Agger Nights, Better Days. Ch. 7-8
7.
When they reached the hotel the staff announced that the team would be going out for dinner instead of having dinner in the hotel. The bus would depart for the restaurant in 25 minutes, so most of Daniels team mates made calls to their families or sat around in the lobby reading something or playing games. The more vain members of the team got back to their hotel rooms to ‘slick up’ as Babel put it. In Babels case that probably meant trying on about 220 different pair of (in Daniel eyes) similar diamond studs and deciding for the first pair before choosing one of his caps, who Daniel could only call colourful at the least.
Daniel sat down in one of the lobby’s comfortable chairs and stretched his sore legs with a content sigh. From the corner of his eye he saw Fernando making a call on his cell phone. He was talking on his phone in hushed and agitated Spanish. Just when Daniel wanted to avert his gaze Fernando caught him looking and froze for a second before turning around and walking towards the small garden of the hotel. Daniel didn’t mean to spy on Fernando but he kept looking while Fernando seemed to get more and more worked up by the conversation he was having. After a couple of minutes Fernando seemed to have calmed down and was now nodding while squeezing the bridge of his nose. Fernando ended the call and rubbed his eyes, he looked defeated, Daniel thought. Suddenly the young Spaniard stood up and made his way to the little bar of the hotel. From Daniels view he could see Fernando ordering something from the bartender.
What was he ordering? Daniel wondered. Surely not liquor or anything since they were on a strict diet, besides it wasn’t even 5 o’clock.
When Fernando returned to the lobby Daniel saw he was carrying a big bottle that contained a bright orange liquid. Energy drink.
Drinking energy drink wasn’t unusual for footballers, it was however unusual to do it when their training already ended 2 hours ago and the size of the bottle was also much bigger than what they usually drank.
Before Daniel turned his head away from Fernando he saw the blonde uncapping the bottle and gulping down some of the liquid.
When it was time to go out for dinner the whole team queued to board the bus that would take them to the restaurant. It was a 15 minute drive and the restaurant was in a small and private town near the hotel. The food was very good and Daniel was delighted to find something else on the menu than mashed potatoes. Fernando sat across Daniel and although Daniel didn’t pay any special attention to the boy he noticed Fernando ordered 3 big cokes, while most of them ordered 1 or 2.
After dinner they had some nice after-dinner tea and coffee and Daniel noticed, once again, that Fernando order the super strong espresso. After the coffee and tea they boarded on the bus back to the hotel again. Back in the hotel, almost everyone immediately set off to their rooms and Fernando and Daniel said goodbyes to their team mates before heading to theirs.
Once they arrived there Daniel changed to his pyjama pants and basic black shirt before diving straight into bed.
‘Man, I’m absolutely knackered!’ ‘That was some first training! ‘ What about you?’ Daniel exclaimed.
Fernando shrugged with a tiny smile. ‘It was not very easy indeed.’
‘I was planning to read some more since I’m not that tired yet, but I will sit on the balcony with the outside light so I will not bother you.’
Of course he wasn’t that tired, Daniel thought, after all the hyper energetic junk he had been drinking. But he kept his mouth shut and just nodded.
‘Okay, see for yourself, but I’m on the first train to dreamland and if you’re coming too, just let me know and I will wait for you between the cupcake tree and candy mountain.’ Daniel said.
‘What’s that even supposed to mean?’ Fernando asked laughing.
‘Oh nothing, just something my little niece always says.’ Daniel replied with a grin.
‘Anyway, I’m off to bed good luck with the reading and perhaps I’ll spot you in dreamland.’
‘Buenas noches.’ Fernando smiled.
‘Good night.’
Daniel got in bed and quickly dozed off. He was having a pleasantly undisturbed nights rest and woke up around half past 5 to take a quick leak when he noticed Fernando’s bed was empty.
8.
Panicking, Daniel quickly sat up. He rubbed his eyes thoroughly and blinked a couple of times as to make sure he wasn’t sleeping.
