‹ Prequel: A Summer Romance

Forgive and Forget

Eighteen

Her hair only half done, and dressed in only a pair of panties and a strapless bra, Elina wrapped herself in her silk robe and jogged across the apartment as there was a loud knock on the door. Simon was hanging out with one of his friends from the academy so she was the only one home.

“Thank god you’re here,” she breathed out as she opened the door and found Nikki and Caroline standing there, reaching out she practically pulled them into the apartment.

“It’s a party,” Caroline pointed out as she toed off her sneakers and shrugged off her jacket.

“It’s not just any party,” Nikki immediately disagreed, glaring at her friend. “It’s a party at Steven Gerrard’s house,” she stressed, annoyed with her friend’s complete disregard for the captain she herself practically worshipped since that one night in Istanbul.

“No need to make me more nervous,” Elina snapped at them, motioning for them to follow her before she walked back to her bedroom that looked like a tornado had torn through it. Clothes were strewn over most of the furniture, shoes were laying in several piles and makeup brushes and containers were spread out across most of her bathroom sink.

“Sorry,” the two friends who were as different as night and day apologised as they glanced around the room.

“I'm the one who has to expose herself to the WAGs that practically rule English football just because Fernando asked me to this stupid party,” Elina complained as she continued working on her hair, silently thankful as Caroline stepped up behind her and helped her with the up do she’d tried a couple of times before during the years, with differing results each time.

“It’s not a stupid party,” Nikki lightly smacked her in the shoulder.

“No, it isn't,” Elina agreed in a sulk. “But it is a party that is being organised by Miss Alex Curran, the queen of the WAGs right now and just because I'm unable to say no when Fernando looks at me a certain way I have to go to it,” she continued, a pout almost gracing her naturally plump lips. “I'm not his girlfriend, I shouldn’t be there, but I'm going to be and I'm going to be judged,” she complained, childishly crossing her arms over her chest as Caroline continued working on her hair. “Those women are going to judge me.”

“And therefore you have to look amazing,” Nikki told her with a smile as she just added some last touch-ups to her friends already flawless makeup.

“I don't want to go,” Elina admitted in a slight whine.

“You want to go,” Caroline disagreed simply. “You're just worried about what these women will think about you, and you're worried about spending time with Fernando in this kind of environment,” she reasoned. “Surrounded by couples and people who you obviously don't know.”

“Can’t I just stay home?” Elina questioned, looking between her friends. “Call him and say that I'm sick, or something?”

“No, you can’t,” Nikki shut her down. “Fernando asked you to accompany him to this party, you had plenty of time to turn his invitation down but you didn't, and now you have to honour the agreement.”

“Oh, shut up,” Elina mock-glared at her friend as the blonde behind her finished with her hair.

“So what dress are you wearing?” Caroline wondered as she wiped her clean hands on her jeans and wandered out in the bedroom, eyeing the mess of clothes that were strewn around.

“The aqua coloured one,” Elina called to her as she leaned over the sink and scrutinised her cheeks and her nose, she was not about to walk into the proverbial lions den without looking anything short of amazing. “It’s a strapless, draped thing.”

“I see it,” Caroline called back just as Nikki joined her, the two of them inspecting the dress along with the nude, peep-toe pumps their friend was planning on wearing on her date. Though she refused to call it a date, claiming that it was simply two friends going to a party together, despite the fact that most of the people who were going to be there were couples...

“So, what do you think?” Elina asked as she too stepped into the bedroom. “Is it worthy of the WAGs I’ll be seeing? Even if it doesn’t cost half of what they’ll be wearing?”

“I think you’ll look splendid,” Caroline said honestly as she held up the dress.

“It’ll bring out those blue eyes of yours, that’s for sure,” Nikki agreed as she turned towards her friend who was in the middle of putting on a big chunky gold necklace.

“Will it make me look good enough for everyone to miss the way I’ll be shaking like a leaf?” Elina questioned with an eye roll as the grabbed the hanger and held up the dress in front of her body.

“It’ll make Fernando wish you were his bed-buddy,” Nikki stated frankly, ignoring the look the two blonds gave her. “I'm serious,” she sent them a look back. “Hun, you have curves worthy a Victoria Secret’s model, you look good in everything.”

“If, for some reason, they don't like you, it isn't going to be because of what you wear,” Caroline pointed out. “Possibly because you do look like a lingerie model, and could be perceived as a threat, but not because of how you look.”

