instantly fearing that Mapi might've told someone, but she's soon proven wrong.

"Did she get that tattoo, too?", the black-haired pouts, pointing to her back, whereupon Alexia can't help but chuckle.

"No... are you... are you jealous, Martha?", Alexia wonders, whereupon Martha raises her hands defensively and eagerly shakes her head.

"Well... no, not a bit. I mean... yeah maybe a little. But that's not the point here. Did you hear about the press conference this morning?", Martha asks, fumbling out her phone to find the video on YouTube as the couple moves closer to see it as well.

"Hold on, there was another press conference this morning?", Erin questions, anxiously glancing over to Alexia, who had her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"There was... I didn't know either. Jonathan asked Mapi to accompany him. He probably would've asked you, but I guess he figured they might've asked too many questions about why you left yesterday", Martha explains with a heavy sigh, then starts the video.

"Well, I had a very good reason to leave Camp Nou yesterday. I just can't tell", Alexia shrugs, not really seeing the problem, because after all she didn't do it cause she didn't give a shit.

She cares about her team, after all. The accusations against her from the press were not just wrong, but also completely unfair.

Or were they going to blame Alexia for Barca losing yesterday's match?

"I know that. Martha knows that. Mapi knows it as well. So does Jonathan. But everyone else doesn't. Wait a minute, did they really just ask that question? Rewind that please", Erin frowns and leans closer while Alexia listens to the media people asking random questions.

That was until she noticed that they kept asking questions about herself, even though she wasn't present during the interview.

"Jonathan, does Alexia seem different after coming back from her injury? Not as motivated in practice? Less committed to the fans? Less dedicated to the club?", one of the reporters questions, whereupon Jonathan seems to be struggling to come up with an answer.