score - Pablo Gavi

chapter 15

The next day, I woke up at 9am since I didn't have to make any content until the game. Since I didn't go shopping the day before, I would go today. I put on my jean shorts, black tank top, and blazers. I brushed out my hair and put on some mascara. I chose my red and blue nike blazers for game day, then left for town. There was a furniture store about 15 minutes away, so I called an uber to take me there.

The store was huge. It had the furniture store vibe and smell. I loved it. The first thing was couches, sofas, and chairs. I didn't need any of those yet. I went down an aisle of throw pillows. I wanted to get a cute one for my office chair. I was torn between a plain, fuzzy white pillow and a cute navy blue. I decided to get the navy blue for Barca.

Next, I wanted to get some picture frames. I wanted a few for my desk, and a few for the walls. I picked one big one and two small ones for the walls. That way I could arrange them sort of like a puzzle. I also got a three pack of cute wooden frames for my desk.

Lastly, I wanted to get a few fake plants. I wanted one big one for the corner until I could get a chair to go there, another big one for next to my desk, and a small one for on the windowsill. There was a really cute palm tree looking plant in a white pot, and a fiddle leaf fig tree in a cute basket, so I decided those would be the big ones. I just picked out two little succulent plants for the windowsill.

I felt bad for the driver on the way to my office, my plants took up so much room. There was nobody at my office, thankfully. It took me three trips to bring everything in. I placed one succulent on the windowsill with a picture frame next to it. it looked kind of strange because it was empty. I placed the other succulent on my desk with another picture frame. Then I put the first big plant in the corner, and hung up the picture frames which were also empty. I put the last plant next to my desk, then went home.

I was sitting on my couch looking for pictures when I remembered I didn't have a jersey, so I headed over to the Barca store. While I was walking over I got a text message from Xavi.

"Just read your article, I loved everything about it, thank you for all the kind messages!" I had completely forgotten it came out today.

"Thank you, I'm glad you liked it," I replied with. I was nervous what the others would think of it. I really liked the work I put out, but everyone interoperates things differently.

When I arrived at the store, I kind of felt like I was getting weird looks, but I just brushed it off. I started looking around the store. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get a player jersey or a plain one. I decided on a player, but I was torn between Lewandowski and Gavi. I weighed my options. If I got the Gavi one I would be supporting my boyfriend, but if I got the Lewandowski one I would be supporting my all time favorite player. I chose the Gavi one.

When I was walking up to the check out, I heard someone whisper something about me to the person they were with.

"Look, Gavi's new girlfriend just bought his jersey," one girl said.

"Couple goals," the other replied. I cringed at that sentence. I wondered if maybe that was why people were starring at me. I brought the jersey up to the register, and when the cashier told me the total I internally screamed. If I didn't have him already, I would expect Gavi to come with the jersey. Regardless, I paid, then went home.

Once I got home, I changed into the jersey. I started looking through photos again. I found one of me and Gavi that I wanted in the frame on the windowsill, and there was another on me, Frenkie, Lewy, and Raphinia that I wanted on my desk. Gavi's name lit up my phone.

"Hey, whats up?" I asked.

"Can I come over, I need someone to talk to," He said. He sounded sad, and I knew it was important.

"Yes, of course, but don't you have practice? And I have to leave in an hour."

"I'll be quick, and no practice. Not for me, at least."

"Ok, come on," I said. I was curious as to what had happened.

About five minutes later, he knocked on my door. I went to open it. He was wearing his practice jersey. He stepped inside and hugged me. I could tell he needed it.

"So whats bothering you?" I asked him. We walked over to the couch and sat down. I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his shoulder.

"How could you tell?" He asked.

"You're not at practice, and you sounded sad on the phone. So what is it?" I asked. He was quiet for a second, but then I could hear him sniffling. I looked up at him.

"Everyone is mad at me, Cleo. I keep messing up and missing shots. The others are blaming it on us, too. They're saying I'm too focused on you and we need to break up," he said. My heart shattered. I didn't realize I was holding him back. I felt terrible and selfish because I didn't want to break up with him. I loved him.

"I'm sorry, Gavi, but I'm sure everyone isn't mad at you," I reassured him. He twirled my hair, "so why aren't you at practice?"

"I kept messing up. Everyone was getting mad at me, and I was getting angry like I always do. They told me to just leave, and that I can sit on the bench at the game. I can't believe I fucked up this bad," He explained.

"If I could give you any advice it would be to not let this get you down. We're people. We make mistakes, but we can't let them stop us, we have to move on. If everyone is mad at you always have me." I told him. I took my head off his shoulder and looked at him.

"Promise?" He said.

"Promise."

"I like your jersey," He said, changing the subject. I laughed.

"I like yours too. You're lucky, I almost bought Lewy's."

"I guess I am, for more reason that one," He said, resting his head on me, "I read your article this morning. I really liked it."

"Thank you, Gavi," I said. We stayed like this for forty more minutes just talking until it was time for us to leave. "I have to go, are you coming with me?" I asked, standing up.

"Yeah, I think so." He said.

"Do you need to get anything?"

"I'm not playing, so no."

"Don't you think you should wear your jersey?"

"Fine," He said, she we went to his apartment so he could change. I sat on his couch and waited. He only took like a minute, then he came out in his uniform. I smiled.

"Ready?" I asked Gavi, and he nodded. Despite the nice weather, Gavi drove us there. "I know you said you weren't embarrassed, but do you want people to see us driving in together?" I asked.

"Do you?"

"I guess I don't mind," I said. The second he turned into the parking lot paparazzi started taking pictures of us. I could see the shocked looks on their faces. He drove into the player parking section where nobody else was allowed and parked. Unfortunately, the door was close to the paparazzi and fans, so they could still see us, and we could hear them.

"You ready?" He asked me.

"No," I replied, getting out of the car. He walked over to my side so we could walk in together and grabbed my hand.

"Gavi, is that your new girlfriend?" One fan said.

"Gavi, why are you getting here so late? Why are you not playing?" Another shouted. Gavi laughed, but I could tell he wanted to yell at them, so I squeezed his hand and walked faster.

"Cleo, I shouldn't have come with you. I'm sorry, I can't be here," he said once we got inside. He was starting to panic, so we went into an empty room to talk.

"Breathe," I reminded him. "If you don't want to be here then go home, but don't expect people to be any less mad at you if you don't show up to support them. The sure as hell don't deserve for you to be there, but deep down I think you know it's the right thing to do"

"You're always right," He said, smiling at me. We walked towards to door. I paused with my hand on the door knob.

"You and me against the world, remember?" I said. He squeezed my hand and I opened the door.