And every single choice that you made
Was a stone in the path to this place
And every single cut that you claim
Has led you this way, lay your head on me.
Nervous. That was how Sofia was feeling.
Her whole English adventure depending on that project. A project that she was doubtful about, but that was what she had. Somehow she managed to find out what the winner could get: a stage for one English club for a month. That meant that if she won, she would have been able to stay another month in England.
There was no way, thou, she would have showed the Chelsea project, at least not after breaking the deal with Ben. And her pride was just too big.
After applying once again her favorite lipstick in front of her mirror, she turned to Corina, who was already ready to go.
"How do I look?" The blonde asked. "Good? Or could I look better?"
Corina let out a laugh. "Sofia, you look absolutely stunning, stop worrying!"
"Easier said than done." Sofia muttered, as she started to recollect her purse and the two USB sticks, one of them containing the Chelsea project. She didn't know why she was taking it with her, but somehow the thought of having it with her was enough to make her relax. "You ready? Or else we will arrive later! Call also Gheorghe!"
"Already done, boss!" The brunette giggled, getting up from her bed, where she was sitting. She grabbed Sofia's phone and handed it to her. "Write him."
"No." The blue eyed girl hissed, taking off her phone from Corina's hand. "Stop being obsessed over him!"
"I'm really not." Her friend rolled her dark eyes. "But fine, if you're not writing him, I will." She took her own phone and put the password, only for being stopped by Sofia.
"Fine." She said between teeth. "I will write him. Happy now?"
Corina couldn't help but smile proudly. "That's my girl getting her lover boy!"
Sofia rolled her eyes. "Shut up because the only thing I will be getting is him laughing at me." She shook her head. "I have become so pathetic that it's ridiculous!"
//
Sofia🌟
Just for the record, it's my presentation day. Wrote you only to remember that I'm not bringing Chelsea project. Have a good day.
Ben couldn't help but smile when his telephone display showed Sofia's name. Honestly he never thought that she could have wrote him -he knew that he was the most likely to make a first step-, but seeing her name warmed his heart.
She wrote that it was her project day, but he already remembered. Truth to be told, he remembered everything about her, because, despite what she thought, she was not just another pretty girl in Ben Chilwell's life.
That was why he was going to the presentation too, taking with him Mason, Kai and Timo -the ladder German being surprisingly the easiest one to convince, as he and the Rumanian quickly managed to become friends-.
"You are smiling like an idiot." It was Timo who spoke, obviously, with his usual kind voice. "Are you stalking her again on Instagram? Well, stop it, she hasn't posted anything in two days." He shook his head. "You also have active notifications!"
"Should i be worried on why you know it?" Ben asked to his German friend, narrowing his eyebrows.
Timo shrugged. "Because, contrarily to you, I am still in touch with her." He smirked.
"What did she say?" Ben tried to act nonchalantly, but was dying to know if she ever mentioned him.
"She said nothing about you." Timo replied, already knowing where his friend was going with the conversation. "But you know how she's made."
"Yeah..." The English took a deep breath. "Guys, we have a mission to do."
"Which one now?" Kai couldn't help but ask, supported by Mason who facepalmed himself at his friend.
Ben smiled proudly. "We have to convince Sofia to show the Chelsea project."
//
"She's coming!" Mason announced once he spotted a certain blonde girl stepping into the university, accompanied by a brunette girl and the iconic Gheorghe.
For the past hour, Ben had been chatting with Corinna for the details, keeping updated also his friends. He really felt like working on a secret mission for Scotland Yard in that moment. The plan, thou, was quite simple. Ben had to speak alone with Sofia, and possibly avoiding her to slap him.
"Act like a normal human being!" Kai warned in a serious tone. "We're in a place full of people!"
"Kai, you're talking to Ben, remember." It was obviously Timo who spoke, shaking his head. "Okay, let's go!"
Normally Ben would have replied to Timo, but right now he had to contain himself from not acting like a teenager on his first crush. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to look as nonchalantly as possible, as the four players got up from the table where they sitting to approach the three Rumanians.
Ben's eyes were glued on the blonde girl, who was wearing a tight black dress and heels, looking very professional. Her eyes, thou, were glued on her phone, as she looked like to be writing to someone. Useless to say that Ben was curious to know who.
"Sofia!" Timo called, waving his hand at the blonde girl from Romania, making her take off her blue eyes off the telephone screen.
