Day 10: 18, 507 Words

Today's writing mostly featured a discussion between Fernando and Abigail while they and the rest of the hot footballers were out for dinner. I have no idea what these two could possibly have in common, so the dialogue is kind of weird. I'm still mulling over how to proceed with both of the sisters and their love interests-- luckily today I didn't really need to figure anything out, but I know I will need to soon.

“Trust me, it never stops being weird,” he said, grinning. “I’m just a kid from the Madrid suburbs. I played in Atletico Madrid’s youth system there, and then kept moving up and up. Now I’m in Space Jam: Futbolista.”

“Was getting cast in that movie when you knew that you’d really arrived?” Abigail laughed.

“Well, I did win a World Cup and two Euro championships in a span of four years,” he smirked. 

“Oh,” Abigail said, feeling slightly embarrassed. “Those sound like arriving to me.”

“It felt pretty great.”

“So what is it like to play the most formidable opponent of all: a cartoon that is drawn in later?”

“The mind games are unreal,” Fernando laughed. “The toughest mental game I’ve ever played.”

“I can only imagine. Literally. None of the things that you are doing will ever happen to me.”

“It does sound like a fair assumption that you will never be playing a football game against a bunch of cartoon characters. Or a coyote who brings dynamite onto the field and sets it off to stop you from scoring.”

“I don’t know much about football,” Abigail said, “but that really seems like a red card to me.”

“You would think.”

“Not even a foul?”

“The refereeing is deplorable. We just played on.”

“I can’t imagine the quality of the field was great after that.”

“We’re professionals,” Fernando grinned. Abigail grinned right back.

While the others ordered bottles of champagne and invited women to join the group, Fernando and Abigail talked about everything. Their childhoods, their work, and their differing experiences of liminality. For Fernando, sporting events such as the Olympics, Premier League football games, and hockey matches are forms of liminoid experiences. They are optional activities of leisure that place both the spectator and the competitor in in-between places outside of society's norms. For example, fans can yell at each other and at the athlete-workers in a way that would be shocking outside of a sports stadium. Athletes tackle, fight, and insult one another in ways that would also be inappropriate or even illegal off the field. Sporting events also create a sense of community among fans and reinforces the collective spirit of those who take part. 

Abigail couldn’t help but agree. It was surprising to her that a professional athlete had such passionate and informed thoughts about a theoretical concept from anthropology, of course. But Fernando was a surprising person.

“We’re going to a club down the street,” Ricardo said to the pair, pulling them out of their intimate and theoretical discussion. Ricardo had somehow procured a black stainless steel wine glass with “Daddy’s Sippy Cup” written across it in loopy white scrawl, and was sipping a mysterious liquid from it with a flirty wink. It was utterly macabre. 

Fernando and Abigail looked at each other. She was extremely uninterested in going anywhere with too loud music or dancing. And wherever that “Daddy’s Sippy Cup” went, Abigail was certain that mayhem was to follow. 

Sensing her apprehension, Fernando responded: “I think we are going to stay here.”

Abigail’s sigh of relief was audible. 

“Alright,” Ricardo said, winking at the pair once again before walking out of the restaurant with the impossibly large group that had amassed. 

“Thank you,” Abigail said gratefully. “I really didn’t want to go.”

“I knew you didn’t. And I thought that if I went, you might not. And I just wanted to be wherever you are,” Fernando said more nervously than Abigail anticipated he could ever be in a situation like this one.

Abigail smiled back at him. 

“I wanted to go wherever you were going to be, too.”

I was also amused by this section: 

Isla was excited when her sister Abigail and James van der Beek walked into the Picton Street Bed and Breakfast. They were on lunch break from filming, and Abigail wanted to show James that bed and breakfast so that he could make the final preparations for what Isla now knew was the Celebrity Feud Support Group retreat that was going to take place the next weekend.

“I want to see the size of the rooms and beds,” James said with a serious expression on his face. “Some of the guests will be larger and more muscular, and I want to ensure their comfort.” James was nothing if not a thoughtful host. 

Somehow keeping a serious face through the entire conversation, Isla ushered James upstairs and highlighted the spaciousness of the rooms with king sized beds. She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but she was wondering if The Rock would be coming to finally settle his explosive feud with Vin Diesel. 

While James was speaking with the catering staff about the food portion sizes—to ensure that they would meet the caloric needs of the hungriest guests—Abigail relayed to Isla the previous night’s events.