Judge My Skills, Not Me

Chapter 23: Pinky Promise

Me Myself & I by 5 Seconds of Summer & Somewhere Only We Know by Keane

"I'll drive myself, Scott," she rolled her eyes. Cristina finished packing her carry-on as she made her way to get the keys from the kitchen. It was only two days before the Champions League Quarter-finals between the Blaugrana and Atletico Madrid. Barcelona topped their group table and moved on through their Round of 16 opponents, Arsenal with ease. After a double from Leo and three assists from Cristina to Ney and Luis, it was a straightforward 5 - 1 victory over the Gunners. The team felt more solid than ever. The league was Barca's for the taking and everyone in Europe was buzzing over how Barca's biggest risk became their biggest investment. Cristina tried to avoid the press and focus on the games ahead, but she couldn't lie. It felt good to hear everyone cheering her on, or, in the case of Madridistas, passive-aggressively ignore her rising stats and tweet about how Ronaldo bought his fifth supercar or whatever delusional nonsense they posted. None of that mattered to her, because all that mattered was that she finally felt like she was part of the Barca family.

"You have no opinion in this matter, I'm driving," Scott said grabbing the keys on the counter. After the chaos of he-who-shall-not-be-named interrupting the press conference over a month ago, the press and paparazzi have been poking around Cristina's life to try and find their next big-money story. Hunter even found three guys with cameras trying to drill a hole into the concrete wall around the house to see if they could find anything juicy to print. Scott was taking no chances. "I don't need a Princess Diana situation happening to you."

"Well, that's a little morbid don't you think," Cristina said crossing her arms done with Scott's attitude lately. It's like ever since Leo came to the house weeks ago, he doubled down on reinforcements to 'security'. Or what Cristina liked to call, 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with Actual Weapons 101'. "I'm going to Madrid, not a war zone." Scott looked at her skeptically. "Fine, it will be a war zone, but only on the pitch," she tried to reassure her head of security. "I'm sure the Spanish government and police will have a lot to answer for if the Atletico fans manage to derail the Barca bus on our way to the stadium." She gave him a big fake smile holding her hand out for the keys to the car.

"You're not helping your case," Scott grumbled.

Now, Cristina was really getting frustrated. "First of all, I'm just driving to the training camp, so I won't even be driving that far. Second, by the time I get back in a couple of days, it'll be late, and I don't want you to drive all the way there just to pick me up."

Cristina motioned for him to give her the keys and Scott finally relented. "Fine but be careful. I don't trust all the nitwits driving. I swear they give licenses out like candy these days."

"Finally!" Cristina said, throwing her stuff into the backseat of the car. Scott pushed the button to open the garage door as Cristina backed into the driveway. "Tell Ben I say bye and that he's way nicer than you," she yelled out the window as she drove off.

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"It's actually an excellent investment," Neymar said as Luis, Leo, and Cristina followed him into the hotel. The trip to Madrid was smooth sailing. Well, as 'smooth sailing' as arriving in a city that hates your team with all the passion in the world can be. There were the occasional jeers from crowds as the bus made its way from the airport to the hotel, but nothing that was too crazy.

"I don't think wasting your money on a life-sized replica of the Batmobile is considered an 'investment'" Luis said skeptically. Leo chuckled since Ney was trying to convince his friends the whole trip that his brand-new purchase wasn't a complete waste of money and brain cells.

"Well, my manager says that it can liquidate fine if I need it," Ney simply said as Luis Enrique tried to round up all the players in the hotel lobby.

"Isn't your manager your dad?" Cristina said unsure if Neymar should be listening to everything his father says.