For The Love of The Game

“Are you going to be alright, Karmen?” Sergio asked as he tucked me into bed, smoothing my hair back as he leaned down and kissed my forehead. I nodded as he smiled and patted my shoulder. “I’ll have Fernando come check on you later.” I gave him a slight smile as I turned on my side facing the door. I watched as Sergio turned the light off and gave me one last glance before walking out and shutting the door behind him, leaving me to my thoughts.

About an hour later I was stirred from my sleep to the sound of my doorknob slowly turning as if whoever was on the other side was trying to be as quiet as they can. I slowly opened my eyes to see Fernando’s back towards me as he was silently closing the door. I sat up in my bed, watching him carefully as he turned around and walked towards my bed. I flipped the switch of my bedside lamp on and patted the other side of my bed for Nando to come sit next to me. He crawled under the covers with me and rested his back against the headboard like me as he took my hand in his in a soothing manner.

“Are you doing better?” He asked, to which I only nodded. I was a woman of little words tonight, but I knew that I had something to say to Fernando sooner or later. He sighed thinking that he wasn’t going to hear me say anything tonight. I turned a bit so my body was somewhat facing him.

“I remember everything.” I said quietly. Fernando nodded and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. “Even what you said on our way down.” I looked up at him as he stared at the wall straight ahead. It was quiet for a few seconds until he looked down at me, still looking up at him.

“I still mean all of that, I promised you, and I don’t plan on starting to break promises with that one, especially that one actually. It’s one of the most important promises I’ve ever made.” I nodded in agreement and leaned my head against his shoulder, but he moved me so that I was resting my head on his chest as he held his arms around me. “Just go to sleep, there’s nothing more to worry about tonight.” I closed my eyes as Fernando just sat still, caressing my hair and humming lightly. I soon fell asleep in his arms, just like the night at the carnival a while back.

+++

”Why do you always tease me Fernando?” I whispered as I unlinked my hand with his under the table. I didn’t give him enough time to answer as I was pulled away by my other hand by Cristiano to dance, but not before Nando smirked and winked at me. I turned to Cristiano smiling, a smile that was meant for Fernando, but caused Ronaldo to smile at me as he pulled me to the dance floor of the restaurant that was holding the dinner for some football charity that I wasn't paying much attention too. The only thing that had made me happy about this dinner was that I was going with Ronaldo, but I would also get to see Fernando. After 3 songs, I excused myself to the bathroom, walking out of the hall looking for Fernando at the table, but not seeing him. My heels clicked on the mosaic-tiled floor as I swung the door open to the ladies room. I walked up to the mirror to touch up my make up when I heard the door swing open again, and the trashcan being pulled on the ground. I looked past the wall to see Nando placing the trashcan in front of the door so no one could get in. He looked up at me with that wild smirk he always seemed to dawn around me. “What do you have planned now, genius?” His smirk only grew wider as he walked over to me and picked me up, sitting me on the counter between two sinks, causing me to drop my mascara as he hiked my dress up a bit.

“I have a few things in mind. You know it’s hard to keep you out of my head when Cristiano’s around if you insist on dancing the way you do.”

“And what way is that?” I asked, breathing into his ear as I nibbled on his earlobe. He let out a low groan that caused me to smile, knowing that I was the one in control now.

“Doesn’t matter now.” He said forcefully as he held his hand at the back of my neck forcing my head back so that he could attack my lips with his. He kissed me furiously as he worked my dress up to my waist and slipped his hand up to remove my underwear, only to find I wasn’t wearing any. I could feel him smile into the kiss at the discovery he made as I tangled my fingers in his blonde hair. He removed his hand from the back of my neck and placed both his hands on my thighs, pulling me towards him at the edge of the counter. I let out a moan as I held his head over my neck, the urge to have him growing stronger.

