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In preparation for the upcoming Champions's league match we dedicated the whole day to interviews, photoshoots and other promo stuff. It was fun at first, but after countless interviews and three different photoshoots all I wanted to do was leave.

"Emilia, how different is life in Barcelona compared to Germany?" the interviewer, a small, chubby man with huge glasses, wanted to know. He had been interviewing me for quite some time and his questions always found their way back to Bayern Munich, no matter how hard I tried to avoid them.

"The biggest difference is probably the weather" I fake-chuckled, scanning my surroundings in hope to find one of my teammates who could then save me from this unpleasant situation.

"Mhm" the journalist cleared his throat as he studied some papers. "I read here that you even suffered a heat stroke a few weeks ago."

"Yes, I've never been good with hot temperatures. However, I managed to quickly recover with the excellent help of our medical staff and my teammates."

"Why would you choose coming to Barcelona then?"

It was clear that his sole intention was to wind me up, probably in hopes that I would expose some valuable information in my rage.

Thank god for all the years of intensive media training.

"You can't really turn down an offer from Barca, can you?" I smiled, seeing that Mapi had just entered the room. Our eyes instantly connected as I tried to gesture her to join me.

"My sources say that Barcelona had been interested in you for two years, so you clearly knew how to say no to them. What made you change your mind?"

In that moment, I felt a firm grip on my shoulders, instantly feeling safe in Mapi's presence.

"Hola" the blonde smiled at the interviewer. "I've come to take Emilia to her next appointment, if you don't mind."

"Well actually we-" the chubby man intervened, sending death glares at Mapi as he knew he had been so close to my breaking point.

"It was so nice speaking to you" I grinned as I got up, quickly following Mapi to the other side of the room.

"Thanks for saving me. He was such a dick."

"Yeah, I heard his last question" the blonde grimaced, letting herself sink on a bench next to the wall. "Do you have some more media stuff today?"

"No, luckily that was my last one" I answered, following her example in taking a seat next to her, my arm slightly brushing hers, the mere touch being enough to set my body on fire.

"I'm done as well. Do you want to come back to my place for dinner?"

I nodded nervously, bitting my lip in the process.  Ever since the night of the party almost two months ago I hadn't been to Mapi's apartment and after all it was Mapi.

An invitation to her place could only mean one thing.

But how could I say no?

Mapi's fingers gently stroked against my leg for a short moment, before she got up and gestured me to follow her outside, but we were interrupted by our social media manager Martha.

"You guys are free right now, right?" She wondered after quickly glancing down to her clipboard. "I need you to fill in for Alexia and Jenni. They were supposed to do an interview together, but for some reason they refuse to do so." The short, dark haired woman rolled her eyes, leading Mapi and me to a small camera team in another room, where we were greeted by a nice looking interviewer called Carla.

"Thank you so much for doing this" She smiled. "It won't take long, I promise. We're going to play a quick game together to see how well you know each other. You need to answer 5 question about the other person, but each question gets more difficult and is therefore rewarded with a point more. Both of you need to write the answer down. Understood?"

Mapi and I both nodded as this was a standard procedure with a little twist.

I just hoped the questions wouldn't get too personal.

We were handed clipboards and pens by Carla, taking a seat in front of the camera.

The video started with a small introduction of ourselves, before Carla began reading the questions out.

"Let's start with a question for María. Remember Emilia, you need to write the true answer down, but don't show her yet" Carla explained one more time, before looking down at her clipboard. "What's Emilia's favourite position on the pitch?"

"Easy" Mapi stated, writing her answer down. "3...2....1...."

We showed our answers, both having a huge 10 written on it.

"That question was way too easy" I complained laughing.

"It gets worse, don't worry" Carla grinned, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "When was Emilia's first debut for Germany?"

As I wrote 2018 on my answer sheet, I thought to myself that there was no way that Mapi knew the answer to this one, but to my surprise she did.

"There was some guessing involved" She admitted smiling.

"Who's Emilia's Idol?"

While I wrote down Alexia's name, Mapi's sheet had Alexandra Popp's name on it.

"Are you kidding me?"  I laughed, jokingly punching her in her arm. "She literally played for my rival club back in Germany."

"I couldn't think of another German footballer" the Spanish woman defended herself. "But Alexia is going to love this."

"Who's Emilia's closest friend here in Barca?"

I blushed, writing down Mapi's name. After all, she probably knew most about me.

The blonde defender proudly turned her clipboard around, which had Laura written on it.

"That's awkward" I laughed, showing her my answer.

"I was hoping for that answer" Mapi blushed.

"Okay, last one. Where was Emilia born?"

"That's an easy one" Mapi blurted out, quickly showing off her answer.

Santiago de Chile.

"You actually pay attention to the things I tell you" I applauded her.

"Judging by her score, not enough though" Clara laughed. "8 points for María, now it's your turn, Emilia. When did María have her Barca debut?"

I thought back to the conversation we had the night of the party at Mapi's house, where she told me the answer.

2017

"You're absolutely right."

"What clubs has María played for?"

