Chapter Nine

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Villa looked at her in complete astonishment. He glanced down at the young man who couldn’t have been much older than woman who several feet from him at that very moment.

He looked back up, and saw her forlorn countenance, and regretted saying anything at all. She licked her lips, her arms folding across her stomach as she stared at the picture as well. Millions of emotions seem to pass through her dark brown eyes as she simply stood in silence.

“We met in boot camp, but it wasn’t serious at first. After all, I wasn’t there for romance. However, after my first deployment we decided to give it a chance, and dated for two years. We were somehow deployed together the second time around and right before leaving, he proposed…” she said, breaking the silence. He nodded, unsure what to say at all, fearing it’d be the wrong thing again.

“We were attacked by insurgents a few months into the deployment when we were trying to help some of the locals distribute food and supplies. We had to engage in combat. Aaron was shot right in front of me and he died there in my arms,” she concluded, finally pulling her eyes from the picture.

“Nina, I’m…I shouldn’t have asked,” David said, mentally berating himself.

She shrugged, turning away from him, “How could you have known? Besides, it’s best that you know the things that haunt me. I have nightmares from which I wake up screaming. I was trained to kill, I did kill. I’m no saint, and I should have shared this earlier.”

She sat on the couch, gazing at him evenly, though he saw evidence of several tears.

He sat on the other side of the sofa facing her, “Do you still love him?” She sighed, “I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving him. But that part of my life is over. If you’re willing to have me, I have you.” He smiled in relief, and nodded, “You have me completely.”


~~

Adela glanced through the job listings idly. Unsurprisingly she’d been fired from the club, not that she was that upset about it. Núria had never liked her, so it was only a matter of time before she would’ve had to gone job hunting.

Carles was out running errands, insisting that she stay home to continue getting rest.

She wasn’t sure anymore what to do with her life. She didn’t really want to work at another club. She had grown tired of the usual drunks and cleaning up their mess. At least one good thing had come out of working there she mused as she thought of her boyfriend.

She flipped the page, glancing at the next few listings. There were several openings for teachers, but she didn’t have any experience for that, and kept going. She also didn’t want to work in a fast food restaurant, since that could be almost as irritating as working in a club, except with children instead of drunks. Then again, the drunks could possibly go to eat out under the influence.

She sighed, and flipped the page again. More adds for bartenders and waitresses. None of those appealed to her, though she supposed they were a good Plan B.

A small add caught her eye. A small agency was looking for a photographer who could take pictures of Barcelona and several other regions of Catalunya for tourism, investors, and magazines. She quickly punched the number into the phone to arrange an interview.

She would have to dig out her portfolio, but she felt like this was an opportunity. A secretary picked up after the third ring, and she made the appointment.

She hoped that in two days, she would return with a job.


~~

Nina sighed as she shifted on the bed slightly. She had returned with him to his hotel after they’d gone out for dinner. Zaida was asleep in the other bed and Olaya in the crib several feet away. The TV was on, the news quietly murmuring in the background.

“Are you asleep?” David whispered after several minutes. “No,” she replied, shifting to face him.

His fingers ran along her arm as he moved to pull her into his arms. “What time is it?” she asked softly. “Around midnight,” he answered. She stifled a yawn, “I should get going.”

He frowned, “Stay.” “I have work tomorrow,” she replied, wishing she could. “Can’t you stay?” he asked. She shook her head, sitting up. He did as well, pressing a gentle kiss to her shoulder as his hands swept back her hair to he could trail kisses along her neck. “You’re not making this easier,” she murmured. He pouted as she slipped out from under the covers, and headed toward the door.

She slipped her shoes on as he followed her, and gave her a proper kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked. She smiled, “Of course.”


~~

Carles returned to check on Adela, and found her digging through several albums, plucking out pictures at random. “What are you doing?” he questioned. “Compiling a portfolio…I’m interviewing to be a travel photographer,” she answered, slipping out a photo of the Plaza of Catalunya.

“Make sure to include one of Camp Nou,” he smiled. Her eyes sparkled, “Of course. I was told once that Barça was Catalunya’s army.” “Sí, we defend her colors and her honor gladly,” he agreed.

Although he did not mention it often, he was proud of his nationality, not just of being Spanish, but of his Catalan roots. His father had been a humble farmer, he was not of wealth. He grew up in the country, and had found football to be a passion before a profession. He hoped it would be the same for Adela with photography. She had shown him some of her work before, and he thought was far than good enough for a job.

“Which pictures of the Barceloneta should I include?” she asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

He absentmindedly pointed to one, and she slid it from the clear plastic sleeve of the album. He began flipping through one of the other albums, occasionally grabbing pictures he liked for her.

He froze, however, when he stumbled on one picture. It was of Camp Nou during one of the games. A large Catalan flag had been unfurled and it floated above the stadium in a majestic display. It tugged at his heart as it swelled with pride and a sense of being home.

“Use this,” he said, handing the photograph over reverently.

Her eyes widened when she saw the tears in his eyes. “Are you alright?” Adela asked in worry. “That picture – it’s beautiful. It makes me think of my present and future of the club, but my pride in my nationality. Even in a football stadium, it makes me think of my father working out in the fields, and the pride of this nation,” he said softly.

As she added it to the pile, he saw tears in her eyes as well.


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