Let's Do What Lovers Do

Here Natalia was, in some random high fashion store with the international pop star, Shakira. After the game had ended, and of course Barcelona had won, Shakira insisted that they go shopping together. Geri answered for Natalia and said that it would be a great idea, while him and Cesc began discussing what every footballer did after a game, how the game went, what they thought of the other team etc. Natalia could only smile since her mind was in full throttle because of what just happened with Cesc and now she was going shopping with Shakira. Cesc had asked her to come to London for Semana Santa and she couldn't say no since that was her break from school, an entire week off school. What other place to go to than London? She could only nod when he asked her, the sparkle never leaving his eyes she noticed. Shakira had been there for the whole thing and she had given Natalia a look that said 'we need to talk about this,' but Natalia ignored it. Shakira had dragged her to almost every store, buying things here and there. Natalia did not have this kind of money, nor was she needing anything in particular, so she could only watch the singer try on clothes. Shakira was a very nice woman, Natalia seemed to think since the only that she was doing was being her friend. They talked about almost everything besides Arsenal's captain.

The blue eyed girl was not about to bring up that subject since it's the last thing that she wanted to talk about. To think that Shakira would spend her time with Gerard, but she really wanted to get to know one of Gerard's family members, so Natalia didn't think that it was that bad. She thought it was nice that Shakira is making an effort of hanging out with her instead of just hogging all over Gerard. Natalia couldn't help but laugh at her silly assumptions about things so instead she decided to make Shakira happy and try something on. She had just been pushing her to try on something store after store, but Natalia wouldn't budge. The price tag was the first thing that she looked at and then felt disappointment because it was way over her head. Roaming around the store, Natalia found a skirt that she thought was adorable and a shirt that would go well with it. Shakira gushed at how cute it as and then demanded that she go try it on.
"So. Have you told Gerard that you are going to London to visit Cesc?" She finally asked her eagerness getting the better of her.
"No. I've been meaning to come around to it, but we only talk for five minutes on the phone since he has interviews and things going on right now because Barcelona is doing really well with the football and everything," Natalia responded as she slid of her jeans so she could put on the skirt.
"You need to tell him...Or else I will." Shakira said while giggling as she waited for Natalia to put on the things she had chosen.
Right as Natalia was about to answer her, her cellphone began to ring. Speak of the devil it was none other than Gerard Piqué, "hey! We were just talking about you." Natalia said to her cousin.
"Com és que no m'ho va dir Cesc el va convidar a Londres?" He asked her.
Natalia was dreading for this because when Gerard spoke Catalan it usually meant that he was upset.. at least when he spoke it to her. "It slipped my mind?" She tried to sound innocent to him, but she knew that he could read her like a book even if it was just over the phone, "Cesc just happened to tell me. I mean, I'm glad that you are going and everything, but you are the one that is supposed to tell me things like these." Gerard exclaimed.
"Sorry. You guys started talking about the game, and then the whole shopping deal came about.." She trailed off hoping this would get her off the hook.
"How is that going by the way? Is she being nice to you?" He laughed.
As Natalia finished putting on the skirt and the shirt, she came out of the dressing room and saw that Shakira was waiting impatiently to see her. She spun her finger around and Natalia twirled for her, "that's an understatement." Natalia laughed.
Shakira noticed that she was speaking on the phone and then mouthed a 'who?' and Natalia only smiled.
Gerard responded, "well I'm very glad you guys are becoming friends. I'll talk to you when I get a chance prima. Have fun in London! When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow." Natalia gulped. Was this even like her? To go to some guy's house after she had only known him a couple of weeks? Well technically it was around two months, but she didn't talk to him at all that first month. Then again, Gerard and Cesc have been friends since they were in the youngen clubs so that must mean that he's a good guy. Gerard was usually very protective of his cousin which is why she never told him anything about boys. Boys were taboo in their conversations since he always wanted better for her no matter what type of boy he was. Then all of the sudden he wants her to be with Cesc? He introduced them for a purpose.. was this his purpose? A couple of questions bubbled up in her lips as she wanted to ask Gerard why he never introduced her to Cesc earlier, but she refrained from asking since everything was going smoothly.
"You better call me." Gerard demanded.
"Don't worry. I will. You want to talk to your novia?" Natalia asked him as she handed the phone to Shakira. They started babbling away about whatever they needed to talk about, Natalia's mind was on someone else and she could not help but blush.