“I'm not sure if that’s going to make me feel better,” Elina gave her blonde friend a bewildered look.

“It should,” Nikki decided as she glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table and realised the time. “And you have to get dressed if you’re going to be ready when Fernando gets here,” she announced before pushing her friend towards the bathroom once again.

Rolling her eyes at her friend but still doing as told, Elina slipped back inside of the bathroom that had been spotless the same morning but now looked like it belonged in a sorority house and shrugged off her robe. Pulling the dress off its hanger, she stepped into and easily pulled it up, doing up the zipper and making sure that everything was where it was supposed to be.

Nothing was going to be falling out, nothing would be riding up, and nothing was about to burst open just because she decided to sit down....

“It’s a strapless, get moving chica,” Nikki called out as she was tugging at the hem of the dress, silently wondering if it was too short.

“Just a sec,” she replied as she checked her hair, making sure that nothing was about to fall out and make her look like she’d just fallen out of bed moments prior.

“I knew it, model material,” Caroline stated frankly as soon as she saw her fellow blonde step back out of the bathroom.

“Gorgeous,” Nikki agreed, before holding out the beige pumps to her friend.

“Thanks,” Elina smiled sheepishly, never having been good at receiving compliments, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks.

“Just stating the truth,” Nikki shrugged slightly as Elina reached down and easily slipped the high heeled platform pumps onto her newly manicured feet.

“Don't be nervous, you’ll do fine,” Caroline said as the other blonde slipped on some bangles on her left wrist and checked that she had everything in her large clutch.

“Let’s hope so,” Elina stated as her face lost some of its colour the exact same moment as there was a knock on the door.

“Showtime,” Nikki smirked at her before nudging her towards the door.

Knowing that there was no turning back now, Elina grabbed her coat from her closet and shrugged it off, making sure to not mess up her hairdo before hurrying through the apartment as quickly as her high heels and the polished wooden floors would allow her. Stopping inside the door, she took a supposed to be calming breath and sharing a look with her friends, she forced a smile to her lips before she reached out and pulled the door open.

“Hi,” she smiled as her blue eyes landed on the blonde man standing out in the hall, looking impeccable in a black suit with a grey button-down shirt, a grey-striped tie completing the look. A tie which Elina later in the evening would learn he didn't particularly like wearing. She couldn’t see it then, but she would late notice that he was wearing the cufflinks she’d given him as a Christmas present.

“Hello,” Fernando smiled back at her. “You look beautiful,” he murmured slightly as he took a step inside of the apartment and gently placed a kiss on his cheeks, missing the way she ignored her friends standing just a couple of feet behind her.

“Thank you,” she blushed slightly as she fidgeted with the clutch in her hand.

“You ready to go?” he asked a moment later.

“Yeah, I'm ready,” she nodded, glancing back at her friends who were giggling like a pair of school girls as they watched the two of them.

“Have fun,” Caroline managed to squeak out.

“Don't do anything I wouldn't do,” Nikki added with a cheeky smirk which caused the blonde Swede to roll her eyes before grabbing her keys from the table.

“Let’s go,” she stated, taking Fernando’s offered arm before pulling the door closed behind them as they walked down the hall towards the stairs.



Arriving at his captain’s house some forty minutes after leaving the apartment building in the city, Fernando pulled into the driveway and parked on the opposite side of the garages as per Stevie’s instructions. Putting the car in park, he sent her an assuring smile before climbing out of the SUV, fully intending to hurry over to her side and help her out only to find that she’d managed perfectly on her own as reached the front of the car.

Watching as she closed the door behind her and walked towards him, he took in her appearance. He’d already caught a glimpse of her dress back at the apartment and couldn’t help but think that blue really suited her, but watching her walk towards him right then, in heels too high in his opinion, all he see was legs. Miles and miles of long, smooth legs.

Legs that made him think about very inappropriate things....

Snapping out of it before she noticed anything, hopefully, he offered her his arm and returned the smile she sent him as she slipped her arm around his.

Approaching the doors together, he barely had time to knock before one of the large oak doors was pulled open, revealing a suit-clad Liverpool captain with a drink in his hand. Welcoming them inside, he took Elina’s coat before showing them further into the house and directing them towards the drinks table as there was another knock on the door.

A quick headcount told Fernando that about half of the team was there already but a number of them had yet to arrive.

