★☆★☆★
𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖡𝖾𝗅𝗈𝗇𝗀𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖸𝗈𝗎
★☆★☆★
Nicolle woke up and went to get ready for work. She would have loved to stay home but for today it was out of the question as she had important work that had to be done during the day. In other words, there was a lot to finish by the end of the week to come.
She did her usual routine in the bathroom, changing into the formal clothing that she wore every workday before following the usual scent downstairs to be greeted by the breakfast made by Fernando. As she made her way down she saw both her brothers by the table with plates in front of them. Normally Nicolle would sit to the side of Pedri but this time she took her plate and sat at the other end of the table ignoring him.
Fernando approached the table as well after just waiting for his cup of coffee to finish, but this time he sat keeping a chair open between him and his brother, Pedri watched as both his siblings moved away from him, the pain he felt as he watched them start to engage in conversation, ignoring his presence.
Ignoring his pain
"Nic, how will you get to work?" Fer asked which did gain the attention of her slightly older brother from across the table as he turned to look at her.
"I do have my own car, which I haven't used in a while, I'll just take that but the gas might not be full, if not an Uber" she spoke ignoring the sowerful gaze from her brother.
"You don't want me to drop you Nic?" Pedri spoke, rather softly but loud enough for both his siblings to hear him. This managed to pull her sister's head to look at him, but her eyes presented nothing more than hatred.
She showed no shine or happiness, she looked different
She looked like a different person
"I am good, thanks" she shot back, finishing her last bite on her plate and beginning to stand up and place the plate in the sink. Her voice was stern, she might have snapped back but she spoke softly.
"Nicolle, I can take you, it just means that we have to leave a bit earlier?" Fernando broke in after feeling the tension in the atmosphere, which did put a smile on his sister's face. Sure she could take her car but it was nearly if not almost out of gas, so she needed to find time this coming weekend to fuel in some gas so she could start taking her own car to work.
"That would be good, thank you Fer" she responded, grabbing her belongings and heading for the door with Fernando trailing behind her, they left their other sibling alone on the table not realizing the pain he felt, the pain building up inside of him.
The boy wanted to cry, never had he been rejected by his own siblings, never had he been ignored, never had he felt so stupid and hurt and he could say this would be the first day that she chose to drive with Fernando to work. They would normally always go to work together
Listening and fighting over songs to play
Talking about the news in and out of the country
Hyping each other up for upcoming games
He wanted to call in, to stay home and just sulk but Xavi said otherwise. Sure he was part of the reason that this happened but it didn't mean that he wanted to be given the cold shoulder by both siblings, he wanted to try to talk it out, he still hasn't had the chance to explain, even his parents would be making a visit tonight to talk about the situation as Nicolle did give them a call explaining everything that happened, he passed by her door later last night wanting to grab something to eat and he could hear the faint voices of their parents on speaker.
The Spaniard sighed, once he placed his plate in the sink he made his way down to his car and began his way to training. If anything he needed to be full focus as well today to avoid getting scolded by his coach yet again.
★☆★☆★
Nicolle felt weird being at work, sure she had been here every day almost but with what happened just yesterday with three of the players, she felt like the whole atmosphere shifted as if it was her first day on the job, as if she was new to the area, like she was never here before.
The girl entered her office and as per usual placed her bag down and got set up to begin the work, she opened her laptop to find an email from Xavi and it was apparently due to be submitted within the next three hours, but it wasn't anything tricky but not something she could do at home as she take note of the new player on the field and just fill in some information for future references.
She had been doing that certain task a lot recently and if she was honest she did enjoy going up to watch the training and make notes, but she wasn't sure she liked it as much anymore. But three people can't decide that, plus she would ignore them if anything.
The girl sighed, picking up her pen and clipboard, with the note paper-clipped along with a pen. She walked out of the office after just being in for just over 5 minutes, making her way to the stands outside to observe Lamine. It was weird for her job to watch and take notes but it was a request of Xavi regardless and she can't go against it.
"Buenos dias Xavi" she smiled as soon as she reached the top step. He was standing near the stairs, as he was talking to his brother.
"Ahh Nicolle, Buenos dias, thank you again for doing this, after the report is done you are welcome to take the rest of the day to relax or finish any pending work, but still be here, if that's ok" Xavi spoke with a smile, watching as she made her way beside him
"No no, it's ok I don't mind doing this, I'll have it done and just catch up on any work if I have" She smiled back watching as the coach nodded in agreement signaling that she was free to take a seat.
She took her spot and her eyes wandered the pitch looking towards the happy players, watching as they were engaged in a certain game among themselves, she did for a brief second catch the eyes of Pablo and his "two buddies" who seemed to be observing her. The girl rolled her eyes and fixed them on Lamine ready to take some notes on his performance while training.
