For The Love of The Game

“Addison, I just, I can’t get over how happy I am right now! I thought the happiest I had ever been in my life was the time I was with Cristiano, but boy was I wrong! With Fernando…I feel free, I’m me…”

“And the plus side is that he can’t say anything about you behind your back in a different language! You both understand each other!” I looked at her with a confused look.

“You have a point, but you make it sound like Cris and I didn’t understand each other at all…we had English.” She rolled her eyes as she stabbed one of her pieces of chicken with her fork.

“Yes, but now Nando can send chills down your spine by lightly whispering a few things in your ear in Spanish, it’s more exotic than Portuguese…WHICH YOU DON’T EVEN SPEAK!”

“Spanish is not exotic, it’s just our native tongue, and it was just as cute when it was in Portuguese!”

“Tell that to everyone else in the world that dies every time they hear us utter a word, people dig the Español my dear.” I threw a breadstick at her forehead. She pouted and dusted the imaginary crumbs it had left on her face. “You’re just upset that I know what I’m talking about. Anyways, don’t let anything bring down this amazing mood you’re in. So is he still upstairs?” I shook my head as I took a bite from my chicken.

“He went out with Sergio, I don’t know where, probably shopping.”

“Oh! I want to go shopping too! After we eat, let’s go, I saw this really cute boutique during the car ride…” Addison trailed off as she thought of the different things she wanted to buy.

“I would love to, I need new heels, and I’m sure Vienna will have something to my liking.” We quickly finished our dinner and paid the bill, ready to go out.

+++

“I want these in red and black…is that too much?” I asked as I modeled both colors in front of Addison. She held her hand at her chin in a thinking manner as she stared at the 5-inch pumps.

“You could wear the red with a white blouse and a black skirt with a thick red belt, Fernando would die! And the black is elegant and classy, I like them both, so no, it’s not too much.”

“Then it’s settled…how many pairs is that so far?” Addison turned to the boxes on the seats, counting on her fingers.

“Seven…yeah, seven.” I shrugged and handed the saleswoman my credit card.

“My bank account will surely be hurting for a few weeks, but it was totally worth it.”

“You always have Sergio.” She smiled as she nudged me. I rolled my eyes, taking a sip of the champagne they had brought out for us.

“I do not take money from my brother, ever. Even when he paid for me to go through school, I’m still paying him back to this day…but my needs,” I continued as I pointed at all the shoes. “tend to interfere with my payments sometimes, but I do give him money, even if he doesn’t want it and insists that I don’t pay him, I make sure to deposit money in his account and I keep track of it all myself. I’m not that far off from paying him my whole debt.”

“It’s not a debt Karmen, he did it because he loves you, you know that right?” I nodded, sighing.

“I know, but it makes me feel better about it.” Addy nodded as she patted my shoulder.

“Alright, done with shoes. Now for dresses! Next door, I’ll let the woman know to take our shoes to the car.” I smiled as I headed out of the shop and walked into the one next door. My eyes bugged out at the beautiful collection of designer dresses they held. I had never seen so many different designers in one store, not even in Madrid! The bell at the door rang, indicating a customer had walked in, I turned my head to find Addy on her mobile, probably talking to Geri. I let my attention fall back to the dresses as I sorted through them, throwing the ones I liked over my arm so I could try them on. After thirty minutes of looking around and Addy joining me, the door to the store opened again, followed by loud chatter and laughter. I rolled my eyes knowing the sound too well. Addy and I looked at each other with devastated looks knowing these boys would be cutting our shopping time short.

“What are you two doing here?” I asked with my free hand at my hip as I stared Fernando and Sergio down by the door. Nando smiled as Sergio grabbed a dress from the rack before replying with a huge grin.

“Us? Finding a dress hermanita! You know, for our wedding.” Sergio held the dress in front of him, showing it off, as he threw his arm around Fernando who looked at Sergio, batting his eyelashes at him.

“Isn’t he just the perfect gentleman?” Fernando asked as he placed his hand on the side of Sergio’s face. Addison looked at me with a look as if she wanted to laugh, but couldn’t by how disgusted she was.

“I knew it! I always knew it!” Addison shouted as she pointed an accusing finger at the two of them.

“You two are drunk and you need to go back to the hotel before Aragones sees you like this!” I grabbed the dress from Sergio who frowned at me, placing all the dresses on the chair that was against the wall, I apologized to the saleswoman and pulled the boys out of the store, Addison trailing behind them.

“Karmen, we were just trying to have some fun, and we saw you two through the window and thought we’d stop by.”

