Virtual Love | Antoine Griezmann

dix

As the day of her flight grew closer, the two still refrained from speaking to each other for some reason. Carmen had her doubts about the whole
situation, but those thoughts were shoved aside when she received the precious ticket to the game, along with a plane ticket. It still didn't confirm anything, but it made her suspicions of this being fake slightly diminish.

Carmen watched the first leg between Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid on tv and she could even tell that something was up with their star player. Antoine didn't look right, not at all. His performance was far from the one she witnessed in person at his last match as he failed to make an impression on the game and his expected goal never came. Luckily, a solo goal from Saul Nigeuz saved the home team and gave them a victory of 1-0.

Carmen debated whether on sending a comment about the win, but ended up chickening out, afraid of what might happen. She decided to leave it until she met him, that is if this whole this was legit.

In a few days, it was finally time to board her flight. She was hesitant to get onto the airplane, but had nothing else to lose and ended up getting on anyways. After all, if nothing worked out, the trip wouldn't be a total waste because Carmen still had the ticket to the match that she intended to use.

The flight wasn't too bad, but once arriving, Carmen realized how many flaws this plan had. She had no way of contacting Fernando and all she had to work with was his looks. For Christ's sake, he didn't even know what she looked like! A pit formed in Carmen's stomach as she sheepishly pushed through the people who crowded the airport.

She felt like an idiot. Not to mention, she was an idiot for going along with this. For all she knew this could be some sort of trap she was lead into. Her parents and school teachers always warned her about the dangers of the internet and pleaded her to not make any online friends, but Carmen did just that. And to make matters worse, she broke the most important rule: do not meet up with anybody you do not know from the internet.

How could she let herself turn into such a fool?! Now she was stuck in a country where she didn't speak the language and she already found herself lost in the airport.

She was unsure whether or not to log in to the chat website for help, but she had given Fernando her word. Carmen's eyes were focused on her phone, not ahead of her, so it was no surprise when she crashed into another person.

She gave the person an apologetic look because she was unsure if they'd even understand her say "sorry" whether it was in Spanish or English. It was when she looked at him that she realized this was no ordinary person. The tall figure wore a hat and long coat with glasses shielding their eyes. She feared that this be a kidnapper coming for her because everything about the person seemed a bit off; it wasn't normal.

It was when the person passed her and pulled out a sign that read "Carmen" and held it above the crowds, did she realize they were looking for her.

She stood there in shock and when the person did a 360° to face her once again, did they realize she might be the one they were searching for. Carmen gulped and trembled with fear as the person closed the space between them and whispered, "Are you Carmen?"

Carmen refused to answer, but then saw that this must've been the person she was speaking to over the phone. He spoke similarly and she concluded that it was him due to the fact that he spoke in Spanish.

"Fernando?" She questioned.

He grabbed ahold of her arm, "Come."