I've Got A Secret, Please Don't Repeat It

Rebecca, surprisingly, slept through the entire night. She woke up the morning of their third match, to realize she had slept the whole night, not once having to go to call for Sergio.

She laid in bed for a few minutes, enjoying the silence that surrounded her. Rebecca finally felt like her life was in place, everything had been sorted out. As her thoughts swam through her head, she remembered a dream she had had the night before.

Rebecca found herself in Spain, where she spent every single summer. This summer was particularly special because she had finally mastered the Spanish language and was close to beating Sergio at one-on-one soccer.

She was at the airport, waiting to be picked up by her Uncle Louie, who wasn’t really her uncle, but rather a close friend of her parents. Rebecca always stayed at Uncle Louie’s house, he helped her every summer to learn the language with the help of Sergio.

Uncle Louie also helped with her soccer skills, which amazed Rebecca, seeing as he was growing older.

“Come on Uncle Louie, you can run faster than that!” Rebecca squealed.

“Running fast has nothing to do with skill, mi querido.” Uncle Louie replied politely.

“Is that why they call you el Sabio de Hortaleza?” A young Rebecca asked.

“That exact reason.”

Rebecca was snapped out of her daydream, when someone knocked on the door. She slowly made her way to the door, wondering who it could be. At the door was Fernando, who immediately started blushing.

“Sorry, did I come at a bad time?” He asked sheepishly.

Rebecca looked down to realize she was still in her pyjamas, pyjamas that no one was supposed to see.

It was Rebecca’s turn to blush; she quickly put the door between herself and Fernando.

“No, what can I do for you?” Rebecca replied quietly.

“Its breakfast time and the whole team are already down there except you.”

“Well, you’re up here too. So that makes two of us,” Rebecca smirked.

“Actually, I’ve already been down. I came to check on you to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh, well then. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

“How ‘bout I just wait for you.”

“Okay, I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Fernando nodded and leaned up next to the door. It was his turn to daydream, or rather, try and figure out what his relationship with Rebecca would turn out to be.

He didn’t have an answer.

Rebecca came out dressed in a matter of minutes and joined Fernando. They made their way to the elevator, where Fernando noticed Rebecca was very quiet.

“Everything alright?” Fernando questioned.

Rebecca quickly snapped out of her daze, “I think I may know Luis.”

Fernando could only laugh, which earned him a cold stare from Rebecca.

“I’m pretty sure we all know Luis,” Fernando motioned in a circle, representing the team.

“No…I think he’s my Uncle Louie,” Rebecca replied quietly.

The conversation was interrupted as the elevator dinged, signalling they were at the main floor. The two didn’t continue their conversation as they entered the dining hall to join their team.

Rebecca could hardly make eye contact with anyone at the team, which made the team very nervous. They finally were coming together as a team, with no complications. Sergio and Fernando were especially worried.

Fernando quietly explained his conversation with Rebecca to Sergio, hoping it would make more sense. Sergio’s eyes grew wide as he realized what Fernando meant, knowing that Luis had lived near him as a child.

Sergio made his way over to Rebecca and whispered, “You need to talk to him.”

Rebecca didn’t meet his eyes, “I don’t need to talk to anyone. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me.”

“He didn’t need to tell you.”

Rebecca head snapped up, “Yes. He. Did.”

Sergio shook his head; this is not what the team needed before their last pool play match.

Luis finally made his appearance at the breakfast table, smiling eagerly to his team. He knew his team was onto something great.

Luis made his way over to Rebecca, wanting to tell her the exciting news; she was starting against Greece. Luis was bubbling over with excitement; his little girl was finally getting her big break. Only he didn’t know that Rebecca remembered who he was. And that was a problem.

“Morning, how did you sleep?” Luis asked eagerly.

“I slept fine till this morning. How ‘bout you, Uncle Louie?” Rebecca replied coldly, stressing the ‘Uncle Louie.’

Luis’ eyes grew wide as he tried to explain himself, “I…I didn’t want to make your life even more complicated.”

Rebecca almost burst into tears, “I needed you the most then! I lost my working and soccer career and I lost my father. I needed you so much!”

Luis could only hold onto the girl he considered his daughter, he whispered in her ear, “I came to the funeral, but it had been so long since you last visited Spain I didn’t think you would remember me.”

“I never forgot you…I never forgot any of you,” Rebecca said as she softly cried.

The team could only look on in awe. Who would have thought that the coach of the Spanish national team was a father figure to a rising Spanish female soccer player playing in the men’s EURO cup?

Luis consoled Rebecca, knowing what laid ahead of them today, “Shh….We don’t need anymore crying today. You have a match to start!”

Rebecca looked up, “I’m…starting?”

“Yes, it’s what your father would have wanted,” Luis said with a smile.

“For daddy.”

The match against Greece went amazing. The former EURO Cup winners looked nothing like the team that won 4 years before. The Spanish team sat 10 of their regular players, with Andrés Iniesta being the only starter that started the other 2 matches.

Although Greece was first on the scoreboard with Angelos Charisteas scoring at the 42nd minute, Spain followed soon after with Rubén de la Red scoring in the 61st minute. What came next would lift Rebecca to new heights.

The clock was slowly counting down, Spain had 2 minutes to win the game and be the leaders of Group D. Rebecca couldn’t believe that she had played the entire match; she knew that Luis had faith in her. And that proved truthful at the 88th minute.

She scored.

Rebecca went crazy; she couldn’t believe that she had actually scored. The team was going crazy, cheering and kissing her (on the cheeks), celebrating her first international goal, their third victory and becoming the Group D leader.

She wouldn’t believe what would happen next. Rebecca ran over the bench, wanting to celebrate with Luis, Sergio and the rest of the team. She made her way down the bench, Rebecca came before Fernando. And did something spontaneous…

She kissed him.