the sun always rises || dybala

02: rejections and supermarket dilemmas

lunedi 12:05

Paulo doesn't really know a lot about her.

Paulo doesn't really know a lot other than the fact that her name is Charlene Hrnjkaš, and she's his English tutor. Hell, he doesn't even know what you have to major in order to become a language tutor, but he thinks that she's smart. I mean, she probably went to university so that's a thing.

Well, everyone on the team doesn't know a lot about her. Even Mattia, who he expected to get close with such a pretty girl like her, but it seems as if Charlene has closed her oyster shell to everyone.

Maybe it's the wrong term to use, but Paulo thinks she's rather mysterious. You know, she's so captivating sometimes, a lot of the time, but everyone knows so little about her. He wants to get to know her a little better, considering the slight attraction he feels towards her, but he'll respect it if she prefers not to.

The only time Paulo ever sees Charlene is when he goes in for English tutoring, and besides a few times out and about in the building, that's about it. Those few times he sees her, she's always alone, but he's always with some of the guys, so he opts to shut his mouth.

He wants to talk to her, he wants to talk to her about things other than English and homework and shit that doesn't matter, he wants to talk her to like a friend but first, he's not even sure if they're considered friends in the first place.

She's his English tutor. Beautifully smart, quiet, reserved.

And he's Paulo Dybala. Dumb, obnoxious, and loud. He's nowhere near her league but in a whole different league.

He always gets nervous when he sees her. He always wants to wave, walk up to her and compliment her outfit, the minimal makeup she had put on, he wants to see her smile.

She's no tall, slim, thirty year old woman with black pencil skirts, white blouses, and heels. She's just a woman in her early twenties with shorts, a striped shirt, brown cardigan and Vans. She was screaming the word art just from her outfit itself, but she never was one to talk.

Charlene never smiles. Only rarely. Her eyes droop in a way that makes you think that she's sleep deprived or maybe that's just how she is.

When Paulo sees her this time, he's walking around with Mattia and Douglas. They're putting bets on which club might get relegated at the end of the season, despite that the season hadn't started yet. Mattia placed his money on Udinese while Douglas placed no money because it was stupid and just stated Benevento will be out. Paulo has yet to place his bet when at the corner of his eye, he spots a familiar figure to all of them.

Of course he'd notice her. She was like the elephant in the room, he'd say, but in a good way! She's cute, is what he was trying to say.

"Dude, the new English tutor they hired—she's so cute," Mattia gushed. "I thought girls like her only exist on Instagram and Pinterest."

Douglas gagged, tugging on the collar of his shirt and making a face of disgust. "Gross. You and every single man on the team drool over her. What if she has a boyfriend?"

"She doesn't," Paulo spoke up, and the two men looked at him as if he were withholding a secret from them. "I asked her last week."

Mattia's eyes gleamed with hope at the woman. "Hold my salad," he shoved the clear plastic container towards Douglas, rolled up the nonexistent sleeves of his t-shirt, and walked right to Charlene.

"You had to tell him," Douglas deadpanned to Paulo whose heart was beating way too fast for his body to handle.

Mattia was going to ask Charlene on a date, and she was going to say yes.