A New Chapter

Distractions

You watched as your girlfriend scored another beautiful goal and the crowd gets on their feet. You cheered alongside the thousands of fans, but somehow you still felt lonely. In an almost full stadium, Alexia got you the best seats. She booked three seats, making sure the seat on your left and on your right were empty, hoping people would bother you less. But instead, more attention was brought to you as fans stared at you from every direction. Their camera phones not even hidden as they snapped pictures of you to post on social media.

"Alexia Putellas' girlfriend attends Barcelona match" you can already see the headlines.

And the tweets...
"Oh my god is she moving to Barca?"
"They are so cute!!"
"Couple goals!"
"I still ship her and Jenni"

When the game finished, Alexia and the team took their time taking pictures with the fans. You watched as many of them glared at you as they left the stadium. You offered your media trained small smiles.

You felt like an animal locked in a zoo cage, sometimes you  wish they'd bother you and said hi instead of staring. A young girl wearing a Barcelona shirt, holding her mom's hand watched you closely.

"Do you want to say hi?" Her mom asked in Spanish. "That's alexia's girlfriend." You wanted to yell that you had a name, I'm lauren fucking Touissant and I play for the best woman's team in the world, but the little  girl wore a shirt that was too big on her which looked adorable and your girlfriend's name at the back of it made your heart flutter. How could you be mad?

"Hi there" you greeted. The crowd around you grew larger as they started recording.

You and Alexia had never hid your relationship, but both of you were private people. Her social media was curated... everything you expect to see on a top footballer's account. Her awards... her family... her team... her love for Barcelona. For you, she reserved her love in private and that was more than enough for you.

You on the other hand, started the account for friends and family. You had many posts of your beautiful girlfriend and you. You started dating Alexia back in 2018 after meeting through your sister who worked at Barcelona. Over the last  three years, you proudly watched as both of you grew bigger and bigger. But you would be lying if you said it wasn't overwhelming. Your old posts together started getting more weird comments by the day and you started archiving everything. Private.

But again, in public, you refused to let them win. You'd go to every game you could and you were often spotted together in the beaches in Barcelona, the cafes in Lyon. The fans knew at this point that you were both dating, but many still disrespected your boundaries, jealous, that out of everybody, why did it have to be you who ended up winning La reina's heart?

"You're a footballer too arent you?" The little girl asked, taking you by surprise. The fake smile on your face turning into a real one.

"Yes, not for this team though." You responded in Spanish. The little girl and you shared some sweet exchanges, before you crouched to take a picture with her. She turned her back to show off her 'Putellas' jersey, making your heart swoon. After the picture, she warmly gave you a hug.

Your eyes lowered to the field, immediately connecting with the love of your life's who watched the interaction. She smiled so widely at you, not focusing on the many fans begging for her attention. "Te Amo" she mouthed and you smiled widely back at her as a response of I love you too.

You waited until everybody cleared off, stopping for pictures here and then. When the stadium is almost all empty, you heard a whistle from below you.