Back to us | Alexia Putellas

Facetime.

It has only been 4 days since my injury and I am already bored.

The last few days have consisted of the same routine on repeat. Wake up... go to physio... come home... go to sleep. The time in between mostly spent in my apartment on my own, watching tv or studying for my coaching badges.

There was only one part of my day that I looked forward to at the moment... Facetiming Alexia.

The first time Ale had called me was because I had cancelled my physio appointment and she wanted to check that I was ok. I had answered the call in floods of tears upset about my injury and by the end of the call I was smiling and laughing. We had Facetimed every evening since then, it wasn't something that we had planned, it had just happened.

Deciding to take things slowly had made everything so much easier, the pressure had been taken away and we could just talk with no worries or expectations about where the conversation would go. We both knew how we felt about each other and where we wanted our relationship to go, but there was no rush to get there. We were just friends.

I was sat on the sofa watching Friends when my phone rang, I knew who it was before I even looked down at the screen. It was 7pm, Ale had just got back from walking Nala and was calling for our evening chat.

"Hey!" I smiled as her face appeared on my screen.

"Hey you!"

"How was training?" I asked, watching her as she sat down on her sofa.

"Exhausting... Jonatan wants us ready for the game at the weekend, so he worked us really hard today" she sighed.
"How was your appointment? I didn't see you today, everything go ok?"

"I'm finally out of the boot" I smiled, looking down at my now free ankle.

"That's great!" Ale cheered.

"Yeah I suppose, I just want to be back on the pitch now, it's taking too long"

"It's only been a few days." she laughed.
"You're just too impatient... you always have been!"

"No I'm not!" I defended myself, trying not to laugh.

"You won't drive because you don't like sitting in traffic, you get annoyed when people don't text you back straight away and you hate when people are late! You just suck at waiting Isy!"

Alexia was right, I had always hated waiting for things.

"Ok maybe you're right..." I mumbled while smiling

"You need to be patient with this though, I know that you're bored, but it's going to take a bit of time"

"Yeah I know... I spoke to Ona earlier and she said the same thing" I smiled, thinking back to our earlier phone call.

"I knew there was a reason I liked Ona" Ale laughed.
"How is she? It's been a while since I've seen her"

"She's good. She loves playing over in England, it really suits her... I honestly can't see her coming back to Spain anytime soon. I really miss her though..."
I let out a sigh, thinking about my best friend who I hadn't seen in almost a month.
"She wants me to go back and visit her for a few days while I'm out injured..."

"Oh" Ale spoke quietly.

"I think I might go"

"When?" She quickly answered, almost snapping, the emotions clear in her voice.

She was upset.

"I had a quick look at flights earlier, there is one tomorrow morning"

Ale didn't say anything for a few moments, she was avoiding making eye contact with me, but I could tell what she was thinking just by looking at her through the screen.

"Ale..."

"Yeah?" She mumbled, finally looking up at me.

"I'm going to come back... you know that don't you?" I spoke, my voice quieter than before, trying desperately to reassure her.

Ale pressed her lips into a flat line and gently nodded.
"Yeah... I'm just going to miss you. I-I- feel like I've only just got you back and now you're leaving me again."

"I'm not leaving you Ale... I just I need a distraction from my stupid ankle, my head is all over the place at the moment. I'll be back in a couple of days, I promise."

Once the call with Ale had ended, I picked up my laptop from the coffee table next to me and booked my flight. I was leaving for Manchester the following morning, spending 2 nights there before coming back on Sunday to watch our game against Levante. After printing out my ticket, I headed upstairs to pack my bag.

After gathering the clothes that I wanted to take with me from my wardrobe and neatly packing them into my bag, I started getting ready for bed. Once I had showered and brushed my teeth I headed back into my room, pulling on a baggy Nike t-shirt before climbing into bed.

I was scrolling through Instagram, like I did every night before I went to sleep when I got a text from Ale.

Ale 🥰

Sorry for freaking out earlier, I'm just going to miss you! 💛 Xx

It's ok Ale, I get it...I'll miss you too! I'll be back to watch the game on Sunday, so I'll see you then! Xx

What time is your flight? Xx

8am tomorrow morning Xx

I'm taking you to the airport, I'll pick you up at 6:30 Xx

You don't have to do that Ale! I've already got a taxi booked Xx

I know that I don't have to, but I want to! Cancel your taxi and I'll see you in the morning! Xx

Thank you Ale Xx

You're welcome, now put your phone away and get some sleep Xx