Bittersweet

Ava smiled at Irina as she came out the bathroom wearing a long dark blue maxi dress along with gold gladiator sandals. She’d tied her hair into a plait before pinning it up at the back of her head with a few grips.

“You look nice.” Irina complemented, checking out Ava’s dress from top to bottom. Ava smiled at the brunette and muttered a small thanks in return. While Irina was busily finishing off her makeup in front of the mirror, Ava grabbed her bag, placing it on her arm and then picked up her phone from the top of her dresser.

“Your phone hasn’t stopped buzzing in the past 5 minutes.” laughed Irina who stood applying mascara to her lashes while Ava stared down at her phone. Her eyes nearly bulged when saw how many messages and not to mention phone calls she’d received from the same person in the last hour. A rather familiar number, who’d again began to call. ‘Fernando’ Ava silently cursed. She let it ring for a few seconds until Irina stared at her through the mirror. “Jeez, someone’s popular.” She smirks, “You gonna get that though?” hinting towards Ava’s phone.

Ava stared at her, her phone still buzzing in her head until she pressed ignore and smiled at the tall brunette in front of her. “It’s not that important.” She shrugged, dropping her phone into her bag before retreating to the door. Ava turned back to see that Irina had followed behind her. It looked as if she was about to ask something serious as her face set hard as stone while showing utter concern. But Irina hesitated and sighed, shaking it off as nothing.

“Let’s go to the match.” She says, the smile returning back to her lips. “We don’t want to be late for our men now do we?”

-

For most of the match, Ava had been a little distracted. Fernando’s calls hadn’t stopped and neither did the messages. Irina sensed the young woman's frustration as she glanced between her and the match. It weren't until the 79th that caught Ava’s attention when Ronaldo scored. She stood up along with Irina and they both cheered with the remaining Portuguese fans who were going wild. Irina blushed slightly when Cris dedicated his goal to her before his attention turned on Ava, involving her in his celebration as he rubbed his stomach. Ava laughed, rolling her eyes and settled back into her seat when the crowd calmed down.

The score remained the same for the rest of the last 10 minutes before the 4 minutes added time was played. Both women celebrated once the final whistle was blown and the stadium quickly filled out. Irina and Ava headed down towards the players lounge where they waited along with several other family members. While waiting, Ava’s phone began to ring again, and this time she’d decided enough was enough.

“Sorry Irina,” she apologised, “I have to take this.” She said, leaving and venturing off to the other side of the room. Ava could feel Irina’s eyes on her as she accepted the call. She needn't have looked at the screen to see just who it was exactly that had rung her. “What do you want?” She asked, signing into the phone. There was a long pause on the other end before he finally answered.

“I need to talk to you,” Fernando replied, “I need to see you.”

“I’m not interested in what you have to say Fernando.” Ava spoke roughly, she slumped her shoulders before leaning into the wall. “You’ve said enough already.”

“But I need to see you, and since Portugal are now in the semi final, there’s no doubt Spain will be joining them which leaves you no choice but to meet up with me seeing as you’ll be arriving in Donetsk in a matter of days.”

“Listen, I made myself clear to you the day you left for England. I’m in a relationship and I don’t plan on ending it anytime soon. I’d like it if you could leave me alone, and...just be happy for me Fernando, that’s all I’m asking. I’ve moved on and I think it’s about time you accepted that.”

“Ava, por favor.” he pleaded, his voice called with distress, “I’m worried about you, the both of you. If you won’t do this for yourself, at least do it for our child. I just need to see you.” Ava bit her lip and remained silent as she watched the sea of players come strolling in through the door, smartly dressed and looking refreshed after their long exhausting match. “I miss you.” She heard him say. Ava swallowed hard as Cris appeared first, heading Irina’s way before her eyes landed on Miguel. He appeared before her and started making his way across the room to her.

“I..I-I’m sorry, I have to go.” Ava rambled, hurrying to cancel the call as fast as she could; she locked her phone and placed it back in her pocket just as Miguel appeared in front of her, beaming with a huge satisfactory smile on his face.

“You okay?” Miguel asked, nothing how pale Ava had turned. “You look kinda lost.”

“No.” Ava answered a little too quickly, regretting her answer instantly once she caught Miguel’s questioning expression. “I mean...no I’m not lost.” She shrugged before smiling. “And I’m fine.” She lied, trying her best to reassure Miguel nothing was bothering her entirely.

“You sure?” Obviously not convinced, Ava stared at him uncomfortably but she nodded her head and shrugged again leaving Miguel to silently ponder for a moment before he decided to let it go.

“Anyway-” Ava cleared her throat, “I thought we could go out,” she said, “you know, as a celebration dinner.”

“Oh.”

The way Miguel uttered the word ‘oh’ sent Ava’s stomach funny. She didn’t like it. Ava sensed the guiltiness. “I sort...of already have plans.”

Ava frowned, feeling saddened as her eyes cast down to the floor and her hands hid inside her coat pockets. He was ditching her.

“Right.” Ava answered, feeling well under upset. She wanted to celebrate and be alone with him, to spend time with him since she hadn’t seen him hardly for a few days. He’d been with the team for a while or he’d hung out with some of his teammates leaving Ava to hang round with Irina who’d been occupied by Ronaldo. She didn’t half feel like a third wheel when she’d been with them. “Well, I’ll admit, I was looking forward to spending time with you actually so I am a bit gutted but, I suppose we can do it another time.”

“Ava-”

“”No, it’s okay.” She reasoned, doing well to hide her distress behind her voice. “I’m feeling a bit tired all of a sudden anyway so, I’m gonna head back to the hotel with Irina.”

“I am sorry.” He apologised, placing his hand on her arm, comforting her with a small squeeze. “You know that right?”

Ava nodded, fighting back the tears that were beginning to sting her eyes. She said her goodbyes to him before giving a quick kiss to his cheek. Miguel watched her sadly as she returned back to Irina and soon left the room with her and Cris.