Luce di Stella • Kenan Yildiz

Chapter 12: Kenan Yildiz 2027

🎶 No Control — One Direction 🎶

The past few days I had successfully managed to stay away from Kenan after that embarrassing display I put on at Wes' birthday. I hadn't even mentioned a word about that kiss to Dean when we hung out together again because I would have never heard the end of his teasing. But today there was no escaping, because Kenan was officially renewing his contract with Juve until 2027 and I was obviously going to be there. To make things even worse, he had invited me and Dean to have dinner with his manager and parents before the... thing between us happened and I couldn't chicken out now without telling Dean the reason.

So I arrived at the JTC on this bright and sunny morning and got straight to my office to get some work done. Uni was starting soon again and I was already stressed now at how I would manage to juggle everything. I got caught up in a call about the launch of our Creator Lab and completely lost track of time when I saw that I should have been downstairs for the contract signing already five minutes ago. I grabbed my phone and ran, before opening the door of the conference room and slipping inside. Kenan was already sitting at the table with our President and Sporting Director and they all smiled into the camera brightly.

His eyes met mine, but I quickly acted interesting in the room's interior to distract myself from how good he was looking today. He was wearing a beige suit with a simple white t-shirt underneath, one small strand of hair falling onto his front - my gosh, I had never seen a man more handsome than him right now. Everything was being filmed and photographed while I kept myself in the background.

"Now that Miss Agnelli has also arrived, maybe we could get a picture with the management?" the photographer asked kind of annoyedly and I was close to losing it, how the hell was this guy talking to me?
"Know your place" I hissed at him as I passed him. I went on to stand next to President Ferrero as Kenan was holding up the shirt into the camera, flashing his brightest smile. He looked unbelievably happy.

"Congratulations and sorry for being late, I was caught up in a call" I said to Kenan professionally and extended my hand for him to shake. He seemed a bit confused by my distance but saw the cameras that were all on us, so he took my hand as clicks and shutters could be heard around the room. I quickly pulled my hand away again and now it was his manager's, parents' and friends' turn to get pictures. Alessandra from social media was also very interested in getting some content for Instagram and I rolled my eyes when I saw her drooling all over Kenan.

As customary for such signings, there was a small gathering afterwards with refreshments and canapés. I walked over to Kenan's agent and we talked shortly, before I decided that it would be polite to greet his family and friends.
"Hello" I said and smiled at the group. "I'm Beatrice Agnelli, I'm on the board" I introduced myself and was met by friendly smiles and nods. I shook hands with everyone while Kenan introduced me.

"Kenan has been telling us how nice it has been to find a new friend alongside Dean" his mother told me sweetly. Oh yeah, he wanted to be just a friend.
"Oh, now I'm flattered" I chuckled, trying to hide my nervousness. "I'm very happy for the extension and I hope he'll stay with us for many more years" I said and smiled.
"It's been an absolute dream when Juve approached us, I mean, del Piero has been everything to him" his father said and Kenan blushed.
"Dad! Don't embarrass me!" he mumbled and I laughed.

"And one day, someone will dream to play here because Kenan Yildiz played here" I said and smiled at him. This was the power of big clubs with legends, they'd always be able to attract new talents with a dream. He hadn't probably ever quite thought about it this way and froze when I said this.
"We heard you and Dean will be joining us tonight!" his mother said and changed the topic.
"Yes, it was very nice of Kenan to invite me, I'm looking forward to it" I replied friendly.

"Very well, I'll leave you to celebrate a bit with your family. If you head into the city later, Caffè San Carlo is a must!" I chuckled and waved at them before returning to my office. Well, that went better than expected. At some point in the afternoon, I drove back home because the dinner tonight was scheduled at 7pm already, classic Germans. And since I had already been late today for the signing, I made sure to be extra on time and arrived at the restaurant, that had barely just opened at 6.30pm. To ease my nerves, I ordered a glass of wine which I downed in no time, so I had to order another one.

Finally, the group with Kenan, his parents and his two friends from Germany arrived and he looked very surprised to see me here already. We all said hi again and Dean arrived fashionably 15 minutes late, which was a wonder in itself already, the Spanish side in him shining through. Everyone ordered to drink and I was kind of embarrassed to be the only one drinking alcohol now because everyone from his side was Muslim apparently, his mother probably didn't drink out of respect and Dean didn't because he never did during the season. What a great impression - but I decided not to budge. Drinking wine with a meal was absolutely normal and a thing of culture as an Italian.

I was sitting between Dean and one of the German friends, and I think the latter didn't quite know what to say to me. Kenan had his eyes firmly on me and my best friend, and I rolled my eyes at how jealous he was being over nothing. We were now talking about Kenan's apartment and the living situation in Turin, when surprisedly, his father turned to me.
"Do you also live on the hills with your family, Beatrice?" he asked.
"My parents do have a house there but they've been living in the Netherlands for the past few years, where our family's company has its headquarters. I moved into a small apartment in the centre, the house felt too big for me... alone" I said, not wanting to dive into the details of my brother's death.

"Oh, you also live alone then, just like Kenan" his mother commented and pinched her son's cheek which he apparently found incredibly embarrassing.
"Yeah, I guess we all had to grow up early" I sighed and pointed at myself, Dean and Kenan. "Anyways, how long are you guys staying?" I asked, trying to change the topic to something lighter.
"Two more days, until Kenan will have to leave for the game in Empoli" one of the friends replied.

"So you'll have plenty of time to explore the city! What's on your list?" I asked excitedly. I loved Turin so much and Piedmont I'm general was so beautiful.
"The boys wanted to check out the car museum or however it's called" Kenan's mum chuckled and I shuddered inside. Lady, that museum is named after my great-grandfather and our family built it. But I played it cool, I wasn't arrogant or bigheaded.
"Oh, I could give you a personal tour if you want" I offered, kind of hoping that they'd declined, but of course Kenan's eyes were the first ones to light up.

"YES!" he exclaimed, maybe a bit too excitedly. "Um... I mean, yes! If you can find the time obviously, we wouldn't want to be a burden" he mumbled.
"We can go tomorrow afternoon, you guys have morning training, right?" I asked, checking my phone.
"That's very nice of you, Beatrice" his father said and I smiled nervously. How the hell did I always manage to talk myself into spending more and more time with him?!