Wrong choice (Ferran Torres)

Chapter 10

Anna had gone from feeling terrible to feeling excited while she was working. The prospect of going on a date with Hugo was exciting. He had always been her biggest champion since she started this job. And there were the comments Paula made about how he looked at her...

Thinking about it, she had always liked Hugo. He was one of the few colleagues who never mentioned Ferran to her, which already made him better than many. And he seemed to care about her. Also, he was very attractive.

"Are you done?"

"Yeah. Umm...should I go get changed or something?", asked Anna, noticing she was wearing very simple clothes.

"You look great, don't worry. I'm not wearing anything fancy either".

"Ok then...".

"Did you drive to work today?"

"No".

"I'll drive us there then", said Hugo and Anna followed him to his car.

There was a moment of worry for Anna, when she thought things could be uncomfortable. But they weren't. The drive to the place where Hugo was taking her to have some food was great. They chatted about work, with Hugo seeming very interested in what Anna did for her other job.

"And are you doing more of those modelling jobs?"

"It's not modelling...", tried to say Anna but Hugo laughed.

"It looks a lot like modelling. It's fine, Anna. It doesn't make you less professional to enjoy working with those brands".

"Not sure Tik Tok agrees with you", she laughed.

"I can't say I worry much about what Tik Tok thinks".

"They don't like me much over there".

"Another thing we disagree on then", said Hugo, looking at Anna and smiling. "And I think I'm a bit old for that app anyway".

"How old are you?"

"35".

"Really?", exclaimed Anna, shocked. "You look a lot younger. I would have probably said you were 30".

"Thanks. It's my parents' genes. You should see how young they look despite being almost in their 70s".

"That's cool".

When they made it to the little restaurant, Hugo opened Anna's car door for her.

"Thank you. I've never been here. Is it a favourite place of yours?"

"It's my brother's restaurant. I couldn't really get a table anywhere fancy for tonight but he'll feed us well".

"Ok...".

"You think it's weird, right?", laughed Hugo and Anna tried not to blush. "Yeah, I don't normally introduce girls to my family on the first date but he'll be cool about it. He's a fan of yours, actually".

"Really?", now it was Anna who laughed.

"He's been...well, he's been encouraging me to ask you out".

"I think I'm glad he did".
"You think?"

"Let's see how the date goes first", she teased him.

The date went well. Better than Anna had expected. And Hugo's brother Mateu was great too. He visited their table a few times to bring them newer dishes he had been trying to make recently so they could rate them.

"This one is so good. Is that shrimp?"

"Yes!! I could bring more from the kitchen for you", said Mateu, excited to see Anna liked his new recipe.

"I'm a bit full but I won't say no to another one. They're incredible!"

"I'll be right back".

"Now he's a bigger fan", joked Hugo. "But I'm your biggest fan".

"I...I actually wanted to thank you. For how much you've helped me since I started to work with you. You've made it so much easier for me".

"Happy to help. I know things haven't been too easy because of...you know".

Anna appreciated how much Hugo tried not to make her uncomfortable. "You can say his name. Ferran and I are friends and it's just people being stupid. Like, I get they want the juicy gossip of who sleeps with the footballers and all that. But...there is nothing juicy I can tell them".

"You wouldn't get any of those comments if you dated me...just saying", he winked and Anna laughed.

"No, I guess I wouldn't".

And that was a point in Hugo's favour. But the biggest point in his favour was that, unlike Ferran, Hugo wasn't dating anyone. He was available. And that made things a lot easier.

"So...", started Hugo when they reached Anna's apartment. "Did I pass the test?"

She chuckled. "Do you want me to tell you or to show you?"

"I think showing sounds better. Unless I didn't and you are going to slap me".

Anna shook her head before leaning forward to kiss Hugo. When she broke the kiss, Hugo held her face by placing his hand on her cheek so he could leave another soft kiss on her lips.

"I would invite you to my place but a girl has to keep the mystery alive for a little longer".

"Anna...", he said, his tone serious even though Anna's had been more like a joke. "If you want casual, I guess I can try. But...I don't want casual with you".

"What do you want?"

"I want you to be my girlfriend. I want to take care of you. And I don't want to share you with anyone".

"Share?", asked Anna, worried he would bring up Ferran.

"I don't mean with him. In general. I know people nowadays like casual relationships and being with more than one person at the same time...I don't know. I want a good old relationship. So I'm being honest so you know my intentions, I guess".

"I want that too".

"So...we try and see if this works?"

"I would like that, Hugo. I would really like that".

After another kiss, Anna got out of the car and went inside her apartment. She felt so content. This could be good. Hugo could be good to her and it'd all be so simple. No dramas, no comments from nosey people...

"I didn't check my phone for hours", laughed Anna when she realised. "Must have been a really good date".

And maybe she shouldn't have checked it before going to bed. Because when she did, Anna saw a few messages from Ferran asking her if she wanted to go to his place in a few days. The messages said that his teammates would be there too but...should she be hanging out with them now she had started something with Hugo? And, most importalty, should she be hanging out with Ferran now?