Invisible string (Robin Le Normand)

Chapter 28

5 years ago

Leire had always loved nature. She loved writing about nature too, finding it a great setting for any story. Growing up, she enjoyed the books that included a lot of descriptions the best. The atmosphere they created was so easy to imagine for her.

So nature was a huge source of inspiration for Leire in general. That was why she liked to go to he same park, as many days per week as possible, to work on her novels. The weather didn't always help make that a good plan. It was San Sebastián after all. But she didn't care. Her favourite park was her happy place and a huge source of inspiration.

When someone went to the same place everyday, it was easy for others to notice that little routine. There were a few older couples who always looked at Leire writing and smiled seeing her there.

"It's so nice to see a young girl being so into writing", would say one of them.

"And handwriting too. You don't see that often", said others.

But it wasn't just them who noticed Leire. Robin did too. He loved going for walks around the city. It was so beautiful and he didn't really get stopped by fans that often. So he could just go for a walk around the park to see the pretty girl who sat down for hours writing on her notebook.

Slowly, Robin started to walk closer to where Leire sat. Unless he found the spot empty and felt a stupid sense of disappointment.

"I don't even know her...", he muttered one day when Leire wasn't there and he was still looking down when he bumped into someone. A someone he didn't know but that he felt oddly attached to. "Sorry".

"No problem. It's my fault. I was looking inside my bag instead of ahead of me".

"I wasn't paying attention either".

"Both of us are guilty then", chuckled Leire. And Robin could only think about how beautiful her smile was. He had only seen her looking very serious while she concentrated on writing.

"I'm Robin".

"Oh...hi. Um...I'm Leire".

"That's a Basque name, right?"

Leire smiled hearing that. "It is. It's a very basic name here but you're not from here so can you pretend it's cool? I never met anyone called Robin so I'm already considering you cool because of that".

Robin smiled and laughed at her comments. It had been crazy for him to feel a connection to a person he had never spoken to but now...now he felt special because of the way she was treating him. When she was just being nice.

Lately, people had been talking to Robin about girlfriends and kids and taking relationships seriously. He wasn't in a hurry. He didn't understand why having a girlfriend could benefit his career. He understood being happy, in general, was going to help him perform better on the pitch but he failed to understand how getting married before he turned 25 would help.

Now he was getting to know Leire a bit more, he thought that maybe the idea had some merit. He played better when she was watching the match. And his teammates noticed that he looked at the stands more than he used to.

"What's going on with you? Do you have a girl you're trying to impress?", asked his captain when he noticed Robin trying to find if Leire was inside the stadium already. She had told him the traffic was bad and he feared she'd miss the beginning of the match.

"No. Just...just looking if my family is here".

"If you say so...".

But soon the team found out about Leire. And it was so easy to notice the difference in how Robin behaved when she was around. He was a little shy but once he felt comfortable hanging out with certain people, he relaxed a little bit. Whenever Leire was around, the shyness was back, kind off. Not if they were alone but Robin was so aware of how everyone stared at him talking to Leire. He noticed the looks and the smirks.

"When are you asking her out then?"

"It's not like that", he would say...every time. And no one bought it.

Until one of Robin's best friends visited from France and he immediately noticed how into Leire his best friend was. And how Robin tried to hide his feelings when he was talking to Leire. It seemed like Leire was doing just the same.

"So...Leire?"

"Not you too", sighed Robin.

"So everyone has noticed, huh?", chuckled his friend. "Can't say I'm surprised".

"It's just...I don't know. You know how I told you I was annoyed by all the talk about how I needed to find a wife and all that?"

"Yeah. It's so stupid, Robin. No one can tell you when to find a girlfriend or when to have kids. Your career doesn't depend on that".

"I know...I know", said Robin, looking up to see Leire laughing at something Robin's sister had told her. "I just...I sometimes look at Leire and...".

"And what?"

"Maybe she could be the one, you know?"