Football Short Stories

Love, From Barcelona - G.Bale & A.Iniesta {PART 2}

«Love, From Barcelona» a Gareth Bale and Andrés Iniesta short story.

>Part 2: "Come In With The Rain"

________________________________________________

Laia was going through a rough time when she met Gareth. At that time, everything in her life seemed to be going wrong. She had her demons, like most people, but her destructive past was catching up on her and she knew she didn’t want to be anything like her parents who had ended up badly.

A part of her told her that she was walking straight into something lethal when her path had crossed Gareth’s.

Gareth was just as damaged as she was, and that was probably what drew her to him in the first place.

He was the first man who had made her feel loved and loathed at the same time. They were both broken beyond repair and the destructive relationship consumed them to an extend neither of them were realizing.

The difference between Laia and Gareth was that she never gave up on the desire of feeling accepted, feeling loved, while Gareth pushed away the alienated emotion.

Nonetheless, they had somehow ended up together. She had come to like the fact that he always distanced himself from deep emotional involvement, while she was the complete opposite. They completed each other and she always liked that, probably for all the wrong reasons.

Gareth never understood Laia on a meaningful level but he needed her in his life nonetheless. She was his anchor, the only stability in the turmoil of his life, the one thing keeping him from losing himself completely, and he knew that.

On the other hand, Laia needed Gareth to make herself feel loved and cared for, although he didn’t provide her with the amount of esteem she desired. He wasn’t enough, but he was what kept her going.

They did love each other though, in some incomprehensible, twisted way.

But it clearly wasn’t your typical, platonic relationship.

 

Everything had changed when Laia met Andrés.

 

It happened in Brazil, during the World Cup, oddly enough. Like many of the WAGs, Laia had accompanied her boyfriend to the host country. The Welsh National Team, who Gareth played for, happened to be staying in the same hotel as the Spanish and Croatian National Teams

As soon as the plane landed in Brazil, Gareth turned his back on Laia like he always did and took no heed of her in the weeks that followed. He pretested wanting to focus on the international tournament although the first two weeks of their staying was meant for training. He still overlooked the fact that she was there with the solemn purpose of supporting him, not be a distraction.

During the first week, Laia spent most days on her own at the hotel while Gareth was out training.  Sometimes, she got herself out and wandered around the city for a bit before coming back to the room they both shared. She wasn’t too saddened by the fact that her boyfriend was utterly disregarding her because it had always been this way when football was involved.

She did feel lonely during that first week thought, barely talking to anyone and spending most of her time in a hotel room. The nights were the worst, she hated being alone when the sun went down and after a few days of being by herself, she decided to spend the evening at the bar that she knew would be filled with people, even on a week night.