[ nou ] in which things go wrong
"Am I her favorite player?" Sergio asked from the other line. Marc could already hear the grin in his voice. When a girl liked Sergio, he liked to tell everyone about it. Marc knew he would need to make sure to watch his friend around Ashley or else his plan could end up completely wrong. What if Sergio ended up putting the moves on Ashley? Knowing her love for Real Madrid, he couldn't let that happen. Then all his effort would have been for nothing.
"Uh...no." Marc said, opting to tell his friend the truth. "She wanted Ronaldo, you were her second choice. But I am not friends with him. And a favor like that could cost me a lot." He explained, thinking of the fact that her favorite footballer was Ronaldo. He was willing to do anything for her, but there were some things he just didn't have the contacts for. If it had been Messi or even Neymar, he would have no problem getting her to meet them. They were team mates in Barcelona and good friends. Even someone on the national team would have been easy, as was her request to meet Sergio.
The smile in his voice dropped when he learned he had been a second choice to Cristiano. Sergio liked meeting his fans, especially if they were females. But he still had his pride. "Hm..." The Spaniard thought about it. He was a bit hesitant. "I'll do it. But...I can't believe I was her second choice." There was a hint of disbelief in his tone.
"Gracias Sergio." Marc said, grateful.
The two talked for a bit longer, catching up on the time they hadn't spoken. And before their call ended, Marc made sure to give Sergio the details about the meeting with Ashley. The Madrid footballer would arrive in Barcelona the following Monday, a day after Marc's date with her. They would meet up at a small, local cafe close to Ashley's house to ensure that the press wouldn't be around. And to thank Valerie for all her help when he was trying to win Ashley over, Marc was going to help her meet Sergi. But that would be another day.
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Sunday came around quickly for Marc, and having passed his football game with a loss, he knew Ashley would tease him about it mercilessly. Madrid had won their game and he was sure she would get her revenge after all the teasing he had done to her.
Marc was woken up that morning by the sound of someone ringing the doorbell. He groaned loudly and brought the covers up over his head. He ignored it and tried to go back to sleep. If it was the neighbor, complaining about Nina and her barking all night, he didn't have the patience to deal with that so early. Marc wasn't a morning person. But when the ringing went on for over five minutes and sounded like it would continue, he was forced to get out of bed.
He made his way toward the front gate, rubbing his tired eyes, and was surprised to see Toni Kroos on the other side. Toni Kroos was the last person he expected to see. "Hallo Marc." said the German footballer. He looked awkward standing there, with sunglasses covering his eyes and a backpack slung over his shoulder.
"Hola Toni." Marc offered a hesitant greeting with his hand. His eyes looked over the German's shoulder, expecting Sergio to be there. But there was no one, Toni was alone. Making a hand sign to the Real Madrid footballer, he told him in his attempt at speaking english, "Can you give me a second? I need to make a quick call."
Toni nodded, clicking away a text message on his iphone. His foot tapped on the ground impatiently as he awaited a response to his text.
Marc went a few feet away, just out of earshot, and brought his cellphone out. Quickly dialing his friend's phone number, he awaited an answer which came seconds later. "Ah! Marc, I knew you would call." Sergio's voice boomed a little bit too loudly.
