The journalist's footballer (Rúben Dias)

Chapter Seventeen

Rúben

"Rubes, does you girl post about everything she does on IG?", asks John when we are on the lift on our way to breakfast.

"Rúben has a girl?", asks Kyle. "I want to see her".

"I don't have a girl", I say. "And yes, she posts a lot. It's cute".

"Yeah, I bet you found the video of her doing yoga real cute", he laughs.

"Shut up!"

"Who is this girl?", asks Kyle again, annoyed.

"A friend. But Mr nosey had to go and follow her on IG", I say rolling my eyes at John.

He just shrugs.

"But can I see her or not?", asks Kyle for the hundredth time.

"Just show him a photo, John. So he stops asking".

And when he does, I can see a little smirk on his face. "Good job, bro", he tells me walking to the table.

I just shake my head.

"Good luck today. Xx"

"Thank you. I'll see you after the match. Xx"

I put my phone away to concentrate on the match. Big game against Villa, plus our competitors have dropped points. Except for Spurs. Christina will be happy about that.

Christina

Being at the Etihad feels a bit strange. The seats we got at the Emirates were near the families as well, but I had Jess with me. And...I don't know. Here I feel more exposed. Like people will wonder who I am and what I do here. So I just try to keep a low profile.

The first thing I do when I sit down is posting the photo I took outside of the stadium. I caption it "Not turning into a City fan, dad. I swear!".

A couple of minutes later I have a couple of comments on it.

Sarah: keep telling yourself that, babe.

Lily: do it!! I'll finally become the favourite daughter xD

John: you say that now, but...

Wait, what is John doing here? And he's following me too? How did I miss that?

Anyways. Time to put the phone away and enjoy the match.

**

City win 3-1 and extend their point difference with the second-place team, Spurs. I guess we'll have to beat them here in a couple of weeks to reduce that distance again.

I then make my way to the area where Rúben told me to wait for him, trying not to get lost. When I get there, I have to show my ID and when I get inside, I can see it's mostly filled with the player's families. Yeah, I don't fit here at all. And also, I'm not sure I want them to see me with Rúben and for rumours to start.

"Hey. Congrats on the win!! =)

Could we meet somewhere else? All the families are here and I feel a bit out of place."

A couple of minutes later, he answers saying he'll send someone to pick me up and walk me to the dressing room. Ok...

"Christina?", says a security guard after entering the room. Everyone stares at him.

"Yes? That's me!", I say, making everyone turn to look at me now.

"Come with me, please".

I do as he says and follow him out of the room, feeling everyone's eyes on me.

"You can wait here", he tells me, pointing at some chairs near the dressing rooms.

"Thanks".

"Hi Chris!", I hear a couple of minutes later and I turn to find John waving at me.

"Hi! Congrats on the win. And the assist".

"Thanks. Did you enjoy the match?"

"I did".

"Great. Do you want me to wait with you until Rúben comes back? He should be here soon", he asks me.

"No, don't worry. I'm sure you have people waiting for you".

"Yeah, my daughter is here. Maybe you saw her with the rest of the kids in the room?"

"Well", I say scrunching my nose. "There were a lot of kids and all of their shirts said "Daddy", so it's hard to tell who belonged to who".

He laughs. "Yeah, that's fair. I'll introduce you to her another day".

"Ok", I add, feeling strange at the mention of another day. It's like he expects me to be here without a doubt when I have plenty.

"See you soon", he says with a wink and leaves.

Before I have time to turn to look at the dressing room's door again, I notice someone covering my eyes with their hands. I jump at the touch, but then relax when I hear Rúben's voice.

"Who am I?"