As I was waiting for the match to be over, I took a seat on one of the chairs in the tunnel, my face covered by my hands while my leg was shaking uncontrollably.
This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.
The whole world saw, clearly now people are going to start speculating and saying that I'm the reason for their fight.
Which isn't completely wrong, but why do I have to be painted as the bad guy when they don't know the story behind everything?
'You okay, kid?' Xavi's voice startled me.
'Yeah, I know...' I said, my face still in my hands. 'I'm officially banned from Camp Nou.'
'I asked if you're okay.' he said with a more fatherly tone.
'Oh yeah, I'm super.' I said sarcastically, still not looking at him.
His light chuckle confused me, making me look at up him, shooting an are you fucking serious look.
'Why would I ban you?'
'Because I finally managed to bring you the one thing you didn't want.' I let out a sigh. 'Wrong publicity.'
He crouched down in front of me, putting his hands on my legs so he can support himself. 'You know...' he started. 'Today, on that pitch, I saw someone standing up for the people she cares about.' he smiled softly. 'Very brave, if you ask me... someone that doesn't care about where they are or who sees them or people's opinions, is something you don't see very often.' he slapped my calf as encouragement and stood up. 'You're a lioness, Irina. Don't let anyone take that title away from you.' he nodded his head. 'And, Pedri didn't lose any of his legs, so...' he laughed, making me smile.
'Thank you.' I said sincerely.
'And please stop wetting the floor with your tears.' he laughed walking away from me.
'Oh yeah, I hope you know I still hate you.' I chuckled.
'Wouldn't have it any other way.'
The players started coming in, all of them heading out to the changing rooms. Some Barça players were smiling at me, same with some of the PSG players. I returned the gestures, waiting for one particular person.
Pedri.
Who walked past me and straight after his teammates, ignoring my existence.
'Are you okay?' Luca asked as soon as he saw me.
'He's not going to talk to me ever again.' I said quietly, wanting to disappear from the face of the planet.
'He knows you're angry, he's angry himself...' Luca said putting his hand on my shoulder. 'Just cool off a bit and then talk to him.'
'Puedo hablar contigo un segundo?' (Can I talk to you for a second?) Messi asked, surprising both me and Luca.
'Seguro.' I nodded my head, this being Luca's cue to leave.
'No es tu culpa que termine siendo así.' (It's not your fault that it ended being this way.) he said softly.
'Pero es.' (But it is.) I said. 'Si me hubiera mantenido en mi nuevo comienzo y dejado atrás el mundo del fútbol... esto no habría sucedido.' (If I would've just kept myself to my fresh start and leave the football world behind... this would have not happened.) I said covering my face once again.
'Irina, no puedes controlar lo que sucede en tu vida. Así no es como debe ser.' (Irina, you can't control what happens in your life. That's not how it's meant to be.) he said putting his hand on my back. 'No es tu culpa la forma en que la gente reacciona.' (It's not your fault the way people react.) Messi said softly. 'Neymar es exaltado y todavía siente que necesita hacer una declaración cuando se trata de ti. Si no hubiera sucedido ahora, habría sucedido en otro lugar. Todavía gente alrededor, todavía con cámaras...' (Neymar is hotheaded and still feels like he needs to make a statement when it comes to you. If it didn't happen now, it would've happened somewhere else. Still people around, still with cameras...) Messi smiled softly. 'Pero si Pedri siente algo por ti, esto no debería cambiar nada.' (But if Pedri feels a certain way about you, this shouldn't change anything.)
'Lo odio, ahora mismo, Leo.' (I hate him, right now, Leo.) I shook my head looking at him. 'Lo odio.' (I hate him.)
Messi let out a chuckle. 'El amor vuelve loco a la gente.' (Love makes people crazy.)
'No, eso no es amor. Eso es estupidez.' (No, that's not love. That's stupidity.) I smiled.
'Todo lo que tienes que hacer es no preocuparte y no culparte.' (All you have to do, is not worry and not blame yourself.) hr nodded his head. 'Te conozco... y esos rumores y charlas que van a aparecer, no significan nada. Porque tú eres el que realmente sabe lo que está pasando. Y las personas cercanas a ti. Cualquier otra cosa y cualquier otra persona, no importa.' (I know you... and those rumors and talks that are going to appear, they mean nothing. Because you're the one that really knows what's happening. And the people close to you. Anything else and anyone else, don't matter.) he smiled.
'Suenas como yo, lo sabes, verdad?' (You sound just like me, you know that, right?) I chuckled softly.
'Me inspiré en uno de sus discursos.' (I did inspire myself from one of your speeches.) he smiled.
'Gracias.' I smiled.
He kissed my head and walked away, leaving me and my thoughts all alone.
***
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
💬❤️ 1,473,529 people liked this photo
tmz_tv It looks like the Paris-Saint German and FC Barçelona game turned pretty heated and you won't believe who found themselves in the middle of it all... Check out the link in our bio for more details.
