Football Short Stories

Here Is My Secret - Alexis Sánchez

"Here is my secret. It is very simple. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye."

                                              -Antoine De Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Alexis felt his heart pounding in his chest as he parked his car into the driveway of his two childhood friends. He didn't understand why he was so nervous. After all, he had known the Cordobello twins, Marcos and Marilena, for as long as he could remember although he hadn't seen them in many years. But since he moved to London from Barcelona this summer after signing with Arsenal and they happened to be living in London themselves, he just had to pay a visit.

Alexis knew a lot had changed from their childhood days, back when they were neighbors and their moms were best friends. He hadn't seen Marcos and Marilena since he left Chile at the age of 18 in 2006 after signing with Udinese, fulfilling his dream of playing for a first division team. They had stayed in touch though, and Alexis was regularly inquiring about them. Their conversations were limited but he had learned about every highlight in the twins' lives and they did as well.

He had learned about their move to London to carry on their studies while he was still in Barcelona. He congratulated Marcos' on his engagement and tried to comfort him through the phone after his fiancé left him. He was happy for Marilena after she told him about landing her dream internship and felt completely devastated when he learned about the accident.

If there was one major thing that had changed, it would have to be because of that dreadful accident.

It happened almost a year ago. On November 23rd, a Friday evening; Marilena had taken out her car to get to the suburbs of London. The rain was pouring down as it was common in England. Marilena was never a reckless driver but she somehow lost control of the car which would later be assigned to defective tires. Her car crashed into a tree on the pavement of a local road causing her a severe head trauma which damaged her optic nerve resulting in a total loss of her sight.

After that accident, the twins' lives changed radically. Marilena moved in with her brother as she couldn't live on her own anymore, she had to quit her studies and it seemed like her whole life was put on hold since that accident.

The last time Alexis saw Marilena, her eyes were filled with tears while saying goodbye to him at the Santiago International Airport in Chile. Now, eight years later, he wouldn't get to see those gorgeous green eyes again. And frankly he had no idea how he was going to act around her.

"Alexis!" Marcos exclaimed opening his front door "God it's been forever, how are you?"

"Marcos, it's so good to see you" Alexis said grinning and hugging his old friend "I'm alright, what about you?"

"Just hanging in there" he said shrugging lightly "Come in, we have a lot to catch up on."

Alexis smiled and walked through the door, quickly feeling the warm atmosphere emanating from the flat. Marcos showed him the way to the living room and said "Marilena is in there, she's been waiting for you. You can go see her, I'm just gonna go get us something to eat"

Alexis nodded thanking Marcos. He walked in the living room, and there she was, sitting on the sofa. She hadn't changed one bit from the last time he saw her. Her face had obviously matured but she was still just as beautiful.

As Marilena heard Alexis' footsteps on the floor, an instant smile grew on her lips and she carefully stood up from the sofa turning her face toward where he was coming from.

"Alexis?" she said her voice slightly trembling with emotion.

"Marilena" He exclaimed taking her in his arms "God I missed you so much"