Second Chance (Julián Álvarez)

Chapter 5

"Who's this?", asked Freddie, looking at Julián.

"This is my friend Julián. I've told you about him".

She had?

"Hi", said Julián standing up to offer his hand. "Nice meeting you".

Freddie kept staring at Julián's face, making him feel very uncomfortable.

"The footballer?"

"Yes", answered Natalia. "My childhood friend".

"What a coincidence you met again".

"The best coincidence", said Natalia, smiling at Julián and not noticing the way her boyfriend was looking at her.

Julián offered Freddie to sit with them and have a coffee too, but he rejected the invitation reminding Natalia they were supposed to be meeting some friends that night. And now they were probably going to be late.

"Right. I forgot, let's go. Sorry Julián, we'll see each other soon, right?"

The fact that she switched to Spanish when she spoke to him didn't seem to impress her boyfriend, who couldn't understand them.

"Of course. Have fun with your friends".

**

"Did you contact him?", asked Freddie.

"Who? Julián?"

"Who else?"

"No, I didn't. I just bumped into him", shrugged Natalia, not seeing what the big deal was.

"And do you plan on seeing him again?"

"Of course".

That was when Natalia finally noticed the faces Freddie was making.

"What? Can I not see my friend?"

"Sure you can", he said but didn't seem to mean it.

Natalia considered the conversation to be finished and left for their room to get ready for their dinner. But Freddie didn't feel the same way.

She had in fact mentioned Julián many times. It seemed like every time she talked about her life before Manchester, she only talked about the months she spent with him. She also watched his matches and was very happy when she found out he was moving to the same city she was living in. Again.

And Freddie didn't like that.

**

"And I was just walking and I saw him and I couldn't believe it. I was trying to work up the courage to talk to him on social media or something but it was as if fate had other plans".

Natalia had not stopped talking about her meeting with Julián since the dinner started.

"That's so cool, Nat. You need to get us tickets for the matches since you're friends with a famous player", laughed her friend Rose.

"We have to support City now?", asked Sheila, Rose's girlfriend. "I'm not sure how I feel about that".

"Just support Julián", told her Natalia.

"So, I had this client at work today...", started to say Freddie, who had not participated in their conversation so far.

"Was it a famous footballer too?", joked Rose.

"No".

Natalia could see Sheila elbowing Rose as if telling her not to do that again.

"What happened then?", asked Natalia.

And so he told them the most boring story about the client who had brought a case that was full of lies. He had actually done the same with more lawyers in the city and they had been warning each other. But Freddie found the whole exchange hilarious.

"Cool. That's funny", said Rose, trying to mean it but her tone gave her away. So she just took a sip of her wine.

"I just had two shirts ruined at work by kids' vomit. Who wins the lamest story?"

Trust Rose to say something that breaks the ice...or makes the mood worse.

"I need the toilet", said Freddie getting up, "be right back".

Natalia stared at his figure until he disappear from her sight and sighed.

"Trouble in paradise?", asked Rose.

"I don't think so. He's just been weird this evening".

"Seems like he didn't like your encounter with that Julio guy too much", added Sheila, always honest.

"Julián. His name is Julián. And why wouldn't he?"

"Because you talk about him like you are in love with him", she said, in an almost accusatory way.

"What are you talking about, Sheila? I do not".

When Natalia looked at Rose, she saw her making a weird face.

"What does that mean?"

"You kind of do, my love".

"You guys don't get it. He was my friend at a time when I needed one and had none. I'll be forever grateful to him for saving me then", said Natalia, feeling emotional remembering that memory.

"That's beautiful. But why did you stop being friends?", asked Rose, genuinely curious. Sheila was not as happy with this conversation and wasn't making an effort to hide her feelings.

"Distance, I guess. We texted and wrote letters to each other for a couple of years. But then the number of interactions diminished until we stopped talking. I don't even know who sent the last message if I'm honest. But I never stopped missing him".

But she remembered. It was him. And she had tried to answer back so many times but didn't know what to say. "I miss you" was the message she was close to sending the most, but never did.

And then he signed for City and she thought that would give her the final push to contact him. I mean, what were the chances that he would move to the same city she had moved to? But she also didn't do that.

There were many things Natalia wasn't sure of. But she was sure she needed to stop wasting opportunities when it came to Julián.