She wondered where the month of March went already. After the football game, Cesc and Natalia had exchanged numbers and talked here and there. They never really spoke on the phone and Natalia could only guess because he was busy like Gerard. The fact that he even called her made her insides turn to mush: every single time! They didn't do the texting deal, she did not believe in texting, it was just something that was not done. The thing was that she had not seen Cesc since the game. Natalia didn't feel weird about it since the last time she saw him before that was the party, so it was a feeling of normalcy. They became good friends with each other, someone she could definitely rely on and he didn't even know she was sick! Oh how wonderful it was for her that someone outside of her immediate family treated her normally. It's not like it was cancer but it still was something to be aware of. Lately it's been doing well and she's barely shaking now so hopefully it will go away for a while. Natalia could not get Cesc's face out of her mind when they said goodbye after the game. The way he just looked at her and didn't say anything at all. No words needed to spoken between the two of them as Natalia returned the stare. The gap between them seemed endless and they both wanted to close the distance, but knew that it was too soon. Natalia was very shy when it came to boys because she's not one to have a lot of experience with them. She's had boyfriends, but nothing ever serious. Nothing ever meaningful. Cesc gave her a smile and she returned it and then turned on her heel and walked away. It had to be done or else they would have been there eternally. This memory caused Natalia to smile, 'tomorrow.'

"...okay cariño. Te veo mañana. Besos. Bye." Shakira said as she finally hung up the phone. "Natalia. We are getting you that. You look so cute in it that we must get it. Maybe show it off in London hmm?" Shakira wiggled her eyebrows in a seductionly way. "No quiero romper tu burbuja, but I don't have this kind of money. I mean, who would pay," Natalia checked the price tag on both the shirt and the skirt, "three hundred dollars on an outfit?"
"I don't know. 'Cause you're not hanging out with one of the most known pop stars in the world right? I'll get it for you, consider it an early birthday present or something...that's a lie. I'm getting you something better for your birthday. Just take it please? I'll complain to Gerard if you don't." The dirty blond laughed darkly.
Natalia bowed her head in defeat and went to take the new garments off and put on what she had. When she got out of the dressing room, Shakira was at the register paying for their things, and she could only stare. "Very good my Natalia." Shakira beamed at her as she gave Natalia her things.

Francesc Fábregas stood waiting at the terminal to welcome the girl that has changed his world in just a couple of months. He did not know what it was about her, but it definitely changed something in his life and he was glad. Before Carla used to fill his mind endlessly, but now it was normalcy again. He could think about other things rather than just how sad he was. Cesc was able to function again all thanks to her. It's incredible how one person can make you feel like shit and then this other person comes along and makes you forget that anything has ever been painful. It was Friday today and practice had ended early which was nice so he could personally pick up Natalia and not have a driver come. As he stood there, he noticed that a few girls had been staring at him and he could only smile. It was part of the job description, it was not his fault that footballers had to become famous, at least the ones that made it to the big leagues. He had made it to the big leagues and that made him extremely proud of himself. It was something that took hard work and dedication, but it was worth it in the end. They two young girls kept staring at him and he could only guess what they wanted so Cesc made his way over to them and asked if they wanted an autograph. They both smiled at him and nodded and then one of them took a camera out, and he asked if they wanted to take a picture. She could only nod seeing as her life was being made at that moment. Cesc stood in the middle of the two as he signed a piece of paper that one of the girls had in her hand. He then proceeded to look at the camera. Click! The camera went off and that's when he saw her.

Natalia Pereira was walking out of the door and was looking around for some sign that Cesc was there. Her bright blue eyes searching the faces of the people that were waiting for their own visitors. She noticed that it was going to rain soon, good thing she had her coat in hand. As she roamed her eyes to see if he was there, she could not find him because all of the sudden it was very crowded. Person after person all around her and she suddenly felt lost in the lake of humans. Natalia was about to take her cellphone out to call him, but then a hand circled around her wrist and she looked up to see those two dark eyes looking back at her crystal ones. For a second she forgot to breath since she could not recall that Cesc looked this handsome up close. There was no way on Earth that a person this defined look like this, it was not fair for anyone. Her eyes suddenly looked away and she felt childish, Natalia could not understand how someone could make her feel this way. Her mouth turned into a grin as she puffed out air. Cesc just stared at her and could not believe that she was actually there. He wanted someone to poke him to make sure that what was happening was real, though he really was sure when someone accidentally pushed him and it caused him to get a little closer to her. "Shall we get your things?" Cesc asked her as they made their way out of the crowded terminal. Natalia nodded as she noticed that her hand was not shaking for the first time since her encounters with Cesc. She smiled, maybe that was a good sign. They were walking close together and once Cesc got her bag they went to his car and Natalia noticed that it was a BMW. Well, he was a footballer and he did have a lot of money so it wasn't like he couldn't afford it. They both got in the car and Cesc started to drive off and he noticed that her hand was not shaking, neither of them. That was something that still tugged at his mind every now and then, maybe she was just sick for a little bit, maybe it was a cold or something.. a very long cold. Her smile only made him smile as they began to talk about things that had been going on in each other's lives. What their phone calls consisted on was mostly how things are going, never really going into the deeper stuff, just the casual conversation.
"So how are things?" Natalia asked him as he was getting them to his house.
"Things are good, the team is good, everything is good. Family is good, they miss me, they asked me to come visit them this week but I had to decline seeing that I had a visitor of my own." Cesc chuckled.
"If you wanted to see your family you could have.." Natalia suddenly felt bad that she was keeping him from his family.
"No. I wanted you to come visit me in London. I want to show you the city." He smiled at her that soft smile that was hers.
She softly giggled as she stared out the window seeing as it was raining cats and dogs everywhere, "does it always rain like this?"
"About eighty percent of the time. On random days it turns sunny and it's very pretty, although I like the rain. It calms me down." Cesc replied. "How are things with you?" He asked her.
"Things are okay, school is stressing me out more than ever seeing as this is the last month of my University career forever. I'm excited.. I get to graduate! Although that means I have to find a job and things. Start living on my own... get a life. You know. The usual." Natalia explained as she continued to look at the rain.
The architecture of this place seemed enthralling as she got sucked into the buildings and the roads. So narrow and stony that it made her want to get out of the car and walk. Cesc exclaimed, "well that's very exciting. I'm so happy for you! All your hard work must have paid off, and I guess you needed this vacation." He winked at her which made her blush. Who would have thought that Spain's number ten would be here with her showing her around one of the most popular cities in the world?