Walking towards the part of the living room where the bar was set up, Fernando motioned for Elina to order her drink first and watching her as she spoke to the bartender with a surprisingly wide Scouse accent he didn't often her due to them often speaking Spanish, he noticed an unfamiliar tattoo on her back.

He’d seen the ‘Love Fearlessly’ one on her forearm almost immediately when he first saw her again and the flower garland on her foot hadn't gone unnoticed either, but watching her right then he spotted one he hadn't seen before. He clearly remembered the inked skin he’d traced his fingers over that past summer, he could even see them all if he looked for them, the top one of the three stars on her shoulder blade obvious just above the top of her dress.

Unfamiliar words in what appeared to be Hebrew were tattooed above her spine, starting in the back of her neck they disappeared beneath the top of her dress and he couldn’t help but wonder what they meant.

Remembering where he was, he pulled his eyes away from skin he longed to run his fingers over and ordered himself a whiskey before smiling at her.

Getting their drinks they walked around the house, mingling with the other people there and he introduced her to his teammates and their dates as his friend, even if he could see that some of them didn't quite believe him.

Alex swooping in maybe thirty minutes after they’d gotten there, announcing she needed to meet the pretty blonde who had all the wives talking, Fernando found himself worrying as he glanced around the house a while later and he couldn’t find her anyway.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he practically jumped in fright before spinning around on the heel of his dress shoes, only to come face to face with his captain.

“You're head is spinning around so fast that I think you're giving me whiplash,” Steven greeted him with a smile as the bleach blonde Spaniard once again glanced around the crowded room.

“It’s just that I'm trying to find someone,” Fernando excused himself, knowing that he was being impolite, it was a party and he was acting like he couldn’t wait to get out of there.

“Her name’s Elina, right?” Steven checked, having heard the name being thrown around when Fernando talked with a couple of the other Spanish players on the team, not to mention he had been introduced to her when they arrived.

“Yeah,” Fernando couldn’t help but blush slightly, knowing that his captain had picked up on his slight obsession with the woman who at times seemed to want nothing to do with him. “Alex took her away somewhere and now I can’t find her,” he revealed.

“Well, I just saw Alex in the kitchen with some of the other girls and she wasn’t there,” Steven revealed, causing the younger man to frown slightly. “She’s fine, she’s probably just wandering about the place,” he tried to assure him without actually knowing the blonde woman who’d given him a pretty good first impression.

“Right,” Fernando nodded, not convinced as he sipped the champagne they’d toasted in a while earlier.

The two of them chatting for a while longer, Steven's attention was soon needed elsewhere and Fernando was left on his own once again. Placing his now empty flute on a table he made his way around the bottom floor of the house and tried to find a particular blonde in a sea of blondes. Easier said than done.

Glancing out in the backyard that had been lit up by tiny Christmas lights, he stopped mid-step as his brown eyes landed on a familiar blue dress. Watching her for a moment, seeing the thoughtful look across her smooth features, he couldn’t help but wonder what was really going in inside of her head.

Moving through the crowd of people, he carefully opened one of the patio doors and stepped out in the chilly spring air. Walking across the terrace to where she stood, leaning slightly against the wooden railing, he didn't think she could hear him; she looked so deep in thought, but was pleasantly surprised by her warm voice filtering through the air.

“Hi,” she mumbled softly before turning her head slightly and glancing back over her shoulder, her blue eyes meeting his.

“Hi,” he smiled back at her as he walked up next to her, wanting nothing but to wrap his arms around her and never let go. Sighing softly he stood next to her and mirrored her stance of leaning against the railing and looking out across the abandoned backyard.



Slowly making her way through the ground floor of the beautiful house, not really engaging anyone in conversation, Elina couldn’t help but feel completely out of her depth. Alex Curran, or Gerrard, or whatever last name she was currently using, had been a complete sweetheart, not that she would have expected anything less from a woman who was used to playing hostess but she simply couldn’t shake the feeling of being out of place.

After Alex whisked her away from Fernando, she’d brought her around to some of the other wives of the players and they too had been genuinely nice but also slightly vary. Not that she could blame them, they didn't know her and they certainly didn't know her and Fernando’s history. As far as they knew she could have been some blonde thing whose main goal was to lead the sweet natured Fernando astray and trap him in some way.

Getting away from them as soon as could without being rude or impolite, she gracefully picked a champagne glass from a tray of a passing waitress and slowly sipped it before continuing around the house.

