Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
•••
As Alena prepares her daily morning coffee, a knock on her door interrupts her.
She walks straight to it and opens it up, only to find her shy neighbor in front of her.
"Hello, did I wake you?" Julian asks worried and she denies.
"You just interrupted my coffee," She smiles.
"Oh, I will come back later," He quickly speaks ashamed turning around.
"No, no," Alena grabs his arm making him turn to her. "Come on in," She moves to the side letting space for Julian to walk inside her apartment.
He searches for approval on her face and Alena just stands with a smile. "I'm not a murderer, get in," She insists and Julian chuckles.
He walks in for the first time. His eyes wander around the place trying to save every spot in his head.
"You can seat," Alena speaks while drinking her coffee.
Julian notices he has been standing up looking like a creep for a long time, with a red face and mumbling a sorry, he takes a seat in front of her. "I just wanted to ask you for a favor," He timidly says.
"Sure, what is it?" She raises a brow.
"Uhm," He hesitates to speak. "There just this gathering at my teammate's house and I'm new on the team," He speaks quickly but she interrupts him.
"And you don't want to go there alone?" She finishes for him. Julian just nods ashamed. "Do you want me to go with you?" She adds and he nods again while looking down at his fingers. "Sure," She smiles widely.
Julian scratches the back of his neck nervously. "It's today," He murmurs and Alena almost chokes on her coffee.
"What?" She raises her voice. "What time?"
Julian takes a look at his watch before speaking. "In two hours,"
Alena gets up rapidly from her chair and places the unfinished coffee cup on the sink. "What should I wear?" She asks him and Julian just shrugs.
"Like you would dress on your average Sunday," He smiles.
"My average Sundays do not include famous footballers," She states.
"Do they include people?" Julian asks raising a brow and Alena nods. "Well, the same," He sighs.
"Are you going like that?" Alena wonders while staring strictly at Julian making him uncomfortable and as soon as she notices she stops it.
"Yes but if I look that bad then I will change," He responds ashamed.
"Oh, no, no," Alena quickly speaks. "You look great, you always look handsome," Words leave her mouth before she even notices and her face turns bright red as Julian starts smirking.
"Do you think so?" He asks cockily.
"It doesn't matter what I think right now because I need to get change!" She tries to change the topic making Julian laugh.
"Calm down, just dress up normally, because you always look good," He compliments her and her heart warms up.
"Okay, I'll be right back," She speaks running to her bedroom and searching for an outfit.
In the meanwhile, Julian stands up from his chair as curiosity fills his body and he starts looking around the room, more like, investigating her apartment.
The place is nice, is full of paintings and undone ones as well. There are a small keyboard and a guitar at the corner. In front of the couch, there is a huge TV screen that is almost too big for the room. It's not like the place is messy but it's warming and Julian likes it.
"I'm ready!" Alena's agitated voice scares Julian as he jumps in his place and stops touching the pages full of poems or love songs that were sprayed on the table.
He turns around to face her but she is worried searching for something inside of her small purse. "Should I buy something?" She asks him and Julian frowns.
"What?" He confusedly replies and Alena sighs denying with her head.
"Julian, when you are invited to a place, you are supposed to collaborate and bring something," She explains and Julian just smiles to her, not wanting to object. "Okay, I guess that doesn't happen in rich people's parties," She shrugs and the papers on Julian's hand get her attention. "Why are you holding that?" She asks him and Julian feels fear for the first time being around her.
"I'm sorry, I was just walking around and I accidentally drop them with my leg," He lies. "I haven't read them,"
Alena tilts her head to the side. "You are a terrible liar," A smile escapes her lips and Julian sighs alleviated.
"I am really sorry," Julian feels like apologizing again.
"Did you like them?" She asks him with hope in her eyes.
"I haven't finished reading them," He answers truthfully.
"Well, that's too bad because you won't," She jokes as she takes them from his hand and that slight touch of their fingers make Julian feel everything.
He stands in the middle of her living room watching her as she hides her notes, he finds her extremely beautiful and he can't find a way to express it to her.
"There is something else," He speaks and she turns her attention to him. "Can you pretend to be my girlfriend?"
