Virtual Love | Antoine Griezmann

dix-neuf

You: antoine, imy

There, Carmen finally admitted it. She did miss Antoine. The hole in her heart only stretched wider with the more time that passed by. Without him, her days grew long and dull; they lacked something special.

On the days they were fortunate enough to have contact, Carmen compared it to the thrill of being on a rollercoaster. The feeling you get in your stomach when suddenly you drop down the steep tracks was a well known feeling to her. His words had a way of their own to make her feel like her insides were being twisted into a knot.

Antoine: dwbi

Her smile curved upside down into a frown at his response. Initially, she was delighted to see the notification on her phone since she anticipated a cute text from the Frenchman. However, all her predictions had become the opposite.

You: what r u saying

You: do u even miss me?

Antoine: baby u know that i miss u

She sighed with relief. Of course he missed her too, but something the negative thoughts got the best of Carmen.

Antoine: do u want to video chat?

You: yes

Antoine sent the call to her and she picked up almost immediately. They smiled in unison once seeing each other's faces again.

"I miss you," she repeated.

Antoine gave her a half smile that showed the same feelings of sadness he had, "I miss you too."

The couple shared a sweet moment of silence. It was nothing uncomfortable, but simply consisted of the two locking eyes; secretly wishing it could have been their lips locked together.

"I just want to kiss you..." Carmen exhaled unsteadily. She avoided eye contact in this moment and busied herself with chipping away at the red and white nail polish which covered her fingernails. Miraculously, the colour had lasted on her nails since the Champions League Final.

"I can't right now."

Antoine hated to be separated by the distance. He noticed that Carmen seemed upset and wasn't taking the Euro Cup as well as he was. The little spark she carried was missing. Her firecracker personality also. But it all made sense because after all, she was alone while he was playing in Europe's biggest football tournament. He felt kind of guilty for leaving her there.

"But you can kiss me through the phone."

Carmen scrunched up her face, only to see Antoine acting ridiculously silly and making faces, before closing both eyes and pressing his lips to the screen.

Without letting his lips off of the screen, Antoine peeked through one eye, "So are you going to kiss me, or what? I don't have all day."

Carmen laughed and twirled her eyes before giving Antoine a quick peck through the screen. Her heart fluttered at the thought of his lips. Virtually kissing him was the best she could get right now.

"See that wasn't that bad," he chuckled.

"But I wish it was for real."

"Why can't it be?"

Carmen shook her head from side to side, "Because you're in France and I'm in Spain, duh."

"Then come to France."

"Me?"

"Who else?"

A mix of emotions flooded her thoughts as Antoine genuinely explained himself, "I feel so bad for leaving you behind. I regret it. I was all choked up about the final and pissed about the result, so I just packed up and left. It was wrong of me not to give you any word about my plans or whereabouts."

"I guess I figured you would've known about the Euro Cup and automatically assumed I would return to my home country for the tournament. As soon as I arrived at the airport, I realized my mistake."

"As scared, upset, or nervous as I was, I should've asked if you'd like to join me. But I didn't, Carmen. And for that, I am truly sorry. I never offered even after I had arrived because I thought it was too late or I was afraid of you rejecting my offer after we didn't speak for some time... I thought you were mad."

"Antoine, I was never mad-"

"I know... I know that now. Carmen, I apologize if I've ever hurt you; I don't want to see you upset. When your face first came on the screen, the sadness completely drained from your face. All I want to do is bring happiness to your life, but I can't do that with the distance between us..."

Antoine clenched his fists and blurted out the one thing that was hidden deep inside him for so long, "Come to France."

The shock set in when he first brought up the idea, but after his explanation, she knew he was being serious. Those simple words were what Carmen had been waiting to be asked all along.

France was such a magnificent country. There was no better way to experience it than while watching the beautiful game and being in the company of the most beautiful Frenchman.

"I'd love to."

"That's great," he smiled, showing all of his teeth, "I'll arrange a flight. I want you here as soon as possible."

She could tell that Antoine had put pen to paper to make a note—since he tends to forget stuff—by the way he furrowed his eyebrows and bit down on his bottom lip. After scribbling down the last of the reminder to book a flight, Antoine clapped his hands together.

"I'm so excited."
"Me too, Antoine."
"Now get some rest, mon amour."

He must've known she was tired since she began to rub her eyes, but the sweet sound of French gave her a jolt of energy.

"Good night," Carmen planted a kiss on her fingertips and pressed them against the screen.

"Bonne nuit."

And there he went again with the French.