Invisible string (Robin Le Normand)

Chapter 9

Four days after Leire arrived in Madrid, Robin was still avoiding her in the mornings. For many reasons, some of which he wasn't still ready to face. He didn't even know how early Leire was waking up and leaving her room. He just knew he had to leave before it happened. Until the day he had to stay and wait for the cleaner.

"Good morning", said Raquel when Robin opened the door for her to come inside the house. "Was I late? You look like you're about to leave".

"No. You're early, actually. I have just been leaving the house earlier lately".

"Oh. Are you guys starting your training so early? Do you need me to be here earlier next time? I don't mind...".

Robin's training schedule was still the same. He had actually been going to get a smoothie he drank while he waited in his car for the time to pass. And he couldn't make Raquel wake up even earlier just because he was an idiot.

"No. It's fine. But I might tell Leire to open the door for you instead of me. I've just been enjoying starting my day earlier".

"Is Leire your friend?"

"I wish", Robin whispered.

"Sorry?"

"Yes. She is. She should be getting up soon...".

They both heard a door open and close and footsteps that were getting closer. Raquel excused herself to go get changed so she could start working soon.

"Oh...hi", Leire stopped walking down the stairs when she noticed Robin was still there. "I thought you would be gone by now".

"Good morning. I'm leaving now. The cleaner just got here and she'll do her thing and then leave. She won't bother you so don't bother her either".

"Got it".

"I'll introduce you to her...Raquel! Can you come here for a second?"

Leire noticed the woman walking towards them with a big smile on her face. Leire felt a bit jealous because she'd probably looked like a zombie if she had to start working so early.

"Raquel, this is Leire. She'll be around...I guess. But won't bother you".

"Nice meeting you", said Raquel. "I don't mind changing the order in which I do things if you have work to do".

"Nice meeting you too. And please don't", responded Leire. "I'll just have a shower now and then I'll sit on the sofa so I won't bother you".

Raquel smiled and left, leaving Robin and Leire alone.

"I'll go now", he said, trying not to stare at Leire too much. "Have a good day".

"You too".

Robin's mind kept replaying the way Leire looked and that was one of the reasons why he wanted to avoid seeing her in the morning. He already knew what Leire looked like in the mornings. Robin hadn't been able to forget how adorable she looked with her reading glasses on. Leire wore contacts most of the time but never before her morning shower. Her hair was always in a messy braid she made before going to bed. And her pyjama collection was...definitely something Robin could never forget. Leire was stylish but she wasn't obsessed with fashion. She didn't have that many clothes but knew how to pair them together. She also knew what looked good on her. But when it came to sleepwear...she liked silk and lace a lot. And Robin liked how those silky and lacy pyjamas looked on Leire a bit too much.

"Good luck focusing on training this morning", he told himself while he was driving to the training centre.

Leire had not expected to find Robin home that morning because he was always leaving so early. However, seeing how he wasn't in a hurry to leave today proved to her that the rest of the days, he was running away from her.