Wrong choice (Ferran Torres)

Chapter 3

On Saturday morning, Anna woke up extra early. The nerves stopped her from sleeping well, so she started to get things done. Her questions for the interview with Ferran Torres were sorted and she didn't want to look at them anymore. So she took a shower and went back to the kitchen to have some breakfast. Her parents and her brother had already sent her messages wishing her good luck and Anna smiled seeing them.

After breakfast, she got dressed in a simple outfit. Jeans and a T-shirt. She put her hair up in a ponytail because it was too hot to keep her hair down. And the make-up she applied was very minimal. She had been told before about how people didn't like female sports journalists who tried too hard to look good. It made people talk more about their looks rather than their work and she didn't want that.

The previous night, she had also gotten the great news that she got the radio job as well. So Anna felt more confident than she had in a long while.

"Let's go then", she told herself, getting up from her bed and picking up the bag where she had all the things she needed for work.

The taxi left her at the door of the training centre. Anna knew she needed to find a car she could drive around Barcelona too but it wasn't her main priority at the moment.

"Good morning! I'm here to do an interview".

"ID?"

Anna passed her ID to the security guy and he gave her a pass before signalling where she should go to. She tried to follow the indications well, not wanting to get lost on her first day at this job.

"Come in. Ferran will be here in a minute".

"Thank you", said Anna, sitting down on the chair that was hers during the interview. She opened her bag to get her things out when she heard a voice to her left.

"Hello? Are you interviewing me?"

Anna looked up to find Ferran Torres there looking at her. She felt more nervous than she already was but hid it to be professional.

"I am", she told him, standing up and shaking his hand. "My name is Anna. It's really nice meeting you".

"Nice meeting you too. Are you new? I don't think I've ever seen you around".

"Yes. I just came back from London. I was there for the last 6 years".

"Oh wow. That's a lot. Did you like it there?"

Anna didn't expect those personal questions but Ferran's smile made her want to answer that and more. "I did. But all good things come to an end. I'm happy to be back in Barcelona too".

"Yeah, I get that. I felt similar when I came back from Manchester".

"Well, don't tell me about that now. Let's save it for the interview".

Ferran chuckled at her joke and Anna laughed too, biting her lower lip and looking down at her notes for a few seconds of not looking at Ferran's face. It was distracting...very distracting. She also didn't expect him to be so nice but he seemed to genuinely enjoy chatting with her.

That little interaction could be used to sum up the whole interview. Anna didn't want to think too much about it so she could concentrate but...it was hard to ignore how Ferran's behaviour was affecting her. Every time he smiled at her, she smiled too. Even if she didn't realise it. She even giggled once at one of his jokes. Had she really called him a baby for being 3 years younger than her to now be the one acting like a teenager?

The interview lasted only 20 minutes but to Anna, it was as if she had been talking to Ferran for hours.

"We're done then", she said, getting up and starting to put everything back in her bag.

"That was a great interview, thank you".

"Oh, no. Thank you for making it so easy. The worst thing that can happen to a journalist is talking to someone who responds using two words only".

"And the worst thing that can happen to a footballer is being interviewed by someone who makes them uncomfortable or has a hidden agenda", he told her. "No hidden agenda, right?"

"Wouldn't you like to know...".

Again, his laughter and his smile...Anna felt like she needed to leave and leave soon. Before she embarrassed herself with more giggles.

"I gotta go. I'll see you around, I guess. I'll be at the home matches at least".

"That's great. Do you have an Instagram account too? I would like to follow you if that's ok".

"Sure", said Anna but that request made her a bit uncomfortable. "It's just anna_duran. Double n for Anna".

"Cool. I hope we see each other soon".

"Yeah...have a good training now".

It was when Ferran left that Anna shook her head. What was she doing? Daydreaming about a footballer? She was 25, not 15. Shouldn't she be past that?

But she wasn't. And when she got home, she picked up her phone and saw that Ferran had followed her on Instagram. That gave her an excuse to follow him too. And she had no excuse to basically spend 20 minutes looking at his posts but she did anyway. And then she saw her...Cecilia. Ferran's girlfriend. How had she forgotten about her? They were very public about their relationship but...what about the way Ferran acted around Anna?

"He was just being polite. But I'm a fucking idiot".

What Anna didn't know was that Ferran had done the same thing. When he found her profile, he followed her and started to look at her posts. Most were from her time in London. None of them included any men so...no boyfriend?

And she was so beautiful. Ferran had already noticed that when she met her and, honestly, photos didn't do her justice. He thought Anna was stunning and he had enjoyed seeing her little blush while they talked before, during and after the interview. But while he was still on Anna's profile, he heard her voice.

"Ferriiii! Where are you?"

"Sofa!", he yelled back at his girlfriend Cecilia. He also got out of the Instagram app and blocked his phone before putting it away.

"Had a good day at work?"

"Sure. What about you?"

And, as usual, Cecilia took that as her sign to talk about her day for an hour. Not asking again about Ferran's. It's not as if she cared anyway.