“Yeah, besides, I missed you!” Fernando mumbled into the crook of my neck as he wrapped his arms around my waist, nuzzling his nose against my skin. I felt a chill creep up my spine as his breath tickled my neck.

“Nando, stop.” I laughed as I attempted to push him off. Once we reached the car, we all piled in only to hear a loud scream come from Sergio.

“What?” Addison turned around in the front seat to face the boys in the back. Sergio looked at her wide-eyed before picking up one of the boxes of shoes.

“How many pairs did you two buy?! Please tell me these are not all Karmen’s!” I turned to him, a sheepish smile playing on my lips. “Karm, you aren’t going to wear half of these, I know it, because I know you, you buy shoes, wear them maybe once, then throw them in your closet.” I shrugged and simply replied with a straight face.

“I like shoes.” Sergio turned to Fernando as he mumbled to himself a bit.

“She’s going to need a whole closet just for her shoes, I’m just giving you a heads up.” Fernando didn’t even comprehend what Sergio said as his head hit the window and he fell asleep. “Of course he falls asleep. Idiota, we go drinking and he falls asleep.” Addison giggled in the passanger seat as I sent her a look, letting her know not to encourage Sergio’s behavior. “You know, he’s so much better for you than Cristiano, Karmen. I mean, Cristiano has black hair, Fernando has blonde hair.” Sergio wasn’t making any sense as he began to play with Fernando’s hair, twirling strands between his fingers. “And his freckles, how do you say no to those freckles?”

“Eso no tiene sentido, Sergio.” (That makes no sense Sergio.) Sergio dropped his hand from Nando’s hair and looked at me with a stern look.

“Por supuesto hace, Karmen. No me corrija, conduzco sólo.” (Of course it does, Karmen. Don’t correct me, just drive.) I rolled my eyes at him before focusing my attention back on the road.

“Tiene razón Karmen, yo significo, Cristiano utiliza tanto gel en el pelo, Fernando no hace.” (He’s right Karmen, I mean, Cristiano uses so much gel in his hair, Fernando doesn’t.) I smacked her arm as Sergio laughed in the back seat.

“Tonto.” I mumbled to the both of them before Sergio started comparing and contrasting Fernando and Cristiano.

“And even though Cristiano has fancier foot work than Fernando, at least Nando gets his work done on the pitch, sometimes Cris wants to be the star and never passes, leaving his team goalless when Fernando passes and Villa scores. It’s not about who scores with Fern, it’s about scoring in the first place.”

“I don’t need football tactics in my love life Sergio! Callete and go to sleep like Nando!”

“No! Karmen, have you ever thought about what will happen when you marry Nando, he’ll be my brother-in-law, not just my best friend, life will be so much better, mi hermano! Karm, you need to marry him now! I’ll plan everything with Addison, flowers, your dress, of course you’ll get married in the church Mama and Papa got married in, I’ll give you away and be the best man, I just love weddings!”

“Sergio! What are you going on about?” Addison shouted as she covered his mouth to get him to settle down. Even with Addy’s hand covering his mouth, you could see the sly smile that grew on his face. She slowly removed it when he stopped mumbling incoherent thoughts only to have him shout out loud.

“¡Aparezca la música!” (Turn up the music!) I shook my head ‘no’, knowing that the CD I had in the player would have Sergio singing along in seconds, really loudly, and I did not need Fernando waking up just yet, dealing with one of them drunk in the car was enough. But Addison didn’t think about that as she turned the knob and the sounds of Elvis Crespo’s voice singing Pintame filled the air…soon accompanied by Sergio. “Le dije yo al pintor, pintame una carita, de la niña mas bonita, dentro de mi corazon.” Sergio serenaded us as he gestured towards Addy’s face, then mine while he sang. Addison and I stared at each other in an awkward moment, While Sergio closed his eyes and started to dance in the little space he had in the back of the car. Saying that what my brother was doing was weird would be considered an understatement. Addison and I ignored him as he continued to hum and sing, occasionally throwing his hand on our shoulders, attempting to get us involved in his antics. I pulled up to the front of the hotel, thanking everything holy that we had gotten here fine. I turned the car off, earning a groan from Sergio about the music being shut off. I turned to Addison who had a smile on her face as we both noticed Gerard standing in the front lobby, waiting for us to come back. He quickly walked out as Addy flung the door open, running towards Geri. I got out of the car, resting my arms on the roof of the car as I looked at Geri and Addy.