Sofia was taken back by it, not really understanding what the four guys were doing there. "Hi Timo!" She put on a smile and side hugged the blonde German. "Guys." She smiled at Kai and Mason, her smile disappearing when her eyes landed on Ben. However, she soon looked back at Timo. "What are you doing here?"
"Ben told us about your presentation." Kai explained. "We're here for support."
"Support? Me?" Sofia was quite shocked, in a good way, as she pointed at herself with her finger. She looked at Corina and Gheorghe. "Did you guys know it?"
"I barely know my name." Gheorghe commented, rubbing the back of his neck, and causing everyone to laugh.
"I knew it." Corina confessed with a smirk. "Surprise!"
Sofia looked at her with a straight face. "Good. We will talk about it later." She turned again to the players, avoiding to meet Ben's eyes. "Uhm, thank you, I guess. There was no need to bother coming here!"
"No bothers!" Mason reassured her with a warm smile. "You're a friend."
The girl nodded, clearing her throat. "Okay, we are going to the room, if you want to join..."
Timo took a slight elbow to Ben, clearing his throat while shooting him a warning glance. The English player nodded, it was now or never.
"Sofia." He called, making the girl finally look at him, but there was not a happy expression on her face. "Can I talk to you? In private?"
"I am in a hurry." She coldly replied, placing a lock of hair behind her ear.
"It will be quick." Ben insisted, hoping that she would have finally said yes.
Corina, this time, was quicker than Sofia, and replied. "Yes, she can talk to you." She then turned her attention to the guys. "Come with me, I show you the way!"
"Traitor." Sofia muttered under her breath as she saw the group walking away, leaving her again with Ben. Taking a deep breath, she finally looked at him again. "You have two minutes, what do you want?"
"Two minutes?" Ben rolled his eyes. Yes, she was still that mad. "I'll be super quick then. Give them the Chelsea project. I know you have it with you."
"Excuse me?" The blonde raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms to her chest. "Why should I do it? The contract is broken."
"First of all, that project is a contract with Chelsea, not with me." Ben pointed out, trying to grab her hand but she pushed him away. "Second of all, Corina told me everything about the project, and the price in winning it." He took a step ahead and looked at her straightly in the eyes. "Please, Sofia, don't throw away everything just because you're mad at me."
"What I do, if I stay or leave, it is none of your business, Ben Chilwell." Sofia hissed. "And if I do something, I do it for me, not for anyone else."
The player was about to say something else when the loud voice belonging to a petite dark haired girl stopped him.
"What do I see?" The unknown girl approached the pair with a smirk on her face. "A romantic talk with your boyfriend, Sofia?"
"Cut your shit, Mia!" The Rumanian said, clutching her firsts and trying her best to not punch her right now. "He's not my boyfriend and it's not your fucking business what we talk about."
It was clear that the two disliked each other, but not also Ben joined the club of not liking that Mia girl. He thought she was rude, and not only because she interrupted their talk, but he was sure that Sofia was able to put her back at her place. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, and I would rather finish the conversation, if you don't mind." He said to Mia.
"Oh sorry!" The petite girl smirked, making a step towards his direction and laying a hand on his arm. "You know, I am a big fan of yours."
"Look, Mia, there are also birds in the sky!" Sofia commented sarcastically. "Want to hit on them too?"
Ben had to bite his lips to not laugh, while Mia shot her a glare.
"You are not funny." The girl commented. "Vulgar, that's what you are."
"I'll live with that." The blonde waved back her hair. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a winning project to show!"
With one last smirk, the blonde Rumanian started to walk towards her class.
"Sofia!" Ben called, shaking Mia's hand away from his arm. "Uhm, good to know you are a fan!" He didn't exactly wait for a response, he didn't care about having one, that he started walking towards Sofia. Damn, the girl walked fast also in heels.
He followed her to a crowded room, where he spotted his friends sitting beside Gheorghe and Corina -with the Rumanian guy speaking a perfect German with Timo and Kai-, but there was not time to worry about them. He finally spotted also Sofia, who handed an older woman an USB stick.
"Please, let it be our project..." Ben whispered to himself, waiting by the entrance with his heart which was beating wildly.
When finally Sofia turned, she met his eyes. A nod from her was enough to make him understand she gave them the Chelsea project.
