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

I froze, Olalla’s words replaying in my head…the baby’s not his; the baby’s not Fernando’s. I nearly dropped my clutch, but I was quick to recover. Crouching in the doorway, I realized I was visible from the kitchen. Luckily only Yolanda saw me and she had the exact same look on her face as me, shock. I quietly stood back up, listening to the ongoing conversation.

“So whose baby is it?”

Olalla laughed, “Some guy named Miguel from Madrid; we met one night at the bar and the rest you can figure out on your own.”

The girls laughed along with Olalla, while Yolanda asked “Then why did you tell Fernando it was his?”

“I want this baby to have a good life and that’s what it’s going to get with Fernando,” Olalla said giving Yolanda a hard stare.

I couldn’t believe that Olalla was using Fernando for his money; what a gold-digger. I had to tell Fernando right now. As I turned to go outside, a hand grabbed my elbow. I felt my breath catch in my throat, I had been discovered.

“Follow me,” the voice whispered, sound like Yolanda. We walked into a gigantic bathroom and soon there was a knock at the door. In walked Pepe with three flutes of champagne.

I graciously took the glass, downing it instantly. I looked at the couple and gasped, “Where are your kids?”

Yolanda laughed, “Fernando hired a couple of babysitters and they’re taking care of the kids in one of the guest bedrooms.”

I nodded and then whispered, “What are we going to do about Olalla and Fernando?”

Pepe was in mid-drink and then asked, “What happened?”

I looked at Yolanda and she nodded, “The baby’s not Fernando’s. Olalla’s using him for his money.”

Pepe nearly dropped his glass, “What? You have to be kidding me? I know Olalla can be cynical sometimes, but that’s too much.”

“It’s true Pepe, she told us in the kitchen,” Yolanda said truthfully.

“Fernando can’t find out.”

My jaw nearly dropped to the floor, “What?”

“He’s happy right now and playing great ball. We can’t ruin that for him.”

“He shouldn’t be lied to! Especially about something as big as a baby,” I nearly screamed.

“Rebecca, you will not ruin his birthday by telling him this. You have to wait, understand?” Pepe said sternly.

“Whatever,” I muttered and walked out of the bathroom and started my way down the hallway, only to be pulled into a bedroom and be pressed up against the door.

“I never got to properly thank you for the present,” the voice said huskily, before kissing me forcefully.

“Fernando,” I groaned. “How much have you had to drink?”

He didn’t respond, but rather moved to my collarbone and started to kiss and occasionally let his teeth graze my skin. As much as I wanted to throw Fernando across the room for touching me, I simply let my head roll back, giving Fernando the access he demanded.

Before things got too heated, I pulled away and sighed. Fernando looked hurt and pouted.

“We can’t be doing this Nando.”

“And why not?” he said, nuzzling his head into the crook of my neck.

“Because you have a girlfriend and a baby out there,” I said, slightly pushing Fernando away. At the mention of Olalla and their baby, Fernando seemed to snap out of a trance. He mumbled something that sounded like a goodbye and left. I inspected the damage in the mirror and decided to wear my shawl so nobody would ask any questions.

After being at the party for nearly an hour, I finally made it into the kitchen to grab something to eat. Only to run into the person I had been trying to avoid.

“Hi Olalla,” I said with a forced smile.

“Rebecca,” she replied, not bothering to disguise her malice towards me. “Can I get you something to eat?”

“Sure,” I said as she piled on the traditional Spanish entrees onto a plate for me.

As she handed my plate to me, she pulled it away at the last second, “I don’t know what you’re playing at with my Fernando.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play stupid with me niño. I know something happened in Vienna, but Vienna is over. So stay away from Fernando.”

“Okay,” I said, quickly snatching away my plate and heading outside where more people seemed to have congregated, along with more portable heaters.

“Rebecca!” Alex shouted, beckoning me over to her table. “Have a seat, we need to plan our lunch date sometime.”

Alex started talking about lunch dates, dinner dates, shopping trips out of the city, salon visits and basically anything else that girlfriends do together. I looked at Steve with wide eyes, who then started laughing and attempted to get his wife to stop talking.

“Alex, hunny?” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, which didn’t even seem to faze her as she continued to talk, “And there’s this cute little boutique in London with the most fabulous bathing suits-”

Steve had clamped a hand over Alex’s mouth, “Hunny, take it a little slower. You’re scaring the poor girl.”

Alex looked at me and her expression softened, “I’m sorry. I just got so caught up.”

“Don’t worry,” I laughed. “It’s just been awhile since I had girlfriends.”

“How long?”

I gulped, “Highschool or just after.” Alex’s jaw dropped. “I had always played with guys and their girlfriends felt threatened by me so they just ignored me.”

The next thing I knew, Alex had thrown her arms around me in a tight squeeze, mumbling that she would always be there for me and everything.

“Come on Alex, don’t make her go soft!” Alex joked, swatting her hands away from me. “I need her to be tough, not cute.”

Alex glared at her husband, “Every girl needs to feel cute every once in awhile.”

“I know that love, but she’s playing soccer 24/7,” Steve quickly countered.

I quietly made my getaway leaving the couple to their “heated” discussion. I mingled with the rest of the team, meeting spouses, girlfriends, partners, kids and more. I could truly see why Luis, Toni and Rafa had chosen Liverpool as my destination. Then, my phone started ringing.

“Hello?”

“Hola mi amor.”

“Rafa!” I smiled.

“How are things in Liverpool?”

“Good, we’re on a pretty good streak right now and I’ve scored two goals.”

“Great and beautiful goal by the way against Iker. Sergio still apologizes to him for not staying with you,” he laughed.

“I wanted to prove Iker wrong because he told me that I couldn’t score against him.”

“That’s the Rebecca I know and love! But how are things outside of soccer?”

“If you mean Fernando, I don’t even want to talk about it. He’s history, not ancient, but most definitely history. Didn’t you hear about Olalla?” I snapped.

“Even you mean that she is pregnant with Fernando’s baby? Then yes, it’s all over Spain that El Niño is starting a family.”

“It’s not his,” I growled, before I had a chance to stop myself.

“What?!”

I mentally slapped myself, before lowering my voice to barely a whisper, “The baby isn’t Fernando’s, it’s from a one night stand. Olalla’s just using Fernando for his money.”

“No way! The gossip magazines would have a field day with that story.”

“You can’t tell anyone,” I demanded and then I noticed that people were gathering around the patio. “I have to go Rafa, talk to you later.”

I walked over to the patio where everyone was forming a semi-circle around Fernando and Olalla.

This didn’t look good.

“I have an announcement,” Fernando boomed, wrapping an arm around Olalla. “After finding out that we’re expecting our first child, something clicked inside of me. I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Olalla, so…”

He bent down on one knee and pulled out a box from Tiffany’s, “Olalla, will you marry me?”