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CURRENTLY, NATALIA WAS SITTING with Alice and Álvaro in a café, enjoying breakfast like they usually did every morning when they had time.
She stared around the small but cozy café they were in. She loved the pastel and neutral colors that were scattered around the café.
"Do you think he'll return?" Alice questioned, as she took a sip of her tea - which Alice absolutely loved, and which Natalia found absolutely disgusting. She cringed at how she could drink 'a cup of water that tasted like leaves'.
Alice's question nearly almost made Natalia spit out her orange juice. She knew that Alice was talking about James and his speculation of possibly returning. Natalia shrugged, not knowing how to even answer. I mean, how could you even answer this sort of question? There was absolutely nothing that she was enjoying about this morning's breakfast.
"I think it's very possible. I mean the last time I was close to leaving was to Juventus, and I actually ended up in Turin," Álvaro reasoned.
No one ever really knew why James and Natalia - being the 'perfect couple' they were, had broken up. Everyone just assumed it was because of the distance, and they guessed that everything had ended on good terms and that it was perfectly fine to talk about him, but they were absolutely wrong.
The couple who sat directly in front of Natalia noticed that she was extremely off and very quiet this morning. Usually, she was the loudest person ever - even in the mornings. But today it was as if she wasn't there. They had also noticed that she seemed very uncomfortable when they talked about James. Usually, when James was brought into a conversation it never seemed to bother her; but today it did. Álvaro and Alice definitely knew something was wrong.
"Natalia, are you alright?" Alice asked, trying to get her attention, but Natalia was to busy staring around the café.
"Yeah. I'm okay," she mumbled, not even bothering to even look at Alice nor Álvaro.
"Nati, you're not alright, you can tell us what's wrong. What's on your mind?" Álvaro asked, sending her a small smile.
Natalia was indeed thankful and very grateful for the amazing friends she had, like Álvaro and Alice. She was thankful for them always being by her side and listening to her when she needed someone to listen. Usually, she felt like she could tell them everything and anything. But she felt that this wasn't something she could tell them, or just not yet.
Natalia shook her head immediately. "It's alright, I'm alright, everything is perfectly fine. I'm just a little bit stressed out about work."
They knew that what she had told them wasn't the reason for Natalia acting this way, but they didn't push it. But they definitely knew James was involved with all this.
After a half hour, Álvaro had kindly offered Natalia a ride home, since Alice and he would being go home. She kindly declined it, because she wanted to walk around Madrid for a while instead - just to get her mind off of a few things.
"Goodbye, Natalia. I'll see you soon," Alice said and hugged Natalia.
"Nati, if you need to talk, about anything. Just text or call me, okay?"
Natalia nodded, "Of course," she muttered, with a small smile. Álvaro nodded, knowing that one of closest friends wasn't okay, but he wasn't going to force her to talk. He hugged her and gave her a small kiss on the cheek like he always did. "Bye Natalia," he said, entering his car where Alice was waiting for him.
Natalia waved back as she watched them drive off. She sighed and began to walk around, not knowing where she would be going. Natalia knew Madrid very well - since she had been living in it for almost six years now - but for some reason, she felt so lost at the moment. Maybe she couldn't think about anything else but James.
She continued walking around for a few minutes until she stopped in front of a restaurant, the restaurant they would go to for most of their dates. She never came back to that restaurant after they had broken up - because she felt it would bring back so many memories. Memories she wished she could forget, but she could never.
Natalia quickly snapped out of what she was thinking and walked away from the small restaurant she had been staring at for so long. She kept walking, not even knowing where she would possibly end up.
She sighed and stopped at a French bakery; that Raphaël brought her to numerous times since she loved French pastries.
"Rapha, do you think you can pick me up?" Natalia said, into her phone. She had decided to call Raphaël because he was also one of those people she could count on always.
"Uhm yeah of course. Where are you right now?" He asked as she heard him shuffling on the other side.
"I'm at Lucy's," she answered.
"Eh, you decided to eat some French pastries and not invite me? Wow Natalia," Raphaël asked playfully.
"I actually didn't go into Lucy's, I had breakfast with Alice and Álvaro, they offered me a ride home but I denied it, and just decided to walk around. But if you want we can enter Lucy's for a few, and eat a bit?"
"Alright. I'll be there in fifteen," Raphaël said. Natalia mumbled an 'okay' and ended the call.
Like Raphaël had said, he had arrived at the bakery in fifteen minutes and saw Natalia sitting there with a smile. "Bonjour!" He said, cheerfully. "So how are you?" Raphaël asked as he sat in the chair in front of Natalia.
"I'm okay. How about you Rapha?"
"I've been good." Raphaël smiled. "Well, I'm going to go and order. You want your usual, right?" He asked.
Natalia nodded, and Raphaël walked away to orders some pastries. When he came back, he was holding two Éclairs, eight Macarons and two mugs of hot chocolate.
"Here," Raphaël mumbled, handing her the two Éclairs and her hot chocolate.
"Are you seriously going to eat all eight Macarons?" Natalia questioned, as a giggle escaped her lips. "Don't you have a special footballer diet?"
"Shh. Don't tell Zizou," he joked while taking a bite out of one of his Macarons.
They talked and joked for a while until he excused himself to use the bathroom. As Natalia waited for him, she heard a laugh that made the hairs on her neck stand up. A laugh she knew so well and very much missed.
There is absolutely no way that it was James, right? She thought. Natalia subtly looked around the bakery, until her heart dropped. She saw him, she blinked a couple times, when she opened them he was gone. Who's face she had thought she saw was replaced by a strangers face - who she had never seen in her life.
"What's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost," Raphaël chuckled, returning to his seat.
"It's nothing," she shook her head, and let out a nervous laugh.
"Whatever you say," he mumbled.
Natalia's mind was playing tricks on her, but why, she thought. But for some reason, she felt disappointed that it wasn't James who she had seen.
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my bby alvi will be in this story of course- because i love him to death and because i'm gonna pretend like he never left us.
