Jun 30
romllis and brimiga !!
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romllis and brimiga !!
i hate this pic bc everyone is staring @ brian but brian is only looking at hormiga
my friend said i should post here so hello
in focus / enfoque 📸
pairing(s): armando gonzález x lucía méndez (female oc)
summary:
Lucía Méndez is a freelance photographer trying to make a name for herself in Guadalajara. When an unexpected assignment covering Chivas lands in her lap, she expects long hours, impossible deadlines, and a lot of football she barely understands.
She doesn’t expect Armando González.
A slow-burn romance about finding your place, learning to be seen, and discovering that sometimes the person who notices everyone else deserves to be noticed too.
chapter: 1 — Exposure
words: 1606
genre: slow burn, romance, slice of life, sports romance
cw: none for this chapter. future chapters may include mild language, anxiety, emotional themes, and eventual mature content (18+).
a/n:
Hi! 🤍
This story has been living in my head ever since the World Cup, and I’m so excited to finally share it.
In Focus / Enfoque follows Lucía, a freelance photographer whose life slowly becomes intertwined with Chivas and the people around the club. It’s a very character-driven, very slow burn story, so expect plenty of quiet moments, teasing, friendships, football, photography, and a romance that takes its time.
Even if you don’t know much about Chivas (or futbol in general), I hope you’ll enjoy Lucy’s journey.
I’d love to hear what you think. 🤍
You can also find it on AO3 or Wattpad, where I have much more recent updates. Thanks!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
__________________________________________________
7:48 a.m.
The alarm has been ringing for…
…forty-three minutes.
Throwing the blanket over her head in a desperate attempt to get one more minute of sleep, Lucía doesn’t even hear it anymore.
Her tiny studio apartment in Colonia Americana is already bright with the Guadalajaran sunlight filtering through thin curtains. One wall is covered with prints she’d taken over the years, soccer matches, dia de muertos celebrations from el centro historico, street vendors laughing, a little girl chasing pigeons in Plaza de Armas.
The apartment isn’t fancy, but with the little money she had saved up while working in the U.S. after college it was enough for her after moving back to her hometown.
It was just a full size bed pushed against the wall. She still didn’t have enough money or thought it was worth buying a whole bed frame, if she was able to get a full night’s sleep it was good enough for her. She had an old couch she bought second hand, mismatched dishes. Camera batteries lying around and charging on the kitchen counter. Memory cards scattered across her desk and laptop, two lenses worth more than every piece of furniture she owns.
Photographers are like that.
They’ll sleep on secondhand furniture before buying a cheap lens.
Her laptop was still open with her editing software still open from last night. She’d gotten home after midnight after covering some cultural festival in Centro Histórico. She’d promised herself she’d only edit “a couple.”
She edited 417.
Once she got in a groove she just couldn’t stop.
Then-
BZZT.
Her phone vibrates.
Not her alarm.
WhatsApp.
María Luisa:
Lucy…
Another vibration.
Esti:
Güey.
Another.
María Luisa:
No mames.
Another.
Esti:
¿DÓNDE ESTÁS?
Lucía throws her blanket into her lap and cracks one eye open. Turns over and grabs her phone to check the time.
“…chingada madre.”
There are already twelve unread messages.
⸻
María Luisa:
Ya pedimos café.
Esti:
El café ya se enfrió.
María Luisa:
Vamos a mandar a la Guardia Nacional.
Esti:
O Protección Civil.
María Luisa:
O una Amber Alert.
Esti:
SE BUSCA
Lucía Méndez.
Última vez vista delirando editando fotos.
Lucía groans into her pillow.
She types with one eye still closed.
Lucy:
YA VOY.
Immediately.
Esti:
Mentira.
María Luisa:
Ni te has levantado.
“…¿Cómo saben?”
Esti:
Porque te conocemos.
Jumping out of bed, she kneels over throwing the clothes she meant to fold and put away from the floor into the bed looking for her sneakers she must have thrown while getting into bed last night.
Hair still damp from yesterday’s shower because she slept with it wet.
She only has one sock on and decides it’ll be easier grabbing a new pair than finding the other pair. Grabbing whatever pair of jeans are on top of her bed she decides it’s not a day to look cute but just to survive the day. She throws on a clean oversized black t-shirt and throws her hair up in a bun.
Camera battery?
Where…
Oh.
Still charging. She goes up to her desk to grab her camera lenses and work bag and catches her reflection in her makeup mirror on her desk and groans. Her eye bags and dark circles couldn’t be any worse. Esti and Maria Luisa would not let her live it down if she shows up looking like this. She sits down and does the quickest minimal makeup known to man. Moisturizer, concealer, brushes her brows into place while she thanks the brow gods for not having to do anything to them. Applies mascara and adds a tinted blush that doubles as a lip gloss and calls it a day.
She glances at herself on her full length mirror next to her door as she grabs her work bag and double checks her equipment.
Camera body
Second camera
70-200 lens
Wallet
SD cards
Laptop
Keys
Check, check and check.
“…Sobrevivimos.”
Good.
⸻
Then she runs out the door. Making sure to slam the door since it has been giving her trouble to make sure it shuts completely and as she slides her key after locking it she face palms.
“…Madres.”