“Geri could you please help me get these boys to my room.” I looked over at Sergio who had his faced pressed up against the back window, making faces at Geri while Fernando threw his hand over his eyes, trying to stay asleep. “They had a bit too much to drink.” Geri nodded as he let out a chuckle and a light ‘sure’. He walked over as I shut my door and opened the side Fernando was on. He was leaning against the door, so as I opened it, his body fell against my legs, startling him awake.

“Nena, I was sleeping!” He whined as I held him by the shoulders, helping him get out of the car. He leaned on me, resting all his weight against me as Geri and Addison walked with Sergio from the other side of the car.

“We can get our stuff later Karmen, for now, let’s just take these boys upstairs.”

“How much shopping did you guys do?” Geri asked with a bewildered expression as he saw the boxes of shoes piled up in the back of the SUV. Addison and I both smiled at him as he shook his head, throwing an arm around Sergio’s shoulder, helping him walk into the hotel.

In the elevator, Addy and Geri were silently speaking to each other while Addy slapped Sergio’s hands away from the buttons that led to different floors. It seemed that Sergio wanted to stop at each floor and yell ‘Hola’ to anyone that was in the hallways at the time the elevator doors would open. We stopped him once we got to the fourth floor, knowing it would be a long journey if we let him stop until we reached the rooms that were on the 17th floor of this 20-floor building. I was occupied myself with trying to keep Fernando’s hands from roaming beneath my shirt as he tried to lift it by the hem every few seconds. “Fernando, parada.” I was quickly getting frustrated with how he was acting. I smacked his hands away, only earning a light chuckle from him before he was at it again. Once we reached the floor, I had to push him off of me, but still held a bit of a grip on him so he would walk straight as we stopped halfway to my door when Sergio decided to sit on the floor in the middle of the hallway, Geri and Addy each still holding on to one of his hands. He pouted and began to whine.

“Yo no quiero ir a la habitación de Karmen. Quiero bailar, o para mirar una película. Pero una película divertida, nada triste. ¡Pero yo no quiero acostarse!” (I don’t want to go to Karmen’s room. I want to dance, or watch a movie. But a fun movie, nothing sad. But I don’t want to go to bed!) I huffed as I let Nando rest against the wall. I walked towards Sergio, kneeling down in front of him so we were face-to-face.

“Hermano, por favor, sólo ser buenos y escuchar, usted puede ver una película en mi cuarto, y usted puede sentarse al lado de Fernando en mi cama, quillos pueden divertirse, y hasta le hará palomitas de maíz.” (My dear brother, please, just be good and listen, you can watch a movie in my room, and you can site next to Fernando on my bed, you boys(‘quillos’ is Andalusian slang for ‘boys’) can have fun, and I’ll even make you popcorn.) Sergio grabbed my face in between his hands, smushing my cheeks as he kissed my nose with a sloppy kiss that made me cringe.

“¡No!” He said simply as he let go of my face. I sighed, running my hand down my face before I felt Addy’s hand on my shoulder.

“We’ll take him to our room and watch him, don’t worry, it’s fine. You go take care of Nando, I think he’s falling asleep again.” We looked over at Fernando who had his forehead resting against the wall, his head dropping as he was going into another state of sleep.

“Are you sure? He can be a hand full sometimes.”

“Nothing we can’t deal with Karm.” Geri smiled reassuringly.

“Gracias.” I stood up and hugged them both as I patted Sergio on the head while I walked towards Fern. “Be nice Sergio.” I watched the three of them walk off towards Addison and Geri’s room while I headed down the last few steps towards my door with Fernando. He had wrapped his arms around my waist again, nibbling at my neck and leaving little kisses while I reached up above the molding of the door to get my key card down again. “Fernando, I can’t get us in the room if you keep doing that.” He didn’t respond, only moved his hands up my waist and under my shirt again. I felt his right hand trace over my stomach and past my belly button, coming up towards my breasts. I closed my eyes for a second and leaned my body into his. His breath cascading over my face, the smell of alcohol causing my eyes to shoot open and for me to stand back up again, clearing my throat as I pushed his hands away, opening the door in the process.

“Venga Karmen, we can have a little fun, no one’s around, you don’t have to worry about anything, Addy and Geri are taking care of Sergio.” He stumbled in behind me, going straight for the bed, pulling his shirt off and throwing it in the corner as I shut the door and locked it. I shook my head as he lay across the bed on his side, patting the empty side next to him for me to come join him. I rested a hand against the wall as I pulled my heels off and wiggled out of my skinny jeans, keeping my v-neck shirt and my panties on. Resting on the bed, I turned my back to Fernando as he stayed on his side, scooting closer towards me till I felt his chest against my back. I could feel his left hand playing with my hair as he propped his head up with his right arm. “Nena.” He whispered as he left little kisses behind my ear and the base of my neck. “Yo no quiero dormir todavía.” (I don’t want to sleep yet.) He left more kisses as I tried to shrug him off.