Nope. The Spaniards bed was still empty.
Shit.
Shitshitshitshit.
Daniel almost tripped over himself to get to the bathroom. He threw open the bathroom and peered inside, no sign of the boy.
He quickly walked back to their hotel room and was just on the verge of throwing open their hotel room and running down the hallway to Steven and Xabi’s room to probably panic and
wait.. What was that?
Daniel hear a sound coming from the balcony, it sounded like someone was stirring their coffee or tea. In two steps Daniel was at the balcony and pulled away the curtains.
There, on the balcony in the upcoming sun, was Fernando sitting with what seemed to be a fresh cup of coffee and his book.
He froze when he saw Daniel.
‘Daniel!’ What is wrong?’ ‘Why are you up so early?’
‘Me?!’ ‘I could ask the same question to you!’ ‘What are you doing on the balcony this early??’ It’s not even 6 o’clock for Christ’s sake!’ Daniel all but screamed.
‘Oh, I ehm.. I just woke up early and couldn’t sleep anymore so I thought I sit on the balcony and read some so I did not wake you up.’ Fernando said apologetic. ‘I am sorry if I woke you up or irritated you.’
Daniel feeling a bit embarrassed about his panicked behaviour after Fernando’s explanation now said, ‘No, no, that’s okay.’ ‘I was just.. I thought that you know .. because last night.. maybe you.. ‘
Daniel trailed off.
He saw a light blush creeping up on the pale Spaniards complexion.
‘Oh.. no.’ ‘I was just here enjoying this café, si?’ Holding up his cup Fernando smiled insecure while avoiding Daniels eyes.
Daniel nodded. ‘Okay, well.. ehm I’ll just go try and sleep a bit more since it will be a tough training day today, right?’
‘No problema.’ ‘If you wake up and want, there is some café left.’ Fernando smiled warmly to Daniel.
‘Yeah. Well maybe later, thanks though.’ Daniel mumbled and went back to his bed.
As Daniel laid down he realized he still didn’t make his planned visit to the toilet and he got up again.
On his way back to his bed his eyes fell on Fernando’s still made up bed and his pyjama pants sticking out from underneath his pillow.
So, Fernando didn’t sleep.
Before Daniel could think more about it he already drifted off, being exhausted from his hysterical early wake up.
Daniel woke up from a deep sleep with a slumbering head ache 2 hours later. Slowly he dragged himself out of bed and sat on the edge. He noted, once again, that Fernando was not in the room and as far as he could see, not on the balcony either. This time though, Daniel didn’t panic. The sun was already fully up and besides, the boy was a grown-up. A very young looking grown-up but still a grown-up who was supposed to take care of himself.
When Daniel was busy washing his face in the bathroom he heard the door slam. When Daniel entered their room he saw Fernando standing in front of him with a shy smile and a stretched out arm. Daniel stared at the young Spaniard dumbfounded until he spoke up.
‘Morning Daniel.’ I was got some, how you call it.. naranja no eh.. orange juice and brought some for you too! ’ ‘I mean only if you want.’ He added hesitanty.
‘Thank you, I mean muchas gracias.’ Daniel accepted the offered juice gratefully.
Fernando paled a bit after Daniels statement.
‘You.. you speak Spanish?’ He asked nervously, stumbling a bit over his words.
‘What?’ ‘No god no!’ ‘It’s about as good as my ancient Greek is, and I only know the word for trash bin in Greek. Which comes useful in every aspect of life if I may say so.’
Daniel declared laughing a bit.
Fernando let out a barely audible sigh and relaxed a bit.
‘Well I only remember the meaning of the word democracy from my high school history lessons, so together we’re almost fluent I guess.’ The boy joked.
‘All rightenough bragging about our linguistic skills.’ ‘It’s way too early for that.’ Daniel said.
‘Let’s get something to eat downstairs, okay?’
