The Rising Star - Alexia Putellas

Part 40

It's been a couple of days since I had got the offer from Barca and like I promised my manager I thought about it. Well more like the whole offer took over almost all of my thoughts lately. I was going back and forth over all of the pros and cons and for the love of me I couldn't make a decision.

There were always two teams that I dreamed of playing for. One was Arsenal, check and the other one was Barcelona, possible check. But leaving my friends, my home was nearly an impossible decision to make no matter how much I wanted it.

I still remember when I was young, Cory would always make up stories that I played for Barcelona. He was a big Barca fan just like me, so we would fantasize that I played for them. He believed in me, even when I had trouble believing in myself.

If he would still be around, he would have kicked my ass for not taking the deal sooner. But I liked to rile him up a bit and said that I would play for Arsenal instead. This got a reaction out of him every time.

He always used to say he would move to Spain to see me play there because one day I would. One day I would play for Barca, one day I would play in Camp Nou, one day I would win the Champions League and one day I would become world champion. He promised he would be there for all of these events, being my number one fan. Sadly, life decided differently and he never will be there for either of them.

Anyway, I really needed to make a decision and I soon realized that I could not make this decision on my own, no matter how hard I tried. I needed to talk with someone about it. But that was the tricky part. My logical brain knew I could talk about it with any of my friends, my anxiety filled brain however, though otherwise.

Eventually I chose Christen. I trusted her enough and she had the experience with making these types of decisions. So I went to the park not far from my house, sat down on a bench and called the older forward.

"Hey Ellie, what's up?" She greeted me with not her usual cheerfulness but then again her mother had died not too long ago, so I was not gonna press the matter.

Hey Chris. I'm alright. You?"

"As well as I can be I guess." She sighed.

There was no way that I knew what she was feeling but I had a close idea though. It broke my heart that I couldn't do anything to make her feel better.

"Yeah."

For a moment there was an awkward silence and I debated with myself, whether or not it was a good idea to tell her about Barca.

"Why did you call Queenie?"

"I just missed you." I backed out. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

"I know you do but now the real reason." Typical Christen to figure it out. I swear there's nothing I can hide from the girl. "I heard what happened at Arsenal. I'm sorry."

"I got an offer from Barcelona."

"Oh Ellie, that's great. You always dreamed of that team. You and Cory always used to talk about how one day you would play for them." She laughed. It was the first time in a long time that you had heard her laugh.

"Yeah, we did."

"Okay, why do you not sound happy? I thought you'd be happy about this?" She asked, confused.

"I am. It just." I tried to look for words that would explain how I felt but I came up empty. Christen however seemed to understand how I felt like always.

"But you're conflicted because Arsenal became your home. Not to mention your teammates and the Williamsons." It was like she could read my mind.

"I don't know if I can leave them no matter how much I want to go." I said barely auditable.