Not enough (Fermín López)

Chapter 23

Lorena pretended to go inside her dorm when Fermín dropped her there after class to head to training, but she got out again a couple of minutes later...to get inside another car that didn't belong to Fermín.

"I feel like a spy", said his mum when Lorena started to look around to make sure Fermín was gone.

"I know. It's all a bit over the top. I'm sorry".

"It's ok. Let's go home quickly. He'll be gone for a couple of hours".

Gavi was in on the plan and was going to make sure Fermín was gone for a couple of hours. First because of training and after that because they were going to go for a pre-birthday meal. Barça played on the day of Fermín's birthday and he was going to celebrate it with his family, which included Lorena too, on Friday evening. So Thursday night was the day to get the surprises ready.

"I can't believe you've never done any baking".

Lorena focused on the mix of ingredients she had in front of her. "My family isn't really into baking. But I'm excited to learn".

"I'll teach you. I mean, as long as you know how to make these muffins, Fermín will never break up with you".

That made Lorena laugh. Fermín never mentioned liking sweet stuff, but maybe it was because of his diet. It wasn't super strict but he was mindful of what he ate. But his mum told her his favourite treat was cranberry muffins. So they were making two batches of those plus one of chocolate chip muffins, so everyone had something to choose from. And they'd buy a cake too, of course.

Once the muffins were in the oven, Lorena took out the bag of materials she had bought to make a couple of boxes for the muffins. Baking she wasn't good at, but arts and crafts was where she shined.

"That's really good. Do you need any help with anything?", asked Fermín's mum looking at one of the finished boxes.

"I have it under control, thank you".

"Well, I get bored when I have nothing to do. Do you want a cup of tea or coffee?"

"Tea if you have any, please".

"Oh, we do have it", she said, making a funny face that confused Lorena. "Fermín bought your favourite for when you're around. And we're not allowed to drink it unless we buy more if we're close to running out of teabags".

Lorena blushed when she heard that and blushed again when the cup was put in front of her.

"Thanks".

"It's so easy to make you two blush. I love it".

"I don't", chuckled Lorena. "But this is done. Do you like it?"

Fermín's mum checked both boxes and smiled. "He'd love them".

After placing some of the muffins in each box, Lorena left to go back to her dorm. She was so worried about Fermín coming back earlier than he was supposed to and ruining the surprise. But he actually came back a little later and went straight to bed, tired after a long day. And excited about everything that was going to happen the next.

**

Lorena rarely put that much effort into getting ready for class. It was just uni, not a party. But on that day, which had been labelled by her as "Fermín's non-official birthday", she wanted to look extra cute. She usually had her hair up because it was more comfortable for class, but she made sure her ponytail looked a bit more polished than the usual messy one she did. Unlike Adrián, Fermín never told Lorena what to wear but she noticed he complimented her more when she wore a specific shirt. She wondered if he even noticed he did it since it looked more like he was talking to himself than to her when making those comments. But she chose that to be the shirt she wore that day anyway.