[ fifteen ]
I returned to my hotel room after my jog and got in the shower. I changed into something professional for my job and was out the door. As I left the hotel, I thought about searching for an apartment to stay in. The hotel was costing a lot of money that my employer was paying and it was taking much too long for them to find me a place to stay.
When I entered my cubicle at the news building for the day, I saw that I had a message on the answering machine. Thinking it was James, a smile formed on my lips as I hit the play button. But it wasn't James, it was Giselle. "This is Giselle Vilanova," She began, "I'm very sorry about the fight you witnessed between James and I." The fight that ended with the two of them breaking up, I thought to myself. The voice message continued, "We're doing much better now and you can come finish up your interview whenever you think is best."
My smile had been wiped clean off my face. In the time since James and I had talked, he had talked things out with Giselle and they were back together. I knew it shouldn't be hurting this much becaus I had been the one to tell him to patch things up with her, but I felt like he was tearing a hole through my heart. My eyes pooled up with tears that threatened to escape, but I held them in.
James only wanted to be my friend. He had meant what he said at the coffee shop.
But was I willing to be his friend?
It hurt too much to see him with another. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe James and I were never meant to be and that was why I needed to move on as well. Toni was a nice guy and seemed he was interested in me.
In the mean time, I wouldn't be able to finish up the interview. I needed at least a day to mentally and emotionally prepare to see them together.
Barely noticing there was a new folder on my desk, I picked it up in my hands and observed it. There was a note from my boss on it that read: Today's assignment.
I opened it to find basic information on the footballer I was going to interview. He wasn't a player from Real Madrid, for which I was thankful. Instead I would be sent to the training ground where Atletico de Madrid trained. The footballer I would be interviewing was a forward who was from Mexico. He was the team's top scorer for the season after Griezmann had chosen to leave for Chelsea and Torres had moved on from the team.
He had been in Madrid just as long as James, but had just gotten the opportunity to be on the starting eleven during this season and he had proven to be the right choice for the club. My task was to interview him on how he was feeling now that he was a great success after sitting on the bench for most of his two year career with the colchoneros.
I arrived at the Atletico de Madrid training ground and was met with the same procedure as when I went to interview James and Toni. As he approached me, I sucked in a breath to prepare myself. For one reason or another, this one felt more like my first interview with a footballer, rather than the two previous ones.
But after thirty minutes of filming and a couple of interview questions, I felt confident that this had been my best one yet. Jimenez had been great, very friendly, and willing to make conversation with me. It also made me feel better how the two of us got on because he was a person on foreign land, just like I was. I left the training ground a half hour past twelve and I felt my stomach growl.
As though he had heard my hungry stomach from miles away, I got an incoming message from Toni, and seconds later one from James. I was surprised at how quickly he had gotten my number when I hadn't even given it to him yet.
toni (+34 6xx-xxx-xxx): lunch date? :)
james (+34 6xx-xxx-xxx): hola bonita ;) te invito a comer. (i'll invite you to lunch.)
I bit down hard on my lip. Was it okay for me to reply to his message? He had just gotten back with Giselle and was already sending me texts. Perhaps he was as innocent as he claimed and only wanted to be my friend, but I couldn't be sure. I didn't want to get romantically involved with him while he was still in a relationship. And I couldn't date him again after I encouraged him to go back to Giselle.
My final decision was to put some distance between James and I, at least for now. With my return, both of us had wounds that had been ripped open when he saw each other once more. They needed another while before they could close up again, this time for good.
Though it pained me to do so, it had to be done. I needed to get James out of my thoughts and out of my heart.
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sorry that it toook so long to update and sorry its so short. i really tried to get an update posted for you all. so i hope you like it. thank you so much for reading and supporting me.
i love you.
-clary xx
