Bizirik Berriro (Alive Again)

Chapter 4

Connections with my brother were useful. The next morning, after sleeping for a much needed ten hours, I asked him to pass over Gaizka's information. Unai gave me some spiel about how I shouldn't take advantage of his connections, but passed me the phone number anyway. It took me a few hours to make any use of it, but there it was, in my phone, ready for me to make use of it. Until I finally did.

And I wasn't the only person who took advantage of Unai's position either. At around six, right as I was beginning to make plans with Nagore for dinner, I received a text message.

ola soy fernando. tu ermano m dio tu numero. kieres kdar esta tard k tngo libre. un abrazo -fer

I had to laugh. Either he had no sense of time or this really was evening for him, but I knew that I would never hear the end of it if Nagore found out I was blowing off Fernando Llorente to hang out with her. Because she would find out. I replied that I'd meet up with him, just tell me the place, and then I let Nagore know that I had other plans.

"Oh my God, it's one of the footballers isn't it!" she exclaimed.

"Uh..."

"You little sneak!" she laughed. "Which one is it?"

"The one you like."

"Oooh, Fernando?"

"That's the one."

"You go girl!"

"Sure."

"I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, tomorrow."

"Have fun!"

"Yup."

"You will!" I sighed.

"Okay."

"Iane, please, at least make an attempt to be sociable."

"I wasn't-- I mean-- I was--"

"Go, have fun. And please put makeup on again." I sighed again, louder this time so she could hear me.

"Fine." She hung up, and I flung the phone on my bed and did as she said, staring at the powders, pencils, brushes and compacts Nagore'd helped me buy when I was still dating Aritz and I thought it was fun. I hadn't really worn any of it since we broke up, not until yesterday when I'd gotten it forced upon me and hadn't seen myself in that way before. Maybe it was because for once I hadn't done it myself and didn't have a say in what I did to my own face, and maybe it was because I'd always been half-assed about it. I grabbed a few cases and tried to imitate the look I'd gotten the day before and even though I wasn't completely content with the result, it was an improvement from what I'd looked like all day.

After I'd finished, I picked up my phone to see that Gaizka still hadn't responded to my text message, and that I had gotten one from Fernando, who told me to meet him across the bridge at San Antón at the other end of the river, heading towards Miribilla.

It had also been far too long since I'd worn clothes other than the standard restaurant-issue work polo and trousers that I had to make sure the nicer clothes I did have still fit, which they did. Feeling incredibly awkward, I grabbed my handbag and stuck my phone in it and headed out the door.

I met Fernando right across the bridge, recognizing his tall and muscular frame practically from San Antón itself.

"You look nice!" he said, bending over nearly half his height to kiss me on both cheeks.

"Liar," I said, blushing.

"I'm serious! You look really nice!" he defended.

"Thanks," I replied. "I haven't worn these clothes in almost a year and I probably did my makeup wrong." Not like he cared or anything.