A Manchester Affair (Rúben Dias)

Chapter Five

"Morning!"

"Morning, Diogo. You ok?"
"I am. But I have a question for you".

"Go on".

"Do you mind if my girlfriend follows you on Instagram?", he asked.

"No, that's ok", she answered and saw him picking up his phone, to tell his girlfriend, Lucía assumed. "Why does she want to, though?"

"So you can be friends", he smiled. "Maybe? She gets lonely sometimes being away from home. So maybe you can chat there a bit and see if you have things in common, apart from me, I guess", he laughed.

"Ok", she said.

"No pressure. But I thought you would be happy to meet more people here. Anyways, I'll see you later. I have to go".

"Yeah, bye".

And then she was left there to wonder what just happened. But, as Diogo said, it would be nice to maybe have another friend here in Manchester. Someone closer to her age too. When she saw the new account that was following her, she followed her back. Nice to meet you, Claudia.

Later that day, they all travelled to Southampton, where the team was playing the next day. It was an early kick-off which meant an early night.

Lucía sat on the plane with Scott and told him about her date from the previous day. Obviously omitting names. Too early for that.

"You should talk to him. He sounds like an alright guy, he would appreciate you opening up to him and being honest. Like you have been with me".

"I guess. I just...I just panic whenever he tries to talk. Talking to you is easier. I don't know".

"I get it. But if you don't explain things to him, you can't expect him to know how to behave around you either".

"I know", she sighed. "I'll talk to him".

"Soon?"

"Soon", she sighed again. Not convinced how she would approach that chat.

"Good girl", Scott said, kissing her temple and using his turn to talk about his date. She wished things were as simple for her as they were for him.

**

Rúben hadn't messaged her since their disaster date, so she decided to be the one who took the first step today.

Lucía: hey. Good luck today. I'll be back home tonight. Do you want to meet? I could get some food on the way home for us 😊

Rúben: sounds good. Text me when you are back.

So, everything seemed to be fine. She worried for no real reason.

The match ended with a tight, but satisfying, 0-1 win for United. The first time the team won two matches in a row since February. When she heard that statistic, she wanted to go shake Erik and ask him what the heck he was thinking when signing for this team. But he liked a challenge. He always had.

After the team landed in Manchester, she immediately checked the rest of the scores. City won 4-2 at home against Palace, but they were actually 0-2 at halftime. Everyone was talking about their great comeback.

She picked up some food on the way home, as promised to Rúben. Something delicious but that had the post-match approval.

Lucía: I'm home. Come here whenever you want. I got food 😄

A couple of minutes later, there was a knock on the door and she remembered Scott's advice of talking to Rúben, so she didn't plan on just jumping his bones without even saying hello. Not this time, at least.