The Golden Reunion

At some restaurant...

"Nice of you to join me finally!"

The man with a deep voice said as the other man was just sitting down at the table. Red-brownish beard and a good boy haircut.

"The kids, man! You know how it goes right?" He said, chuckling.

"Javi!" The man with the deep voice, gestured the waiter to approach the table for orders.

"Usual for me and Gin and Tonic for my amigo here." He glanced to the other end of the table to confirm his assumption about his order.

"Let's try your usual, shall we? I am sick of Gin."

The man with the deep voice just looked at the waiter. Waiter nodded down as he left the table. The man with the deep voice had a clean shaved face impeccably sharp jaw. A mole over his lip and a bad boy haircut.

"La Pulga!" He almost shouted with enthusiasm. "Tell me all the stories from the Spain. It's been sooo long."

"Well, you know. Same old, same old." La Pulga said while nibbling on the complimentary olives.

"Same old? Haha!" He squinted his eyes as he laughed. "I thought without Ronnie, it'll be all different."

"Actually, it isn't the same anymore without you." La Pulga continued. "Atleast not your team."

"Former.." He said while chewing down the olives and finished the sentence while swallowing, "..team."

"You call them your former team, but you are still involved with them."

"Involved? I have moved on. I am doing great at my new club. Come on!" He said reassuringly.

"It isn't the same without you in a sense that La Liga isn't the centre of the football world anymore. I can't run this ship alone. I am single handedly dominating the league."

"That's because you're carrying those morons with you, Leo. You, are at your peak. You deserve to be in a better te-" He coughed loudly. "-Team."

Leo offered some water.

"Much obliged. Ahem." He had a sip. "Or atleast a better coach."

"Amen to that, Don Ron" Leo said staring at the table and with a smile.

"Pulga, People still hate me for leaving Madrid. They think I am a selfish person for thinking about my own well-being?" Ron said as his voices got deeper and he kept looking at his glass.

"It isn't selfish at all mate. You can't be at a place where you're unhappy." Leo.

"It's not that I was unhappy. More like I thought I deserved some better treatment. Less booing Haha." Ronnie laughed but it seemed rather like a painful one.

"Fans think they know Cris but they know nada." Leo said offering the last olive in the bowl to Ron to which he nodded negatively.

"Leo, people don't understand the perspective of a player. For them, football is entertainment. For us, its our profession. It's puts food on our table, and they don't understand this part. Plus, it isn't just about how much money and private jets and cars for us. It's about our mental health too."

Javi came with drinks and some Nachos. "Compliments of the house." He said as he put the tray on the table. Leo and Ron looked at the counter to nod and thank for this gesture by the manager.

"Thanks." Leo said to Javi as he left the table.

He took the glass in hand and raised it for a toast.

"To health, family and our love- Football. Cheers."

"To football."

"What you were saying earlier is not wrong. In fact, I'll do you one better. Fans are becoming less and less appreciative towards our performances." Leo said, to which Ron agreed with a nod. "I mean, okay, your last season wasn't like the one you usually have in terms of goal scoring, but for anyone else, it'd be once in a lifetime season."

"I blame myself." He said laughing. "And you! Haha"

"Well, we've ruined football." Leo added. "We set the bar so high, now even good season is not good enough."

"Leo, you and I both know what it is like coming from the streets to the top of the world. The years of hardwork, sacrifices made by us and the people we love. The fans can never truly understand what we have been through and what is the thinking behind our decisions."

"As I said earlier, they know nothing. We work hard, we miss our family's special occasions to focus on this game. Suffer injuries, bleed, play limping to put up a great show for the fans, but the minutes you think about yourself for a second, suddenly you're selfish." Leo's voice got higher and it felt like this was coming from somewhere deep within, as if he had this anger built up inside for long.

"EXACTLY!" Cris yelled and thumped the table loudly. "Exactly. We CAN put us first. Don't get me wrong, I love my fans and I am sure you do too. Sometimes, actually often than sometimes, they make me feel bad, as if all of the things I have done are not enough. It just lets me down."

"You know what? This is exactly how I feel." Leo gulped the last sip of his drink and raised hand to get Javi's attention and then pointed to his glass. "It is so good to speak to you about this, because you are the only one who knows what it's like to be-" Leo raised his hands and made quotation marks in air, " -the 'GOAT'. Haha!"

Cris raised his glass and laughed. Then finished his drink. Meanwhile Javi had arrived with 2 more glasses.

"Javi" Cris stopped Javi. "Me or Messi? Who is better player?" He winked at La Pulga. Messi leaned over and looked at Javi's face who seemed confused with the question.

"Pardon, Señor?" Javi asked with a twing of fright in his voice. "It is a bit hard for me to answer. You put me on the spot."

"Come on Javi. You must have a favourite." Leo asked again.

"I think you're both great." Javi gave the modest answer and hoped they'd be happy with this answer and he made sure he won't lose any tip, for now.

"Naaaaah amigo. Come on." Cristiano was not letting this go. Leo wasn't backing down from this fun either. Poor Javi looked sick.

"What I meant was, people always compare you two. They always find the points to explain how one is different from the other." Javi explained his point further. His palms got sweaty.

"I mean I do head the ball better, Don't I Javi-to?" Ronaldo laughed and glanced at Messi.

"Ahem! 2009 Champions League, Rome. Ahem! " Leo added with a fake cough and laughed looking at Cris. Cristiano laughed loudly and fist bumped Leo.

"No, I mean, what I think is, it isn't about how you two are different in different ways. I think it's about how similar you are. You both have been the best players for almost a decade. Consistently. No one can say that except you two. You came from nothing and became the best. I think that makes you more similar to eachother and that's something."

Cris looked at Leo. His face was as lightened by this answer as him. Both shared a smile. Ronaldo patted on Javi's back.

"Thanks Javi. That was..um..that's correct." Cris said. "We were just saying how only we understand certain things about eachother."

"That was a good answer. Bueno Javi." Leo was genuinely impressed and so was Cris.

"I'll let you get back to your drinks. Enjoy gentlemen." Javi exited.

Both continued the conversation which then drifted to family, friends and nostalgia. Smooth jazz was playing in the background. Both seemed to appreciate to themselves about the existence of the other in the world. One could not be spoken about without mentioning the other. Both of their lives had a chapter about the other which could not be excluded. Different in many ways yet similar in just as many.

The Legends.