GRAVITY | R. DIAS

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Banana 👶

the team is playing manchester 3/12
i'm planning to travel with them
would u like to come to the game?

Are you finally inviting me to
a football game?
Of course I'm coming

erling invited us to his teammates
bday party afterwards
so is it okay if i freshen up at ur place?

Yeah no problem!

•••

December 3, 2023

"Good afternoon Martha," Martha stops her walk towards the doors of the hospital, sh volunteers at, when the receptionist calls out her name. "You're leaving early today,"

Every Sunday afternoon, sometimes on Thursdays too, Martha helps out the children at this hospital with school work, so that when they get better, they'll be able to get back to school easily. She has been doing this since she started studying to become a teacher and she absolutely loves it.

"Hello Erin," she smiles at the receptionist, a friendly woman around the same age as Martha's parents. "My sister is coming down to Manchester for the game against City and we're meeting up,"

"That's nice," Erin smiles. Erin's very family oriented and when she found out Martha's family lives in London, she took it upon herself to take care of the blonde girl. There are saturdays that Martha leaves the hospital with a bag full of food to put in the freezer. Sometimes she even gets invited to have dinner with the older woman's family.
Erin really is like a second mother to her.

"Who are you going to support?" the older woman asks.

The blonde girl shrugs her shoulders. "I don't really care, but probably Tottenham. I wouldn't want to upset my sister," she grins.

•••

Two hours later Martha is sitting next to her sister on seats reserved by Tottenham. She's wearing a royal blue and white scarf, which Anna gave her when she arrived at the stadium.

She's really happy to see her little sister again. The last time they saw each other in real life was last summer, when they spent their holidays together.

Right now Anna's explaining who the new players are and complaining how much she hates that Eric Dier is still at the club. Apparently he's still giving her a hard time for dating Martin.

"I'm seriously missing Hazza you know," the younger sighs. "He was the only one who could keep Dier in check,"

"Just let him be banana. Sooner or later he'll realise what a twat he's being," Martha reassures her sister. She only met Eric once and she must say she isn't his biggest fan either. "And certainly don't let this come inbetween Martin and you,"

"Never," a tiny smile appears back on Anna's lips. "Martin's everything to me,"

The older sister has to smile too. She loves seeing her little sister like this, happy and in love. Still the familiar feeling of loneliness creeps over her again and Martha looks down at her hands, the smile slowly fading. When will she find her everything? What did she do to get so unfortunate in love?

Anna, noticing the sudden change in behavior for Martha, puts a consoling hand on the older's shoulder. "You'll find him Mar, I know so,"

Suddenly the stadium presentator starts announcing through the speakers. One by one he shouts the names of Manchester City's line up, while pictures appear on the big screens. Three names in and Martha's eyes widen when she sees the man that has been clouding her mind for weeks. Fuck, the hot stranger is a footballer! Can the earth please swallow her now?

Anna sees the look on her sister's face. "Oh Rúben Dias, he's hot innit?"