I reach out for the second time for the glass of red wine placed in front of me as Ela and I sit at a bar in Barcelona.
I arrived back from my girls trip with Bruna two days ago and we are finally having our long overdue girls night to catch up, after spending my return mainly with Pedri.
'So...you're telling me that you actually enjoyed your trip with Bruna to the Maldives?' Ela repeats what I had just told her a few seconds ago.
'Yes.' I nodded my head. 'There wasn't one thing awkward between the two of us and we got along surprisingly well.' I shrugged my shoulders. 'Do you think Pedri minds it? What if it bothers him?' I tell Ela as I avoid her gaze, the drinks finally taking over my brain cells.
'Why would you think it bothers him?' she chuckles but suddenly stops as she realises something. 'Ah! That's why he looked so down during practice!'
Hearing this new piece of information, a buckle of guilt starts washing over me. 'Of course it bothers him!' I said quietly. 'I feel so bad, Ela, oh my God...' I down the glass of wine in my hand in one go.
'Calm down.' she chuckles. 'He was probably down because you weren't here and you know that's how he gets when you two are apart. I mean... he was fine when you came back, wasn't he?'
I nodded my head without saying anything.
'And yes, a normal person would get bothered if they were in Pedri's shoes, because, well, your bestfriend is Kylian Mbappe and some random guy that loves infiltrating in your life and your ex is the one and only Neymar Jr and you basically adopted Davi, his son, and Pedri did sleep in Neymar's pyjamas when you two flew to Paris in Kylian's private plane...' she exhaled loudly like she just ran out of breath. 'But despite everything, he accepts it and loves you for who you are and for all your baggage. There's no doubt about that.' Ela yells, trying to make sure she gets her point across through the EDM music blaring through the speakers near where we were sitting. 'You two work because it's easy. And maybe sometimes easy is just exactly what we all need.'
I look over at my friend but she looks away from me towards the front of the bar, trying to hide her face. Whilst I absorb the wise words that she just told me, I also know that she is probably indirectly speaking to herself. We both sit there, ironically both in silence as we each contemplate.
Ela's POV:
I'm not sure what is worse, Irina stressing about something that isn't even close to what the alcohol is trying to paint or my relationship with Gavi, or lack thereof. We sit there at the bar, sipping our own drinks after I offered some words of advise to my dear friend, think about how some of them didn't sound as convincing as they should've been.
As Irina had her girls trip with Bruna, which meant that I had to go to work by myself and wanting to have a chance to speak with my supposed "best friend" who has very effectively evaded me since we got back from Qatar, a trip that made our relationship even more confusing as it is, my mind just can't function properly.
During the World Cup me and Gavi were forced to spend more time with each other, don't get me wrong though, it wasn't like we didn't want to, but recently there is this heavy tension that lingers between us. I just can't seem to shake it off anymore.
Adding the fact that I also hide some jealous feelings within me as I noticed that Gavi has been constantly on his phone, texting someone. For as long as I can remember, he only used to spend that much time texting whenever we weren't together in person.
Long story short, I came to the bitter conclusion that he is probably texting a girl who is obviously not me.
