Chapter 177: The Longest Day

As Raúl was finally back in full training, Mateo ended up asking him about it after practice.

They were the last two walking off the pitch, Raúl taking his time with a slow, careful cool-down stretch. Mateo brought up the commercial offer and mentioned the strange awkwardness he couldn't quite shake about standing in front of a camera.

Raúl listened with a faint smile, bending down to unlace his boots. "Just do it properly once. If you hate it, at least you'll know for sure and won't have to second-guess yourself." He slipped off a cleat and knocked the mud loose against the grass. "I've done plenty of these over the years. Some were actually fun. Most were just long and boring. But every single one paid for things that mattered far more than the afternoon I spent filming."

He straightened up and looked Mateo in the eye. "You're not selling yourself out, Mateo. You're renting your face for half a day. Just don't let them turn you into someone you aren't. A serious brand doesn't want an actor anyway. They want you, and that's why they came to the table."

Mateo took the advice to heart and agreed. Carvajal handled the paperwork, and a week before the Champions League trip to Milan, the production team set up shop in Gelsenkirchen.

They rented out a studio on the outskirts of the city, a converted warehouse fitted with a bright green screen at one end and an overwhelming rig of overhead lighting. Carvajal pulled up to Mateo's house at seven in the morning in a dark van that smelled like factory-fresh upholstery.

"You bought a van?" Mateo asked, climbing into the passenger seat.

"I leased it," Carvajal corrected, checking his mirrors before pulling into the street. "Now listen to me. Three rules today. First, you show up, stay polite, and follow the director's cues. You don't need to overthink or improvise anything. Second, if anyone slides a fresh document across a table that isn't the contract we already signed, you keep your hands off the pen and call me immediately. Third." He glanced over with a dry smirk. "You're going to get bored. You're going to feel foolish standing under hot lights pretending to enjoy a soda. That's completely normal. Every footballer goes through it on their first big shoot. Just treat it like a training drill, stay professional, and you'll find the rhythm by midday."

"You sound like you've walked players through this plenty of times."

"I've done this with guys who won't earn a fraction of what you'll see in your career," Carvajal said as he pulled into the studio lot. "And none of them took it half as seriously as you probably will, which is both your blessing and your curse."

Inside, a whole crew was buzzing around the floor. A director with heavy headphones resting around his neck, a production manager clutching a thick clipboard, and an assistant whose sole responsibility seemed to be shifting a single spotlight a few inches to the left every five minutes. A woman from the brand introduced herself as the project lead, shook Mateo's hand firmly, and repeated twice how thrilled the entire company was to have him on board. Mateo took the praise with the same quiet detachment he gave reporters after a derby win.

Before long, they positioned him in front of the green backdrop, placed a chilled bottle in his hand, called for a smile, and rolled the cameras.

It turned out to be one of the most mentally exhausting days he had faced all season, even after coming off a run of three intense matches in eight days.

The physical work was simple enough. Stand here. Hold this. Look there. Take a sip. Now do it again, but slower. Now do it again, but with the light off your left side. The problem was that Mateo had no idea what to do with his own body when it wasn't playing football.

He had the right build and good looks for the camera, but standing completely still was an entirely different challenge.

Out on the grass, he never stayed in one spot for more than a second. His body was always shifting, adjusting his weight, and looking for the next angle. In front of the camera, that habit worked straight against him. He would finish what felt like a solid take, only for the director to call cut and point out that he had unconsciously a step to the right, drifting completely out of the frame. On the next try, he turned so much while taking a drink from the can that the lens ended up staring at his shoulder instead of his face.

"You move around way too much, lad," the director said with an amused sigh after another reset. "I know you're not used to staying still, but right now, you need to be a statue. See that yellow tape by your shoes? That's your entire world. Do not leave the tape."

"Stay on the tape," Mateo muttered, staring down at the two strips of tape on the floor.

It sounded simple enough, but holding a fixed pose for minutes felt completely unnatural.

A younger production assistant took pity on him between setups and gave him a practical tip: pick a fixed spot on the wall just above the camera lens, keep the weight balanced on both feet, and only shift when the cue was called. It worked. By early afternoon, Mateo stopped drifting off target. The director began nodding with approval instead of sighing between takes, and Mateo felt that quiet satisfaction of gradually mastering something he was initially bad at.

They finally paused for a late lunch. Mateo sat by himself in a quiet corner with a tray of grilled chicken and rice. Carvajal pulled up a folding chair across from him, balancing an espresso cup.

"How are you finding it?" Carvajal asked.

"Harder than a ninety-minute match," Mateo admitted.

Carvajal chuckled, shaking his head. "Not harder, just much slower. That's what wears you down. Your legs aren't tired, but your brain is fried from having to stand completely still all day." He took a quick sip of coffee. "You're doing great, though. The client is delighted. Their marketing rep is already floating ideas for an expanded campaign this summer. I'll act hesitant, play hard to get, and use the interest to sweeten the bonus structure on this deal."

"Can you actually do that?"

"It's called smart negotiation, and it's the most entertaining part of my week." Carvajal stood up, brushing a speck of dust from his trousers.

"Eat your food. We have two quick setups after the break and then we're out of here. And for what it's worth, Mateo." He paused. "You've been polite, you haven't complained once, and you followed every direction without an ego. Plenty of players struggle with that simple part. Keep carrying yourself like this and these commercial days won't be a distraction. They'll just be the safety net ensuring you and your family are set for life, no matter what happens on the grass. That makes one boring afternoon well worth it."

The shoot finally wrapped around nine in the evening.

Mateo came out of the studio into the cold with his ears ringing from ten hours of a director saying and, action and his jaw sore from holding commercial smiles under burning lamps. Behind him, the crew was already disassembling the scaffolding and light rigs. Carvajal was walking alongside him with a phone pressed to his ear, already fielding calls about upcoming media requests.

Mateo climbed into the van and rested his forehead against the cool glass. The work was finally done, handled cleanly just as Raúl had told him. Somewhere in the glove compartment sat a contract that meant his family would never have to stress over bills again, but right now his eyes were burning from the studio lights.

Carvajal ended his phone call and turned the key in the ignition. "Get some sleep, kid. You've got training tomorrow morning."

Mateo sank deeper into the seat as the van pulled out onto the quiet street, letting the hum of the engine drown out the rest of the day. Under floodlights with a ball at his feet, everything made sense. Here in the dark, with the studio finally behind him, he could just be a footballer again.

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