Anna woke up early the next day and struggled to get out of bed because being held by a sleepy Ferran was so much nicer. But she needed to go to Madrid.
Ferran drove her to the train station and kept staring at Anna getting inside the building until he couldn't see her anymore. He was going to miss her terribly but he smiled remembering that Anna was his now. He finally knew how good saying that felt. And of course he was hers completely.
Pau and Juan, the two colleagues that were waiting for Anna in Madrid, were expecting to find a very sad Anna. But she seemed fine. Not that they wanted to see her sobbing every five seconds but it surprised them a little.
"You ok?"
"Yes. Being honest, the relationship wasn't going well so I guess I'm not as surprised".
"It can still hurt", said Juan and Anna nodded.
"Being with you guys these two days will help me. I know".
Their first stop in Madrid was at a little restaurant where they had lunch and kept planning what Anna was supposed to do while in England. She didn't lie when she said that being there was going to help her. Being away from Barcelona and everything that had happened there was so good. Just for a few days. To heal properly.
"Would you like to be on the livestream later?", asked Pau.
"Sure. That sounds fun".
"Cool. People will love to see you there. You're never here when we do them".
"Yes. I sometimes watch them and feel very left out".
"Maybe now you can be a part of them more often?", suggested Juan. "If you don't have the other job...maybe you can be in Madrid more".
"Maybe. But...I have my people in Barcelona. I don't really want to be away from them right now".
"Of course. Your parents and your brother are there. I forgot", said Juan.
"Yeah...".
But it wasn't just them who were there. She couldn't tell them who else, though.
Their livestreams were done on Twitch and Anna didn't lie. She had wanted to be a part of one many times but being in Barcelona, it wasn't really possible. But then she realised one little problem...there was a live chat too. She didn't want to look at it for fear of seeing nasty messages. But she didn't have any reasons to fear that, which she could have guessed because the community that followed the channel was incredibly lovely.
"We are getting a lot of messages for Anna in the chat. Everyone sending their love".
"Thanks", she said, smiling at the camera. "You're all the best".
But even if she had tried to avoid looking at the screen where the chat could be seen, she ended up taking a peek. She couldn't help it. It was mostly jokes or comments about what they were talking about. But there were also comments about Anna.
"Go back to Ferran, Anna", said one, which got a replied from another user: "they would make such a hot couple". A few other viewers agreed and added more comments like one that said: "and he's not a douche like her ex". Yeah, Anna could agree with that.
But it was seeing the comment saying "if a woman like Anna is cheated on, there is no hope for the rest of us" that made her sad. Anna knew she would have to approach that topic on social media at some point. Or maybe at an interview...she had been offered to be in podcasts before so maybe she could take one of those offers and talk about it in the future. Anna hated seeing people put so much value on beauty and just that. She was cheated on because Hugo was an asshole. Period. It was irrelevant how pretty or ugly Anna was because it wasn't her fault she had been betrayed.
After two days of working in Madrid, it was time to go to London. That had been her home for six whole years and it felt a bit like a safe place for Anna. She knew being there would help her heal. Plus, she was going to go to other areas in England for the interviews so that was also exciting.
"I just bought some food and I'm going to the park to eat it", she was telling Ferran while they talked on the phone. Anna had kept her promise of calling him every day and they facetimed too.
"Picnic for one?"
"Kinda", she laughed. "At least the weather is nice".
"We'll go on a proper picnic when you're back".
"I'd like that".
Thinking about all the future plans she was making with Ferran made her smile. It was such a beautiful future to look forward to. But she also realised there was something she wanted to do with him and that was taking him to London. Ferran wanted to take her to Valencia and show her around her favourite childhood places. But Anna couldn't really do that because they both lived in Barcelona and Ferran knew the city well. London, however, was more unknown to him. So that could be the special place Anna showed to Ferran whenever they had a couple of days off to go on a little trip.
The time in London actually made Anna think a lot about many things. Including her future. She was still getting comments on social media about Hugo and will get them for months, probably. Whenever she made her relationship with Ferran public, the comments were going to get worse. A part of her even feared going out in Barcelona because she had been recognised multiple times and wondered what people's reactions to seeing her now would be like.
In London...no one knew who she was. When she interviewed non-Spanish players, they didn't know who she was either. It felt so good. London really was her safe place and that got her thinking.
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anna_duran: Counting down the days until our new campaign is out so here's a little preview 😉 Tagged: calvinklein
paulers: marry me 😍
-anna_duran: done! 💍
user082: showing a certain someone what he's lost...
-user0373: such a boss move 😌you fucked up, mate @ hugo_mtz
