Wild at Heart

Part One - Chapter Twenty-Five: Spain vs. Paraguay

The tunnel in Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg was filled in a tense and electric-filled silence on the Spanish side, one wrong step and it was clear that anything could set their captain off and no one wanted that right now.

Iker pulled on his white goalkeeper gloves as he stared straight ahead of him, his mind firmly fixed on his girlfriend; she hadn’t spoken to him in two days since the talk that she’d had with his mother.

Mia had even gone as far as to avoid Iker at every possible chance, meaning he was forced to confront his parents about what had happened; Carmen had been thrilled with the news that she had caused damage to his relationship, however she wasn’t expecting the backlash.

Iker swore that as long as Mia wasn’t speaking to him and was upset by what she had said, then he’d have nothing to do with his mother.

Carmen had thought he was joking until she realised just how serious Iker was about what he had said.

Xavi sighed as he stretched, his brown eyes locked concerned on his friend and captain knowing that Carmen had really made a mess of things; no one knew how to fix the damage that she had caused.

Iker shook his head as he rolled his shoulders, he had seen Mia a couple of times with Anna after what had happened and he couldn’t help but feel his heart go out to her; she had looked so broken and he wished that he’d been able to speak with her to help clear the air in some way.

“Here comes trouble,” Andres muttered as Carmen walked passed them and headed straight towards her son, everyone knew that Iker wasn’t going to welcome his mother with open arms after what she had done to his relationship with Mia.

“I came to wish you luck,” Carmen said warily as she stopped next to Iker, she knew that he had told her that he wasn’t going to speak to her but he was still her son and she would always be there for him.

Iker didn’t say a word as he continued to prepare for the match, he had no interest in what she had to say; he was furious that she had gone to see his girlfriend and had told her nothing but lies.

Carmen stared at him hopefully for a moment before she sighed and headed back the way that she had come so that she could return to her seat; she knew that Iker would come around sooner or later and see that she had done the right thing.

The footballer closed his brown eyes as he took a deep breath to calm himself, he needed to focus on the match and then when it was over then he could focus on fixing things between him and Mia.

“Focus Casillas… we need to win this one,” Iker muttered to himself as he rolled his neck, he stretched one more time knowing that he wasn’t going to mess this up for his team-mates.

***

Mia sighed as she crossed her arms as she watched the start of the game, she wasn’t sat in her usual place and the brunette knew that Vicente was happy about that; she was sure if she didn’t look so pathetic right now he would have sacked her because she had caused Iker to get distracted.

“So how are you feeling?” Olalla Torres asked looking at the younger woman, she could see that Mia was miserable and she knew that the brunette was suffering after what had happened with Iker’s mother.

None of the other WAGs could believe what had happened and they all knew that Carmen had over stepped a boundary when she had told Mia that she was nothing more than a summer fling when it had nothing to do with her.

“I’m fine,” Mia whispered trying to convince herself that she was doing fine without Iker, she didn’t want to admit that she was miserable without him; she was trying so hard to be okay and she was shocked that she was this affected at what had been said.

Olalla and Anna looked at one another knowing that the brunette was trying to lie to herself about how she felt about all of this; however they didn’t believe her for a moment.

“Is that why you are wearing Iker’s colours?” Anna asked as she glanced down at the pitch and looked at the captain; she was sure that Mia hadn’t even realised that she was doing it.

Mia was wearing a sky blue closet tie back dress with pockets paired with silver heeled sandals, it was clear that she hadn’t even thought that Iker would be wearing his blue away kit.

Mia blinked as she realised that Anna was right, she sniffled not wanting to cry again; she knew the press would have a field day if she cracked and started to break down in public.

“It’ll be okay Mia… I’m sure deep down Iker does love you,” Anna said wrapping an arm around the brunette, she glared at someone who walked passed them and Mia didn’t have to look to know that it was Iker’s mother.

Iker’s parents were only sitting a little away from her and José had been glaring at her for a while now since he had taken his seat.

“Why don’t you come out with us after the match?” Olalla suggested taking Mia’s hand, she knew that this was hard on Mia and she wished that there was something that she could do to make things better.

***

Iker watched as his team mates bounced around and celebrated their latest win, he smiled softly as he watched them celebrate; he was thrilled that they were going to the semi-finals where they were going to face Germany.

“You okay Iker?” Xavi asked sitting down next to his friend, he could see that this thing with Mia was still affecting him and he didn’t know what he was going to do to cheer him up; Iker was struggling even if he wouldn’t admit it.

Xavi was the only one who knew that Iker had pleaded with Vicente not to fire Mia, he knew that the coach had been determined to fire Mia since their fall out had distracted Iker more than the footballer knew.

“I’ve lost her,” Iker said dropping his head into his hands, he couldn’t believe that everything had fallen apart like this because of his mother; he had been so sure that they’d like Mia, he never thought that Mia would be turned against him in such a way.

Xavi sighed and shook his head, he didn’t believe that for a moment and he knew that Mia was just hurting from Carmen’s harsh and cruel words; he believed that she would come around at some point.

“She’ll come around Iker… you just need to prove to her that what your madre said was a lie,” Xavi said trying to cheer Iker up in some way; he hated to see his best friend suffering because of something that someone else had done to break him up with his girlfriend.

Iker blinked as he looked at his best friend, he was glad that someone still had hope for him and Mia, he wasn’t too sure if she would even speak to him now; he needed to show her how he felt because of how they had started this.

“Why don’t you get her something that shows her how you feel, that you are serious about your feelings for her,” Xavi suggested knowing that Iker needed to do something and quickly otherwise he would really lose Mia and there would be no getting her back.