“Fernando-

I shot up in bed, panting; again, this was the second night in a row that I had a dream about Fernando. Fernando, I remember falling asleep with him still here. I slowly turned to find him sleeping peacefully next to me, his arm that was probably wrapped around my waist now placed on my lap from sitting up in bed. I let out a sigh of relief knowing from things Sergio has told me that I tend to talk in my sleep when my dreams get very realistic. I’m glad that today was not the case and that Fernando was still asleep, with his mess of blonde hair sticking out at random places underneath the pillow. I smiled at how his head was hidden by the pillow, yet half his body was exposed from beneath the blanket. The boy never had good sleeping habits. I got out of bed slowly so I wouldn’t wake him. Once I accomplished that successfully, I grabbed a change of clothes and walked into the bathroom to get ready for my morning run. Today was the day that I would get to see the rest of the team; meet some new faces and see some old ones that I haven’t been in contact with for a while. I had to finalize their health forms and files today, so I actually had work to do, and the boys were supposed to be having some sort of team meeting. I wrote two quick notes, one for Fernando and one for Sergio once I was finished changing. I left one of the notes on the bedside by Fernando. I grabbed my Ipod and quietly left the room and walked down the hall towards Sergio’s room. I opened the door to find his body hanging off the side of the bed, snoring. Man, whoever ended up being with my brother would sure be one lucky lady…maybe. I kissed his cheek and left the note on his bedside, knowing that if I helped him back on the bed, he was sure to wake up, so I’d let him have the few extra minutes of beauty sleep before he fell off the bed completely. I walked out with a smile on my face, relieved, relaxed, and ready for the new day ahead. As I reached the front door, I heard a thud come from Sergio’s room and I just knew that the thud was followed by a few mumbled curses by him, even if I couldn’t hear them. I just laughed and left for my run, letting the image of Sergio falling out of bed add to the happiness that was surging through my veins right now.

+++

“¡Qué demonios es esto? ¿Me bromea en este momento? ¡SERGIO! ¡Venga aquí ahora!” (What the HELL is this? Are you kidding me right now? SERGIO! Come here right now!) I hollered up the steps completely flustered as I entered the house with a magazine I picked up at a stand while running. I walked into the kitchen to grab a water bottle, not even bothering to wait for Sergio to come downstairs. I sat down on one of the stools at the counter, taking a sip of my water whilst flipping through my new reading material. “Mientras los gatos lejos, los ratones salen para jugar.” (While the cats away, the mice come out to play.) “What that’s supposed to mean?” I asked myself before I heard a creaking at the steps. I looked up to see Fernando rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he walked towards me slowly. “Have you seen this?!” I yelled, holding up the magazine in front of Nando’s face.

“Good morning to you too.” He replied, not even looking at the magazine as he passed me to get juice out of the refrigerator. Sergio walked in from the other end of the kitchen, hair all ruffled and unbrushed.

“What are you yelling about?” He asked, yawning at the end of his sentence.

“THIS!” I yelled again before Sergio slapped his hand over my mouth so I would stop shouting. I whimpered and held up the magazine as he removed his hand. Sergio and Fernando came over, taking the paper out of my hand to read for themselves.

“When did they take pictures of us?” Fernando asked as Sergio started laughing.

“It looks like the airport, seems to be right after I got off the phone with Ronaldo. And what are you laughing at?” I smacked Sergio’s arm to which he stopped laughing.

“Mientras los gatos lejos, los ratones salen para jugar. That’s a very clever title, for once.” I rolled my eyes at his stupidity of not noticing the seriousness of the issue at hand.

“Why don’t you look at the other picture on the front cover pendejo!” I guess they really didn’t notice the photo next to the one of Fernando and I at the airport. Ronaldo had his arm around Avelina as he held the door of his car open, helping her get in. Fernando turned the page to the article as Sergio’s jaw locked.

