We Took the Fall

Fixing her blonde hair into a loose braid, Catalina smiled softly at the calendar, a little amazed that the end of the academic year had come around so quickly. It had been a good one, even if it hadn’t been the best year personally for her, and she was a little sad that it was coming to an end. After that day, she would find herself with a new class and she was a little sad to be saying goodbye to her old class. Finishing up her hair, she padded out of the bathroom and smiled a little, her blue eyes peeking at Fernando who laid in her bed, his small snores still reverberating around the room.

She knew that things had taken their toll on him, he’d grown protective and seemed to be in need of near constant reassurance, but she was still pleased with the state of their relationship. She was happy, for the first time in a while, and she knew that that came down to him. Sparing him a little look, she padded towards her wardrobe and pulled out a light summer dress, quietly moving to place it over the underwear that she already sported.

“Wow”

Catalina jumped a little and turned, her blue eyes noting Fernando who had moved to sit up, a smile stretching across his features. “You were still asleep a second ago” she mused, straightening the dress out slightly.

“I was, but I certainly chose the right moment to wake up. You look wonderful” he mused gently, his brown eyes surveying her.

“Well, thank you” she smiled gently “What have you got planned for today?” she added, quietly moving to pull her shoes from the bottom of her wardrobe.

Fernando watched her for a second before he rested his head against the headboard, merely admiring her. “I was thinking about paying a visit to my parents, they’re itching to see me, and then I thought I would come by the school later and pick you up. I thought I could take you to an end of year dinner” he enthused. It was tight, his season had ended almost a month previous and was due to start up in a few weeks, something which left him with a small window in which he could spend time with Catalina, a window he fully intended to exploit.

“You don’t have to do that” Catalina replied, fastening her shoe.

“I know I don’t have to, you tell me all the time, but I would’ve thought by now that you got the point that I want to” Fernando mused as he shuffled towards her, gently kissing the exposed skin of her shoulder.

“I don’t understand why” Catalina smiled, leaning back into him contently.

“Because I am a wonderful boyfriend who loves his girlfriend very much” Fernando teased, resting against her skin.

“I don’t know about that” she teased softly.

The striker spared a slight smile against her shoulder before he pressed another kiss against it, mumbling about how much he loved her. Catalina listened to him happily, basking in the relative calm for a moment, before she heard the distant and irksome noise of the doorbell, something which caused her to pull away from him. “Please, leave the door” Fernando pleaded gently, his hands trying to pull her back towards him.

“I can’t” she replied softly.

“You really can. The last time someone knocked on the door this early, it was your parents, and look where that got us” Fernando complained.

Catalina shook her head gently and pecked his lips before she made her way towards the door, pulling it back to reveal a man she didn’t recognize. “Can I help you, sir?” she enquired politely, her eyebrows furrowed.

“You’re Catalina De Marcos?” the man quipped, his eyes studying the blonde.

“Yeah, that’s me. Can I help you with something?” Catalina replied, shifting a little nervously.

“My name is Matteo Perez” the man replied “And I think I can help you with something” he added.

Catalina furrowed her brow. “What do you think you can help me with?” she posed.

“I know your sister, Alicia” Matteo replied.

“That’s wonderful, but me and my sister aren’t exactly on the best of terms right now” Catalina refuted softly.

“I know that” Matteo noted “And I know that at the root of your problems, there is your boyfriend, yes?” he added.

“Yes, Fernando” Catalina replied warily.

Matteo seemed to take a moment to think before he moved to pull something out of his jacket, causing Catalina to take a step back. “I met your sister just before Christmas last year” he explained gently, his hand holding out an envelope towards Catalina who eyed it unsurely, not quite sure whether or not to trust the stranger who stood ahead of her. “I was smitten with her, Alicia, to me, seemed to be amazing, but then I found out about Fernando” he continued, his eyes fixed on his feet.

“Christmas?” Catalina posed.

Matteo nodded his head. “She and I met in Milan, she was at a runway show and I was the photographer” he explained.

“Matteo” Catalina murmured “If you are here leading me on, trying to make me sink to Alicia’s level, then you can stop. I don’t want to play her games” she added gently. She could tell what he was getting at, Matteo was clearly trying to hint that he had had some sort of relationship with her sister whilst Alicia had been with Fernando, but Catalina didn’t want to just buy it. For all she knew, it was some sort of trick to further prove Alicia’s accusations that Catalina was vindictive.

“I am not leading you on” Matteo insisted.

“Then why are you here, all of a sudden?” Fernando muttered as he padded up beside his girlfriend, his hand taking hers in a protective manner.

Matteo stared at the taller man and sighed. “Just please, look at these” he muttered, trying to pass the envelope over to Catalina who shied away slightly, allowing Fernando to take the envelope instead, his hand quickly removing the content. Matteo watched him expectantly as Fernando flicked through the photographs, his face becoming flushed and his expression becoming sharp. “You slept with her” the striker mumbled

“I didn’t know about you” Matteo replied.

“Why the heck are you bringing this up now?” the striker muttered.

“Because I thought it could help” Matteo noted “I heard about what she did to you, Catalina, and whilst I know it is late, I thought you could use these to get back at her” he reasoned, peeking at the blonde.

Catalina chewed on her lip, her head shaking. “I don’t want to…”

“These are real?” Fernando interjected, his eyes narrowed on Matteo.

“One hundred percent. We had a three week affair before the turn of the year. She dumped me when you proposed” Matteo explained.

Fernando shook his head. The dates matched up.

“I am sorry, Fernando” Matteo apologized gently.

Fernando shook his head. “You’ve just done me a massive favour” the striker dismissed. He knew that it was petty, but after the way that Alicia, and by extension, Marisol had treated Catalina, he wasn’t going to pass up on a golden opportunity to take the smirks off of their faces. They’d made Catalina cry and, armed with the photos that Matteo had provided him with, he was going to make it clear that it wasn’t about to happen again.