It's A Game, But Who's Keeping Score?

“A baby?” I choked out, “Are you sure?

Pepe nodded his head grimly, “Olalla announced it at the end of February. And Fernando was with her.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, Fernando and Olalla were expecting a baby; together. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it; it seemed so foreign to me. I stared down at my hands, ashamed that I had been caught in Fernando’s web of lies.

“And there’s more...”

“More?” I breathed.

“Olalla’s isn’t in Spain like he’s telling you, she’s here in England; going to University. She lives nearby, so they can still see each other and stuff. Remember that one night when we were celebrating a win, when he suddenly came down with something. Olalla had called him, saying that she had just taken a pregnancy test and it was positive.”

“I-I just don’t understand how this could all happen at the same time that Fernando was finally warming up to me,” I said, standing up to go to my own bedroom.

“And there’s just one more thing,” Pepe said, placing his hands on my shoulders. “He said he wanted to get you to like him again.”

“What do you mean ‘to get me to like him again’?” I seethed, swatting Pepe’s hands away.

“I-I don’t know, the one movie night at his house. After you had gone into the house, he turned to me and told me he was going to get you to like him again. I almost let it slip that he was the reason that you left Vienna.”

“What?!” I screamed, “He was not the reason I left Vienna.”

Pepe looked at me with a stern look, “Everyone knows that he was, well except Fernando.”

“I just need...I just need to go for a run,” I said, quickly exiting the room and into my own. I changed my clothes into my running gear, I didn’t care that it was almost 11pm at night; I needed to go for a run to clear my head.

I just let my feet take me wherever they wanted to go, the combination of my music with my feet pounding against the pavement and my heart beating against my chest, surprisingly calmed me down. I looked down at my watch to see it was just past midnight, and then I heard a door slam. I looked up and saw I was outside Fernando’s house and he wasn’t alone.

He was walking Olalla to her car; the tiniest baby bump visible. The way he placed his hand on her back and guided her to her car, showed how much he cared about her and their baby. The smile on his face when he kissed her goodbye put me over the edge. I hid behind a bush in his yard and waited for Olalla to leave. When she did, I marched my way up to his front door and knocked several times. I impatiently tapped my foot, waiting for Fernando.

“What can I-” Fernando’s eyes grew wide. “Rebecca what are you doing out this late?”

“Oh, just for a run,” I said sarcastically, slipping past Fernando and into his front foyer. If I was going to get the truth from him, I might as well have some fun with it. “Where’s the kitchen?” I asked sweetly.

“Down the hall, second door on your right,” he said a shocked look still on his face.

I smiled and walked to the kitchen to get a bottle of water and hopefully a snack. I could see dishes in the sink, meaning that he had had Olalla over for dinner, after going out with me. That little bastard.

“Is there something I can do for you?”

I turned around, a smirk on my face. “Not in here,” I said, walked past Fernando, not before giving him a wink. I walked to his living room where several couches sat in a cluster, facing a fireplace that had a painting of a Spanish neighbourhood. I settled myself onto the couch, my feet purposely up on the fabric; knowing how much Fernando hated people’s feet on his furniture. I pretended to inspect my nails, when I felt someone grab my feet. I leaned forward quickly pinning Fernando down, straddling his waist.

His sharp intake of air signalled that I had gotten the reaction I wanted, his hands stayed at my hips, but I knew they desperately wanted to wander. I stared Fernando straight in the eye and then slyly turned my head so I could whisper in his ear. Fernando held his breath, as I pecked him softly right below his ear. “When were you going to tell me your exciting news, Nando?” I said sweetly.

“W-what news?” he managed to say.

“About your baby,” I seethed, thrusting my hips forward into his. He groaned and let his head fall back onto the couch. “About the baby you’re expecting with Olalla,” I spat out her name.

Fernando threw me off him, next to him on the couch, “Don’t say her name like that.”

I stood up, my hands on my hips, “I have every right to say her name like that; she came between us Fernando!”

Fernando stood up as well, roughly putting his hands on either side of my face, “She wasn’t the one that came between us.”

I looked everywhere but Fernando’s face, his angelic face. “Then who did?” I asked quietly.

“You,” Fernando whispered back.

I pulled away abruptly, the tears forcing their way down my cheeks. I didn’t bother to brush them away; he had seen me cry before. “That’s not true, we were perfectly fine before Olalla came back into your life,” I cried.

“And you could have pushed her back out, but you didn’t. You let her win,” Fernando yelled back.

“I didn’t fight back, because you’re supposed to be together. You’re the perfect couple and I’m just the girl you have on the side. Don’t think I’ve already forgotten about that kiss earlier today and the dinner.”

Fernando sighed and fell back onto the couch, “I don’t know what to do. I love-”

“Don’t even say it!” I shrieked, before storming out of his house and into the pouring rain. I didn’t even notice it at first; my eyesight was already blurry from crying. I couldn’t believe that Fernando had the audacity to say that he loved both of us. He never loved me; he just loved the thought of me. I quietly made my way up to my room, stripping my gear off to hop in the shower. I rubbed my skin raw, wanting to get rid of any evidence that I was at Fernando’s. He was dead to me.

The night was restless and that wasn’t a good thing as in two days we played Manchester United at Old Trafford. What seemed like only a few hours later, Xabi poked his head into my room; telling me that it was time to get up. I groaned and threw the closest object at him; my cell phone.

“Hey now! That’s not how to treat your host!” Xabi said jokingly, picking up my cell phone. “What’s gotten you into a huff?”

I slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. “Do you really have to ask?”

“Fernando?”

“The one and only. I found out that he’s expecting a baby with Olalla, which he failed to tell me when we had dinner last night. Then, when I went out for a run, I ran past his house and saw Olalla leaving. Does he really think I’m that dumb?”

“No,” Xabi said, patting my shoulder. “He’s torn between the two of you.”

“Don’t even think about defending him,” I growled, pointing an accusing finger at Xabi.

“I’m not defending anyone, just stating the facts. Now come on, the bus leaves at noon.”

I nodded my head and started to get my stuff ready for the away game at Old Trafford. The bus ride was uneventful, as per usual; the Spaniards sat together, the English speaking people sat together, which let me completely torn. My past or my present? I saw an empty seat next to Fernando, he looked up giving me a blank look. I maintained eye contact with him as I walked down the aisle and then sat next to Steve who was busy talking to Jamie Carragher. Even though I sat 8 rows away from him, I could still hear Fernando scoff at me for my actions.

“Not sitting with the family today?” Steve said jokingly.

“I thought I might like a change in scenery,” I said, a smile finding its way onto my lips.