Luce di Stella • Kenan Yildiz

Chapter 20: Uncle John

🎶 I Wouldn't Mind — He Is We 🎶

Beatrice Borromeo
Uncle John knows

All day, that message from my godmother loomed over me and I wasn't able to shake off the uneasy feeling that came with it. Uncle John hadn't reached out to me yet and I debated doing it myself when I was in the car driving to the JTC, just to get it over with. I didn't know what Uncle John was going to say about... the situation, but the tone of Beatrice's message didn't indicate happiness and butterflies.

When I walked inside the building, I kept my head low, not wanting to run into Kenan at all cost, I couldn't deal with him too. Since that night in Milan, he had continued to bombard me with messages and voice memos, reminding me that what we had was special, and I knew that. But sometimes, in cases with people like me, maybe that wasn't enough.

A minute after I had slumped down onto my office chair, my eyes already wandered to the training pitch - which was empty as the men's team had already trained this morning. The ringing of my phone pulled me out of my daydream of a shirtless Kenan sweating on the grass, and I picked up the telephone receiver on my desk.
"Agnelli" I sighed to whoever was calling, bothering me with stuff they could probably manage alone.

"Hello, Signorina. Mr Elkann is on the way to your office" our receptionist informed me and I laid my head onto my desk. No, no, no.
"Please tell me you're talking about my crazy uncle Lapo and not the John Elkann" I whined.
"Sorry, Signorina. He should be at your office any second now" she replied and quickly hung up. And not even an instant later, my office door flung open, revealing John, dressed impeccably in a bespoke navy pinstriped suit.

"Others usually knock" I muttered under my breath as I stood up to greet him.
"Others usually don't get involved with football players from their own team" he shot back and I shook my head, looking at the ground. "But first things first: Ciao stella" he greeted me and kissed both my cheeks, giving me a soft smile. Ok, maybe the cause wasn't lost.
"Hi Uncle John. Sorry for the circumstances of your visit" I sighed as we moved to my little couch area in the corner of my office.

But my eyes drifted over to the training courts where I immediately found Kenan and Dean walking outside with some others. Fuck. They still trained also with the NextGen team, how could I forget that?
"Ah, there he is" Uncle John commented as he pointed at the pitch below us. "He is handsome, my wife and her sister both told me that I should understand you" he chuckled and I just cringed inside at the thought of those forty-year-olds discussing my teenage love life.

"What were you thinking, Bea?" he started pressing now and I took a deep breath.
"Nothing... I..." I stammered before taking another deep breath. "I like him, Uncle John. A lot. He makes me feel like a normal girl, like I should be allowed to feel. But I'm scared, because I'm not a normal girl and I don't know if he knows what he's getting himself into" I sighed and put my head in my hands. I felt his hand rubbing my back in an effort to cheer me up.

"Stella, it's normal to fall in love at your age. But... this is more than just two young teenagers. He's the player, you're the boss and you both have long and hard careers ahead of you. Is this... is this serious enough, is this worth it to possibly jeopardise both of you so early?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed in genuine concern for me.
"I... I don't know, we've just started seeing each other, he wasn't supposed to slip up in front of someone, especially Giorgio" I sighed, knowing how my friends all gossiped and told their parents who then told their friends and so on and so on.

"Forget about Giorgio, that guy's an idiot. You have to make it clear to Kenan that you live in another world than him. That your world is more... serious" he said as he sat up and I nodded. "But don't deny yourself happiness. If he's really what you want, we'll make it work. We have an exceptional PR machine behind us, they'll sell what's the best version for the family" he added and I appreciated the gesture, but in the end, it would always be about the family and its image.

"Thanks, Uncle John" I sighed, trying not to sound ungrateful, because I had no reason to be. I was born over-privileged and had a family that would stand behind me, there really wasn't anything to reject about that.
"Be careful about the public, for now, until you're really sure about what you want to turn that to be. Take into account everything, his upbringing, his culture and... his religion. How is his stance on that?" John asked and I sighed.

"We haven't talked about it yet. I... Fuck, Uncle John, what have I gotten myself into?" I sniffled and felt a tear rolling down my cheek.
"You fell in love, stella. Love can conquer everything... if it is a rational decision and not just only a feeling" he replied and I nodded. Nothing about Kenan and me was rational, but could we turn us into that? "I'll leave you to it, it seems like you have a lot to think about" he said and patted my back a few times before leaving me alone again in my office, debating on my life choices.

Kenan POV

"... and she's ignoring all my messages" I complained to Dean as we left the pitch again after our training session with the B-team.
"Can you blame her? She needs space to think, not a reminder of your annoying ass every day" Dean chuckled and if he wasn't my best friend, I would have been offended.
"But still... She's way too influenced from the world and people around her instead of just... letting go and... living" I continued my complaint.
"You knew what you were getting yourself into. She's a member of the board, for Heaven's sake! You've seen where and how she lives!" he hissed, seemingly starting to get annoyed by my constant whining.

We were the first two to arrive back in the changing room, only to find someone else already there.
"Uncle John!" Dean exclaimed surprisedly and my hands started sweating. This wasn't good in any scenario - he probably had been here at the training centre to tell off his niece about getting involved with me and now he was putting me on a leash, if not kicking me out.
"Mr Elkann" I gulped with a trembling voice.
"Ciao Dean, ciao Kenan, you think we can have a word?" he asked me and I just nodded slowly.

He walked over to the door and locked it from inside, seemingly unbothered by Dean's presence. Good, he wasn't going to kill me with a witness around. Unless he would also kill Dean. But then Bibi would kill him if he did that.
"Listen to me carefully, young man. I shouldn't have preferences but... she is my favourite niece. You clearly have something between you that is stronger than any reason, so... fix it and find a way to make her happy, Heaven knows she deserves it" he said and my eyes widened at his words.

Dean shoved me into my ribs and I quickly nodded, snapping out of my trance.
"Y-yes, I will. She's very special to me, Mr Elkann" I managed to blurt out. Dean also didn't roll his eyes or make any weird grimaces, so maybe I did well with my words.
"And I'm telling you now so there won't be any surprises one day: you better start reading the Bible" he said and patted my shoulder before sending me a smile and re-opening the changing room's lock to leave.

The boys that had gathered in front of it to get inside to change took a few steps back fearfully, when they saw who was walking out of here. And while the boys filled the room with loud chatters about this encounter as they got changed, I just sat there on the piece of bench in front of my locker, debating on my life choices.