Sliding Doors - 2 (English Version)

Chapter 3

Hero

By now my days are punctuated like this:Waking up early, interviews until lunch, relaxation and interviews until dinner, sometimes even until midnight, depending on the schedules of the various countries that require interviews with us.It has become my new 'normality' and I'm not saying I'm happy about it, but at least I don't spend my days on the couch watching some movie like in the past months.

Felix and I have started going out again, as much as possible and with all the limitations that this pandemic imposes on us, just to breathe a bit of fresh air.

"Dude we're going to the park today... are you free? Alex and Morgz are coming too..." Felix pops out of his room door with a ball under his arm.

"Field game?" I sigh "I'd love to..."

I'm thinking if I have a free moment between today's various commitments: I desperately need to find a moment to be able to go out and play football with my friends!
I check my diary which has been getting busier and busier lately.

"At 4 p.m. I have two hours free, I can be there!" I look at him full of amazement!
I didn't remember that I had two hours free today and I feel as if I had received some kind of Christmas present in advance!Outside, the London sky is completely blue, free of clouds, and the temperature is acceptable, not as cold as last month.
April is always a bit of a strange month, sometimes there are beautiful days, others it rains non-stop for a week! London is like that and I love it despite everything.

"Perfect!!! We'll wait for you at the camp then, I'm going to get some practice in!" Felix walks out and the flat goes silent again.I'm lucky to have him in my life, he really is a breath of fresh air or chaos when I'm too caught up in my own thoughts to notice the outside world! He always brings me back to reality, one way or another.I look at the clock, it is 2 p.m. and I only have one interview to do before the two hours of freedom I will spend playing at the football pitch!I switch on the computer and wait for the call from the journalist of yet another newspaper.

Jo is not connected, but she is always late and that is certainly nothing new.
She manages to be late even if she has to log on from her home, she's awful!

"Hello Hero!" Emma, a journalist we now know by name so many times we have met her, greets me with a big smile.

"We'll be doing separate interviews today, Josephine has an commitment she can't postpone. I hope you don't mind!"

I didn't know that!
It's nothing new, I never know anything about what she does or what happens to her.
Things have improved between us, in the sense that we at least talk to each other normally but otherwise total darkness.
A few days ago we were asked to describe our friendship in three words and we spontaneously replied that it is: intermittent, dark because we talk to each other and then disappear into thin air and fragile... definitely fragile.
The interview lasts less than expected, fortunately, and I manage to get away at 3 p.m., that is, a good hour earlier than planned!

I switch off the computer and run to change at the speed of light to join my friends at the camp! I really need to distract myself by kicking a ball, this time not via Playstation but live.

I grab my duffle bag and run outside, breathing in the fresh air at the top of my lungs.Luckily I live near a park and the city smog is far away from here. You can often even hear the birds chirping in the morning and sometimes I feel like I live in the country, even though I'm practically in the middle of London!

"Hey FT, you made it!!!" Alex comes towards me throwing the ball.

"Unbelievable but true!" I smile handing it back to him "I'm all yours! Shall we begin?"

I jump to warm up my muscles and also because I can't wait to start!"What teams are we doing?" asks Felix catching up with me "FT's rusty, I'm not in it together..." he teases me.

"Rusty and distracted, I dare say..." Morgz walks up to us laughing.

"Why?" I look at him questioningly, not understanding what he's referring to.

I only told Felix about Jo and he promised not to mention it to anyone.

"Your phone's been ringing for like five minutes and you haven't noticed!"

I turn to my duffle bag and stay listening. Something is indeed ringing, but I can't even tell if it's the ringtone of my phone!

"Is it mine?" I ask, looking around.

"Well it's coming from your bag... I'd say so!" laughs Alex signalling me to go get the noisy object before it becomes the soundtrack to our game... It doesn't stop playing!I quickly open my duffle bag and start rummaging through my clothes.
Obviously it got in the middle of who knows what and who knows where!

"Come on FT, hurry up!!!" the guys get back on the field and start passing the ball back to each other "Or we start without you!"

I finally find my phone, look at the display and...