Fernando nodded and followed him to their door.
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When they reached the hotel the staff announced that the team would be going out for dinner instead of having dinner in the hotel. The bus would depart for the restaurant in 25 minutes, so most of Daniels team mates made calls to their families or sat around in the lobby reading something or playing games. The more vain members of the team got back to their hotel rooms to ‘slick up’ as Babel put it. In Babels case that probably meant trying on about 220 different pair of (in Daniel eyes) similar diamond studs and deciding for the first pair before choosing one of his caps, who Daniel could only call colourful at the least.
Daniel sat down in one of the lobby’s comfortable chairs and stretched his sore legs with a content sigh. From the corner of his eye he saw Fernando making a call on his cell phone. He was talking on his phone in hushed and agitated Spanish. Just when Daniel wanted to avert his gaze Fernando caught him looking and froze for a second before turning around and walking towards the small garden of the hotel. Daniel didn’t mean to spy on Fernando but he kept looking while Fernando seemed to get more and more worked up by the conversation he was having. After a couple of minutes Fernando seemed to have calmed down and was now nodding while squeezing the bridge of his nose. Fernando ended the call and rubbed his eyes, he looked defeated, Daniel thought. Suddenly the young Spaniard stood up and made his way to the little bar of the hotel. From Daniels view he could see Fernando ordering something from the bartender.
What was he ordering? Daniel wondered. Surely not liquor or anything since they were on a strict diet, besides it wasn’t even 5 o’clock.
When Fernando returned to the lobby Daniel saw he was carrying a big bottle that contained a bright orange liquid. Energy drink.
Drinking energy drink wasn’t unusual for footballers, it was however unusual to do it when their training already ended 2 hours ago and the size of the bottle was also much bigger than what they usually drank.
Before Daniel turned his head away from Fernando he saw the blonde uncapping the bottle and gulping down some of the liquid.
When it was time to go out for dinner the whole team queued to board the bus that would take them to the restaurant. It was a 15 minute drive and the restaurant was in a small and private town near the hotel. The food was very good and Daniel was delighted to find something else on the menu than mashed potatoes. Fernando sat across Daniel and although Daniel didn’t pay any special attention to the boy he noticed Fernando ordered 3 big cokes, while most of them ordered 1 or 2.
After dinner they had some nice after-dinner tea and coffee and Daniel noticed, once again, that Fernando order the super strong espresso. After the coffee and tea they boarded on the bus back to the hotel again. Back in the hotel, almost everyone immediately set off to their rooms and Fernando and Daniel said goodbyes to their team mates before heading to theirs.
Once they arrived there Daniel changed to his pyjama pants and basic black shirt before diving straight into bed.
‘Man, I’m absolutely knackered!’ ‘That was some first training! ‘ What about you?’ Daniel exclaimed.
Fernando shrugged with a tiny smile. ‘It was not very easy indeed.’
‘I was planning to read some more since I’m not that tired yet, but I will sit on the balcony with the outside light so I will not bother you.’
Of course he wasn’t that tired, Daniel thought, after all the hyper energetic junk he had been drinking. But he kept his mouth shut and just nodded.
‘Okay, see for yourself, but I’m on the first train to dreamland and if you’re coming too, just let me know and I will wait for you between the cupcake tree and candy mountain.’ Daniel said.
‘What’s that even supposed to mean?’ Fernando asked laughing.
‘Oh nothing, just something my little niece always says.’ Daniel replied with a grin.
‘Anyway, I’m off to bed good luck with the reading and perhaps I’ll spot you in dreamland.’
‘Buenas noches.’ Fernando smiled.
‘Good night.’
Daniel got in bed and quickly dozed off. He was having a pleasantly undisturbed nights rest and woke up around half past 5 to take a quick leak when he noticed Fernando’s bed was empty.
8.
Panicking, Daniel quickly sat up. He rubbed his eyes thoroughly and blinked a couple of times as to make sure he wasn’t sleeping.
