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...
Vicky left and took a part of my heart with me. My friends were being overly attentive to me and took care of me like a small boy, whose puppy had just died. I knew they had the best intentions but it wasn't really helping - I just felt more miserable, seeming like I couldn't cope on my own. We were playing Sociedad away on Saturday and flying out on that morning. The weather was like my mood: cold, grey and gloomy.
While we were on the bus on our way to the airport, my phone chimed, signalling that I got a new message. It wasn't Vicky, as I had installed an own sound for her messages, but was surprised that it was one from her friend Ana.
Ana Cordero Hey, Pablo! Just wanted to tell you that I'll be at the game tonight! Thought you could use some home support, now with Vicky gone and all 😊
Pablo Páez Gavira Hey Ana! Oh wow Um Did you fly all the way just for the game?
Ana Cordero Nah, I combined it with a visit, my aunt lives in San Sebastián, so I'm spending some time with her during the day ☺️
Pablo Páez Gavira Ah nice! Wish I could say hi or so but we're on a pretty tight schedule with the team... 🫤
Ana Cordero Don't worry! I understand 😊 I'll be flying back to Barcelona very early tomorrow anyways Just wanted to let you know that I'll be cheering you on 💙❤️
How nice of her to make it to the game, she was right, I could use a bit of cheering on. We boarded the plane and flew up north, where we were driven to our hotel after we landed. We had a tactics coaching in the afternoon, which was boring as hell, my mind drifted over to what Vicky could be doing right now, but thankfully Fermín slapped my leg, pulling me out of my daydream and back to reality. "Thanks" I whispered. "I know you miss her, but you wouldn't want her to dream about you either when she's standing in a battlefield, instead of taking shelter" Fermín whispered back. My face fell and also my friend realised he had done more damage than good. "Not. Helpful." I gritted through my teeth and turned back to Oscar who was blabbering about that twerking Japanese guy at Sociedad.
We had an hour to relax before our departure to the stadium and my friends and I decided to hit the pool and we played some water polo, or at least that was what we tried to do, in reality it was just fooling around with a ball and trying to pass it to each other. It definitely helped in clearing my head for the game and when we arrived at the changing room, my face lit up, seeing the "8" jersey hanging next to my number 6. Pedri was back and I couldn't be happier for him and especially for the team.
But reality hit me immediately in the first few seconds of the game. We were shit. And the more time passed, the shittier we played. I was so frustrated, why the hell couldn't we pull off what had worked in training just a day ago? Xavi kicked our asses during the break, and I thought things were going a bit better in the second half. I didn't care about being booked tonight anymore, I just wanted to win. Pedri and Ferran came on at some point and we got a bit more spring into our steps, but it just wasn't enough, we couldn't capitalise on the few chances we got. Shortly before the end, the inevitable happened, I saw the yellow card after losing my shit once again. We needed a miracle and it came in form of Ronald. YES! YES! YES! VAR checked it, but I had stood just a few meters behind, it was definitely a goal. And when the referee allowed it, we all celebrated like mad men. A few more seconds were played, but we had won, even though we didn't deserve it at all.
Back in the changing room, I pulled out my phone and my smile only grew bigger when I found a text from my girlfriend. I slumped back down on my seat and grinned at the screen stupidly. "Vicky?" Pedri asked as he was sitting down next to me and I nodded. "Vicky!! Let's send her a picture!" Ronald said and our small group quickly assembled for a selfie.
Pablo ⚽️
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Ronald said the goal was for you! 😘
Vicky - Israel ❤️ Ohhhh thanks 🤩🤩🤩 How is your hair looking so good after 90mins by the way 🤤🤤 And Pedri looks like a wet dog?!
Pablo ⚽️ 😂😂😂😂 Miss you, wish you were here 🫶🏼
After a good night's sleep, we took a plane back home early on Sunday morning, before completing recovery training and having a tactical analysis of yesterday's game. We were shit and we all knew it, we needed to find our groove again, and that before the Champions League game on Tuesday. We were playing Donetsk and couldn't afford putting on another embarrassing performance.
I finally arrived back at home in the early afternoon and threw my suitcase into a corner - that made me think of Vicky and I quickly hurried over to unpack it and stow it away. To be honest, it took me five minutes and the room was tidy again, I really needed to pull myself together in that aspect, Vicky was right. Since I had nothing in my fridge anymore, I quickly hurried to a small 24h supermarket, as everything else was closed on Sunday and after getting back home and unpacking my shopping bag, I threw myself on the sofa, when my phone dinged. I pulled it out in a millisecond as I immediately recognised Vicky's message sound.
Vicky - Israel ❤️ I'll be on La 1 tonight at 9!!!! 🤩 Hope you'll be able to tune in 😘
