Lifeline (Marc Guiu)

Chapter 17

Alicia and Victoria made their way to Germany for the Euros. It had been so surprising to see Fermín being included in the squad but they couldn't be prouder. He had worked so hard all season and deserved that reward.

The two friends loved their first few days in the country, where they tried to see as much of the city they were in as possible. Victoria had brought her camera, of course, and wanted to take photos of every single thing she saw.

"First match. Let's go!"

"I'll go get us a drink", said Alicia. "Beer?"

Victoria nodded and Alicia made her way to the bar. She was wearing Fermín's shirt, of course. And because he wasn't the most famous player in the squad, that stood out more than wearing Morata's or Lamine's.

"Hey", said a random guy standing next to Alicia.

"Hi".

"Are you Fermín's girl?"

"WHAT?", but then she realised she was wearing his shirt. "No. I...I'm his girlfriend's friend".

"So you're single?"

Alicia was feeling very uncomfortable seeing the way that guy looked at her so she chose to lie. "No. My boyfriend is in Spain. He couldn't come to this first match but will be here for the rest".

That made the guy leave and so Alicia got the beers and made her way back to Victoria.

"I feel gross", she said when she got back to their seats.

"What happened?", asked Victoria, very confused and a little worried.

"Well, you see how we are in the family area of the players and I'm wearing Fermín's shirt...someone asked me if I was his girlfriend".

Victoria almost choked on her beer and couldn't stop laughing seeing her friend's face. "I mean...it was an honest mistake".

"Gross! He's like a brother to me".

"So I don't have to worry about you trying to steal my man?", joked Victoria.

"Never. I wouldn't mind if he introduced me to some of his friends though. Like good brothers do".

"I guess we can make that happen".

Alicia laughed but she also didn't know why she had said that. She had been missing Marc so much and didn't know what to do. She couldn't call him or text him after everything that happened. No, she needed to see Marc in person and talk properly. But how could she see him? Well, a part of Alicia hoped Fermín could help without realising he was helping. If he invited Alicia to the matches or to go to training...she could see Marc. They could talk. They could try to fix whatever it is that was broken.

Or maybe just being with Victoria would be enough because she was always with Fermín. And also, she got invited to do so many cool things. Like a campaign for one of Spain's sponsors. Alicia was there with her because she knew Victoria would need her support. And the photographer ended up suggesting Alicia posed for photos too, to help Victoria feel more comfortable.

It was a lot of fun to do that actually. And then she decided to drop another one of those comments that she almost said without realising. What was going through her mind?

"If I put model on my bio, Fermín's football friends are more likely to fancy me".

"I guess...do you have your eye on one already or something?"

"No", lied Alicia. "Just joking".

When the campaign came out, there were so many comments from Fermín's teammates. Both his Spain and his Barça teammates. Fermín was busy telling them all to stop calling Victoria pretty because she was his girlfriend. Alicia knew it was banter but also that he was probably a bit annoyed by those comments too.

And then she noticed that a few asked if Vicky's friend was also taken. Alicia wondered if Marc was reading those comments and what he thought about. But she didn't know...because he didn't comment anything. He also didn't like any of the posts. Alicia had been paying more attention to that since Marc liked her post about the Taylor Swift concert. It seemed more and more like he might have liked it without meaning to. Or that was what Alicia believed. The reality was that Marc had been out with friends and after a few drinks he wasn't used to having, he found the courage to like her post. And once he was back to his normal self, he knew it was too late to unlike the post.

"Do you want to go shopping today?"

"Sure", said Alicia. Berlin probably had the best shops out of all the cities they had been in so it was a good plan.

"Can you do my make-up, Ali? I want to look pretty today".

"You always look pretty but happy to".

Alicia already knew how Victoria liked her make-up so she just started to apply the products without even asking what look her friend wanted. When she applied the moisturizer to prep the skin, Victoria mentioned how nice it felt to get a face massage from Alicia. How good she was at it. And that reminded her of when Marc made a similar comment.

"Don't fall asleep, though".

"I might", laughed Victoria.

But she didn't. And so Alicia started to do the eye make-up. Victoria asked again for eyeliner but since it was a day look, Alicia used eyeshadow instead of liquid eyeliner. It was so easy to do Victoria's make-up. Alicia didn't have to tell her to open or close her eyes because she already knew when to do it. And Alicia also loved applying mascara on Victoria's long lashes. Hers look so sad in comparison.

"There you go. Beautiful as always".

Victoria looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. "Thanks, Ali. Which lipstick should I take?"

"This one goes well with your jumper".

They kept visiting shops and buying way too many clothes that they didn't have space for in the suitcases. They had lunch together, they walked around the city to try and find more shops...it was a great way to spend that day with no matches. And they had all the photographs Victoria had taken to remember all those fun moments together in the future. But Alicia also wanted to get back to the hotel soon. Because Barça Atlètic had to play their play-off match to try and get promoted to the second division. And Marc was going to play that match. Alicia wanted to watch it so she found an excuse to go back to the hotel earlier while Victoria stayed out.

She didn't want to miss what could be Marc's last match in that division, not knowing it was actually going to be his last match for Barça.