Accidents Can Happen

Chapter Eighteen: The Christmas Party

"Thank you again for coming with me," Leona said quietly accepting the drink that she was handed, the party was just as she had expected and she was relieved that Fernando was here with her right now. 

Sitting down next to Leona, Fernando shook his head with a small smile and looked around the room at the party; it was quite a dull affair if you couldn't have anything to drink. 

"You need to stop thanking me," Fernando teased a little knowing that Leona had said it about five times in the past hour, he sipped on his water glad that he was here with her. 

They had been pretty much ignored by everyone else at the party and Fernando doubted that any of them would really notice that Leona was leaving for her maternity leave soon. 

He guessed that it had something to do with the fact that Leona worked for her father and Fernando doubted that made it easier for her to make friends at the company. 

Leona blushed a little at her words and looked down at the turquoise knot front maternity dress that she was wearing, she felt huge right now and she doubted that she would have to wait much longer for Freya to arrive. 

It had relieved both of them that there was no sign of the baby coming this week and she seemed dead set on coming for her due-date the week later. 

"Leona... wow you look huge," Ben announced stumbling over to Leona and Fernando, a drink clutched in his hand and a large goofy smile set on his face. 

Leona blinked at his words, she knew that he hadn't meant it like that but she really didn't need reminding how big she was right now; she was starting to really hate the dress that she had picked out for this evening. 

Fernando turned to glare at Ben for stating how big Leona looked, she looked beautiful this evening and he was very aware about how self-conscious she felt right now.

"It's nice to see you Ben," Leona greeted softly, she rested a hand on her bump and she wondered just how drunk he was right now; she doubted that she would stay much longer if everyone was going to get wasted. 

It was going to be strange not seeing Ben all the time while she was away on maternity leave but Leona knew that it would be worth it when she had her daughter in her arms. 

Ben had been her only friend at the firm since she had started and she guessed that he was really the only person that she saw almost every day except for Fernando. 

"I look forward to our date in the new year," Ben blurted out making Fernando stare at him like he had been punched in the stomach; he smiled at Leona not seeing how she tensed. 

The three of them were silent for a moment as Leona wondered what the hell Ben was talking about; she had mentioned that they should get coffee sometime when she'd had Freya but had mentioned nothing about a date with him. 

She didn't see Ben like that and Leona was actually hoping to make things serious between her and Fernando after this party; his words now seemed to have ruined that for her. 

"Excuse me," Fernando breathed not being able to sit and pretend that everything was alright, he had thought that Leona had liked him back but to hear that she had plans with Ben had left him confused and hurt. 

He got to his feet and walked away before Leona could say anything, Fernando needed time to wrap his head around this sudden development. 

"I'm sorry Ben... I have to go," Leona whispered quickly getting to her feet and hurrying after Fernando, she made sure that she didn't give Ben a hug like she usually would have done sensing that she needed to have a little talk with her friend about his feelings.

***

"Fernando..." Leona gasped stepping out of the building and into the cold night air, she shivered a little before moving further into the cold wishing that she had grabbed her coat on the way out. 

She looked around quickly trying to spot Fernando and groaned as she spotted him walking down the street towards the car; she hurried as quickly as she could down the stairs before she headed after him. 

"I feel like an idiot," Fernando muttered with a shake of his head, he felt like a fool and he knew that he would have to go back in there soon and pretend that he was okay. 

He tried to calm himself and he knew that he should have seen this coming, Ben practically followed her around like a lost puppy that he was bound to make a move sooner or later. 

"I am so sorry about Ben... he took what I said completely out of context," Leona apologised when she caught up with Fernando, she felt horrible that Ben had dropped that on them both when she saw him as nothing more than a good friend. 

The cold evening wind nipped at the two of them and Leona hoped that he wasn't going to be too mad about what had just happened; she felt so foolish for not seeing this coming. 

"Nando..." Leona said reaching out to touch Fernando, she was nervous and she hoped that he wasn't going to push her away; things had been going so well for them as of late. 

Fernando closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down, he couldn't bring himself to be angry at Leona when he had been the one to take things too slow.

"It doesn't matter..." Fernando muttered knowing that if he had acted sooner, then this wouldn't have happened and he wouldn't be feeling like such an idiot for not making a move sooner. 

Leona shook her head and stepped closer, she hated how he was acting right now and she cursed herself for not realising that Ben might like her as more than a friend.

"I thought you were asking me out on a date," Fernando admitted unable to bring himself to look at Leona, he leant against his car and wondered if things were going to be incredibly awkward between them now. 

A smile formed on Leona's face and she moved closer to Fernando, she kissed him softly catching the footballer completely off guard before he moved to wrap his arms around her. 

He pulled back a little confused about why she had kissed him, Fernando rubbed his hands up and down Leona's arms knowing that he didn't want her getting ill. 

"I was asking you on a date," Leona revealed with a smile, she brushed her fingers through his hair and hoped that Ben hadn't completely ruined things for them. 

Fernando stared at her for a moment before a smile formed on his face, he ducked down and kissed Leona again; he couldn't believe that she was actually choosing him over someone like Ben.

The two of them continued to kiss before they felt something cold and wet land on them, Fernando pulled back from Leona and looked to the sky hoping it wasn't rain. 

Instead he was treated to the sight of snow falling around them, he guessed that it was some sort of sign and held Leona close knowing that they were very lucky right now. 

"Let's head back inside," Fernando said taking Leona's hand, he didn't want her catching a cold and he knew that things were going to change for them from here. 

Leona was important to him and they were going to have a baby very soon, the last thing that Fernando wanted was for anyone to get the wrong idea. 

Heading back towards the office, Leona couldn't keep the smile off her face and she couldn't deny this was so much better than how it had gone in her head; she could only hope that it stayed this way.