Two
Weeks
Later
****
Sofia unlocked her apartment's front door and walked inside, rubbing her eyes.
She worked as an online newspaper editor, usually from home, but she went in to the office today to pick up a few papers.
After setting down her bag, she sat down at her kitchen table and scrolled through Instagram.
Pedri was the first person to pop up on her feed, and she immediately liked his post about Barça's most recent game, last night against Granada.
They had texted each other almost every night since Sofia left to go back to England, two weeks ago. And tomorrow was the day that Sofia was planning on flying to Barcelona to surprise him.
Sofia shot a quick message to Pablo, just to confirm that Pedri didn't have any plans.
hey
so what time are you guys done with training tmrw??
my flight gets in at one
we'll be done with training at around 12:30
ok thanks
i'll meet you guys at that restaurant
alright i can't wait!!
****
Sofia landed in Barcelona the following morning. She got a taxi to the same hotel that she and Alyssa had stayed at when they were in the city two weeks earlier, and checked in.
After leaving her suitcase in her room, she called Pablo.
"Hey?"
"Hey! Sofia!"
"Pablo! I'm at my hotel right now, I'll head over whenever you guys are out of training.
"We're done right now, I'll drive Pedri to the restaurant."
"What are you going to tell him?"
"I don't know yet, it's near my apartment so I'll just tell him we're going to my place and hope he doesn't notice."
"If you say so... Good luck, thanks so much for helping me out!"
"No problem! See you soon!"
Sofia and Pablo hung up, and Sofia immediately rushed out to get a taxi.
After she arrived at the restaurant, she waited in the lobby for Pablo and Pedri to arrive.
The door opened, and Sofia stepped to the side, her heart pounding.
"Pablo, I don't know what the hell we are doing here, but- Oh my God!"
Pedri rushed over to her and Sofia hugged him tightly.
"I can't believe you're here! Oh my God!"
Sofia and Pedri pulled apart as Sofia grinned.
"Pablo and I planned this a few days ago." she told him. "I know it's only been two weeks, but it feels like it's been forever."
"Wait, Pablo, did you tell her?" Pedri asked.
Sofia blinked. "Tell me what?"
Pablo slapped himself. "Shit. I forgot."
"We have a team dinner tomorrow evening." Pedri told her. "Do you... Want to come? Like, as my date? You can meet the rest of the team then."
"Yeah, sure! Sounds amazing!"
"Okay, perfect, then."
****
Pedri picked up Sofia the following evening, from her hotel.
"You look beautiful." he told her as she got in the passenger's seat. "Here, I picked these up for you." He handed her a bouquet of lillies.
"My favourite." Sofia smiled. "Thanks, Pedri."
"Of course, Sof."
"So, as a quick reminder," Sofia said, as Pedri pulled out of the hotel's car park. "Who are the teammates I need to know?"
"Well, you know Pablo pretty well." Pedri began. "And then, Ale, and Ferran, and Ferran's girlfriend, Sira. And you met Frenkie. His fiancée Mikky is pregnant and hasn't been coming to the past couple games, so that's why you haven't met her yet, but she'll probably be here tonight. Then there's the older guys like Robert Lewandowski, and his wife Anna, and our captain and vice captain, Sergi and Marc, and their wives Coral and Daniela. I'll introduce you to everyone, don't worry about it."
"Alright."
They arrived at the dinner venue twenty minutes later, and Sofia set her flowers on the car's seat as she got out.
Pedri must have noticed her worried expression, because he stopped walking before they headed inside and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Sofia, don't stress about this, okay?" he said softly. "I'm sure everybody will love you, and this isn't anything to worry about. I'll be with you the entire time."
Sofia nearly teared up at how sweet it was. "Thank you, Pedro."
Once they were inside, Pedri immediately led Sofia over to a table towards the front, where two men were sitting down, talking to each other. She immediately recognised one of them as the Spanish midfielder legend and current Barça manager Xavi, while the other man, she only vaguely could recognise as the Polish striker Robert Lewandowski.
"Sofia, this is my teammate, Robert, and my manager, Xavi." Pedri introduced.
Xavi immediately stood up, shaking her hand warmly. "Sofia, it's a pleasure to finally meet you after hearing so much about you the past couple weeks." he said in English.
"Thank you so much." Sofia smiled. "It's great to meet you, as well."
Robert extended his hand. "Lovely to meet you, Sofia. My wife and Xavi's wife are currently talking to Mikky, I think, but I'll make sure to introduce you and Anna tonight."
"That sounds wonderful, thank you."
"Is Laporta not here yet?" Pedri asked, looking around.
Xavi shook his head. "No, he's here. He was just talking to a few staff members, the last time I saw him." He gestured to the chairs at his and Robert's table. "Please, sit down."
Pedri and Sofia sat down next to each other, and Pedri rubbed Sofia's hand soothingly.
"So, Sofia, you're from England, I hear?" Xavi asked.
"Yeah, I am." Sofia answered. "My dad was born here, though, so I grew up supporting the team."
"You went to a couple of our games, too, yeah?"
"I went to the Betis, Antwerp, and Celta games."
Xavi smiled. "All three were good games. You all played very well." He reached over to place his hand on Pedri's shoulder briefly. "I hope you're going to be in town for a few more games."
"Yeah, I hope so, too."
Xavi talked to Sofia for around ten more minutes, before Pedri eventually stood up.
"We should probably go find Ferran and Sira, I promised them that we'd talk." he explained.
"Of course." Xavi said. He smiled, giving Pedri a look. "I'll talk to you later, kid. Sofia, it was lovely meeting you."
Pedri eventually spotted Ferran and Sira towards the back of the room, and he and Sofia headed over to them.
"Hey, there you are!" Ferran said cheerfully, straightening his suit collar. "Where were you guys?"
"Xavi was interrogating Sofia." Pedri explained, and Sofia rolled her eyes.
"He wasn't interrogating me, but whatever."
Sira laughed. "So, Sofia, how long are you in town for?"
"I'm flying out tomorrow afternoon." Sofia explained, feeling her heart pang slightly. "Can't be away from my job for too long."
"Ah." Sira said. "What do you do, again?"
"I'm an editor." she explained. "I do a lot of social media prop for companies, as well."
"You should come do our social media." Ferran laughed. "You'd be ten times better than our current admin."
Pedri blinked. "Wait a moment."
Sofia glanced at him. "What?"
He grinned. "Sof, that gives me an idea."
A/N
merry christmas, happy holidays, again