Reaching the patio doors, she opened one of them and slipped out in the chilly air, finally feeling like she could breathe again.

The cold air nipping at her skin, she wandered across the wooden deck and leaned against the railing, gazing out over the dark yard that was only light up by clustered Christmas lights in the threes and the bushes lining the tall wooden fence surrounding the whole place.

Despite being lost in her thoughts, she could feel him as he slowly approached her. “Hi,” she mumbled before glancing back at him, her eyes meeting his.

“Hi,” he smiled back at her as he walked over to where she was standing, mirroring her stance by the railing. “What are you doing out here?” he wondered softly.

“I just needed some air,” she told him truthfully, hints of a smile spreading across her lips. Silence spreading between them, she jumped slightly as she felt something brush against her bare upper arms. Turning her head, she couldn’t help but smile gratefully as he wrapped his jacket around her shoulders, his warm fingers brushing against her cool skin. “Thank you.”

Not saying anything, he simply smiled at her.

Licking her lips slowly, she straightened up and walked back across the terrace and sank down on the edge of one of the wooden sofas, not too surprised when he followed her and sat down next to her, his dark brown eyes watching her closely.

“It’s not you,” she surprised him by saying as the smell that was uniquely him mixed with the spicy scent of his cologne enveloped him as she pulled the jacket closer around her shoulders.

“What...?” he began asking, not quite sure what she was talking about, what it was that wasn’t on him.

“It’s nothing about you, in particular, that makes me not trust you,” she revealed softly, knowing that they had reached the point of no return. Either she would have to walk away, not engage him in any way, or she would have to start to really open up. Tell him why it was that she felt like she couldn’t trust him, just because he lied about something years earlier.

“Do you remember when we were on Menorca and we were talking about our families?” she began asking. “I told you about my mom and that Eric was my step-dad, and you asked me about my father.”

“Yeah, you snapped at me,” he nodded slowly, a slight smile spreading across his lips. “And then said that the two of you weren't close.”

“That’s an understatement,” she smiled sadly as she glanced over at him. “I don't know my dad, and I don't think I’ve ever really known him,” she revealed slowly. “My parents were never married, but they were engaged and they were sort of planning to get married one day. And then the summer when I was turning three years old, they split up,” she told him evenly, having told the story numerous times before. “My father used to travel a lot with his work and apparently he’d met someone during those travels,” she smiled dryly.

“He cheated on my mom,” she stated frankly. “On numerous occasions, often with the same woman, and when my mom found out, she kicked him out.”

“How did she find out?” he wondered softly, not wanting to say anything to make her stop telling her story and to pull away from him again.

“She was pregnant.”

“Your mom?” he frowned slightly.

“No, his mistress,” she smiled disbelieving, this part of the story still felt like some strange work of fiction. “She was pregnant. I have a half-sister who is about a year older than Johan,” she revealed, before clearing her throat slightly. “For obvious reasons, things between my mom and my dad were frosty at best, and then mom got full custody of me and dad had visitation rights. I saw him sporadically for a few years but I never really bounded with my sister, and after a couple of years the visits stopped.”

“I don't know why,” she shrugged slightly. “They just did, then for a few years we didn't really have any sort of contact. Then I was a teenager and he wanted us to have a relationship again, so we wrote a lot of letters, usually me telling him things about my life and what was happening around me, what I was doing, what grades I got, how my games were going,” she ticked off slowly. “He also made a lot of promises,” she licked her lips slightly. “Usually empty ones that he ultimately broke in favour of my sister.”

Not knowing what to say, Fernando wisely kept his mouth shut as he watched her closely as she told her story.

“I haven’t seen him as a dad for a long time,” she resisted the urge to reach up and run her fingers through her hair. “Especially not after mom met Eric and he became a permanent fixture in my life. A parent isn't supposed to leave their child like that, you're not supposed to be able to, you're supposed to want to stay and take care of your child,” he could hear the slight hitch in her voice and he just barely kept from reaching out and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

“Usually I don't care that he left, that I was constantly second best to my sister, but there are days,” she admitted softly. “Sometimes I think what if? What if he’d stayed? What would have happened? And sometimes I wonder if there was something wrong with me? Was it something I did that made him leave?” she ticked the questions off, each one causing him to flinch slightly, silently wondering if that’s how she viewed herself, as something so flawed. “I mean, I was three years old,” she laughed humourlessly, “I know that it wasn’t my fault, but sometimes...” she trailed off. “Sometimes you just can’t help but think that it was.”

