Knocked Up

Chapter Nine: The Rehearsal Dinner

Rachel had been shocked when she had returned from her meeting with Cristiano only to find her boyfriend waiting for her; she knew that it had something to do with Karla, who was acting like nothing had happened.

The brunette sighed as she smoothed out her fuchsia shift dress with tie waist, Evan hadn’t left her side and it was starting to annoy her as they entered the restaurant where the rehearsal dinner was being held and she couldn’t wait for it to be over.

As soon as they stepped into the restaurant, Evan walked away from Rachel’s side and headed towards the table making her sigh in relief; he was slowly starting to annoy her and she didn’t know what to do now.

“Don’t you think that’s weird?” Marc asked Tara who followed his gaze before she nodded; Evan had always been a little weird when it came to Rachel, but there was definitely something going on.

“He won’t leave her alone one minute, and now he’s using his phone and nowhere near her,” Marc said bitterly, Tara smiled lightly then groaned as she spotted her sister heading towards Rachel; she knew what her sister had done and she couldn’t believe that she had been so selfish.

“The she-devil is on the move,” Tara muttered, Marc frowned as Karla linked arms with Rachel and led her away from the people she was talking to.

The blonde smiled at her friend, Rachel had covered the hand mark better now with make-up; she didn’t want anyone else knowing what had happened and now she was slowly realised who her friend really was.

“I knew you’d do the right thing,” Karla said as she led Rachel away, she was pleased that all the attention was back on her; she didn’t need the brunette taking that away from her.

Rachel rolled her eyes at Karla, who continued to talk about how Rachel had made the right decision about leaving Cristiano.

She didn’t feel like she had done the right thing, it hurt more than anything what she had done to Cristiano, even if he was a famous footballer.

“Listen Karla, I’ll play nice now… but I’ll never forgive you for what you did,” Rachel said pulling away from Karla, who looked at her surprised; she had expected the brunette to forgive and forget about what had happened and it was clear that she hadn’t.

Tara smiled at Rachel when the brunette approached them, she could see that the other woman was hurting and she wished that there was something that she could do to make herself feel better.

“It’ll be okay,” Marc said as he gave her a small hug, he glanced over at Evan who seemed more interested in his phone; he looked at Rachel knowing that she deserved better than the lawyer, he wanted her to be happy.

“Go to him… we’ll cover for you here,” Tara said as she looked at Rachel, she could see that the brunette didn’t want to be here and she was going to make sure that her friend was happy before anything else.

***

Cristiano took a deep breath as he sat across from his girlfriend who was wearing a black expensive dress that she had brought to impress him; she was on her second glass of wine and looked incredibly bored.

“Irina, we need to talk,” he said making the Russian model smile and lean closer to him.

They were in expensive restaurant that made he knew that his girlfriend of a year liked; he wanted nothing more than to be with Rachel and he knew that he would do anything to make things right.

“I’m going to be completely honest with you… I’ve met someone else,” Cristiano said knowing that he couldn’t go on like this, he knew that this wasn’t easy and that he couldn’t go on like this if he wanted to be happy.

“I loved being with you… and the past year has been amazing but I can’t do this anymore. We connected on so many levels…” Cristiano said trying to be careful of how he broke this to her.

 They were in a public place and he didn’t want her throwing a fit; however he was surprised to see that she looked relieved that he was breaking things off.

“Cristiano its fine,” Irina said making Cristiano confused while Irina finished off her drink, she looked at him knowing that this had been a long time coming and he had done all of this to protect himself.

“We’re not the same as we were a year ago,” she said making Cristiano smile as he realised that Irina was on the same page has him; the couple sat in silence for several seconds, as they took in what was happening.

Cristiano furrowed his brow as his mobile went off, he pulled it out of his pocket; he stared for a moment shocked that it was a message from Rachel.

***

The footballer swallowed as he slowly approached Rachel, he had to admit that he had been surprised when she had text him to meet her at the plaza de Cibeles; she looked beautiful in the glow of the fountain.

“Rachel?” Cristiano asked as he looked at the brunette, she turned to face him knowing that she had to do something; she swallowed as he stopped right in front of her, she wasn’t sure what to say.

“Gracias for coming,” Rachel said as she brushed some hair from her face, Cristiano nodded his head as he stepped closer to her and trailed his fingers up her arms; he knew that it wasn’t warm weather and he had to admit that she looked amazing.

“Is everything okay?” Cristiano asked concerned, he didn’t know why she had asked to see him but he hoped that it was some good news; he wasn’t willing to let her go again without a fight.

Rachel nodded her head as she looked down at her hands, she messed with the material of her dress for a moment before Cristiano stopped her and made her look at him.

“I’m sorry about this afternoon… everything just seemed to gang up on me,” Rachel said as she allowed Cristiano pulled her close, he smiled at her softly as he looked at her; he could see that there was something more going on.

“It’s okay… I can understand,” Cristiano said as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, he smiled at her knowing that he would do anything for her and he was already starting to fall in love with the brunette.

“I’ll do anything to be with you Rachel,” Cristiano said as he looked at her, he ran his fingers through her hair; he knew that she would be leaving soon and he was going to want to stay with her for as long as possible.

Rachel blinked as she looked at him, she had never expected him to be so sweet about this; she had expected him to push her away and now that he hadn’t she was confused about what she should do next.

“Let me in,” Cristiano said as he cupped the brunette’s face, his brown eyes searching hers as he thought about everything that had happened since he had met the brunette.

Rachel stared at him as he lowered his lips to hers, he kissed her briefly knowing that he would do anything for her; he had already ended things with Irina and now he wanted the woman in front of him, even with the idea of distance between them.

“Okay,” Rachel breathed as she allowed Cristiano to kiss her, she knew that she was taking a risk but she had a feeling that she was doing the right thing even if she was still with Evan.