Wrong choice (Ferran Torres)

Chapter 5

The next few weeks were great for Anna. After her visit to England to do a couple of interviews with Premier League players, she also got to do way more at the radio show. They sometimes asked her to just stay in the studio and talk whenever she felt she had something to say. Hugo always made sure to encourage her to talk more and she appreciated how much he tried to help her.

"You were great today", he told Anna when she was on her way to her desk.

"Thank you. I wasn't sure if I should interrupt everyone else but they were missing that point and...I don't know. I guessed the listeners would appreciate someone pointing it out".

"Absolutely. You're doing really well, Anna. Keep working hard".

Anna smiled at Hugo before sitting down and looking at her phone.

Ferran

Hey! Do you want to have a coffee after work? Same place as the other time?

After bumping into Ferran at that coffee place Paula took her to, Anna decided to take him on his offer to meet for coffee another day. And she was worried about all the people around them the whole time but...no one cared. Plus, it was just two friends having coffee. No big deal.

Anna

Sure.

Does 4 work for you?

Ferran

👍🏻

See you then. I'm the guy wearing a purple shirt and jeans.

Anna

Nice try. I won't tell you what I'm wearing.

Ferran

😂😂

But even if Ferran laughed, Anna put her hands on her face. So stupid. She found herself making silly comments like that to Ferran often. And it'd have been fine if it didn't sound like flirting. She didn't mean it that way. Or did she?

"A dress then".

Anna turned to see Ferran next to her on the line. "How did you recognise me? You didn't know what I was wearing".

"Just looked for the prettiest girl in the place and found you easily".

The comment made Anna look away and Ferran wanted to hit his head against the wall. Don't make her uncomfortable, you idiot.

"What are you ordering?", she asked, changing the topic.

"I think I'll get a green juice. I'm feeling extra healthy. You?"

"I'll order a coffee with as many expresso shots as they can legally add to the drink. I'm feeling extra tired".

Ferran chuckled and, as always, the sound made Anna smile. "Long week?"

"You could say. But it's ok. I like being busy".

"Yeah, I get that".

Once they got their drinks, they sat down at one of the tables and started to chat like they had done before. But this time, people noticed. And in the era of everyone having a phone and a TikTok account, that meant there soon was a video of them chatting and laughing on social media.

But...should people overreact? They were just talking. They never touched or sat next to each other. And when they were done, they each went in a different direction. But of course, those details didn't matter to people.

"Are you dating Ferran Torres or not?", asked Joel when he let himself inside Anna's flat.

"Or not".

"Then what's going on?"

"Do you know about men and women being friends? It's not a myth. It happens".

Joel tried not to laugh and annoy his sister more. "Not when friends look at each other like that, sis".

"Not you too, please. Ferran has a girlfriend. You know me. I'm not that kind of person".

"I know", he said, placing his arm around her shoulders. "But sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants".

"My heart is on holiday. Don't worry".

"Ok...".

Anna had been happy to see people stopped talking so much about her video with Ferran. But now that this new video came out...it was even worse than the first one. Because the other was an interview. This was seen as a date.

And of course, Ferran was asked about this too. By his girlfriend.

"Anything to say?"

"That you shouldn't listen to people. They've always tried to break us up, so now they see me with a woman and make a big deal. I was having coffee with a friend. Same as when you go to a party with your male friends and it's fine. I don't believe it when people turn that into saying you're cheating on me so do the same now".

Cecilia still didn't look convinced. "Maybe if you also didn't like every single thing she posts on Instagram, people wouldn't talk so much".

"I like other people's posts and you don't care", pointed out Ferran.

"Those people don't look like a fucking supermodel, Ferran. Can you understand that seeing you with a woman who's prettier than me makes me insecure? Do you have no empathy?"

"I don't care about what Anna looks like".

"Sure you don't".

The conversation ended there but Cecilia didn't miss something important. She had told him Anna was prettier than her so Ferran would say she wasn't. So he would say Cecilia was the most beautiful girl in the world...but he didn't.

There were conversations about beauty everywhere it seemed. On Fridays, there was a special part of the radio show where a pundit called Guillermo participated. Anna didn't like him much. He was so arrogant and always tried to offend everyone. She mostly ignored him but sometimes couldn't help show how she felt about him.

"Being as handsome as I am...", said Guillermo randomly in the middle of a chat about football.

"Anna made a funny face to that", pointed out Hugo, making Anna look up.

"Me? No...I...".

"You don't think Guillermo is handsome?"

"Well, beauty is subjective. He's just not my type", she tried to explain.

"We all know her type", he said and then added. "Ferran".

Hearing others laugh made her want to leave the studio. Hugo was the only one not laughing, actually. But instead of letting them win, she picked up a pen and threw it at Guillermo's head.

"Hey!"
"For those not watching", tried to say Hugo, but he was laughing too hard. "Anna threw a pen at Guillermo's head".

"I should have thrown something heavier at him", she muttered.

And she wished she could throw a pen at all the people trying to get in her business every day.