I knew about Zaragoza, Atlético and Barca of course, but when I turned my answer sheet around I realized I had forgotten one.

"You missed Espanyol" Mapi triumphed. "No point for you."

"That's unfair, I got 3/4 correct" I complained.

"When's María's birthday?"

It wasn't as if I had never looked her up.

"June 13, 1995 is correct. What does María want to be when she retires?"

"Easy. A tattoo artist."

Mapi turned her answer sheet around, exposing the same answer. "4 points for you."

"If you get the next question right, you win" Carla said excitedly. "Is María in love at the moment?"

I could feel my cheeks turn bright red as I tried to hide behind the answer sheet.

What kind of question was that?

"I'm gonna go with no" I finally decided, turning the clipboard around to show the answer to the camera.

"María, what's your answer?"

Mapi blushed, turning her sheet around as well.

Puede ser.

"I see you have some catching up to do" Carla laughed. "Congratulations to both of you, you're ending in a tie!"

We said goodbye to Carla, before finally making our way to the changing room to get out of our kits.

"So... I'm your closest friend here?" Mapi teased me as we were walking through the dark hallways. "Do you treat all of your friends like this?"

"Puede ser" I smirked, trying to hide the fact that my cheeks were turning red.

Two hours later I put the fork down, completely full from all the food I had just eaten. "It was delicious, but I can't eat more or I'll literally burst."

Mapi, sitting on the other side of her table, sent me a big smile. "I'm so glad you like it."

"After I had to get you breakfast when I spent the night here, I wasn't sure if I should trust your cooking skills" I admitted, getting up to bring my plate back to the kitchen.

"If we're being honest.... my mom was here yesterday and those are the leftovers from the food she brought" the blonde defender laughed, following me into her spacious kitchen.

"I knew it was too good to be true."

I put the dirty plate in the kitchen sinking, looking for something to clean it with, when I suddenly felt Mapi's body behind me as she reached for the sink as well.

Frozen by her touch, I stood completely still, taking in her summery scent, the blonde slowly putting her arms around my stomach to pull me closer to her after she had put the plate down.

"You smell so good" she whispered into my ear, her lips touching it for a moment, before slowly wandering to my neck.

Tilting my head, I gave her better access to my neck, her lips immedietely connecting with my skin, placing small kisses all over it.

Shivers ran down my spine as I turned around, hungry for more.

Our eyes connected for a second, before my glance wandered all over her face, intensly studying every single freckle, finally resting on her lips.

"You look beautiful" I murmured, my hand reaching to Mapi's face to brush a strand of hair away.

As an answer, her soft lips crashed onto mine.

With my hand, that was still placed on her head, I managed to pull her even closer, the kiss turning passionate and hungry for what we started a few days ago.

Her body pressed me against the cold kitchen counter behind me as I softly brushed my tongue against her lips, causing her to open her mouth with a small moan to grant my tongue entry.

While our tongues were circling around each other, fighting for dominance, my hands left the safety of Mapi's hair, wandering lower and lower until they found themselves under the hem of her t-shirt. As they touched the soft skin on her back, I felt as if my body had been set on fire with Mapi being the only person with the power to put it out.

Suddenly, Mapi broke our kiss, taking a step back and studying me.

"I thought I was your closest friend here?" she winked, her hands gently stroking my back.

"Oh, shut up" I replied, still catching for air.

Mapi's hand made its way into mine, our fingers interlocking intermediately as if they were made for each other.

"How about we watch a movie?" the defender asked, gently leading me back to the living room.

Sighing, I nodded.

I could definitely think of something I'd rather do.

Or someone, to be exact.

Nevertheless, I took a seat next to her, studying her living room. It looked the same as it had a few weeks ago at the party, but this time it seemed peaceful and quiet.

My eyes fell on a small, yellow booklet laying on the flat table in front of the couch.

"Are you trying to improve your English?" I wondered.

"Ehm... W-what?" Mapi asked confusedly, preoccupied by trying to find the remote.

"I just wondered because of the book you have here. Learn English in 90 days. That's quite ambitious."

"Honestly, I haven't gotten far" Mapi replied laughing, switching the TV on. "What do you want to watch?"

"I don't mind" I shrugged.

"What about Alexia's documentary?" the Zaragoza native suggested as she opened Amazon prime.

"I've already watched it."

"Me too. But it's easier for me to control myself around you when Alexia's face is on the TV" Mapi laughed shyly. "Plus I have a part in it, what else can you ask for?"

Irritated, I turned my head to her, a little smirk appearing on my face. "You're trying to control yourself?"

"I have a reputation to disprove." Mapi grinned, gently putting her arm around my shoulders to pull me closer.

I thought back to Ingrid's words the other day. Not wanting to cause any problems, I had already decided not to tell Mapi what she had said to me, even though both of them weren't necessairily wrong.

Mapi definitely had a reputation.

But how much of it was true?

Just wanting to enjoy the moment, I let go of my thoughts and put my head on her shoulder as Alexia's face appeared on the big flat screen, eventually drifting into a deep sleep.

marialeonn16's story                               27 minutes ago