Love, romance novel | Barcelona, 2022
Main characters.
Maria is a 27-year-old woman who runs a small bar set along the Ramblas, together with a gay friend, Leon a very nice trouble maker. Maria is a pretty girl with a gentle manner. Shy in nature, she tends to underestimate herself and tries not to show off. To support the cost of living, she shares an apartment with two girlfriends: Gigì, a scurrilous painter like a longshoreman who adores Maria, and Teresa, a vegan environmentalist always looking for funds.
Julio is the captain of the Barcelona soccer team. He is a rich young man, adored by the public, surrounded by women. Julio was born to farming parents. He is connected to the land and never gets big-headed. Unlike his peers around him, his goal is not to continue in soccer but to build a large ranch and grow old among horses and orange groves.
The call to adventure
One day in Maria's bar Julio shows up looking for shelter to escape paparazzi pursuit. Maria and Leon recognize him and offer him asylum, but the girl is too shy to say or do anything. Leon also gets involved, who in serving the footballer his hood spills it on his legs, forcing him to make a hasty change at Maria's house, where only Gigì's colored pants will be available.
Despite the confusion of events, a kind of understanding is sparked between Maria and Julio, which will not come to a real relationship. Julio returns to his world and Maria to her bar, with the oddball friends trying to persuade her to be more sprightly if there is ever another opportunity.
The conflict
Two weeks after they meet, Julio has a ticket to a championship game delivered to Maria. The venue is prestigious: celebrity grandstand. After a thousand hesitations, urged on by the explosive Gigì and Teresa, Maria goes to the stadium. At the end of the game, she meets Julio. The feeling between the two involves them in a passionate kiss away from prying eyes, but teammates arrive and involve the champion in the festivities. There are models, actresses, celebrities, and Maria feels out of place. She leaves the party and returns home in a cab.
The key
Julio makes a comeback. He shows up again armed with good intentions. He explains to the girl that he comes from a simple world, just like Maria's, and that he somehow misses her. Julio hangs out with Maria's friends and everyone is enthusiastic about the soccer player. Maria falls madly in love and when she thinks she has found happiness Julio asks her to keep their relationship a secret from the eyes of reporters. Julio leaves for a retreat and a series of matches abroad.
A few days later Marie finds out from the newspapers that Julio is engaged to a famous model. Marie's hurt is deep and she no longer responds to the footballer's messages and phone calls. Marie's silence affects the performance of the captain, who makes a series of incredible mistakes.
Upon returning to Barcelona Julio returns to Marie and explains to her that the affair with the model is not true, but the girl does not believe him and kicks him out. It will be the lifelong friends who build the occasion for Marie and Julio to see each other again: so Julio shows up at Marie's birthday and asks her to be his wife.
The alternatives
This is a plot that you can easily place in Rome, London, Chicago or any other city. You can change the activities, she a famous model and he a florist, or create a gay couple: one an actor and the other a restaurateur. You can also move the story into the past, to Renaissance Florence or post-war Lisbon. But remember to keep the social differences between the two characters.
What is underestimated in these plots is the strength that secondary characters can impart: the more they are characterized, unique, present, the more enjoyable the overall result will be. Have fun inventing new ones.