68 Ways to Rekindle | Aaron Ramsey

THIRTY - NINE ::

Who in the world did she leave with?

"Hey Woj," I turn to the man sitting beside me, who was now holding a glass of whiskey in his hand. He hurriedly chugged it down before turning to me. "Who else is by the table?"

"Uh," Wojciech looked up to the ceiling in thought. "A bunch of people to be fair with you, mate. Almost the entire team is there, I think- with the exception of Gigi. Unless someone left before I went to the toilet, then I don't know. But our table is on the left side, you can always go there and find out." I wouldn't dare to do that without Wojciech next to me; I barely know these people. They could talk rubbish about me in Italian and I wouldn't be able to understand a single letter. Well, then again, I've got Welsh under my belt and that's a lot more difficult than Italian.

She used to describe it as "letters thrown together to make syllables," which sounds fair to anyone who doesn't remotely understand any form or words in Welsh.

"Here," The Polish goalkeeper tapped my shoulder. "I'll go with you, alright? I have to get my jacket from the round seats anyway." I nodded. We both got up and headed toward the Juventus table. The players were all seated in a serious manner, or so it seems. Perhaps it was just the language that made it seem that way. "They mean no harm, Aaron. They just talk harsh. All talk and banters here, just like the old days." I watch Woj grab his beige-colored leather jacket from beside Alex Sandro, who smiled at me as he looked up from his drink.

"Aaron!" They had all addressed me by my first name- even though I hadn't met two of these people in my life. I felt like I knew them my entire existence on earth.

"Hey guys." I waved as Woj laughed.

"We're not going to eat you up, you know? How's everything so far at Arsenal?" Gonzalo Higuain was the first to speak to me, gesturing me to sit down.

I shrugged. "Not bad, could be better. We hadn't had that great of a season and we're looking to a better one in August. What about you? I haven't seen you in a while, to be fair."

"It's been alright. Our coach likes playing two strikers up front, so I'm trying to pass to Paul every chance I get now," Gonzalo took a sip of his drink. "But I sometimes have to be selfish too."

"I know how you feel. I'm always trying to take some shots, but it doesn't go too well."

"How's your personal life?"

I wanted to chuckle, desperately- out of the self-sympathy that I have for myself. "Not going that great. My fiancée and I broke it off."

"How many years?"

"I'd say four or so." I shuffled my hair.

"Shit," Gonzalo remarked, pausing. "That's tough, man. I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine." In reality, it wasn't fine. It was hurting me a lot more than I made it to be. "I deserve it. I treated her like shit when I was getting all kinds of gossips, rumors, and transfer deals. It was my lowest point in life and I took it out on her. She was with me, day in and day out- yet I betrayed her."

"You slept with someone else?" I sighed.

"You could say that," I was so ashamed of myself to admit it. "It was honestly a mistake that happened no more than twice. It was the same person too. My fiancée knew it too, and she forgave me for it- twice. I couldn't admit it to her, but as soon as I knew, I broke off every single connection I had with that woman and crawled back for forgiveness."

"I'm assuming she didn't forgive you." Gonzalo claimed, as I nodded my head.

"She has a right not to forgive me. And I get it. She has every single right to be with someone else- someone else who can make her happier than I did. But still, I'm trying for her to trust me again and to really sincerely apologize."

"What else have you done to her? I mean, she forgave you but-"

"Well," I took a drink out of my own glass cup. "I threw a flower vase in her direction first because it reminded me of Colleen," Gonzalo's eyes widen at this point. "There were so many things that I have done wrong, Gonzalo. Over the course of the year, as soon as she left elsewhere and was gone from my life, I was pathetic and miserable. I cried so much, I showed up to training with swollen eyes and I couldn't see- my eyesight got so bad, it was horrible. After that, I sought help from some mental health services in London."

"That bad?" I nodded.

"It was that bad. I'm not afraid to even admit I went to the mental health services, because mental illnesses are not stigmas, and they shouldn't be stigmatized. If anything, I think we should help each other to overcome our problems, and to help each other in order to understand and empathize that we're not perfect. We're all flawed people in a broken world." In my belief, to rekindle, you must always first find your own flaws, instead of critiquing someone else's.

"Damn, Aaron. Talking to you is like hearing my six year son growing up in a day to be a wise eighty year old man." Gonzalo chuckled. "I agree though."

"By the way," I eased the tension in the air. "Did you see the woman who danced on the dance floor?" Their table was the closest to the multi-colored dance floor.

"The one with the red and black mini dress?" Gonzalo ask as I nod. "Oh, of course. The boys were immediately hyped up and got right up to dance."

"Who got up to dance?"

"So many of us! She was such an animal too." Could it even be the same person? "I didn't want to have anything to do with it though, so I stayed seated. But everyone got up from the table and went to her. She had this magnetic force, it feels like." That is her natural power, it seems.

"Really?" I pretended like I didn't know who she was. "Did she leave with anyone?"

"I didn't see that much, but a couple of our guys left."

I pressed harder on the question. "Oh, yeah? Who?"

"Honestly, Aaron? Too many to even name. It's only five of us left and we came in fifteen people strong, so you do the math." Gonzalo chuckled again. "P-Wee G even left his jacket here. He's probably freezing right now since it's raining outside, but he hasn't come back in like two hours, so I'll take it with me."

"P- what?"

"We give each other silly nicknames. Likewise, mine is Gogo- which is really lame."

"Then who's P-Wee G?" I asked, intrigued to find out the answer. This P-Wee G had to have been the one who left with her from the dance floor.

"P-Wee G is-"

"It's the police!"

The police walked in, interrupting Gonzalo's sentence.

"Lights on, please." The lights immediately went on. "We've received a call that there were deals of illegal drugs. Males to the left, females to the right. You'll all be searched accordingly." The club was in a commotion in matter of minutes. Fortunately, I was next to Gonzalo, waiting to be searched.

"Who is P-Wee G, Gonzalo?" Gonzalo opened his mouth to speak, as I was shoved by a man behind me into Alyssa Florence- a face that I was all too familiar with, but wanted nothing to do with.

//

so your clue is P-Wee G- who do you think it is still? you'll all find out very soon!

and Alyssa Florence makes her grand return! please go ahead and read clandestine as well; I personally like it (but my all-time fave is Five Days Until the World Falls -- I can't wait to write another Lahm piece)

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