Feel My Love

Chapter Ten: Not a Secret Anymore

“You must be Aoife,” Cathy Fischer said opening up the front door to the couple that was stood outside, she had been a little worried when Mats had told her that he had invited the new couple to dinner.

Belle had been far from friendly with her and Cathy worried that Aoife would be the same as her sister; she knew why Aoife was marrying Marco and it set her on edge.

Aoife nodded her head nervously, she had no idea what to expect when it came to meeting the other women; she wanted to make a good impression especially since she didn’t feel like she truly belonged at Marco’s side.

“Cathy… it’s great to see you again,” Marco greeted trying to ease the tension, he knew how awkward this all was but he wasn’t about to have people scare Aoife away; she hadn’t done anything wrong and was just trying to help her family.

Cathy nodded her head to Marco while allowing the couple to step into her home, she eyed the black chiffon sleeve top and grey elasticated leggings paired with black suedette strappy sandals that Aoife was wearing for the dinner.

“The boys are up in the games room if you want to join them Marco,” Cathy mused turning her full attention to Marco, she had a feeling that the other women were going to eat Aoife alive and she doubted the German would be pleased.

Aoife swallowed thickly, she had no idea what she was going to do when Marco left her alone but she was going to have to cope without him; she couldn’t cling to him forever without looking a bit unfriendly.

“Don’t worry… we’ll look after Aoife,” Cathy reassured Marco when she realised that he wasn’t going to leave the brunette alone, she was a little surprised by this since he hadn’t been like that with Belle.

***

“So Aoife tell us about you?” Jana Flötotto asked staring at the brunette that sat nervously across from her, she had been surprised to hear that Marco had shacked up with his former fiancée’s twin sister and was a little worried for him.

Cathy sipped on her glass of wine, she knew that the other women were curious about what had happened between Marco and Belle; they had all been disgusted to find that Belle had run off with another man.

“There’s not much to say… I was born here in Dortmund and I used to live in Paris where I worked as a primary school teacher,” Aoife replied feeling a little nervous, she peeked around at the women knowing that they were all married, engaged to or dating their footballing partners and it made her a little nervous.

They had all known each other for at least a couple of years and seemed to be good friends while Aoife was the new girl; she knew next to nothing about any of them and she wished she’d done a little research.

“You were a teacher?” Agata Gołaszewska asked surprised, she hadn’t been expecting that from the woman before her; she couldn’t remember what Belle had done but she hardly worked in the three years that she had been with Marco.

Aoife nodded her head, she loved teaching children and she had made it clear to Marco that she wasn’t about to give up on her job just because she was marrying him.

“I hope to go back to teaching when everything has calmed down a bit after the wedding,” Aoife murmured messing with her engagement ring, she didn’t notice the look that Cathy and Jana shared; she had no idea what her life was going to be like when she wasn’t Aoife Ciara Beckan anymore but Aoife Ciara Reus.

“How did Belle take the news of your engagement?” Jana asked softly, no one had been expecting Marco to move on so quickly and she worried that the footballer had gone and done something stupid by getting involved with two sisters.

Cathy shifted nervously, she was the only one that knew the truth about what had happened and she doubted Marco wanted everyone knowing what was going on.

“I haven’t heard from her since she went to Hamburg,” Aoife replied shrugging her shoulders, she was trying to not focus on her sister anymore since she doubted that Belle spared her a thought when she took off; she wanted to focus on what was happening to her now.

“So what is the real story about you and Marco? Because none of us believe the press release for a moment,” Jana pushed knowing that there was more going on than to what was being admitted, she didn’t believe the story that Marco had released to the press and she worried what was really going on.

Aoife opened and closed her mouth, she knew a lot of people didn’t believe the story that Marco had released that he and Belle had broken up ages ago and had stayed friends while he started going out with her.

“If you want the real story… go and ask Marco,” Aoife decided on not wanting to say what was really going on, she didn’t know what Marco wanted to do when people asked them about this.

Jana pursed her lips, that wasn’t the answer that she wanted and she wasn’t just going to give up; she wanted to know what was going on and just what had happened for Marco to be marrying Aoife at the end of the month.

***

Marco eyed his friends as they chatted amongst themselves, he could sense that something was off and he had a feeling that they all knew about why he was with Aoife; he peeked at Mats knowing his friend wouldn’t have told anyone.

“Okay who told you?” Marco asked running his fingers through his hair, he couldn’t believe that he had to deal with this not long before his wedding; he didn’t want any problems and he hoped they would keep quiet.

The group all looked at him, they had hoped to try and keep Marco in the dark about their knowledge about why he was actually marrying Aoife; they couldn’t believe that he was marrying her because of some debt.

“I ran into Frank Beckan last week, he was drunk and let it slip,” Oliver Kirch admitted nervously, he doubted that Frank had meant to tell him what was going on with Aoife and Marco but the man had told him everything and concerned he had told the others.

Marco groaned burying his head in his hands, he had no idea why Frank would have told anyone about this; it would only cause damage and his parents weren’t going to let this go.

“Marco… are you sure you want to marry her?” Jakub Blaszczykowski asked wanting to protect his friend, he had not long lost Belle to another man and now he was going to marry her sister; it was a mess and he worried for his friend and team-mate.

“If I don’t… her parents go to prison,” Marco whispered, he had thought about it a lot and he knew that there was no way that his parents would ever forget the debt; there was no way Frank could pay them back and they weren’t going to let Aoife slip away.

“But there has to be some other way,” Oliver pushed wanting Marco to be happy, he didn’t know Aoife but she couldn’t be much different from her twin sister; she was probably only interested in what dating a footballer could do for her career.

“I couldn’t do that to Aoife… she’s sacrificing so much for her parents, she’s been nothing but honest with me,” Marco replied shaking his head and he knew that he would go through with the wedding no matter what.