Victoria and Pablo meet by chance when she has to interview him after the Nations League final 2023.
He's immediately infatuated by her, but due to a few years age difference, she only sees him as a younger friend.
Will he make it out of the friendz...
On Saturday morning, I took the train to Malaga, where my parents picked me up before we went to have lunch together. "How are things with Pablo?" my Mum asked cheerily. "Very good, I met a lot of his teammates and coaches yesterday evening, he hosted a small party for me to get to know everyone" I replied and smiled. "That's very considerate of him" my Dad said and nodded. "It is! He'll probably join us tomorrow night already by the way" I said.
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📍 Málaga, Costa del Sol vicky.hernandez Back in Andalusia 🐂❤️🔥
ireneeee.grc Gorg mikkykiemeney Guapaaaa 😍 pablogavi Smash Replying to pablogavi: pedri Jeez, there's kids on this app 🔞 Replying to pedri: vicky.hernandez Like you?
On Saturday evening, I visited my cousin Belen and her husband, who had just had their second baby a few weeks ago. It was a wonderful evening and of course they had gotten word from my mother about my new boyfriend. Unfortunately, Helen's husband Mateo was a Madridista and he faked being pissed at me all evening and teased me about Pablo, but I knew that he wasn't being 100% serious. He probably would have preferred me dating a Bellingham over a Gavi, but hey, you can't always get what you want in life.
I spent a chill Sunday at home before my Dad and I drove up to Granada in the late afternoon. We had some tapas before going to the stadium where we hoped for another Barca win tonight. But we were humbled really quickly, when a mistake by none other than my boyfriend lost us the ball and ter Stegen also seemed to have forgotten what a goalkeeper had to do. We were down a goal after just 20 seconds. And by the 29th minute, we were down 2-0. Shortly before the break, Lamine shot a goal, but the Barça fan block was very much annoyed about the result when the second half began. We just didn't seem to be able to dominate the game, and that against a team that was sitting at the bottom of the table. In the 85th minute Sergi managed to score the equaliser and it ended all square, which was still better than ending in a defeat, but it was very frustrating. The only positive I could take was that Pablo didn't get booked, which was crucial as he was just two yellow cards away from a game ban, and with El Clasico coming up soon, he couldn't risk that.
My Dad and I walked back to his car, he just had to take the AMG today. We drove down to the garage, where Pablo had told us to wait for him, and after twenty minutes or so, he appeared, with his hood down. He was confused to see that I was sitting in the back and had left him the passenger seat. He quickly stuffed his suitcase for the upcoming international break in the trunk with the help of my Dad, before climbing in. "Hello mi amor" he said and turned back to see me. "Hi. Good recovery" I said quietly and stroked his cheek. "I just want to forget about this game" he said and turned back to the front when my Dad started the car and we got going.
My hands started sweating a bit, I was nervous what Pablo was going to think when he saw where we lived. I hated this part, also when I made new friends. "This is a very nice car, Sir" Pablo said and I grinned secretly in the back seat. He was so cute, being so nice to my Dad. "Thank you! It's a dream to drive, I know you have an Audi, but I just think a Mercedes is a tad smoother to drive." he replied. "Yeah, I don't have a lot of experience yet, but I'm sure I'll notice the difference between cars when I have a bit more driving experience" he said and then they engaged in a conversation about motors and whatever, which was definitely Dad's favourite topic.
We were nearing the city and Dad took the route up the hill, leaving Malaga below us. He turned into the alley to our house and my eyes were set on Pablo's face, which I currently wasn't able to read. Dad opened the gates with the remote when we were a few meters away and turned right into the driveway. My boyfriend's chin fell down, but he quickly closed it and smiled at my Dad when he looked at him. My father stopped the car and I spoke up: "Um, Dad, could you give us two seconds?" "Yeah sure, we'll be waiting in the living room" he said and climbed out of the car. I also did and sat down behind the wheel.
"Vicky, why didn't you tell me. You guys aren't rich... you're... you're loaded" he stated with his eyes on our house and I stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Oh, come on, we're not. We're... comfortable" I mumbled. "That's exactly what rich people say" Pablo said and rolled his eyes. "I didn't want you to treat me any differently! I'm very much just Vicky, the journalist, and neither my brother, nor I get anything from back home. We're earning our own money and living off that" I replied. "This is my parents, and yes, I grew up privileged, but they never spoiled my brother and me. They held us on a very short leash to teach us the value of money." I added. "Ok, but Vicky, this... this is a palace, not just a designer house" Pablo said, still looking around. "It's from my Mum's side of the family. I... I need to tell you this because the press may dig it out at some point if we're seen together." I said and took a deep breath before starting.
"So, I told you that Dad is an investment banker. He's from Barcelona, his family is Catalan and his brother however, is... kind of the black sheep in the family. He's fighting for Catalonian independence and... he was one of the guys who organised the 2019 El Clasico protest" I said, my voice beginning to tremble and I could see his expression turning into shock. "He... was arrested but still... so many people were injured and two were in really serious conditions" I said, a tear now rolling down my cheek. "Kike and me were already off to uni and my parents wanted to distance themselves from that, so they moved down here, Mum had inherited this when her father died just a few years before and... they're happy here. Mum is Andalusian, my grandmother and my uncle with his family live in the countryside - you should see their house before calling this a palace, by the way" I chuckled. "That's why Kike and I go by Hernandez, which is my mother's name. My parents wanted us to be able to pursue the careers that we wanted without a name possibly holding us back, and I'm very grateful for that. Kike and I both grew up in Barcelona and always wanted to come back, but with my Dad's last name - we feared that it would be difficult finding a job or being successful. But our parents stood behind us and had our backs, for which I will always be grateful. We are all really close and... I hope that in time, you'll also feel... like you belong to this family here." I said and took his hand. "Vicky, it's... a lot to digest, but I love you. Nothing could ever change that, I'm just surprised that you think I would have thought differently about you" he replied and cupped my cheek. "Because other people in the past have. People at school wanted to be friends with us because we have a fancy house and a fancy family and not because they thought we were nice" I mumbled. "Well, I think you're very charming, even without the house" Pablo replied and kissed me. "Come on, let's get inside, I don't want your parents to think I'm railing you in your Dad's car" he said and quickly got out to unload his suitcase and I laughed.
