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 Sunday, I was woken up by horrendous sounds coming from the bathroom next to Pablo's bedroom. I quickly stood up and walked over to see my boyfriend hanging over the toilet, puking his guts out. "I'm never drinking again" he groaned, before another load made its way out of his mouth. I kneeled down next to him and rubbed his back, trying to make him feel a bit more comfortable. He looked at me and asked: "You're really going, are you?" I closed my eyes and nodded. "Then I guess I'll fetch some ibuprofen so that we can make today count" he sighed, as he walked over to a cupboard and took out a pill to swallow.
"What do you want to do today?" he asked, as we were having breakfast in his living room. "I don't care, I want it to be just us. Let's put our phones on airplane mode and get outside" I said and grinned at Pablo. "How about a day trip? Montserrat?" he asked and I nodded eagerly. "I do have to call my parents and... tell them the news, but then I'm all yours" I replied and walked over to give him a kiss. "Are you mad?" I whispered, laying my head on his shoulder. "I'm mad you didn't tell me you considered it. You said it yourself, we're a team now and that wasn't teamwork. But we have three days together and I don't want to spend them being angry. I'll have three months where I can be angry at you and then you'll hopefully be back" he sighed. "I'm so sorry, and it's my fault. And I'll be back, this is a promise" I replied before giving him a tender kiss.
We quickly got dressed and got into his Audi, that he drove west, up to the small mountain town. On our way, I rang my parents and my mother was furious, telling me that I absolutely shouldn't go and painting all sorts of horror scenarios. Pablo was quiet as I had them on speaker, he was definitely agreeing with my mother but didn't want to argue because he knew it was pointless. Mum and Dad promised to drive up on Monday to spend a bit of time with me before I had to leave.
Our first stop in Montserrat was the monastery and its Black Madonna - legend says that the small statue was carved by St Luke itself. Pablo lit a candle in front of it ("You'll need every prayer imaginable so that you can get back to me in one piece") and I just rolled my eyes, he was being so dramatic, but on the other hand it was very sweet of him.
Afterwards, we had lunch at a restaurant together, where we shared a paella. "So, what will you actually be doing over there?" he asked. "So the basic coverage is done here at the office, we get the information from international news agencies. My role over there is to find stories to write about: testimonies, how life actually is for the people over there and so on. I'll be sent to Gaza first, we'll see how it goes from there... National TV also asks for an interview during their evening news, so you'll be able to see me on screen from time to time" I said and winked. "It sounds so cool, but so dangerous..." he mumbled. "I'll take care of myself, we wear protective gear and are marked as press." I explained and he nodded. "Just promise me it's really only three months. Please, come back to me. I don't know if I can handle you calling me and telling me you're staying more time..." he pleaded while looking me in the eyes. "Three months. Promise." I said and held out my pinky for him to intertwine his with mine, which he did and we both smiled.
In the afternoon, we strolled through the small town and Pablo was recognised by a few people who stopped him and asked for pictures. I was happy to offer myself to take them and some even greeted me or said what a nice couple we are. There were even two guys that asked me to be in their picture with Pablo too, which I found quite strange, but I was happy to fulfil their wish.
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📍 Monasterio de Montserrat vicky.hernandez Sunny Fall Sunday ☀️🍂
jkeey4 Effortless 😮💨 chiara2203 Call me back asap!!! 😠 javi_begines Pablito in his photographer boyfriend era 😍
It was late afternoon by now, and Pablo was driving us back to the city and we were deciding what to do next. "Maybe you should call your girlfriends and ask them to do something tonight?" he asked. "You want to get rid of me or what?" I chuckled. "No, but... tomorrow evening your parents will be here and on Tuesday... I'm booking your last evening for myself, so if you want to spend some time with your friends alone too, today is the only opportunity" he said, and he was right. I sighed and texted in our group chat that we could meet at my place tonight, and all three immediately replied that they were coming and bringing pizza.
Pablo brought me home and stayed with me until Chiara arrived, then he said goodbye and drove back to his place. It was a wonderful evening with my friends and I was grateful that Pablo wasn't selfish, but cared about me so deeply, that he wanted me to be happy, and he knew that included spending time with my friends. He was being so great and so supportive, despite me not having acted right towards him, that I was really starting to feel bad. Chiara was having similar feelings towards my decision as him and my mother, Irene understood that it was a great career move, but thought that I was leaving too much behind and the equation didn't add up and Ana was the only one being supportive and encouraging me that I was doing the right thing. I had actually thought that she was going to be the most pissed one, with her history of getting left behind by people she loved, and that Chiara, whom I had always been the closest with, would understand best, but apparently I was wrong. We enjoyed our time together nonetheless, eating pizza and watching girly rom-coms.
On Monday, Pablo was back at training and I went to the office in the morning for a meeting with the editor-in-chief and the politics' head of department. We discussed my upcoming tasks and I made it clear that I didn't want to be pressured into writing a certain narrative, but wanted a free hand in writing the stories I deemed interesting enough, so that our readers could get an objective view of the situation. Then, I hurried to the Israeli Consulate to finalise the details of my visa, before I went to the train station to pick up my parents. We spent the afternoon in the city center, doing some last minute shopping for things I could use and for dinner, Kike and Pablo joined us at a sushi restaurant. Mum was worried sick inside, but she tried not to show it too much, Dad must have told her to get her act together so that I wouldn't change my mind just because of everyone's emotions. Kike was very quiet, we had just gotten back to being so close after finally living in the same city again, and he felt like he was losing me. Pablo had gotten two punches in his guts, still not being over their loss against Real and now he had to deal with me leaving too.
But I knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, which could establish my name in the journalism landscape for the years to come. This was huge for my career and I hoped that people could understand that with time.
