Through Her Eyes - Alexia Putellas

Chapter One

"It's time to wake up, little bird!"

Valerie groaned into her pillow, at the familiar voice of her sister. The one and only, Leah Williamson.

The sisters lived with another in London, in a high-up apartment. Before living there, Valerie lived in France as she played for Lyon alongside her England teammate and best friend, Lucy Bronze.

"Wake up!" Leah yelled obnoxiously again, throwing a sock at Valerie's head which made the girl sit upright suddenly in shock.

"Did you just throw your dirty sock at me?" The younger (by a year) girl shouted, climbing out of her bed begrudgingly, taking the time to direct a harsh glare at Leah who smiled innocently.

"Course I did. Can't do that in Barcelona, can I?"

Oh, right. Valerie had also been called up to Barcelona a couple of weeks ago, and today was the day she was moving there. The woman had never been to the city, and she was terrified, the only relief she felt was that Lucy and Keira Walsh would be there.

"What time is it..." Valerie wondered out loud, her eyes wandering over to the clock; 10:26. Her shock was apparent as her eyes widened further, Leah watched as her sister rushed into the bathroom, clattering followed.

"Told you to wake up, didn't I?"

"Shut it."

Approximately twenty minutes later, Leah was driving Valerie to Heathrow airport as her luggage was in the back, the younger sister breathing out in relief as she was glad she had spent the entire week packing, instead of at the last moment.

Pulling into the parking lot, Valerie climbed out of the car and grabbed hold of the luggage—considering she was moving to a completely different county and playing for a new team, she didn't bring much. Jonatan Giráldez, Barcelona's coach, recommended that she buy essentials when she was there.

"Hate to say it, little bird, but I'm gonna miss you." Leah crossed her arms over her chest, as the two sisters neared closer to the gate, Valerie's flight being in ten minutes, the blonde was relieved to wear sunglasses that day to hide the tears in her eyes.

Valerie knew she was crying regardless.

Embracing Leah into a tight hold, Valerie rubbed her back and smiled into her shoulder, basking in the moment as they wouldn't share one like this until she is called back to play for England.

"I'll miss you too, big bird." Valerie pulled back and smirked at Leah's offended expression, wiping away her tears while sniffing.

"Calling me big?"

"Well..." Valerie patted Leah's head as she looked down on her older sister, while the older was five foot five, Valerie was five foot seven which annoyed the blonde England captain to no end—she was endlessly teased about it, "You are a midget."

Pushing her younger sister back with a gruff, "Nevermind I won't miss you—"

Before the pair could argue further, Valerie was tackled suddenly, she was frozen in shock before relaxing at the familiar sound of laughter belonging to Beth Mead, her teammate at England and Arsenal.

"Think you could leave without saying goodbye?" Valerie raised her head to see Vivianne Miedema, Beth's girlfriend waving awkwardly at everyone which made the woman chuckle at her friends' different dynamics.

"You caught me."

Rolling her eyes, Beth embraced Valerie in a warm hug before pulling her girlfriend to join it too, though Vivianne stood like a cardboard cutout.

"Be prepared to lose against us soon." Beth kissed the younger sister's cheek before pulling away, as Valerie opened her mouth for a rebuttal the speaker said that her flight was set to go in a few minutes which brought a frown to her face.

"I guess this is goodbye," Valerie said sadly not before embracing her sister one last time before turning away towards the air bridge, she began to realise she wouldn't be back for a while.

And that it was also a new journey.

✰

Valerie really regretted wearing her Nike tracksuit (which actually belonged to Leah, but she didn't know. Yet.) as she stepped out of the airport, when a wall of heat slammed into her and she began to play with her collar.

A horn ripped her out of discomfort as a black car neared closer to her, pulling up beside the road.

"Valerie Williamson?" The voice asked causing her head to upturn to see a woman about her age, maybe even a few years older with a calm expression.

"That's me...You are?" Valerie was apprehensive, over the years of her career she encountered numerous strange situations with fans, especially when living in France.

"Ines Giraldez, Barcelona's head physiotherapist ." Ines greeted, getting out of the car to put the luggage in the boot of the car. Valerie lets out a sound of understanding before joining Ines in the car, "My job is to keep the team in fit shape, rehabilitation etc..."

"Hopefully we don't meet much, then."

Ines raised her eyebrows at the woman who seemed dismissive of her presence. The woman didn't understand Valerie's humour, after all she was born and bred in Barcelona. There was bound to be differences.

"That was a joke, I presume?"

Valerie gulped at Ines's menacing tone, "Sí, fue un chiste..." (Yes, that was a joke...) When talking to Lucy and Keira, they failed to mention how intimidating their physiotherapist would be. Wasn't she supposed to be comforting?

"Speaking of, Jona wanted to know if you need Spanish lessons, you're pronunciation is buena." (Good) Valerie blushed at the woman's compliment as she realised they were now entering the city.

The English athlete couldn't help but to gawk at the architecture, as well as people wearing coats while she was sweating buckets!

"I think I'll be okay, puedo adaptarme bien." (I can adapt well) Valerie grinned winking at the psychotherapist in the process, who rolled her eyes before pulling up outside a modern apartment complex.

Silently, the pair finally made it up the stairs with Valerie's luggage which consisted of two suitcases of clothes and the usual.

They stopped outside the room, 11, Valerie laughed when she realised she had no key, but Ines nodded and held it out in front of her.

"Welcome to Barcelona."