“I'm sorry,” he felt compelled to say.

“It’s not your fault,” she smiled slightly as she turned to look at him, her blue eyes sparkling despite the darkness around them. “After I turned 16, or around there anyway, we don't talk, I don't trust him at all and don't think I ever want anything else to do with him,” she admitted. “I don't trust easily, because...” she trailed off, licking her lips slowly. “Because if you don't let people close they can’t hurt you,” she sighed softly. “They can’t leave you,” she added even softer. “It’s not you that I don't trust, it’s everyone,” she shrugged slightly. “I’ve grown up with most of my friends, the ones I haven’t they don't know everything about me.”

“I mean, do I trust Nikki and Caroline to take care of me if I get plastered when we go out? Yes, I do,” she reasoned. “Do I trust that they are going to take everything I tell them to the grave? That they aren’t going to sell me out some time down the line? No, I don't,” she said honestly, hating that particular fact about herself.

Reaching out, he took her hand in his and quietly laced their fingers together, rubbing gentle circles on the back of her hand.

“I don't know what makes me trust people, so don't ask,” she practically pleaded with him. “Before I went to Menorca,” she began telling him, “I’d broken up with my boyfriend, Adam, I told you this,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, I remember,” he quickly told her.

“I’d known him since we were in kindergarten,” she smiled wistfully. “We’d been together for almost two years, and he wanted to sleep with me, I didn't feel ready so he broke up with me,” she licked her lips. “Then maybe three or four days later, I learned that just the same evening that we broke up, he’d gone to bed with one of my best friends,” she stated evenly, her tone turning icy cold as she remembered the friend she no longer talked to, not even to say hi in the streets.

“Wow,” he breathed, suddenly understanding just why she was so hell-bent on keeping him at arms length all the time.

“I’ve trusted people, and it always comes back to bite me in the ass,” she told him. “And for some reason that I can’t wrap my mind around, I trusted you enough to let you take my virginity after knowing you for like a week and a half,” she reminded him. “And then two years down the line I learned that you lied to me too.”

“I'm sorry about that,” he apologised once more.

“I honestly don't care about that any longer,” she surprised him. “I mean, I get why you did it, but it still hurts,” she couldn’t lie to him, not about this.

“How did you find out?” he realised he’d never truly gotten that story from her.

“I was backpacking around Europe with two friends of mine and one of my cousins,” she told him with a smile. “And we were in Germany during the World Cup, to see Sweden play Paraguay and one afternoon we were having some beer in the town square and we were watching a game on the big screen,” she could remember that day like it was yesterday. “Spain versus someone I don't remember, and then a guy went down hard in the box, and his name was Fernando Torres.”

“I should have told you,” he stated frankly, realising how much it must have hurt to find out like that.

“Yeah, you should have,” she nodded slightly, seeming him a small smile to assure him she wasn’t that hurt by it any longer.

“I just liked the fact that you didn't know,” he admitted for the first time. “You didn't care about me because of what it did for a living, because of the money I was earning, or that I could get you into the most popular clubs in Madrid or any of that, I just...I just didn't want to spoil that,” he sighed softly.

“I understand,” she said seriously. “I mean, it hurt at first, and then my pride got in the way and then...then I just didn't know if I should allow you anywhere near me again because I didn't know if could trust you again.”

“Are you ever going to be able to trust me again?” he wondered seriously. “Like you did back on Menorca?”

“I really don't know,” she admitted honestly. “But I hope I can.”

“So still friends?”

“Always,” she broke out in the bright smile that still made him feel like a fourteen year old on his first date.

“We should get you inside,” he noted, feeling how cold her hands were.

“Just stay here a while longer,” she requested softly.

“Do you want to leave?” he asked carefully, hoping she wasn’t feeling uncomfortable around the people who were practically his family in this part of the world.

“No,” she shook her head slightly. “But they, the wives, they do scare me a bit,” she admitted with a soft smile.

“They’re probably more scared of you than you are of them,” he smiled back at her.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” she shook her head, appreciating his effort.

Watching him for a moment, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders; she couldn’t help but lean over and brush her lips against his cheek. “And about my heart,” she mumbled softly, “I gave that to you on that island, and I'm pretty sure that I never got it back.”
♠ ♠ ♠

Elina