Page 62 of Last Line of Defense

The silence that settles over the room afterward is absolute and brutal. Hugo jerks his head up, wide-eyed and with his mouth agape. Julián frowns deeply, visibly surprised that I’ve preempted his plans, and Alicia… Alicia remains completely frozen in her chair, pale as wax.

“No…” she blurts out immediately in a thread of a voice, broken by panic. “Don’t do something so crazy, Clara. Please, I’m begging you, don’t do it.”

My chest tightens painfully as I hear that note of desperation in her voice. But the decision has already been made, and I have no intention of backing down; I’m absolutely certain this is the right thing for both of us.

“It’s best for everyone, Alicia,” I murmur softly, trying to calm the tension.

“Best for whom, if I may ask?” she snaps at me, suddenly sitting up straight in her chair and practically leaning over the table. “Because I can assure you it’s certainly not best for me. How the hell do you expect me to just sit idly by knowing you quit your job because of me? Do you really think I’ll be able to score a single goal knowing the price you’ve paid?”

“Alicia, please calm down for a second…” I try to rein her in.

“I don’t feel like calming down! You have no right to decide all this without consulting me,” she insists vehemently, clenching her fists so tightly against the wooden tabletop that her knuckles turn white. “I’m not going to stay at this club while you give up your career because of my fucking troubled past. I’m not some little girl you have to save from monsters, Clara. I’m your partner, for fuck’s sake.”

I stare intently into her eyes, feeling my heart clench at the raw truth in her words.

“I’m not doing this because of you, my love. You’re wrong.”

“Of course you are!” she retorts, her eyes glistening with held-back tears.

“No,” I reply firmly, trying to instill confidence in her. “I’m doing this because I love you madly and because I know perfectly well—better than you do—how the machinery of this soccer world works. If someone has to step aside so you can continue to have a clean career and get Ravenhill into the Champions League, that’s going to be me. I flatly refuse to let them point the finger at you again on sports talk shows because of me.”

Alicia’s eyes flash in an instant. It’s a perfect storm: rage, pain, wounded pride, and a love so pure it’s frightening. All mixed together in her gaze.

“It’s just that I don’t need you to save my life…” she whispers, her voice trembling, suddenly drained of all strength.

“I know that all too well. You’ve always been a warrior,” I reply with infinite tenderness. “But I want to do this because I love you.”

I take a deep breath through my nose, filling my lungs with air before wrapping up the professional details with my bosses:

“I’ll make sure all the medical notes and records are perfectly up to date so the new physical therapist can continue your rehab treatment without a hitch. I’ll also take care of the training schedules for the rest of the players and the reports I had pending with management. I’m not going to let the team down on that—I’m a professional. I’m going to keep being your personal physical therapist, Alicia, even if it’s outside the walls of this sports complex. And I swear by whatever you hold most dear that that knee is going to stop giving you trouble once and for all. Together, we’re going to make sure you become the top scorer and the undisputed star that you are again. You and me. Together.”

She lets out a small, incredulous laugh—choked and filled with overwhelming emotion—as a stray tear finally rolls down her cheek.

“Seriously, Clara… you’re impossible when you get stubborn,” she murmurs, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

All the sadness of the moment washes over me, but I force myself to keep my composure.

“Well, that’s what happens when you spend so much time with me—it rubs off on you,” I reply with the sweetest smile.

For a few seconds that feel like an eternity, no one in the conference room dares to speak. Not Hugo, not Julián. They remain frozen in place. Because even those two men seem to have realized that what they’ve just witnessed is no longer about compliance with the club’s internal rules, locker-room rumors, or media reputation. This is about something much, much bigger: two people in love who are trying with all their might not to destroy each other in the process.

Hugo finally clears his throat, breaking the spell, visibly shaken by the scene. He shifts in his chair and looks at me with a solemn expression.

“Clara, please, I think what you’re proposing is completely rash. You’re a key member of the staff. Maybe if we think it through calmly, we can find a compromise that works for all of us without you having to leave the club.”

“There’s no middle ground, Coach,” I reply with astonishing calm. “There isn’t one if we want to prevent Alicia from being dragged into the gossip. And I’m not willing to let her be hurt under any circumstances. My resignation is final.”

Julián remains completely silent for a few more moments, watching the two of us over the top of his reading glasses, weighing the situation. Finally, he adopts a much more conciliatory, formal, and humane tone:

“I fully understand the passion and honesty behind every word you’ve said—I really do. But as a manager, I must ask you to consider the real consequences this could have on the staff’s performance.”

“The consequences of living in fear and hiding—we’ve both suffered them more than enough these past few weeks,” Alicia interjects suddenly, much calmer but with a firmness that fills me with pride. “What I feel for Clara isn’t some summer fling that can be turned off with the flick of a switch, and I have absolutely no intention of continuing to pretend to my coworkers that this woman doesn’t exist for me. I’m telling you this in no uncertain terms.”

Hugo sighs, resting his elbows on the table.

“This is going to cause a huge media stir as soon as the press finds out about your resignation, Clara.”

“Well, let them make as much noise as they want,” Alicia replies, shrugging with a brazen swagger that brings a smile to my face. “After all, I’m more than used to them making up front-page stories about my life. The big difference is that this time I won’t be alone to take the hits.”