The One That Got Away

1

I was so lost in work, I didn’t even realize someone was standing by my table until they cleared their throat.

“Hi,” he said, in a slightly uncertain voice.

“Hello.” I kept on typing, hoping he’d get the message I was not interested and was way too preoccupied to pay attention to anything else but the mass of letters on my laptop.

“Would you mind if I sat down?”

“Actually, I would.” I didn’t mean to be rude but this was an important task, and I had no time for small talk or flirting or whatever he was after. “I’m in the middle of this and if I stop now, I’ll lose my muse and my boss is going to be beyond pissed.”

I heard a snort from somewhere behind me, and wondered for a second if someone was watching this unfolding scene.

“You haven’t even looked at me yet,” he said with slight irritation in his voice. I rolled my eyes, and dragged my gaze up to him, suspecting he would only take no if I actually knew what I was saying no to.

“Holy fuck! Ronaldo! Cristiano!” I gaped at him in disbelief. Photos did not give justice to the man. He was obviously one of those people who were too beautiful to be captured on photographs.

“Yes.” He nodded and straightened his back a little more.

“Can I have a picture? My niece is such a huge fan, it’d make me the coolest aunt on the planet,” I rambled as I grabbed my phone from the coffee table.

“Sure, let me.” He took the phone from my hand, and we both grinned as he took the picture. As I leant close to him, I wondered how someone could smell like Christmas in the middle of the summer. True mysteries of life.

“Holy crap!” I exhaled when I saw what time it was as I took my phone from his hand. “I’m so gonna be late and my boss is so gonna kill me.” I gathered my stuff from the table, rushing.

“Do you want me to take you?” I barely heard the question, and didn’t even give it any thought. Public transport was always the fastest way, and my mother always told me not to sit into strangers’ cars, famous or not.

“No but thank you for the pic, you really are kind.” I waved at him and dropped everything into my bag. “Oh, hey, Sergio Ramos!” I blinked at the man who sat at the table just behind where I spent the previous hour engrossed in work.

“Good luck on the derby for both of you!” I called over my shoulder as I made my way through the tables, trying not to knock anything off on my way out of the coffee shop.

“Wait… What’s your name?” Cristiano called after me when I was half way out of the door.

“Andy,” I replied, without looking back. Only when the day finished, and I could slow down did I start thinking about the weird encounter I had earlier that day, and I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. Judging by the sheer shock the man had on his face, it couldn’t happen many times with him that he gets brushed off like that. Admittedly, it also didn’t happen to me everyday a world famous person walked up to me but I think I handled it just fine, and my niece is going to be over the moon.