The journalist's footballer (Rúben Dias)

Chapter One

Rúben

"Hey mate, why are you still wearing the team's clothes? Are you staying at the gym again?", I hear John ask me when he comes to pick up his bag.

"No, I have to do an interview before leaving".

"Great fun", he laughs. "Last time I did one I had to listen to the same dude that we got on our last interview together. He almost put me to sleep".

"God, I hope it's someone different", I say, remembering the interview he's talking about.

"So, you going out today with that girl you told me about?", he asks, reminding me of my plans for today.

"Yes", I say with a smirk.

"What was her name again?"

"Maria. She's Portuguese too", I remind him.

"Yes, and she's really hot. Lucky you, enjoying the single life with your hot models".

We both laugh at that.

"But before that, I gotta go to this interview. See you tomorrow, mate!", I tell John before I start to make my way to the media area.

"Bye, bro. Have fun tonight!"

"Oh, Rúben. There you are!", I hear our media boss, Tom, say.

"Am I late?", I ask looking at my watch. Not late, I'm actually 5 minutes early.

"No, you're on time. She is just really early and getting bored of waiting, I guess", he laughs.

"She?"

"The journalist who is interviewing you today. I'll take you to her. She's really nice, you'll like her".

"Christina", Tom says, "he's finally here".

That makes the journalist, Christina, turn around to face us. I offer her my hand as a hello, but I barely notice her handshake because I'm too focused on looking at how gorgeous she is. Yeah, she's definitely not one of those boring dudes we get on most of our interviews.

I realise she's looking at me waiting for me to say something, so I let go of her hand and introduce myself.

"Can you please sit there so we can start the interview in a couple of minutes?", she asks me. Her smile is gorgeous too. I'll have to try hard to concentrate on her questions and not just on how pretty she is.

"Of course. Um...how is the interview going to be? Anything I should know?"

"Nothing strange. I'll ask you about football and then, if we have time, I'll ask you a couple of questions our viewers sent for you. We try to aim for 20-minute videos so we'll see how it goes. Is that ok?"

"Perfect!", I tell her, giving her a big smile that she returns.

"Ok, you ready?", she asks the cameraman. "Perfect. Hello everyone! Welcome to another video. Today I'm very happy to be in the company of one of the best players in the league, Portugal and Man City's defender, Rúben Dias. Hello Ruben, How are you?"

"I'm very good", I answer. "How are you?"

"Happy to be here with you today", you and me both, then. "So, let's start by talking about your time at City, you've been here for two years now. What are the expectations for this third season..."

Christina

The interview with Rúben flows really well. He's super articulate and actually answers the questions properly. If all footballers did the same, my job would be a lot easier.

Him being so ridiculously handsome doesn't make the job easier, though. I have to check myself all the time, to make sure I'm not drooling. And he seems really nice too. Ugh, the one time I find a guy who can do both, it's a footballer I have zero chances with.

"Amazing. Well, this brings us to the end of the interview. Thank you so much for your time and your great answers, Rúben. I'm sure the viewers will love them".

"No worries", he says.

"And thank you so much to all of you watching", I say to the camera. "I hope you enjoy the video. Don't forget to give it a thumbs up if you liked it, and I'll see you on the next one".

"Perfect", says Rick, my cameraman. "I'll send this to the team to edit. Great job as always, Chris".

"Thanks, Rick. Have a good rest of your day!"

When I turn, I'm surprised to see Rúben there. Most players just say a quick bye and run away once the interview is over.

"That was a great interview", he says, offering his hand so I can shake it.

"Thanks. It's one of my favourites I've done. You're a natural", I say, laughing. He really is good in front of the camera.

"Which TV channel is this for?"

"This isn't for tv. It's for a fairly small youtube channel where we talk about football. It's just a bunch of people like me, fresh out of Uni and trying to make it", I laugh. "Wait, would you mind taking a photo with me?"

"Not at all. Are you a City fan?", he asks me.

"Oh, no. I'm not actually, I support Spurs. It's just so we can put it on our social media to promote the interview. If that's ok with you, of course".

"Sure".

We then stand next to each other to take a quick selfie and I notice him putting his arm on my shoulder. The contact makes me stop for a second before I lift my phone to take the photo.

"Perfect. Thank you!", I tell him, going to get my bags to leave. I need to catch my train soon if I don't want to get back home really late.

"You leaving?", he asks. Was he expecting me to stay here all day?

"Yeah, I'm going to the train station. I need to call an Uber, actually", I say, getting my phone from my pocket.

"Don't", he says, making me turn to look at him.

"What?"

"I can drive you to the station if you want. It's on my way home", he says. But something in his tone feels odd.

"Oh no, you don't need to worry".

"I insist. Just let me grab my bag. We can do it on the way to my car".

I bite my lip, thinking. Well, this job doesn't exactly pay well. And rent in London is not cheap so saving the money for the Uber will actually make quite a difference.

"Ok then", I say, smiling at him. "I'll let you be my chauffeur for the day, Mr Dias".