Moving on from Carlo was easier than I thought. May be because it was just 6 months of dating and how bitter the end was.
And, MartĂn was of huge help. We continued to text and leave voice notes for each other. I met him a couple of times at a brewery near his place. We talked endlessly. Topics never seem to be on shortage. Sometimes we talked about something as deep as the fear of losing our parents as we got older. Sometimes it was as pointless as the flavours of ice cream.
A couple of days before the Premier League season started, he took me to meet Merino and his wife Lola. We met at their house for dinner. Their place was quite closer to MartĂnâs. It felt like a double date except that it wasnât. It was one married couple, their friend and the friendâs friend.
But the way they talked made me feel like I was MartĂnâs wife.
âWe really loved Greece. Oh you both should goâ
âWhen these boys go play football, do you want to go shopping?â
âDoes he talk about football a lot at home? Mikel certainly doesâ
Was MartĂn noticing all this? It didnât look like he did. Or was I overthinking? Or were they under the impression that we were dating? How did MartĂn introduce me to them?
To clarify things without sounding like a fool, I tried to casually drop some facts.
âHow did you guys meet? I asked.
âOh through a friend. Liked her the moment she said hiâ Mikel said, making Lola blush.
âThatâs so cute! I would love to have a meet-cute story for myself tooâ I said and immediately felt MartĂnâs eyes darting towards me.
âReally? Whatâs your ideal story?â he teased.
âUm⌠you know, like in the movies. Catching each otherâs eyes in a crowded room. Reaching for the same book at a bookstore. Those kinda stuffâ
âYeah thatâs a lot of moviesâ Mikel said, making everyone laugh.
âYou know you already have your own cute storyâ Lola said as she chewed her food. âDidnât you and MartĂn grow up together?â
âYeah we didâ MartĂn said, smiling.
âThere you go. Now you just gotta make it workâ she said. The table fell silent. MartĂn looked at me and I looked at him. Merino looked at Lola and Lola was oblivious.
âBaby, they are friendsâ Mikel said.
She looked confused for a little while and closed her eyes like she regretted saying anything.
âIâm so sorry. I thought⌠Mikel said⌠Iâm sorry. I shouldnât have assumedâ
âThatâs fine. Forget about itâ MartĂn and I repeated one after the other.
The table was quiet for some time. To be honest, it made me quite uncomfortable. Little MartĂn, like my dad called him, was someone I grew up with. He was younger than me. And I have never thought about him that way. Well, I had checked him out a couple of times. I would be lying if I said I didnât. He was really handsome and so nice to me.
But, actually dating him? Kissing him? Having sex with him⌠ah alright I gotta stop imagining stuff.
âSo the match this weekendâ Mikel started. A voluntary change in topic. âUnited. A big club. You gotta toughen up, Zubi. Itâs their home tooâ
âThere. It started. Football againâ Lola said, smiling at me. I smiled back.
âAre you going to the game? If so, you can tag along with meâ she said.
âUhâŚâ I didnât think about it. I wasnât really planning on spending money to buy tickets. I knew it would be expensive and I wasnât really an Arsenal fan.
But I caught MartĂn looking at with his puppy eyes. It looked like he wanted me there.
âI donât knowâ I said. âI would like to. But I have got work. I canât travel to Manchester now.â
âYou can come for the next match. Itâs in Londonâ Mikel said. It was weird that Mikel and Lola were convincing me to go to the game but no word came out of MartĂn. It pissed me off.
âIâll think about itâ I said. MartĂn went back to quietly eating his meal and responding if asked any question. After dinner, Lola and I shared a glass of wine while MartĂn was taking a walk with Mikel in their backyard.
âIâm sorry about earlierâ Lola said. âI assumed you were a couple. Mikel said Zubi was bringing a girl. So I thought you were his girl but turns out I was just wrongâ
Everything she said was making me blush. His girl?
âI just got out of a break upâ I blurted out of pressure to say something. But it was a bad move. It just made her more sorry. So I assured her that she said nothing wrong and it was common to assume it. âAnd it isnât so bad to be mistaken for MartĂnâs girlfriendâ
Woah. Where did that come from? I felt like I was overcompensating. So I shut up immediately and left their place a couple of minutes later.
MartĂn and I walked over to his place so he drive me home. He insisted.
Most of our walk was quiet with just crickets making it a bit lively.
âWill you come to the game?â he asked finally.
âDo you want me to? You didnât say anything back there and I didnât think you would want thatâ
âWhy wouldnât I want that? I lo- I would love to see you at the stadium. It would feel calm to see a familiar faceâ
âAh good luck with that. It would depend on the kind of ticket I get. I might not get the one near the pitch. Those are so expensiveâ
âMila, you need not get ticketsâ he said. âI would get them for you. There are designated family seats. And we can usually see our family from the groundâ
âWhat? Designated seats?â
âYeah. For playersâ parents or partners. My parents are hardly visiting. So Iâll reserve mine for you. Whenever you needâ
âOh my god! Thatâs awesome. I forgot I knew a player from the clubâ I said, making him laugh. I noticed how his eyes became small and how his cheeks formed lines as he laughed. It was a good look on him.
