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Hurt.

I hadn't spent a night away from Ale since the wedding. It had been over a month since we had spent the night apart, but that was coming to end as Ale had to attend a photoshoot for Nike in Paris... for two nights. I had been dreading it ever since it had been organised two weeks ago.

She was leaving right after our final training session before the Christmas break. Her flight was at 2pm so we showered and changed and quickly left the training ground to make our way to the airport. Ale was driving us there and I would be taking her car back home so that she didn't have to pay the extortionate car parking fee which I knew she hated.

She spent the whole journey with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on my thigh, her thumb running back and forth on the denim of my jeans.

I knew that she didn't want to go, she had always hated these kind of things... photoshoots, interviews, appearances, they were what she hated the most about being a footballer. She wanted her performances to do the talking, but her recent success on the pitch and the awards she has won off it had come with more and more interest from the media.

Alexia wasn't someone who liked the attention to be on her, if she could she would simply just play football and have the rest of her life completely private from the outside world, but that wasn't the situation that women's football was in anymore. It was growing and that meant that we were becoming more well known and it was becoming harder to hide. I think Ale has realised that now... since I have been back the change in her has become obvious. She used to do anything possible to get out of media engagements, avoiding as much of the 'celebrity' world as she could, but now she was different. She had accepted that it was part of her life... she was Alexia Putellas the two-time Balón D'or winner who everyone wanted to know more about and she couldn't hide away anymore. She did the interviews, the photoshoots and the public appearances... she didn't necessarily enjoy them, but she didn't hide away from them and the world was getting to see the real Alexia.

The Alexia that I loved.

We arrived at the airport and after a long embrace and a loving kiss in the drop-off zone, she was gone. I watched as she made her way inside the terminal before she turned to wave at me before blowing me a kiss and sending me a gentle smile, her actions telling me everything I needed to know.

She loved me and she was going to miss me. Two days... two days and she would be back home.

I headed back to the house, walking through the door I was quickly greeted by Nala who was bouncing up and down by my feet. I leant down and swept her up into my arms, holding her close to my chest and nuzzling into her soft fur.

"Mama's gone away for a couple of days, but you'll keep me company won't you Nala bear" I mumbled into the back of her neck.

The rest of that evening was spent catching up on my favourite reality shows that Ale hated and eating take-out Chinese food from my favourite restaurant. It wasn't the start of the Christmas break that I had imagined, but I was determined to enjoy it even though I missed Ale being here with me.

I headed up to bed earlier than usual, half a season of football had caught up on me I was exhausted. To be honest, I was just bored of my own company and if I went to bed early then tomorrow would come sooner and I would be a day closer to seeing Ale. I cuddled up on her side of the bed with Nala by my side and closed my eyes, the smell of Ale lingering on the sheets making it feel like she was here with me.

I woke up the following morning later than usual, the joy of not having to set an alarm for training allowed me sleep longer and much more peacefully than usual. I took a few moments to let my eyes adjust to the light, before rolling over towards the bedside table and picking up my phone.