Anyone but you (Fermín López)

Chapter 4

Victoria kept taking small bites of the croissant her dad bought for her to eat on the car ride to the airport, looking out of the window.

"We're almost there. Did you sleep well tonight?"

"No".

"You can sleep on the plane. You'll be sitting with us".

"Of course", she said, rolling her eyes but her dad couldn't see her.

Already at the airport, she stayed with her dad and uncle. But she could still feel the eyes of the players on her. Have they never seen a girl before?

It was mostly the young players who looked at her. They probably thought it was sexy and exciting to try and get with her, seeing she was literally their manager's niece. And then the older ones ignored her, seeing her as a little girl who shouldn't be there. The only one who seemed uninterested was Ferran but he had dated his former manager's daughter and it didn't end well so Victoria didn't take it personally. He didn't want to go through the same twice.

"Let's go through security now".

The players went first and Victoria noticed Fermín was one of the last ones on the line. He had put anything that could set off the alarm away but still, it beeped.

"I don't have anything...".

"Don't worry", told him the security guard. "It's a random check. Go over there, I'll be with you in a second".

Fermín did as he was told, feeling very weird about it but not wanting to cause more trouble.

When it was time for Victoria to go through, the alarm was set off too and her dad turned to look at her.

"What...".

"Random check. Go where that boy is standing. When we're done with everyone, we'll check your suitcase and let you go. It's fine".

"It's fine, dad. Go and I'll join you when I'm done".

Victoria walked to stand where Fermín was waiting with his suitcase and smiled at him.

"Random check?"

"Yes. What's that? I've never heard of it".

"I don't know", she shrugged. "Umm...are you excited about the tour?"

Fermín looked at where Xavi and Oscar were standing and noticed they were looking at them. "Sure".

"You can talk to me, you know? This is a normal situation. No one is going to arrest you for it".

"Vicky...you know my situation".

"I do. But if there's a time when it's fine for us to stand together and talk, it's now"

"Why is your dad looking at me like he wants to murder me then?", he chuckled.

"Because he's a pain in the ass".

Fermín turned slightly to look at Victoria. "Are you excited about the tour?"

"No. I wish I could stay home".

"Well, hopefully you still have a good time".

The guard showed up and told them to open their suitcases. It was just their carry-on bag but Victoria had some personal stuff there that she didn't want the guard to see. She wasn't particularly excited about Fermín seeing her period emergency kit but he did.

"That's ok. You can close it. Now lift your shirt to expose the belt area".

Victoria went first and the guard moved the scanner over her waist and she was told she could leave and join everyone else. When she moved to pick up her things, she noticed Fermín had been staring at her. Their backs were to everyone else, so no one else could have seen that. And so she returned the favour by staring at him lifting his shirt. She could only see a slight bit of skin but knowing what he looked like without a shirt on...well, it made the experience different.

"Done", told him the guard. "You can leave. Thank you".

"No problem".

Victoria was walking slowly to make sure Fermín could catch up to her and when they reached her dad, he side eyed Fermín briefly before looking at Victoria. "All good?"

"Yes. Just a boring random check. Thankfully they didn't find the drugs I'm carrying".

"I wouldn't make those jokes at an airport", said Fermín, who was standing in line in front of them.

"I should have done it earlier so they send me home".

"Vicky...", warned her dad.

"That's a lot of complaining when you're basically getting a free vacation, Victoria".

Victoria couldn't believe the nerve Fermín had talking to her like that.

"Yeah, well. Vacations are more fun when there are also people I want to spend time traveling with me. Not the case this time".

"Thank you", chuckled her uncle.

"You know what I mean...".

Fermín shook his head and kept walking, faster this time so he could join his teammates. When they reached the gate, Victoria excused herself to go to the bathroom and Oscar looked at his brother.

"I guess there's one I don't have to worry about".

"What do you mean?", asked Xavi.

"Fermín. You heard how they talked to each other so no need for me to worry about him trying anything with Vicky. I now only need to worry about all the others".

"One less thing to worry about, yeah".

The flight was the longest Victoria had been in so far and it didn't take long for her to get bored.

"Dad! Can you get my bag?"

"Can't you get it?"

"You're closer".

"I'll get it", said her uncle, getting up and passing the bag to Victoria who took her iPad out of it to try and pass the time.

"God she's so spoiled", laughed Gavi, who was sitting with Fermín.

"Who?"

"Little princess Victoria. I've only heard her complaining and ordering Oscar and Xavi around. It's like she can't stop moaning".

Fermín couldn't help but think about the double meaning of that last word and cleared his throat. "She doesn't want to be part of the trip so I guess that's why she complains".

"Poor little princess", Gavi rolled his eyes and looked at Fermín who was not very amused by the way his friend talked about Victoria. "Anyway. Have you heard from that girl you mentioned? The one you hooked up with the other day?"

"No", he lied.

"Shame. It sounded like you really liked her".

"Yeah...".

"Maybe you can meet some girls in America to forget about her", joked Gavi.

"Maybe".

A lot of the players and staff decided to take a nap during the long flight but Fermín didn't seem to be able to relax long enough to sleep. And then he needed to use the toilet but when he got there, he saw there was someone inside and leaned down against the wall to wait.

"Oh...hi. Sorry if I took too long", said Victoria when she opened the door and found Fermín there.

"No worries. I just got here".

"Ok. I'll...I'll go back to my seat".

Victoria moved to the right while Fermín moved to his left and they both then moved to the other side.

"Right. We might need to coordinate this a little better", chuckled Victoria and Fermín joined her.

"You go that way", he said, pointing away from the toilet, "and I go that way".

"Good plan".

They both did that but there wasn't much space to move so their bodies almost touched when they moved. That plus the way they stared at each other's eyes made the moment way more intimate than it should have been. Victoria almost ran back to her seat. Her heart was pounding.

Fermín locked himself in the toilet and put his hands on his face, sighing loudly.

"I'm in so much trouble".