Sure Thing • Gavi

Chapter 105: PR Meeting

🎶 It Ain't Me (with Selena Gomez) — Kygo, Selena Gomez 🎶

The day after Barca's impressive win against Napoli, I was off to Madrid to cheer on (or not, I wanted Barca to qualify for the Club World Cup instead of them) Atletico as they were a Spanish team going up against an Italian one - and I was a patriot. Inter was going into the game with a 1-0 lead on aggregate, but it wasn't impossible to turn this around, even though the team from Milan was on an impressive run in Serie A.

As usual, I was staying with my cousin Blanca whenever I was in Madrid as she had a comfy guest couch I could crash on.
"You want to eat something?" she asked just minutes after I had arrived, but was already packing my bag for the evening.
"Nope. Gotta go now" I said, slightly out of breath.
"Fine! But we're going out afterwards!" she exclaimed.
"Nope. I've got a meeting in Barcelona tomorrow at noon with my charming ex, I very much wouldn't like to show up there looking like shit" I chuckled.
"A meeting?! Why?!" she asked bewildered, especially since she was the only one that I had told about my secret affair.

"He read the last chapter of my book which is purely about him. Let's say it's not really nice and he got really angry. I bet it's his PR reps now threatening us if I breach my NDA by publishing it" I explained.
"But you are going to publish, right?" she asked, a fiery look in her eyes, her Andalusian temperament shining through.
"Initially, I didn't want to, but now I think I should care about myself more than about him. I know that printing that chapter will increase the reach of my book incredibly. And I want a best-seller" I said.
"Yes, girl!" she exclaimed.
"Ok, I really gotta go now" I said and after giving her a quick kiss on her cheek, I was off.

After getting to the stadium, I made my way to the media panel where I set up my laptop and started typing away. I greeted my colleagues that also arrived, but kept a professional distance. Many of them were friends, had been for years, and I was the new one, the intruder. Worst thing of all for them was me being a woman though - it was the first time I actually felt what it meant to be valued less than a man. At La Vanguardia they were very chill and never differentiated between the two sexes, but in the football world... everything was different.

Eventually, the game started and Inter shot a goal even though Atleti seemed to be more threatening tonight. And indeed, Griezmann managed to shoot back one just minutes after, making the Metropolitano roar. A remontada was possible now, they only needed one more goal to equalise. The game went into half-time and I was actually excited, it was an entertaining match, keeping the viewers on their toes. The second half started and nothing much happened, except for a lot of substitutions.

But then, 87th minute, Depay shot the second goal for Atletico and everything was to play for again. The stands in the stadium were rumbling like thunder, everyone was cheering like mad for the Colchoneros. In the very last minute of the game, Roro had the biggest chance to win the game for good, but - he missed. How could he have missed that?! I would definitely grill him afterwards, but knowing him, he would probably enjoy that. He always had that easy, flirty attitude that worked, I really had to restrain myself to play into his game. I couldn't let another footballer in. Plus, he just wasn't Pablo.

The game went into extra-time, and then to penalties. Inter was quite making a fool out of themselves, with already two shots missed. Lautaro was currently taking a run to hit the fourth penalty for the Italians, but... he was definitely booking an appointment at an eye doctor the next day - where the hell had he thought the goal was?! Anyways, the scenes were mad and Atletico was through to the quarter finals, well done and deserved.

The players celebrated on the pitch with their fans while us journalists all moved to the media zone, hoping they wouldn't take too long and come to us soon. While some of my colleagues were starting to get impatient and pulling snarky remarks, I just rolled my eyes. Those guys had just won such an important game and were just happy - us annoying journalists were the last people they wanted to talk to (well except for maybe Roro's case with me). Just let them enjoy the moment and we had time, or at least, I had. It's not like there was someone at home waiting for me.