//
Mrs Norris returned to the stage about two hours later, accompanied by the rector of the university and two people from the jury -they had a big impact on choosing the winning project, and the room went totally quiet.
Sofia took a deep breath, her left leg trembling as usual, as it always did when she was anxious about something. She just hoped to not faint. Sitting beside her, Ben laid a hand on her knee, making her leg stop. She looked at him and he sweetly smiled at her, but she quickly looked away, as she told Corina to hold her hand. Being friends since long time, it was their way to face things.
"I want to congratulate everyone of you, every project was very beautiful, giving us a hard time for choosing only one!" Mrs Norris said through a microphone, letting out a laugh. There was a letter on the table where she was currently sitting, the woman grabbed it and opened it. "However, we had to make a decision, and we all agreed on who deserved to win an one month stage for any English club, no matter if from football or volleyball. Without further hesitations, let's find out the lucky name!" The woman smiled at the crowd. "Congratulations James Evans!"
As everyone started clapping, it was like the world stopped for Sofia. She watched how a guy she barely ever saw got up to take the award she worked so hard for. She was not clapping, for how rude people thought it could be, but she was mad, sad, and when you were left with bitterness, you surely didn't feel like cheering.
Ben looked at her, at how impassible she was while watching the guy cheering on the stage. If only he knew what to do in that moment to cheer her up, but he was also scared that she would have pushed him away.
"Start leaving, I join you in few minutes." After a while Sofia said, when the room finally began to get empty, leaving few people inside, including Mrs Norris and the others on the stage.
"What are you doing?" Corina couldn't help but ask as she saw Sofia getting up.
"Having some explanations." The blonde replied, making her way to the stage, where Mrs Norris already noticed her and was now waiting for her. Once they were face to face, Sofia asked. "Why?" Her voice was firm, not letting any kind of emotions leak out. "My project was super good, why didn't I win?"
Mrs Norris let out a deep breath. "Sofia... We wanted to give you the award." She confessed. "Seriously, but the jury heard the rumours about you and Chilwell... I am really sorry, Sofia."
At this, the blonde Rumanian let out a bitter laugh. "This is unfair." She spoke. "Deprive someone of what they deserve for a stupid rumour... So this means that a person cannot have both a private life and a work life together." She shook her head. "What I do professionally should be based on my capacities, my professionalism and my abilities, not on who I may or may not date privately."
"I know..." Mrs Norris nodded. "But I don't make the rules... I am really sorry, Sofia. I really don't know what to say about it."
"There's no need to say more." Sofia stated. "Also because in a week I will be taking the first airplane to Romania, so my rumours won't be a problem anymore. Thank you for everything."
She turned on her back and started walking to the exit. Bullshits, they were all bullshits what she had to hear, a poor excuse for having been robbed.
Once she was finally outside the room, she spotted her friends and was about to approach them, when a hand stopped her by slightly grabbing her arm. She turned only to meet Ben's blue eyes who were looking straightly into hers.
"Hey." The player sweetly said, reserving her a little smile.
"Can I help you?" She asked coldly. "I want to come back home."
"I have a better idea." Ben confessed, his hand still laying on her arm. "Please, just say yes." He begged, his eyes never breaking the contact with hers. Honestly all he wanted to make her smile again, helping her feel better, and obviously talking to her, this was why an idea came into his mind when he saw her talking to her teacher. An idea that he shared also with their group of friends.
Sofia let out a deep breath. "I hope for you that this does not suck." She said in the end. "Uhm, I go warning Corina."
"I wait here." Ben nodded with a smile.
Sofia nodded and went to Corina, to warn her. She didn't know why she accepted Ben's propose, especially because she was still mad at him for how things turned out two days before, just like she didn't know why she sent him a message to tell him about that stupid project. There were a lot of things she didn't know when it came to Ben Chilwell, but somehow, no matter how hard she tried, she always ended up with him, like he was her freaking magnet or whatever.
Once she was done with Corina, she returned to Ben. "Lead the way, Chilwell."
The player nodded with a smile. "Let's go."
And with that, he grabbed her hand.
—
Which team(s) do you support??
As I always, mine is Bayern München.✌🏻✌🏻 I like also other teams, obviously, but Bayern will always be my only one.
Anyway, another chapter I decided to separate in two parts.
Enjoy.✌🏻✌🏻
- Света🪆