For The Love of The Game

“Cris, this is amazing! You didn’t have to cook all this.” I sat down as Cristiano pushed my chair in and bent down to kiss my cheek and whisper in my ear.

“You deserve it Karmen.” He continued as he walked to the other side of the table to sit down himself. “This and much more.” A small blush crept to my cheeks. Even after being with him for a year, he still made me blush.

“You still don’t have to do this, just because you start International Duty in a few days doesn’t mean you need to do anything special for me.”

“I want us to have a good time before I go away for a while. I want to leave you with some memories till I get back.”

“I already have so many that I rea-“

“We’re gonna make new ones, ones where you won’t want to leave our room, and when you walk in while I’m gone, you immediately shudder in pleasure from the memories.” He winked as I made an ‘oh’ face before we both laughed.

“Those memories I’ll like.” He nodded as the phone rang. He began to scoot his chair back, but I put my hand up indicating for him to stop.

“I’ll get it.” I walked into the kitchen from the dining hall and picked up the phone, staring at the photos adorning the walls as I answered. “Hello?”

“Karm! How’s my baby sister doing?”

“Sergio!” I was so excited to hear from my brother, the smile wouldn’t leave my face as I looked over the high-set counter into the dining room only to see Ronaldo roll his eyes but quickly smile and nod at me as if he was excited when he noticed I was looking at him. Ronaldo and my brother never got along, that’s not completely true, they’re alright towards each other most of the time, but I think the fact that Cristiano is my boyfriend is what upsets my brother.

Sergio always wanted me to be with a Spaniard, he would say ”Not that there is anything wrong with the Portuguese, mi hermanita, but…they aren’t like us.” “You mean they aren’t Spaniards?” “Yes, you know what I mean…if you have kids… their blood won’t be…pure.” “Sergio! You are ridiculous!” “You always make me seem like the bad guy, why did you make me have to explain what I meant when you already knew!” Oh my idiot of a brother.

“Is that Porto taking care of you or is he gallivanting with his ‘mates’?” I guess I had chosen the wrong time to walk around Cristiano and sit on his lap. The phone was placed between Cris and I, so he heard what Sergio had said. He leaned in towards the speaker to talk. “Hola Serg, it’s nice to hear from you too.” I playfully smacked Cristiano in the chest as I got up and walked into the entertainment room down the hall to sit on the couch and talk with my brother. It had been a while since I’d heard from him. I decided to speak in Spanish, seeing as I don’t get to much up here, and so Cristiano wouldn’t understand everything I said.

“¿Por qué llama me usted estimado hermano? ¿Algo sucede? ¿Es herido?” (Why are you calling me dear brother? Something happen? Are you injured?)

“No, no, pudeo cuidar de yo mismo. Quise ver si querria venir y trabajar con La Seleccion cuando empezamos a instruccion la semana proxima. Perdimos a nuestro fisioterapeuta y necesitamos uno Nuevo.” (No, no, I can take care of myself. I wanted to see if you would like to come and work with La Seleccion when we start training next week. We lost our physical therapist and need a new one.)

“¡Por supuesto! Llámeme posterior en la semana tan yo puedo conseguir todos los detalles de usted. ¡Adórele hermano! Adiós.” (Of course! Call me later in the week so I can get all the details from you. Love you brother! Bye.)

“Adórele también hermanita. adiós.” (Love you too little sister. Bye.) I hung up the phone and was startled to feel Ronaldo’s arms wrap around my shoulders from behind the couch.

“Your dinner is getting cold ,mi querido.” He kissed my cheek, then placed another one on my jaw before he nibbled on my ear.

“Sorry, you know Sergio, big mouth, has to tell me everything that’s going on.” He let out a heart filled chuckle.

“Sure, you know I always wonder when you two speak Spanish, but as long as I don’t hear my name in the mix, then I’m fine with it, because I just love hearing your accent.” He tugged at my hand, leading me off the couch and back into the dining room.

“You know I feel the same way when you speak to your family, but I think I enjoy hearing your accent more.” I winked as he looked back at me whilst leading me to my seat.

“I’m glad at least our languages have the same affectionate words, so I can clearly express how much I love you and you’ll understand.” There it goes, I blushed again. This…man…pulling at my heartstrings. We continued to talk all through dinner about how Cris’s practice went and what I did in the office upstairs preparing their the teams files for them to take on their International Duties if they had to go, until Cristiano changed the subject.

“What did Sergio really call about? He usually never calls this late in the evening.” I set my fork down and began to fidget with my hands under the table. I wasn’t sure how he’d take the news, seeing as he’d offered to talk to Scolari and have me become the physical therapist for the Portuguese National Team, and I declined. “Karmen, what’s wrong? Why are you so nervous? Did something happen?” I shook my head and let out a deep sigh.

“Sergio offered me a job, on behalf of Luis Aragones and La Seleccion, to be their physical therapist during International Duties because they need a new physical therapist.” I slowly looked up at Ronaldo, his jaw clenched, staring intently at a corner of the wall. I got up and went over to him, kneeling down by his chair placing my hands over his in his lap. “Ronaldo, mi amor, you have to understand, this is for my country.” I lifted one hand to force his face to look at mine. I kept my hand on the side of his face as he allowed me to turn his head, but he still looked up. “Cris.” This time he looked down at me and slowly allowed his jaw to unclench as he let out a defeated sigh. He nodded in understanding.

“I’m only okay with this because I know how much it means to you, for your country.” I nodded and rested my head against his side as he wrapped his arms around me. “Get up.” He said, smiling at me as he got up from his seat. I stood up and let him lead me up the stairs.

“The food.” I pointed down the stairs. He waved his hand.

“I’ll take care of it later. Now I have a match tomorrow night, and I know I won’t be able to sleep tonight like any other night before match day, and I’ve come up with a few ideas of keeping myself busy while I stay up.” I smirked as he pulled me into his body.

“I hope I’m a part of these ideas, because you know I love staying up with you on nights like these.” He nodded slyly.

“Oh yes, you are, don’t worry.” I squealed as he threw me over his shoulder and walked down the hallway to our bedroom.