Behind the Net | Alejandro Garnacho

THREE.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What's bugging you? Last time I checked, you hated Madrid because no one took you seriously enough to sign you." I said, smirking.

He looked at me and rolled his eyes.

Oh my god.

"Are you seeing someone?" I questioned completely changing the position I was sitting in to better see him. "Oh my gosh, Emanuel. Spill. Now!"

He looked at me and laughed, placing his hands on his face. "I'm not telling you anything. Not after what happened last time with Vanessa."

"Ugh, lame," I mumbled, sitting back down correctly and crossing my arms.

Vanessa. The one who took her sex tape and was about to sell it to TMZ to put her name out. Everyone saw that she was using Many for fame, but Emanuel was the only one too blind to think that. Even to this day, he denies her doing anything wrong to him.

"I basically saved you from that attention-seeking nobody. All she wanted was to use you."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't want to talk about her anymore. She's in the past. Right now, I'm focused on Juli-" He stopped himself before saying anything more.

"Juli? Juliet? Julissa? You just told me everything I needed to know."

I pulled out my phone and opened Instagram, searched up Many's profile, and searched Juli in his following list.

"Before you even try to find her, she doesn't have social media."

Lameeee.

I closed my phone and groaned. Why the hell does Many always try and be mysterious?

- ⚽︎ -

We arrive at Old Trafford and are greeted by some men wearing Nike Tech.

They are totally from the UK.

The men gave us a tour of the stadium and walked us over to the pitch, where we were able to see the players training. The clouds had cleared up, and the sun had begun to shine a bit brighter.

"They should be a little longer, Miss," one of the tour guides said. "Last couple of training exercises, and they will be out. Mason Mount was appointed to guide you towards the locker room and then the press room, where you shall conduct the interview."

I thanked him and walked over to the lower bowl seats, where I was close enough to make out the faces of the players. They all appeared young, besides a handful, so I knew the questions I had come up with were going to be effective.

I looked around and noticed Many was nowhere to be found. I opened my phone and dialed his number.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you?" I asked him.

"I really have no interest in watching guys practice for football. I decided to take a tour around the city; maybe find a place or two where we could settle down. Someplace not too far from the city, but far enough that we don't have people banging on our door wanting my autograph."

I rolled my eyes playfully and smiled. So much for wanting to stay in Madrid.

We said goodbye, and we hung up the phone. I heard the whistle coming from the pitch and realized practice was over. I stood up and watched as the players made their way to the locker room. I began walking down, and a tall, brunette man walked my way. He smiled at me and reached out to grab my hand and help me walk down the stairs on the side of the seats.

"Hello Miss, I'm Mason Mount." He gave me another sympathetic and profound smile. We reached the bottom and began walking towards the locker rooms.

"Nice to meet you, Mason. I'm Isabella. I'm very excited to get to know you and the rest of the club. I'm excited to be helping out with this new stage with the Ochoa Corporation."

He looked at me and smiled once more. "As much as I love Adidas, I'm grateful we'll have another brand making our jerseys."

"I'm thankful too."

- ⚽︎ -

G A R N A C H O

point of view

I heard the final whistle, and I groaned in frustration. Walking off the pitch, I kicked one of the field cones and shook my head. I was done. Not with football, but with my performance on the pitch. The last couple of days, I had been playing horribly. I was in a slump and had no idea what to do.

Rashford made his way towards me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Everything alright, mate?"

I relaxed my pace and nodded, looking at him, sharing a small smile. "Yeah, everything seems alright. Why?" 

"Well, usually you're not kicking field cones for fun." I let out a small laugh and shook my head. Obviously, all Marcus wanted to do was cheer me up, and, per usual, he was able to complete it. He patted my chest and went on. "Cheer up, mate, I hear we have a hot new lady coming to interview us about something. Heard we're going to have some one-on-one meeting interview about... well, about something. Heard she's a stunner." He laughed and jogged away from me, and I shook my head once more. Marcus really had a way with words.

- ⚽︎ -

"Alright men, someone of you, outstanding work, others not so much." I felt the eyes of our head coach, Ruben Amorim, on me. "I need hard work from all of you. Work harder next time, come to practice first, leave last. I don't care. Do whatever needs to be done for the improvement. We have our big match this week against Real Madrid, and we need to show one hundred and ten percent. We got this men." He clapped his hands together and shook his head. "One last thing, lads, Mount is going to come in here in about five minutes and introduce the secretary of Valentino or something. I'm not too sure. Some clothing brand. The secretary will reveal more. Please be on your best behavior." He walked out of the locker room and inside walked Mount.

"Men, she's beautiful. So please don't do anything to ruin my chances with her." He clasped his hands together and lowered his head, almost as if he were about to beg us. 

"Oi mate, don't hog the huzz from everyone," someone shouted. The whole room laughed, and Mount joined in.He shook his head and smiled once more. 

"She's waiting by the press office, so no time to shower. I hope you lads have extra cologne and deodorant."

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

❥ hey besties! did we like the garnacho POV? don't worry, the next chapter and the one after that will def get better.

❥ do we like these 1k+ chapters or do we want 2K?

❥ please stick around and don't forget to click the little star to vote and don't forget to comment. it really motivates me to want to continue to write!

❥ please don't be a silent reader. the comments and votes are much appreciated!

❥ have a great day! xoxo

[ 1,663 words, 1/9/25 ]