[ cinco ]

Since daycare was closed on the weekends, Valerie had nothing else to do at her house. Her mother was still in bed, ill, but she knew her mother was in good hands with the staff. Valerie's mother had even encouraged her to go out and have fun. But her friends were in Barcelona, and in Ashley's case, Valencia. She had a few friends that she had gone to school with when she lived in Madrid, but truthfully she felt her heart was in Barcelona.

With the thought of distracting herself and killing a few hours, she grabbed her keys off her nightstand and headed out. She had no idea where she wanted to go, but found a quiet peace in a small bookstore.

Though it was small, she felt as though it had shelves upon shelves of books. And there was a reading area in the back where one could sit and relax. They also had a childrens area where someone was reading books to a groupd of children. This was the type of environment she liked, peaceful, and nice, a place where there were also children.

Valerie grabbed a book off the shelf, El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes, one of the most popular books of her country, and she went to find a place to sit. She had already read the book several times, and loved every moment of it. How Don Quijote went out on his quests for the greater good, though others thought him to be mad. She loved the way he fought for what he believed in and refused to see a crude reality, instead chosing to see the beauty of dreams and things that might bever be.

She was well into the first chapter when she began feeling sleepy and decided to leave. With the thick book in hand, she walked to the register and paid for it. On her way out, she was met with none other than Toni Kroos who was entering the same place she was leaving.

She brought her lips together to form a thin line. "You're a stalker, aren't you?"

"Me?" He gasped, clearly offended. By his side was Leon, who Valerie smiled at sweetly. "Maybe you're stalking me." Toni accused.

"I was here first." Valerie pointed out.

"I'm only here to buy some new books for Leon. I think he's done with that story about that God awful rabbit who visits his grandmother." He defended. "I've gone to a few bookstores in the area and can't find any in German."

Valerie laughed at his predicament. "Hombre, you won't find a children stories in German! In English, maybe. But not German. Unless maybe you go to the International Reading section and grab a Spanish to German dictionary."

"Don't laugh." The German pouted.

"Are you going to cry now, Kroos?" She teased.

"Of course not." He told her.

"Come on." She said to him, lifting Leon up in her arms. He giggled happily and she led him down a row of shelves. "There are perfectly good Spanish books here. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from them."

He followed her down the row until they got to the back where the shelves were brightly colored and decorated with animals and flowers. Once there, she set Leon on his feet and cruched down to pick out a book for them. She grabbed three different ones and handed them to him: La Gallinita Roja (The Little Red Hen), Jorge el Curioso (Curious George), and Huevos Verdes con Jamón (Green Eggs & Ham). "Here," She said to him, "I really enjoyed these when I was a kid. Maybe he'll like them too."

He eyed them for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"What?" She challenged. "Are they too colorful? You can relax, the Berlin wall was torn down years ago. You are no longer in East Germany." Valerie knew well that Toni was the first player on the national team to have been born in Communist East Germany towards the end of the Berlin Wall era.

"So funny." Toni let out a fake laugh.

Lifting her bag where her book was, she informed him, "I already bought a book, so I think I'll be going now."

"Well," He began rather shyly, "Since we're already out. How about some lunch together?"

Valerie was just about to decline when her stomach grumbled. Loudly. Crinkling up her nose, she responded, "You know, I was just about to say no. But it sounds like my stomach is yelling yes! So I'll take you up on the offer." A small smile appeared on her lips. Sergi Roberto was paying no attention to her. She had to move on and see other people, even if that other person was Toni Kroos.

She picked Leon up in her arms and led Toni to the register where he paid for the books. Once in the bookstore parking lot, Toni saw that she had arrived in her own car, which would make things more difficult. Before he could say anything, Valerie offered, "I can call someone at my house to pick up my car and we can go in yours."

Toni nodded with a smile. "Okay."

Valerie sent a text while Toni strapped Leon in the toddler's seat. Then the two of them got in the car. "I know you said you weren't, but you are following me, aren't you?" She raised an eyebrow at the German footballer playfully.

"Its just a lucky coincidence." He winked at her.

"I wouldn't exactly consider it lucky." She shrugged.

"Hey, girls would kill for a chance to just run into me at the airport, or the supermarket, or a daycare, or a bookstore." He countered, remembering all the times he had run into Valerie since she had arrived in Madrid.

She let out a laugh. "Cocky much?"

"Tell me where you want to eat." He said, changing the subject. "I haven't really been to a lot of places in Madrid because I don't want to talk t anyone."

"Um..." She looked out the passenger window. They were on the city strip where there were various shops and restaurants and she pointed when her eyes fell upon one she liked. "That one!" She said.

"That one?" He took one look at it and went around to park in the back lot.

Fatigas del Querer, it was called. The Fatigues of Love.

"They make the best tapas here, and I haven't had them in forever." She informed him.

"I don't even know what taps are." He attempted to say the word in Spanish, but failed.

"Tapas." She repeated, remembering a story her mother told her of the origins of the snack. "They were actually created long ago by wine vendors. They had samples of the wine in glasses, and ocassionally flies would fall in. So they thought up a way to prevent that and tapas were born. They are small snacks, placed on top of the wine cup to keep it safe. They were made salty so that the customers could become thirsty and the vendors could sell more wine."

"That's very smart." Toni chuckled.

"Of course." Valerie smiled. "We spaniards are very intelligent people."

Both got out of the car and Valerie helped Toni get Leon from the back seat. Together, the three went around to the front, where they entered the restaurant. She was surprised, when at the entrance she saw one of her former classmates was the hostess. Her name was Karen. "Hey Val!" She grinned, "Oh my gosh, you got married." And looking at Leon, who was blonde like both Valerie and Toni, she added, "And you had a son! What's his name?"

Valerie went red in the face. "Um—" She began.

But the hostess cut her off. "Let me take you to one of our tables."

While Karen walked ahead of them, Toni whispered to Valerie, confused, "What was all that she was saying to you?"

"She thinks you and I are married, and that Leon is our son." Valerie explained.

Toni stifled a laugh. "Why didn't you correct her?"

"She didn't give me the chance!" Valerie hissed.

"Right." Toni snorted. "You probably want her to think we're married."

Karen found them a table near the back, where it was more private. And there was no more time to explain to her that Valerie and Toni weren't married because she went back to the front of the restaurant and a different person was sent to take their order.

-

i havent updated this in a while. but im in the crummiest mood because chivas was booted out of the play offs by santos. damn you santos. haha. anyway, give it a nice comment and vote. thank you.

i love you!

-clary xx