★☆★☆★
The training she watched for the hour went well, she was focused on Lamine the whole hour and not letting anything or anyone distract her, but before she went inside she briefly spoke to Lamine, introducing herself to him, and welcoming him to the team of Barcelona, she did briefly express her notes towards him and he gladly accepted the feedback happy to know she is the one who will help with any medical issues presented when training.
Nicolle spoke for a good ten minutes explaining her positive feedback and was needed to improve in her view.
This was indeed during their quick break which meant she was near Pablo, her brother, and Ansu, but she had no intention of talking to them.
Despite them all watching her
"Well Lamine, you'll make a great player for Barcelona, I am sure you will be one of the best young ones out there but also enjoy the experience, yeah?" Nicolle smiled watching as he smiled before walking off back to the center of the field to continue the next two hours of training before their early lunch break.
Although Nicolle didn't seem to be heading down, she just stood, forgetting the presence of the boys and reviewing all her notes once again, making sure she had everything before she needed to head down and transfer her notes onto the required document.
"Nicolle-" Pablo began, he saw this as an opportunity to try and talk to her but it was no use as she turned on her heels and made her way downstairs fully ignoring him, sure she would have to talk to them about it eventually but at this moment she needed her space and time to process the whole event that happened before her.
Plus talking out in the presence of many others along with the media crew wasn't the best option, as well as Pablo and her walking somewhere private if she agreed.
"Has she also been ignoring you guys?" The boy turned to his friends as they started to make their way back to the rest of the group who were all standing and chatting in the middle of the field.
"Of course she has, she should properly ignore me more than both of you guys as I let you do this bet, I should have been the one to stop it." Pedri sighed moving at a faster pace leaving Pablo and Ansu to trail behind. The two looked at each other and just dropped their heads not saying a word more as they made their way towards the center.
Pablo lifted his head back up looking at Pedri, he shouldn't be the one to blame, not at all, he barely did anything but he did make a point, he could have stopped the whole situation from escalating further.
But he did have one question running through his mind, one rather similar to what Nicolle was thinking just yesterday after finding out.
Why out of all the girls in the world did Ansu choose the dare to be about Nicolle?
He briefly turned to his friend walking next to him who still had his head held low, Pablo sighed as he turned his head away, focusing on what he needed to do for training.
Pablo waited for the two hours to pass quickly, he needed to speak to the girl, he needed her to hear what he had to say, he just wanted to see her and apologize more than a million times.
He had to tell her how he really felt during the dare
He had to tell her that he fell in love
He did glance at her shoes earlier when she was talking to Lamine and she changed back to her old run-down Nikes, ones where it was evident she had them for one too many years to count. She stopped wearing the shoes he got her for her birthday, the ones she tried in the store but stepped away because of the price, it was understandable to him that she wanted nothing to do with him or anything that he got her, but deep down it still ached his heart.
★☆★☆★
Nicolle was contemplating whether she should go grab her lunch or just have it ordered from Uber Eats and pick it up from the entrance. She thought hard and decided it would be best if she just went and grabbed food like she always did, why should she have to hide away from the boys.
She was ignoring them anyway and any word spoken by them would just be a waste of breath on their end. The girl sighed making her way towards the cafeteria, she did have some more work to finish before the end of the day anyway, so she couldn't waste that much time.
Her brother, Fernando, was going to come and pick her up regardless so she just decided to finish as much work as she could unless of course one of the players requested her assistance.
Once she reached inside the cafeteria the lunch lady greeted her with her meal, she knew Nicolle's meals beforehand seeing that she would always appear during lunch so she started to prepare it beforehand. "You ok dear, you look a little down today," she asked observing Nicolle in front of her as she paid for the provided food.
"Oh, I am fine, no need to worry at all, I am just a little tired today that's all" she responded watching as the lady provided a soft smile before Nicolle picked up her food and started making her way back to her office.
As she was making her way back she saw Pablo alone in the hallway, making his way towards her office. She did have the necklace in her pocket, Nicolle pulled it and started walking up to him, watching as a small smile crept on his face. She just rolled her eyes and reached out her hand holding the small box.
"I believe this belongs to you" she spoke sternly, trying to keep the sadness in her voice hidden, handing him the necklace, an 'N' engraved in a star.
He watched as she placed it in his hands, tears this time falling down from his face, but before a word could escape his mouth she turned around and walked away, or more like speed walked back towards her office. The boy stood there in utter sadness, watching as she disappeared at the end of the hall, being blurred by the tears escaping his eyes.
Why did he accept this stupid dare?
Why did he have to put himself in such a position?
But a thought lingered in his mind,
Without the dare made by Ansu,
Would he have ever fallen in love with his best friend's sister?
★☆★☆★
A/N
I had this chapter written beforehand, but I can't post Friday due to many tests.
Sorryyyy!
Next week will be two chapters as per usual.
Nelly