[ 8 ] A Failed Attempt

I spent the entirety of the dinner quiet. I didn't dare open my mouth in front of all those important people out of fear that I could say the wrong thing. But Giovani knew just what to say. He had been around adults and professional people most of his life. It was the way he had to learn to behave from a young age, though I did recall seeing in gossip magazines that he had gotten kicked out of FC Barcelona for his constant drinking and partying.

Everyone else seemed to have a great time and talked to people without a problem. The other girls were probably used to being in the spotlight by now, with their famous boyfriends.

On the way back to the hotel, my point was proved when the couples who got seats on the top floor were freezing up there. I raised an eyebrow at Giovani, telling him, "Remember when I said you wouldn't regret getting seats down here?" He nodded and I continued with a smirk, my nervousness from the dinner party now gone. "Now they all want to be down here."

Giovani and I spent the ride back to the hotel laughing at the boys who complained about how cold it was on the top floor. The girls took up all the bottom seats, but the guys were forced to stay on the top, and when we arrived back at the hotel, Chaton complained, "Why did no one warn us it would be freezing on the way back?" He hugged himself, trying to generate some warmth and his teeth chattered uncontrollably.

I giggled. "Giovani and I wanted all the seats to ourselves."

"Selfish." He chuckled.

We all left the bus and entered the hotel, many of us piling into the elevator to get to our rooms. The boys had loosened their ties and removed their jackets, while the girls had pulled off their high heels. It was past midnight and everyone was tired, hoping for a good night's rest.

A young woman tapped on my shoulder to get my attention. She was one of the girlfriends who hadn't approached me the first day. "I saw you talking to Paola earlier." She said, her lips smacking together to form a white line. From what I could gather, she was most likely Paloma. She and Paola evidently did not like each other.

I nodded my head in response. "Yeah. She was a nice girl."

Paloma shook her head. "She probably told you all this shit about me. Well, I wouldn't listen to her if I were you. She likes to play innocent."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow at her. The last thing I wanted was to get involved in their drama, but I also didn't want to make friends with the wrong people.

"Mhm." Paloma nodded, "She likes to spread lies. Right now she has it our for me because she wanted to date Raul, but he chose me. So she went with Diego."

"I don't know what to say." I told her truthfully. "She seemed sweet when she talked to me."

"Just be careful with her." Paloma warned. "You should hang out with me. I'll be your friend."

"Ok." I agreed, hoping to avoid any problems.

When the doors opened on our floor, I said goodbye to Paloma and we headed for our suite. Giovani opened the door and walked inside. I pushed past him, heading for the couch and I plopped down on it, tired. I threw my head back and closed my eyes, feeling myself drifting off to sleep almost instantly. But his words pulled me back to reality.

"I'll make you a deal." He began, his voice amused. "Whoever reaches the room first gets to sleep there." And without so much as a warning, he ran down the hallway.

I hurried off my spot on the couch, running behind him. "Wait!" I called, my bare feet clanking against the cold tile floor.

When I reached the bedroom, I was relieved to find the bed was empty. On the far end of the room was a long couch, which he was fast asleep on. It was as though he had fallen asleep the moment his head went into contact with the couch cushions. A smile spread across my lips. As much as he could tease me, he couldn't deny that he cared about me enough to help me sleep comfortably, no matter that he had to sleep on a couch.

Before getting into bed, I grabbed comfortable clothes and went to the bathroom to change. It was the jersey Giovani gave me during the u17 world cup final in Peru and a pair of shorts, as it was a warm night in Mexico City. The last thing I did was to turn off the lights and then I got into bed.

-

I woke up in the morning to the sound of a smoke detector going off somewhere in the hotel suite. A light amount of smokecrept up into the room and my eyes shot open in fear.

I rolled out of bed, falling onto the carpet floor beneath me. My eyes scanned the room, looking for Giovani. If there was a fire in our hotel suite, we needed to keep low or the smoke could damage us. But he was nowhere to be found. I crawled around the room, and got back on my feet when the smoke cleared from the room.

Pushing the door open, I headed down the hall and entered the livingroom area. The kitchen was in full view from there and I saw Giovani using a towel to clear the smoke in front of the smoke detector. The loud beeping got louder as I approached him. He hadn't even noticed that I was there until I was standing right next to him.

"Goodmorning, Kam!" He yelled over the beeping noise.

I reached past him, over the counter top, to turn on the range hood, which could suck up the smoke caused by cooking, or in Giovani's case burning food. The smoke detector stopped seconds later and he heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I thought this thing would never stop."

"Maybe you shouldn't try to cook." I suggested with a smile. My eyes looked over his shoulder to see there were burnt eggs on a skillet. "Were you trying to make breakfast?"

He nodded im embarassment. "Since you were so tired, I thought I would make something for us to eat together. But," He bit his lip. "I failed miserably. This is why I normally buy food instead of making it while I'm in Spain."

"I'll cook." I offered with a sigh, but a smile soon formed on my lips. "I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself or burn down this hotel."

His face filled with relief. "Thank you, Kam."

"But you will be my pinche." I grinned.

"What?" He laughed.

"Pinche actually means the chef's assistant." I told him matter-of-factly. If I was going to be cooking, he would need to wash the dishes and clean everything up. It was a fair deal.

He laughed once more. "Okay. I'll be your pinche."

-

posting this like two days later, but its in celebration for giovani's birthday! my baby is twenty-six years old. omg they grow up so fast. so please enjoy the chapter. thank you!

-clary xx