Nope. The Spaniards bed was still empty.
Shit.
Shitshitshitshit.
Daniel almost tripped over himself to get to the bathroom. He threw open the bathroom and peered inside, no sign of the boy.
He quickly walked back to their hotel room and was just on the verge of throwing open their hotel room and running down the hallway to Steven and Xabi’s room to probably panic and
wait.. What was that?
Daniel hear a sound coming from the balcony, it sounded like someone was stirring their coffee or tea. In two steps Daniel was at the balcony and pulled away the curtains.
There, on the balcony in the upcoming sun, was Fernando sitting with what seemed to be a fresh cup of coffee and his book.
He froze when he saw Daniel.
‘Daniel!’ What is wrong?’ ‘Why are you up so early?’
‘Me?!’ ‘I could ask the same question to you!’ ‘What are you doing on the balcony this early??’ It’s not even 6 o’clock for Christ’s sake!’ Daniel all but screamed.
‘Oh, I ehm.. I just woke up early and couldn’t sleep anymore so I thought I sit on the balcony and read some so I did not wake you up.’ Fernando said apologetic. ‘I am sorry if I woke you up or irritated you.’
Daniel feeling a bit embarrassed about his panicked behaviour after Fernando’s explanation now said, ‘No, no, that’s okay.’ ‘I was just.. I thought that you know .. because last night.. maybe you.. ‘
Daniel trailed off.
He saw a light blush creeping up on the pale Spaniards complexion.
‘Oh.. no.’ ‘I was just here enjoying this café, si?’ Holding up his cup Fernando smiled insecure while avoiding Daniels eyes.
Daniel nodded. ‘Okay, well.. ehm I’ll just go try and sleep a bit more since it will be a tough training day today, right?’
‘No problema.’ ‘If you wake up and want, there is some café left.’ Fernando smiled warmly to Daniel.
‘Yeah. Well maybe later, thanks though.’ Daniel mumbled and went back to his bed.
As Daniel laid down he realized he still didn’t make his planned visit to the toilet and he got up again.
On his way back to his bed his eyes fell on Fernando’s still made up bed and his pyjama pants sticking out from underneath his pillow.
So, Fernando didn’t sleep.
Before Daniel could think more about it he already drifted off, being exhausted from his hysterical early wake up.
Daniel woke up from a deep sleep with a slumbering head ache 2 hours later. Slowly he dragged himself out of bed and sat on the edge. He noted, once again, that Fernando was not in the room and as far as he could see, not on the balcony either. This time though, Daniel didn’t panic. The sun was already fully up and besides, the boy was a grown-up. A very young looking grown-up but still a grown-up who was supposed to take care of himself.
When Daniel was busy washing his face in the bathroom he heard the door slam. When Daniel entered their room he saw Fernando standing in front of him with a shy smile and a stretched out arm. Daniel stared at the young Spaniard dumbfounded until he spoke up.
‘Morning Daniel.’ I was got some, how you call it.. naranja no eh.. orange juice and brought some for you too! ’ ‘I mean only if you want.’ He added hesitanty.
‘Thank you, I mean muchas gracias.’ Daniel accepted the offered juice gratefully.
Fernando paled a bit after Daniels statement.
‘You.. you speak Spanish?’ He asked nervously, stumbling a bit over his words.
‘What?’ ‘No god no!’ ‘It’s about as good as my ancient Greek is, and I only know the word for trash bin in Greek. Which comes useful in every aspect of life if I may say so.’
Daniel declared laughing a bit.
Fernando let out a barely audible sigh and relaxed a bit.
‘Well I only remember the meaning of the word democracy from my high school history lessons, so together we’re almost fluent I guess.’ The boy joked.
‘All rightenough bragging about our linguistic skills.’ ‘It’s way too early for that.’ Daniel said.
‘Let’s get something to eat downstairs, okay?’
Fernando nodded and followed him to their door.
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