james rodriguez:
The footballer also knew Alex was playing a few matches and he wanted to know how everything was going for her. Most of the time he was trying to keep up with her, but it was almost impossible because of the time difference. He had promised himself he was going to do his best to be around more and be there for Charlie — he could still remember when he told the striker she was her family, Charlie too and he didn’t want to disappoint them. As Alex finally accepted the call, he looked at Charlie, a big smile on his face. “Hi, my love! I miss you! You’re getting way too big now, you have to stop!” He told the little girl, smiling as the little girl looked to the phone and gave him a smile, not really understanding what he was saying, but it was good to know she was still smiling when she was seeing him and listening to his voice. “I mean, it would’ve been nice but I do want to talk to you as well and I don’t want you having to buy another phone and putting the blame on me for the rest of your life, let’s not have her chewing on everything, yeah?” He laughed, shaking his head. As he fixed his pillow, he licked his lips as he kept listening to what Alex was saying and then sighed. “You know, it’s been a huge mess. We have like six or seven players that are injured and we’ve been playing against difficult teams now, don’t really know if we’ll able to go to Champions and this is going to break my heart.” He told her, finally getting in bed and rolling his eyes as she said she was mad. “I’m sorry! I couldn’t make it. How was it? Are you exhausted? Have you been taking care of yourself?”
Alex understood the responsibilities probably more than anyone else could since she lived the same life as not even just an athlete but a footballer playing at both the club and international level. It was a lot, saying you could be somewhere didn’t always pan out so of course she wouldn’t hold that against James but it never made that pill easier to swallow and especially this time around with there being so much she needed to talk to him about but could only do so in person. It was borderline frustrating considering they were closer with her in France than in the US so it would’ve been more convenient, it was unfortunate it didn’t work out but at least he was making the effort to call and talk to her, that would have to be enough for now. Watching any interaction between James and Charlie still made her heart both race and melt at the same time. She couldn’t help but wonder if he had a bigger part in raising her if she would end up with an accent like his or if it would sound more like her own Californian accent? There were so many questions and what-ifs that she could drown herself in but didn’t let her brain veer too far off course as he started explaining what was going on with him. “That sucks about all the injuries and definitely about Champions, I’m sorry. I was really rooting for you. What do you plan on doing when the season ends? Are you going to stay in Liverpool or go home? Maybe take a little vacation in oh, I don’t know... Florida?” The striker couldn’t help but smile at his genuine concern for her, “yeah, it was a great game, they weren’t easy. I still can’t believe we won’t be facing them in the Olympics when they’re one of the best teams we’ve played. I can’t wait to knock out tonight! Hopefully Miss. Thing here will let me sleep through the night. I’m not looking forward to the flight home but it’s to get back to the Pride to finish up the games for the Challenge Cup so at least there’s that to look forward to. I’m still frustrated with the NWSL for scheduling that tournament during a known FIFA window but if I was to rant about all my frustrations between leagues we’d be here all night.” Alex licked and then bit down on her lip momentarily in thought. “I’m being sure to take care of myself and stay healthy, thank you. How about you? I hope you’re doing the same and I don’t just mean by staying fit. Are you taking care of yourself otherwise? Everything good, you feeling okay mentally and physically? I can’t help but worry about you sometimes.”












