Chapter Text
Cristiano shows up late to practice. He walks out with a man in a suit who looks around, nods at him once and goes back inside.
Cristiano steps on the grass and joins them. Marcelo pats him on the back and Pepe gives him a quick hug as the team lines up for drills. Cristiano starts running laps to warm up and Iker watches him biting his lower lip, fiddle with his shirt, almost trip at one point over his own legs.
Sergio brings his head close to Iker's. "Who was that guy in the suit?" he asks.
"No idea," Iker whispers back. "Seems all serious. You think that's his agent?"
"No, that's not him. But maybe it's someone who works for him?"
They examine Cristiano who's joined back up with the team for ball exercises. Isco passes to him and Cristiano runs towards the goal and shoots high above Diego's head. He runs back to the end of the line, frowning.
"How did the meeting with Florentino go?" Marcelo asks him.
"It sucked."
Marcelo gives an understanding 'hmm'.
"I thought he didn't want to leave," Sergio says to Iker, and yeah, that's the first thing that comes to his mind too.
"We don't know that he does, let's not worry about it yet," Iker decides for them both. "Let's just practice." He leaves him there to replace Diego in goal. Cristiano shoots at him, misses again.
-
When they head to the showers after practice, the man in the suit stands outside their dressing room and it seems like he's waiting. Sergio and Iker exchange glances.
"We should just ask him," Sergio says.
"I don't know."
"We're captains, it's reasonable. Come on."
They sit down and wait together for Cristiano. When he emerges from the showers with a towel wrapped around his waist, they corner him next to his locker.
Cristiano takes a shirt out and looks at them. They stare at him silently, and he sighs. "What?" he asks.
"We don't want to pressure you or anything-" Iker starts, but Sergio cuts in. "Who's the suit outside? Are you leaving?"
Cristiano blinks at them, looking from one to the other. His mouth shapes into an 'O'. "It's not what you think," he ends up saying, but that doesn't satisfy them at all. Cristiano closes his locker and sits down, doesn't look at them and settles on biting his nails. Iker gets a bad feeling in his stomach.
"Well?" Sergio urges him.
"I have a stalker," Cristiano says. "The suit is a bodyguard."
"A stalker," Iker repeats, and Cristiano nods. "What does that mean?"
"He's sending letters. Well, threats. Death threats."
Iker and Sergio stare at him with wide eyes.
"I've been getting them for years, but I guess these threats are different so I have to have a bodyguard with me now all the time. I didn't want to but my agent talked to the police and Florentino is making me."
Did he say he's been getting threats for years? Iker thinks. That's horrible. "So that means this guy is serious," he says instead. Cristiano just shrugs at him. "The security is a good thing, Cris."
"I guess. It's just this whole situation… I hate it. I hope the police gets him fast."
"I'm sure they will."
"Damn," Sergio summarizes.