“’La pareja gloriosa del Manchester United parece tener maneras separadas este verano para la European Cup, volviendo a sus raíces. Cristiano parece haber encontrado Avelina otra vez, y Karmen alimenta lejos de todavía otro famoso futbolista Premier League, Liverpool, Fernando Torres. ¿Hace no consigue bastante de su hermano, Sergio Ramos, famoso defensor para La Liga Real Madrid? El dos probablemente son cansados de uno al otro y piensan que es tiempo de volver a su propia clase. El Portugués contra los Españoles.’ ¡Eso es una carga de mierda!” (‘The glorious Manchester United couple seem to have parted ways this summer for the European Cup, going back to their roots. Cristiano seems to have found Avelina again, and Karmen is feeding off of yet another famous Premier League footballer, Liverpool’s Fernando Torres. Doesn’t she get enough from her brother, Sergio Ramos, famous defender for La Liga’s Real Madrid? The two are probably tired of each other and think it is time to go back to their own kind. The Portuguese versus the Spaniards.’ That’s a load of shit!) Fernando read the article out loud. I looked up at Sergio as he gave me a questioning look before gesturing towards Fernando, who was still flipping through the article, with his head then back at me. I quickly shook my head, reassuring him that there was really nothing going on between Fernando and I. He nodded in understanding before letting me speak.

“This is going to be all over the tabloids…Ronaldo’s going to see it, he’s going to think there’s something going on between Fernando and I!” I placed my head in my hands as I started to worry.

“So what if he does?” Sergio asked, clearly not hiding how upset he was. “He’s actually done worse, and you’re still worried that you’re going to break his heart with those photos?” I shook my head.

“You don’t understand, he’s going to think that I cheated on him too! He doesn’t like Fernando to start with, and me hanging out with Fernando, it’s just the genius plot of revenge towards him. But that’s not how it is at all! Now he’s going to blame me for our relationship going to shit as well!” As if on cue, my cell phone began to ring next to me with Ronaldo’s ringtone. “Fucking brilliant!” I answered the phone, Sergio and Fernando both staring at me intently. “¡Haga ni empiece a gritar en mí! ¡Ninguno de lo que está es allí dentro verdad, menos usted callejeando alrededor con esa puta!” (Don’t even start yelling at me! None of what is in there is true, except for you gallivanting around with that whore!) I screamed in frustration before kicking the stool out from under me and pacing in front of Sergio and Fernando. “I know you didn’t understand a word I said except for calling that slut a whore!...Because she is one! Don’t try and defend her! I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d act like this. News flash babe, you don’t have to know who I’m with and where I am every second of every fucking day! But I may have to keep tabs on you, seeing as you can’t control yourself around women when I’m not around. For your information, I’ve known him longer than I’ve known you and trust him more than I do you as well. He was consoling me after you lied to me! Yes after you lied, don’t try to flip this around on me.” I took a deep breath, feeling bad for the boys listening in on a one-way conversation, but I’m sure they could guess what Cristiano was saying. “All I know is that Fernando and I aren’t even together, as for you and…her…I don’t know. You want to know what’s happening with us? There is no us right now an-“ Sergio pulled my phone out of my hand before I could finish my sentence and held it up to his own ear.

“She’s done with you, and even if she was with Fernando, which she’s not, I know he would never treat her the way you’re treating her right now. We’ll settle this in Austria my friend, start looking for someone who can sub for you, I don’t think you’ll be healed in time to play once I’m through with you.” Sergio hung up on Ronaldo and handed my phone back to me. My phone slipped out of my hand as I dropped my hands and let my head fall down in defeat as I started crying. I was about to drop to my knees but Sergio, who was standing in front of me, took the two steps to reach me and catch me in his arms, holding me as I cried in his chest. He rocked me from side to side and shushed my crying as he smoothed my hair back. I raised my hands and pounded on his chest in anger, but he kept his arms around me securely and let me hit him, not flinching once, knowing that I needed to get my frustration out. He knows he’d gladly rather be my punching bag than letting me hurt myself like I did when we were younger. I would always blame myself for things like this and end up gripping my hair, causing me to pull it out, or I’d punch walls and break my knuckles, hands, wrists, I was always a mess in these situations and could never be left alone. Once I was done pounding on his chest, I slowly slipped into his arms, letting him just hold me. “Te quiero Karmen, yo cuidaré de esto mi hermanita.” (I love you Karmen, I’m going to take care of this baby sister.) I felt his arms loosen around me and a new pair wrapped around me, Fernando, he lifted me up to were I wrapped my legs around his waist and he held me close against him as he carried me up the steps.