Marcelo's Resort | RM

2. CRISTALE-FOR-LIFE sticker

Marcelo looked around the poolside décor, mentally checking off everything. The opening ceremony was in exactly an hour and any minute now the guests and paparazzi would be arriving.

The red ribbon was in place. The tables were spotless and the chairs positioned correctly. The sun was just right over the brilliant blue sky. It couldn't have been a better day.

There was the podium were the chief guest—he reddened, well, that might be a problem.

There was nothing wrong with the podium. Marcelo and his staff were impeccable. Everything was in place. The problem was, in fact, the chief guest.

He pulled at his hair absent-mindedly wondering how he was going to handle that.

See, the problem wasn't that he didn't have a chief guest. The problem was he had too many.

"Oi, Marcelo!"

He turned around to find a very excited Zarine and an impressed Cristiano. "Hey, you guys are here!"

"Marcelo, dude, this is quite something," whistled Cristiano, looking around, nodding. "I really like this."

"Aww, man," Marcelo hugged him. "That feels so good to hear. You two look good too."

Indeed he was very happy with Chief Guest Candidate #1. Cristiano looked very dapper in his white polo t-shirt and grey trousers.

Zarine came forward, her floral dress rippling to the floor, and hugged Marcelo. "Congratulations! We are so proud of you and you did it so soon too."

Marcelo smiled sheepishly.

He remembered pretty clearly when he had begun thinking of who to call for his chief guest. Someone who looked the part, had a certain x factor and would draw in crowds and attention. He hadn't even needed to think. The name appeared naturally in his mind. So, the first thing he did after buying the place was rope in Cristiano Ronaldo for the position.

And then he had got excited. And a bit scheming. Okay a lot. There was a reason he was the vice-captain—he was good at strategy.

Speaking of which, Sergio appeared, suavely walking up to the trio, the sun blinking of his sunglasses. "Yo, amigos." He took off his glasses and smiled, "And hello, lovely Zarine."

Zarine turned the slightest of pink while Cris rolled his eyes. "Sergio."

Sergio grinned, "Fine, fine."

Marcelo let out an inward sigh of relief. He had, in the early days, thought of Chief Guest Candidate #2 as backup and Sergio had appeared as an excellent option but Marcelo had stopped himself in time. Well, to be truthful, he had become distracted by another idea.

He looked at Cris quickly and decided that before their party became larger, he would tell him the crisis at hand. "Cristiano, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Can't it wait? I want to look around with Zarine," Cristiano said, beseechingly.

"It's okay. Go talk to him. It's probably something important," Zarine said, nudging him.

Cris kissed her cheek and said, "Okay, okay. Sheesh, you sound like a teacher."

She laughed, "Oh yeah? Glad to know I'm doing a good job."

"You're doing the best job," he smiled, kissing her again quickly. "Alright, alright, Marcelo, I'm coming."

She smiled as she watched him run after Marcelo.

"Ugh, you guys are so cheesy," Sergio teased.

"It's worth it with him."

He looked at her. "I'm really glad he has you. You're good for him."