Basically Cristiano Ronaldo has a not so secret *nor subtle* crush on his rival Leo Messi. Let the awkward yet still completely adorable flirting ensue.
*****
Also I love both Antonella and Georgina so please don't think I don't. :)
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*flashback to 2018*
"We are so glad to have you here with us Leo, you have no idea how much I'm going to cherish this moment." Leo smiled politely, the interviewer in front of him was clearly shaken up. Her words coming out shaky and nervous.
"I'm happy to be here," he responded and hoped that this interview wasn't going to be too awkward for either of their parts. He rarely did interviews and that was because he didn't want to embarrass himself or mess up.
Despite his early assumptions, the interview was actually pretty standard and the interviewer seemed to be loosening up the longer it went on. They had shared a few laughs and mutual agreements/disagreements about certain footballing policies. Leo actually felt himself warming up to this, his genuine smile coming through, even with the cameras and lights pointing right at him.
"So, speaking of romantic relationships, I actually have a few questions for you and it would be amazing if you could answer a couple."
"Oh, um, of course." Leo wasn't sure where this was going, he hadn't been linked to anyone recently, or at least that's what he assumed. He never really read gossip magazines or anything, choosing not to distract himself with that nonsense.
"I am curious about this one actually, um, is there any special person in your life right now?" She offered him a small smile, the curiousity actually lit up in her eyes. Leo let out a deep breath and shook his head smiling.
"No actually, I haven't really had the time to look for someone. You know with my busy schedule and all of that."
"Oh right, I mean that must be hard. Having to juggle your dating life or a relationship alongside your career."
"Yeah, it's more difficult than people would think." Leo frowned a little, his eyes downcast for a moment as he thought back on all the missed opportunities. He sighed and continued on, "I think in the end it all boils down to what my true passion is right now, and at the moment it's my career. Obviously if the time comes and I meet the right person, things will most likely change."
"I totally understand that," she nodded and Leo shrugged. Watching as she flipped the page in her binder. "To kind of change gears, or topics I should say, a lot of fans and even just random people seriously believe that you and your rival Cristiano Ronaldo are romantically involved with each other and have been for quite some time. There's surprisingly a lot of people that support this theory, and some are even thinking that you are going to leave Barcelona now that Cristiano won't be playing at Real Madrid anymore."
"I-I, what?" Leo couldn't help the breathless words that slipped out of his mouth, it was such a change of topic and one that he wasn't expecting.
"Well, clearly I understand that must be shock to you, but um, it's actually a question that's been sent to me countless times. I've had tweets sent at me and people asking me in my messages, to ask you this question." She glanced down at the notes and Leo felt a bead of sweat prickle on his brow. He'd never been asked directly about this before, and he wasn't sure how to react. "Do you feel hurt or betrayed that Cristiano is leaving you in Spain?"
"Hurt?"
"Well, not exactly like hurt, but more like... Are you sad that he's leaving?" She tilted her head, the look in her eyes unreadable. Leo nervously glanced down at his hands, clenching them so they weren't shaking so bad. He cleared his throat and wracked his brain for some generic and professional answer.
Am I hurt Cristiano's leaving Real Madrid?
It became even worse as he noticed she wasn't going to say anything, her eyes just stared straight ahead, expecting an answer.
"Um, well I uh," it was apparent to everyone in the room that this question bothered him. Yet, no, it didn't. Not really. Not for the reasons everyone thinks anyways. "I-I'm sorry, this is um-"
"Is it hard for you to answer?" She asked, the genuine concern almost made Leo want to laugh. An embarrassed and borderline distressed laugh threatened to burst out, he managed a quiet scoff and quick shake of his head. Great, this was just great. This would surely be all over headlines tomorrow.
"No, it's um, not difficult at all. It's just something I never really thought about." That was a lie, but who cares, he'd already ruined this interview when he started stuttering. "I wouldn't say I'm like hurt anything though, a bit disappointed? Yes, but that's the way it goes. Eventually a player is going to think about transferring to another club, that's normal. Um, I think that Cristiano is an exceptional player and from what I've seen and from what I know, he was bound to want to find a new challenge and..." He had to take a breather, the multiple sets of eyes on him weren't easy to ignore. The curious and even judgmental gazes only adding to the nerves that were building up inside of him. "I wish him the best of luck in his new environment."
"That's awfully sweet of you Leo, I'm sure he appreciates your comments very much." She scribbled something out on her sheet of paper and smiled. "Well, fortunately for you, I only have one question left."
"Okay," his right knee began to bounce up on down. He was pretty much ready for this interview to be over.
"I won't make this more difficult than it needs to be, so all I need from you is a easy yes or no. If you had any say in the matter, would you have wanted him to stay?"
The question was a simple one, yes or no. It should have been easy for Leo to answer, but his true answer.. The yes sat on the tip of his tongue. He was hesitating and he didn't even know why. The interviewer looked as if she knew the answer already and was just waiting for Leo to say it aloud.
"I... I think that..." The words weren't coming out right, almost as if he didn't want to say them. "I think that he made the right choice for his career and um, I think he knows what he's doing."
"So," the word was drawn out as she raised a brow. "You're saying no?"
Leo wanted to scream because no. He wanted to say yes, yes I would have wanted him to stay. Yet the words just weren't coming and he really just wanted this to be over so he smiled a solemn smile and nodded. The interviewer high fived him and finished up her outro, Leo once again thanked her for having him on her show and left the building. A sour almost uneasy feeling in his gut after it. The feeling a bitter reminder to him on why he never did interviews.
