Lifeline (Marc Guiu)

Chapter 18

The match was very stressful to watch and when the referee signaled it was time for a half-time break, Alicia checked twitter to see what people were saying about the game. Most agreed about how nerve wracking it had been so far. Alicia kept reading all the tweets and was lucky she was sitting on the bed when she saw the tweet. Because she would have dropped the phone on the floor instead of the soft bed had she been standing.

Marc was leaving...to sign for Chelsea? It couldn't be true. That information couldn't be right. Maybe the guy who posted about it was one of those journalists that shared fake information about transfers just to get engagement. It had to be that. It was true that Chelsea was one of the teams that was interested in him but it couldn't be true. No. She refused to believe Marc was leaving.

"He can't be leaving...he can't".

But then she remembered the last time they talked. Marc said he would be gone by the time Alicia made it back from Germany. What did he mean by that? Gone because he was going on holidays? Or gone because he was leaving Barcelona to go sign for Chelsea?

And why did Alicia's chest hurt so much?

She decided to go straight to the most trustworthy source. But when Alicia looked at their last conversation, she noticed she had left him on read weeks ago. That only made the chest pain worse. She had been so unfair to him.

[Alicia]: are you really going to sign for Chelsea?

The match wasn't over so she wasn't going to get a response anytime soon. And then...Barça lost. They weren't going to get that promotion. It really was the worst day possible.

Marc didn't expect a text from Alicia when he picked up the phone. He also didn't expect any journalists leaking the news of his signing for Chelsea during such an important match. The day only got worse and he feared his conversation with Alicia would only feel like pouring salt into the wound.

[Marc]: yeah.

Yeah? Was that all he was going to say. Alicia wanted to call him and scream at him. To demand answers. She wanted to ask him why he was doing that to her. But she only answered with another word as well. They could both be petty.

[Alicia]: why?

[Marc]: football reasons.

[Marc]: and it's not like there's a big reason that forces me to stay in Barcelona either, right?

What about me? She typed and then deleted. What about her? It was Marc who asked if those months together meant something to her, suggesting they had meant more for him. But...she guessed they didn't mean that much to Marc either if he was leaving.

She all of a sudden wanted to hurt him. So she just gave him a dose of indifference.

[Alicia]: ok. Good luck.

[Marc]: is that all you have to say?

Alicia wanted to say so much more but couldn't. She could only think about how much her chest hurt. That couldn't be good.

[Marc]: of course. Thanks for letting me know I'm really making the right decision.

Seeing those words finally did it. Alicia started to cry and couldn't stop. Which was why when Victoria got back to their room, she found her friend sobbing and ran to her side immediately.

"What happened? Ali! Are you ok? Did something happen?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just...I missed my family and I called them but they didn't answer the call. I don't know why it made me so sad. I guess I'm homesick".

And that wasn't fully a lie. Because missing Marc felt like a certain type of homesickness she had never felt before.

"It's ok. I miss my family too. But you have me here. You should have called me so I came back earlier".

"It's fine", said Alicia, but she couldn't stop crying. "I'm good. Really".

"Ali. You look after me so much. Let me look after you, please".

Alicia nodded and allowed her friend to hold her while she cried. She had thought her argument with Marc had broken her heart but she was wrong. She knew that now. Her heart hadn't been broken then...but it was now.