Sure Thing • Gavi

Chapter 125: Dinner With The Boss

🎶 Bitter Sweet Symphony - Remastered 2016 — The Verve 🎶

Gavi POV

Nervously, I stood in front of the old town building, waiting for the door downstairs to open. When it buzzed, I pushed my body weight against it and walked up the three floors up to the apartment I had been invited to. The building reminded me of Vicky's - it was bloody old and of course with no lift, making me arrive upstairs slightly panting.
"Hello Gavi" Luis said friendly as he stood in the doorframe and I shot him a nervous smile before greeting him back. This invite to dinner had come as quite a surprise to me and I didn't know what to expect.

"Um... this is for you" I told him as I pressed the red wine bottle into his hand.
"Thanks!" he said happily and put the bottle on his kitchen counter. He looked quite... professional wearing an apron and stirring in various pots that were on the stove and in the kitchen. His apartment was sleek and modern, not very big, just spacious enough for a single person or a couple.
"You have a nice flat" I said, in an effort to be nice to my boss. Maybe he was firing me after all.
"Thanks! I finally kind of finished renovating and refurbishing it... I've only been living back in the city for a few months and working all the time so... Home is not really a place I see often" he chuckled. He was very polite, very elegant and very poised. On paper, a perfect match for someone like Vicky.

"Why am I here?" I asked when we had both sat down at the table.
"How are you?" he asked back instead and I scoffed, rolling my eyes. I couldn't look too pissed though because the starter, an octopus carpaccio, tasted like Heaven. So he could cook too, was there anything this guy couldn't do?! He was like a walking fairytale prince.
"How I am? After the girl I love left without a note or a trace? I've tried calling her a million times and she doesn't pick up. I'm... done." I replied truthfully. The day after her article had been published, I had showed up at Vicky's door to make amends, but her neighbour told me that both her and Kike had left. She wasn't told where they had gone, only that they would be away for a while. She also told me that Vicky looked happy. This was two weeks ago now and I was slowly starting to accept that we were over for good this time.

"She doesn't have her cell phone with her, Kike neither" he informed me and I furrowed my eyebrows.
"What dumb thing are they doing now?" I huffed.
"Crossing the Sahara desert by car" he chuckled and I shot him an 'Are-you-fucking-kidding-me?'-look.

"Ok Pablo, listen, I know you hate me, even though I can't really understand why-" he started but I cut him off.
"Really? Maybe because you're pining after the girl I love?" I replied.
"And that's where you're wrong! I did nothing else than telling her she should get back with you, that you're her one true love and that no other man will ever make her as happy as you will" he told me and now I was hella surprised.
"What...?" I just mumbled, still not believing what I had just heard.
"You don't know how frustrating it is to see two people who love each other not being together" he chuckled as he took a sip of red wine out of his glass.

"I still don't understand..." I mumbled, looking at this perfect guy in front of me. Damn, he was dreamy, if I had been gay... But I wasn't.
"I had the exact same situation as Vicky. I found my fiancée in New York in bed with my best friend, the day before Christmas. And I fled immediately. But Vicky stayed, she tried to get back to her everyday life as if nothing had happened. But... she went through the worst a person could ever go through, and by this I don't mean seeing you with Ana, but what happened in Syria. She will never be fully able to leave that behind, she will just inevitably learn how to live with that sooner or later." he said.

"But you are not trying to get back with your ex, so why should she?" I asked, still unsure where all of this was going.
"Simple. Because she loves you. I only loved the idea of life with Caroline, not Caroline herself. She loves you - however, she is afraid of how her life looks like with you, so she's basically the exact opposite of me. You're younger than her, she's one stage ahead of you in life and that scares her. She wants everything with you but is afraid of jumping into it... Do you understand what I mean?" he asked.
"I think I'm slowly getting there... But... It's not something that is in my hands, it's her decision!" I argued.
"Exactly. That's why she went away. Because she needs to take that decision." he replied.

"And what am I supposed to do? Wait here for her? She's in fricking Africa - what if she comes back in like... ten years?!" I asked agitatedly.
"Gavi... I'm not going to tell you what to do with your feelings, that's solely for you to decide. I just... wanted you to understand her since she apparently failed at making herself be understood and... like I said. It's a pain in the ass to see two good people who love each other stand in the way of their own happiness" he explained.
"I don't know what to do. I'll be honest with you" I replied and gestured around with my hands.
"You'll figure it out" he said and shot me a warm smile.

"Anyways... To the second reason for this meeting: I feel very honoured to be the one telling you this. I've fought for you a lot in front of Vicky and that is simply because us two share one love, and that is not Vicky, but Barca. And someone who loves the badge as much as I do, has my utmost respect." he started and I was a bit weirded out by all of these nice declarations that had come from him all evening.
"Your teammates have voted unanimously for you to be their fourth captain next season, with Sergi leaving. Congratulations." he said and handed me over a small, navy box. I looked at him incredulously, my jaw basically on the floor. I had somewhat expected this day to come, but not so soon. And there it was, when I opened the box: the yellow band with the red stripes, with "CAPITA" printed on it. I got goosebumps all over my body and my eyes teared up. But the tears came only because of the immediate thought of who I'd want to call first to tell this. The answer was a girl who didn't have a phone with her right now. Fuck.

"Thank you" I whispered, still looking at the armband incredulously.
"You're a captain now, Gavi. Time to step up" he said in a serious tone and I looked at him, pressed my lips together and nodded.