Once they had reached what seemed to be Cesc's house, the rain had stopped but it seemed only for a short amount of time, Natalia eagerly got out of the car and retrieved her things from the trunk as Cesc smiled at the sight before him. He noticed the playful smile on her lips as he led her into his home to show her around. The time was around five in the afternoon and he could tell she was tired, but he continued to show her his house. Natalia noticed how serene his house was, it was very modernized, but the patterns on the walls reminded her of home, she also caught that a lot of his pictures were from past games seeing as fifty percent of them have the Spanish National team. There was one that caught her eye and it was the one where Piqué and him were kissing the World Cup trophy. They would do that and this caused Natalia to smile. She could not help it, every time she thought of something relevant to Piqué or Cesc her mouth would turn upwards. The house wasn't big, but it wasn't tiny either, it was just enough for him. He only had an extra guest room and a very nice living room, kitchen and dining room. His room was very neat and it was the best room of all. Natalia could tell that he had a tempur pedic bed and that made her curious as to what it felt like to sleep in one of those, but she looked away giggling to herself. "Que?" Cesc asked when he led her into his guest room, he never wanted her to stop laughing.
"Nothing. This room is really nice Cesc. Thank you so much." She said softly to him.
Right when she said that a dog came walking into the room, and it was the cutest little thing. It was a honey brown color and she went up to Cesc, while Cesc picked her up and started petting her. Natalia went over to the dog and started petting her as she licked her hand. She laughed yet again and put her stuff down on the floor.
"Are you hungry?" He asked her as they made their way into the kitchen while the dog was still being held by Cesc.
"Si. I don't care what you make me. Surprise me." Natalia said as she rubbed her stomach and went to sit on the bar to watch him cook.
Cesc went over to fridge and took out an oven pizza, took it out of the box and turned on the oven. Once the oven beeped signaling that it was ready, he put the pizza in and then turned to look at her. Natalia was only smiling at him and just looking at his place. Cesc never wanted that smile to go away; he wanted for it to be always on her face.
"Your house is very pretty. Did you decorate it?" She asked Arsenal's number four.
"No, mom went nuts when I bought it so she did all the decorating stuff, it looks good though, reminds me of home." He gave her the smile that he saved for her.
They began to talk aimlessly about different things that interested them and she noticed that most of the time when he talked he was always smiling and the sparkle never left his eyes. His dark brown eyes bored into hers as they just talked about anything and everything. Mostly everything, he had not asked about her medication and she was grateful, she did not want anything to rain on this parade.

Once they finished eating their pizza and Cloe fell asleep for they had been talking for hours and hours. It was already eleven and Natalia could not think of another person besides her cousin Gerard Piqué that she talked this much to. Shakira was just the beginning of a friendship and she really liked her. Cesc looked over at Natalia who was laying down on the couch looking at the ceiling and that smile never leaving her face. Cloe had fallen asleep on his stomach and he kept stroking her hair as she was in a deep slumber and did not want to interrupt her.
"Natalia." He said, he wanted to say it a thousand times more.
"Hmmm?" She said aimlessly as she curled a hair around her finger.
"Thanks for coming to visit me.." he told her softly as she turned to look at him.
Natalia sat up and looked at him, "of course." Her mouth stifled a yawn and she giggled as she covered her mouth, "I think I'm sleepy." She yawned again.
The rain started again, but this time it was much harder and there was lightning. Cesc laughed, "I think I'm tired too."
They both got up and Natalia led the way as she was going to the guest room to get ready for bed. Cesc went to his room and did the same by putting on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Natalia did the same putting on shorts and a tank top. Then she made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and take her medicine since she forgot about it. Her hand was not shaking though and she smiled feeling triumphant for the first time in a long time. As she brushed her teeth she thought of doing something nice for Cesc since he was letting her stay here at his house for an entire week. A light bulb went off in her mind as she had an idea for a morning breakfast, it was her favorite, but with her mom not agreeing that it was a breakfast she did not make it as much. Her uncle taught her how to make them and she thought that these were perfect for tomorrow morning.