The match was starting at 17:45pm and I got at the training centre at 14:00pm, ready to pop in to work, but not before I have a chat with Xavi.
I haven't actually thought about how I'm going to tell Pedri that we're having a baby, but I'll deal with that later on. Now I'm just worrying about the pain in his thigh.
After I greeted the receptionist, I headed straight towards Xavi's office. I knocked once and stepped in, glad to find him there.
'Irina.' he said with a smile. 'What can I help you with?'
'I, erm...' I tried find the right words. 'I need you to keep Pedri on the bench.'
He bursted into laughter, looking at me like I was crazy. 'You're kidding, right?'
'Pedri has some pain and he won't be able to play the full game.' I said serious.
'Nothing to worry about, it happens when footballers train or stress or...' he shrugged his shoulders. 'Or whatever it is that they do. It's nothing too serious.'
'You don't understand.' I frowned my eyebrows. 'Pedri is not fit to play.'
'Irina...' he said softly.
'No.' I said sternly. 'I've seen this happen before. I dated Neymar for God's sake. The player with the most injuries. I know when things are serious and when they aren't. And I'm telling you, Pedri isn't fit to play.'
'You're reading too much into it. I've seen him and it's not bad.'
'Because he won't show it. Xavi, please, keep him benched. Otherwise you risk having one of your best players out for a few weeks. Are you willing to take that risk?' I asked confused.
'I can't do that, sorry.'
'You can. You just don't want to.' I shook my head, a chuckle escaping my lips. 'Please, just think about it.' I said softly and leaving his office not waiting for an answer.
***
'Thank God, why are you late?' Ela said as soon as I walked into our office.
'Hey.' I smiled. 'Just had to speak to Xavi about today's game.'
'Oh, yeah, the Brits are coming.' she chuckled.
'Exactly.' I rolled my eyes playfully. 'How's you and Gavi?'
'Working on it.' she shrugged her shoulders.
'Working on it?' I asked confused.
'Yeah, we're still talking about it. Trying to find a common dominator.'
I let out a chuckle and shook my head. 'I'm waiting for the day you two will stop behaving like children.'
'Don't we have work?' she quickly changed the subject. 'Because I really don't want to get fired.'
***
After spending some time with the players and me and Pedri not talking as much after our little discussion in the morning, we started filming some content.
'What's up with you and Pedri?' Ela asked confused.
'Looks like we just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.'
'You two? Since when?' she chuckled.
'His leg is hurting and he won't listen to me.' I said quietly.
'Come on, he knows what he's doing.' she smiled softly. 'You have nothing to worry about.'
'That's the thing. He doesn't know what he's doing.'
