Luce di Stella • Kenan Yildiz

Chapter 38: Ballon d'Or

🎶 All You Had To Do Was Stay (Taylor's Version) — Taylor Swift 🎶

"Buongiorno!" I told our social media girl as she filmed me getting up the stairs of our club's private jet headed to Paris for the Ballon d'Or. The ceremony should have been held back in October, but thanks to a terror attack threat, they had pushed it back to January. Never a dull day in the football world.
"Morning! Sorry I'm last, but traffic was a bitch" I sighed and plopped down onto one of the seats of the jet as I looked into the round of people.

We were represented by Alisha Lehmann and Arianna Caruso from the women's team as well as our goalie Di Gregorio, our defender Dani Vivian, Alisha's boyfriend Douglas and... Kenan. Claudio was also there, accompanying me. The plane just departed a few minutes after and when we were up in the air, I turned around to look at my players. My eyes fell on Dani Vivian and his girlfriend Laura, who shot me a small smile and wave. Only then, I noticed who was missing. I quickly stood up and walked to the back of our jet, where Kenan was sat alone, his AirPods on and his eyes on his iPad screen.

"Where's Dilara?" I asked as I sat down next to him.
"She has exams today and tomorrow, she couldn't come this time" he simply replied. "Where's Dean?" he added.
"It's his mum's birthday" I simply answered and he nodded. My eyes fell on the iPad and my heart started racing when I recognised the movie.
"Bianca come il latte, rossa come il sangue" I whispered. The movie we watched all those years ago on that plane ride to the States.

"Yeah... I always watch it when I'm feeling nervous..." he admitted and I smiled at him.
"You're going to win tonight" I said, trying to encourage him.
"Nah, it's going to be Mbappe" he chuckled and shook his head.
"But you had more G/As last year" I argued.
"But he won the Champions League" he countered.
"But you won the Prem and the Cup" I continued.
"But he was Pichichi" he replied.
"But..." I started, not knowing what to come up with now and he laughed, and so did I.

For a split second, everything seemed normal. Me and him laughing, and it was me going to the gala with him. But my smile quickly faded when I remembered that I had a boyfriend that wasn't him and he was going to marry a girl that wasn't me.
"Um... I'll leave you to it then" I mumbled and pointed at his screen before hastily standing up again and hurrying back to my seat next to Claudio. He snorted out a laugh when I sat down and I glared at him.
"Poor Dean" he sighed and now I got really angry.
"I love Dean. I was just talking to one of my players" I hissed but he just shot me an "Are-you-serious?"-look and I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head annoyedly.

When we landed in Paris, there was a small bus picking us up and driving us to our hotel in the city. After a quick shower and changing into something more chic than business travel clothes, I made my way to the lobby to take some time off by just strolling in the city. Paris hurt. It had been Kenan's and mine first city couple trip together and somehow, my feet automatically carried me to the places we had visited together.

And there, at that one delicious crepe stand we had discovered almost four years ago, I found him.
"Ouf, I should snitch to the coach" I chuckled when I appeared behind him eating a chocolate crepe.
"Whoa, you scared me" he groaned as he startled.
"You couldn't miss it, huh?" I said and held up my own crepe. He shook his head and smiled at me softly.

Our feet started moving as we strolled through the streets.
"How did you and Dilara meet by the way?" I asked, after some superficial small talk. I tried not to sound too suspicious, I just wanted to be nice, really.
"Her father and my father went to school together back in Turkey. We met while I was on holidays there last year" he replied, avoiding eye contact.
"Ooohhh, arranged? That's a sexy trope" I joked, hoping to ease the tension.