“Fernando, por favor, vamos a dormir.” (please, let’s just sleep.) I wanted Fernando, believe me, but not when he was drunk. It seems as though his frisky side was coming out now rather than his earlier, tired side. His hand that was playing with my hair moved in front of me to grab my wrist that was resting by my head. He tugged a little harshly, turning my body so that I was on my back. He threw his leg over so that he was hovering over me now, pinning my body to the bed. I could feel my heart racing from excitement, but the way Fernando was looking at me, with a heated rage from my constant denial scared me. He pinned my arms above my head with one of his hands as he leaned down and kissed me. I gave in, closing my eyes as he deepened the kiss, allowing his tongue past my lips. His grip loosened on my arms and I could taste the alcohol still. I opened my eyes and pushed both hands against his chest to get him off. “Nando, mi amor, not tonight. I promise later, but, not tonight.” He huffed and fell on his side of the bed, resting his hand on his forehead as he pushed his hair out of his face. I rested my body against him and laid my hand on his chest, nuzzling my head against his side to let him know I still wanted to be around him, but I would not sleep with him while he was drunk. He moved his hand from his forehead and grabbed my hand that was resting on his chest, only to push me off of him as he mumbled under his breath.

“¡Bromista! ¡Es tal cariño de bromista! ¡Yo estoy seguro si fui Cristiano que usted no tiene inconveniente en que fui borracho y me rindo!” (Tease! You’re such a tease cariño! I’m sure if I was Cristiano you wouldn’t mind that I was drunk and give in!) I looked up at him in shock, sitting up and resting my weight on my arms. I threw the comforter off of my body as Fernando sat up, resting his back against the headboard. He clicked his tongue before grabbing my arm to pull me back against him. “Nena, Karmen, I didn’t mean that.” I turned to him, pulling my hand out of his grasp.

“Then you shouldn’t have said it.” I replied before smacking him across the face, leaving him in shock as I got out of bed and pulled my jeans and heels on. I grabbed my phone from the dresser that held the television in front of the bed and walked out of the room, leaving Fernando in there alone to think about what he had said. I looked down the hall, faintly hearing Sergio singing. I shook my head; grateful for the friends I have to take care of things when I can’t. I continued down the hall, taking the elevator down to the lobby.

My phone had already rung twice; both times the calls were from Fernando. I turned my phone off, not wanting to deal with him right now. I knew he needed to get the alcohol out of his system before we could talk rationally, for all I know, he won’t remember anything from tonight when he wakes up tomorrow morning. I hugged my arms around myself as I felt a slight breeze give me a bit of a chill. I kept my head down, not wanting to gain any attention or be noticed by anyone at the moment. I didn’t realize how far I’d walked until I noticed how dark it had gotten. I looked up to see I had walked through the city and past the shops, coming towards the bright lights of downtown Vienna, leaving me in the open nightlife. I ran my hand through my hair, letting the waves flow as I straightened up and continued walking, looking in through the windows of the restaurants. While occupied with watching the people inside through the windows, I ran into a body, almost knocking myself back, but a pair of hands had grabbed my arms, holding me up.

“I’m sorry.” I froze as I heard his voice, whipping my head up towards him and watching the shock fill his face as he looked down at me and realized who I was. I pulled my arms back and wiped at the tears that had dried on my face, fighting to hold back the new ones that were about to surface. I dusted off my clothes and looked down at my heels, avoiding eye contact with Cristiano.

“Gracias, Cris.” He moved his finger under my chin to make me look up at him. I noticed that he had a few of his teammates with him who were standing on the side, watching awkwardly. He quickly looked over at them, tilting his head to the side. They immediately backtracked and entered a restaurant that was a little ways down from where we were standing.

“What’s going on Karmen?” He asked, worry evident in his expression. I bit my lip and shook my head, turning away from his gaze. “Karmen, diga-me.” I could feel my lip quivering as I dug myself into him, letting my arms wrap around him under his blazer as I nuzzled my head into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, one hand smoothing my hair back as he kissed the top of my head, shushing me. “Karmen, shhh, don’t cry. You’ve got to tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help until I know what’s wrong. Karm, querido.” I held back my tears and sniffled as he rocked me from side to side. “Come on, let’s go somewhere.” I nodded my head and felt his grip on me tighten a bit. I had to tell someone, and Cristiano was the only one that was around right now.