Practically body slamming the door to get it to open again.
Her phone. Running to her nightstand she grabs it and catches herself before tripping on a pair of jeans she forgot to throw on her bed.
Laughing and groaning at the fact she’ll have to make sure she takes time to clean up her place later she runs out once again.
⸻
Normally it was only a ten minute walk to the cafeteria, a local cafe that has come to be a favorite spot of el trio to start their day. Coming out of her building Lucia gets greeted by Don Gilberto or Don Gil as she has come to call him. The caretaker of their building who basically does everything and anything that you may need around here.
“Buenos días Señorita Lucia. ¡Lindo día!”
“Buenos días Don Gil!”
Waving goodbye she gets going and enjoys the 10 minute walk to the cafe. While enjoying the smell of cafe de olla from the nearby vendors while smiling and wishing them a good morning. Walking through the streets and watching for the rumbling buses and motorcycles weaving through traffic she smiles to herself. Staring up as she waits for the pedestrian sign to turn green she watches the morning sunlight hitting the old colonial buildings.
She’s exhausted…
…but this city still makes her smile.
⸻
She finally reaches the café and sees Maria Luisa and Esti sitting at one of the patio tables outside.
The second she reaches them and even before she places her work bag in an empty chair María Luisa doesn’t even look up.
“Tardaste treinta y ocho minutos.”
Lucy freezes.
“…¿Los contaste?”
Esti, without looking up from her menu
“Sí.”
Lucy finally drops her camera bag dramatically into the empty chair.
“Buenos días para ustedes también.”
⸻
Before Lucy could even place her coffee order Maria Luisa had already started her weekly rant about her relationship with her on and off boyfriend Diego.
“Ya terminé con él.”
“No me digas, el mismo Diego con quien andabas ayer por la noche?” Esti exclaimed, sipping on her latte.
“¿Que? Que no quedamos que no ibas a quedar con el por esta semana?” Lucy said as Esti laughed.
“Si! Que no esta semana iba hacer.. Como la llmaste? Dick free??” Maria Luisa groans and covers her face.
“¡Me llevo flores!”
Lucy and Esti just exchange the same exhausted look.
“Ah no perdón, con eso cambian las cosas” Esti rolls her eyes. “Ya solo le falto que te llevará chocolates también.”
Finally getting her coffee and taking a couple sips she gives Maria Luisa a knowing look.
“¿Me recuerdas porque estaban peleados otra vez?”
“Es que no me contestó por cuatro horas.”
Esti deadpans, “Ay no, seguramente lo secuestró la CIA.”
Lucy snorts into her coffee.
María Luisa rolls her eyes.
“Ustedes nunca me toman en serio.”
Lucy smiles.
“Sí te tomamos en serio… a él ya no.”
⸻
Then the conversation naturally shifts to Lucy as much as she hates it.
“So… ¿y tú?”
“¿Qué?”
“¿Cómo va el amor?”
Lucy laughs.
“¿Cuál amor?”
“El inexistente.”
“I don’t have time.”
María Luisa gives her that look.
“You always say that.”
Lucy shrugs.
“Porque es verdad.”
She gestures toward her work bag that she has placed on the empty chair between them.
“Last night I got home at one. I edited until almost three. I have two invoices I still haven’t sent. Tomorrow I’m covering another event.”
Esti raises an eyebrow.
“Okay, workaholic.”
Lucy smiles.
“I’d rather build my career first.”
She means it.
Relationships can wait.
Steady work can’t.
“Pues yo digo que como mujeres empoderadas podemos con los dos” Esti claims and Lucy laughs as she looks over and calls over the waiter.
“Tal vez, pero prefiero enfocarme en solo lo que importa ahora. Porque no veo que el amor esté pagando mi renta.” Maria Luisa and Esti give each other a look but keep their witty comments to themselves.
“Bueno hasta la otra?” Lucy exclaims, getting up and grabbing her things.
“Claro, pero no te olvides de nosotras y contesta cuando te hablemos!” She gives them a cheeky smile and blows them a kiss before she leaves.
⸻
Lucy heads back toward the shared media office where she occasionally edits, delivers photos, and picks up freelance assignments. It’s not a glamorous newsroom, just a small, bustling space where photographers and reporters drift in and out between jobs.
She’s thinking about invoices, deadlines, and whether she can afford to replace one of her worn camera straps when one of the other photographers, Luis, calls out.
“¡Lucy!”
She turns.
He’s waving a folder.
“Oye… ¿sigues buscando una cobertura fija?”
Her whole attention shifts.
“…Sí.”
He walks over.
“I think they’re still looking for someone to cover Chivas this season.”
She blinks.
“¿En serio?”
He nods.
“They need someone at training this morning. The usual guy got pulled onto another assignment.”
He hands her a temporary credential. For a second she simply stared at the credential.
“Pues apúrate…”
He checks his watch.
“…porque el entrenamiento empieza en menos de una hora.”
Lucy stares at the laminated pass in her hand.
Her pulse picks up.
This isn’t just another one-off match.
This could finally be the consistent assignment she’s been chasing for years.
She tightens her grip on the pass, slings her camera over her shoulder, and smiles despite herself.
“…Bueno.”
Getting out of her chair, she turns and heads for Verde Valle.
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