âWhat should I wear?â
âOh Iâll wear something red. To match your jersey. What do you say?â I was excited to plan my outfit.
âSure. If you want a jersey, you can get mineâ
I stopped at my tracks. âThen thatâs perfect. I can borrow your jerseyâ
âIn fact, you can keep itâ he said.
When we reached his place, we quickly grabbed the classic red Arsenal jersey with Zubimendi 36 at the back.
Next couple of days went with no trace. I decided to go to a pub in North London to watch the opening match of Arsenal. I planned to wear MartĂnâs jersey. It looked really good on me so I took some pictures of myself and sent the best one to MartĂn
Me: (picture) âAll the best for todayâs game! Iâm excited to watch you play.â
I reached the pub in time to get a table for myself. I saw a big bunch of Arsenal fans in the pub, already chanting in excitement. Someone noticed my jersey and asked if I was âfollowing Zubimendi from Real Sociedad?â
I said yes to avoid further questions.
âWhat a lad! I watched him in Euro finals. Shame we lost but he came on and changed the game for Spainâ he said. âGotta love Mikel for bringing him in. Would have hated to lose him to fucking Liverpoolâ
I nodded, feeling so proud of MartĂn. My phone lit up with his name.
MartĂn: âThanks. You look really good in my jerseyâ
I read the message for about 5 times. It made me blush every time.
The game was a really nervous experience for me. I had not voluntarily watched a single Arsenal game before that. But that day, I felt like if Arsenal lost, I would hit depression. There was quite a lot of energy and emotions in the pub, with people chanting songs and yelling strategies. I didnât want to see them sad. I didnât want MartĂn to be sad. It was his debut in Premier League and it had to go well for him.
Arsenal won that game. I let my breath out and went home happily.
On the way, I texted MartĂn.
Me: Congrats on winning! And you looked amazing in that white jersey. When can I borrow that? :)
MartĂnâs message came through few minutes later.
MartĂn: Thanks again! It was a tough match.
Martin: Iâll drop the jersey at your place anytime you want, if you promise to send me a picture every time you wear it.
Me: Looks like it comes with quite some conditions
With a smile on my face, I went to sleep. I couldnât wait for the next weekend to come. If a local pub could reverberate with so much energy, I wondered how a stadium with 60000 people would feel like. The last match I had watched in a stadium was in Reale Arena when MartĂn started out. My parents and I made a trip out of it. I donât remember so much from it except that my dad yelled âZubi Zubi Zubiâ throughout the game even after MartĂn was substituted.
The next week couldnât have gone any slower. Work was slow and I was feeling restless the entire time. But in the middle of the week, I received a post from MartĂn. It was the white jersey with a note âRemember the conditionâ.
Finally, the weekend came. And I was ready a few hours earlier than I should have been. I didnât know when I should reach the stadium. I texted Lola. She said she wouldnât be going that day but told me to reach at least an hour before the game so I could avoid the peak crowd and watch the warm up.
I reached 2 hours earlier, grabbed some snack and was settled. I couldnât believe how premium the hospitality section looked. But I didnât want to sit in the lounge any longer than needed. I went out and grabbed a seat with the beat view. I saw MartĂn on the ground warming up. He looked happy, laughing with others. I sent him a picture of myself with the stadium backdrop and a video zooming on him hopping like a bunny.
He texted me few minutes before the game.
MartĂn: Pretty :) Iâll catch a glimpse of you before the game.
The game started with North London forever chant. Martin was looking straight at the family lounge section. I didnât know if he saw me.
It was one of the best matches I had watched. Arsenal won 5-0. As much as I liked the family lounge for its privacy and privileges, I longed to be among the crowd and yell the chants. I had to tell MartĂn that I would attend other games from the stand instead.
As soon as the game ended and the players went back to their dressing rooms, I got a text from MartĂn telling me to stay in the lounge for some more time. I walked around, saying hello to people I didnât know and had some lobsters for dinner.
As I finished my food, I saw MartĂn walk in. He might have come right after shower. His hair was a soaking mess and his t-shirt was clinging on to his body.
âCongrats! Two wins in a rowâ
He smiled broadly. âDid you enjoy?â
âI did. But Iâm planning on watching from the stand next time. Family lounge doesnât radiate the energy I wantâ
âSo there is a next time?â
âOf course. Whenever possibleâ
He nodded. There was some awkward silence.
I realised that as we started being a bit flirty with each other on texts, Iâm unable to talk to him like before. I forgot how I used to talk to him before this phase.
âIâll take my leave thenâ I said.
âYeah. Sure. Yeahâ he said reaching for another hug. This time a little longer, a little tighter. A tiny rub on my back.
I wished we could stay longer like that.
gummygunk
vaporwave
andulkaphoto
izzy806
blakekathryn
prguitarman
kianamaiart
origamiaround
romaincrisis
gamechangershow
pixelskylines
