The Proposal

Chapter Nine: The Engagement Party

Friday came much quicker than Sophia and Cristiano expected, Irina had spent most of Thursday helping the younger woman prepare for the engagement party and helping Sophia choose a dress that would be suitable enough for her to wear.

Cristiano bounced his knee as he waited for Sophia, he glanced at his watch knowing that they had to leave in the next five minutes if they didn’t want to be late; he wasn’t sure what was going on.

“I’m ready when you are,” Sophia said as she appeared, she smiled as Cristiano turned to face her.

His jaw dropped as he stared at the blonde who was wearing a blue sparkle dress in all over sequins paired with black heeled sandals and a blue metallic zip detail clutch bag.

Clearing his throat Cristiano tried to form words, making Sophia roll her eyes; she had never seen him speechless in her life and she was a little surprised that he hadn’t found something to say.

“Don’t look so surprised,” the blonde said as she walked passed him, she watched as he took a deep breath and closed his mouth.

His brown eyes watched her for a moment as they trailed up her legs that seemed to go on for miles in the dress that she was wearing.

Cristiano nodded his head as he snapped out of it, he collected the keys for his Audi R8 before he took a deep breath; he wasn’t sure what tonight would hold but he that the sooner that they were there the better so they could come home early.

***

The party at Kaka’s house was in full swing when the couple arrived, Sophia took a deep breath as the car came to a stop and glanced at Cristiano; she wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to parties like this.

Moving towards the doorway, Cristiano wrapped his arm around Sophia waist and held her close to him; Sophia raised an eyebrow at him, she didn’t know what had gotten into him.

“For appearances of course,” the footballer said though it was only half way true, he didn’t want any of his teammates near her; she had never looked more beautiful than she did tonight and he didn’t want anyone taking advantage of that.

Caroline opened the door and smirked at Sophia as she took in the blonde before she turned her attention to Cristiano; she knew that tonight was going to be interesting and she hoped that everyone had a good time.

“Welcome… we’re so happy you could make it,” she said though she knew that Cristiano looked uncomfortable with the way Sophia was dressed; she had to admit that Sophia looked amazing and had chosen something that made her look good.

As the two stepped into the house, Cristiano glanced around noticing several of his younger teammates perking up at the sight of the beautiful blonde that was with him.

Carolina pursed her lips as she looked at Cristiano, she knew that she had to warn him; she knew about what he was doing behind Sophia’s back and she hoped it would end soon.

“I should warn you but Karim brought Anastasia to the party,” the Brazilian said as her eyes met with the footballer’s.

She watched as a strange emotion flickered through Cristiano’s eyes knowing that the only person that was going to be hurt was Sophia if this continued.

The blonde looked at her fiancé knowing that if he messed this up now then everyone would know that something wasn’t right; she had to keep him calm before he did something stupid.

Carolina linked her arms with the blonde and pulled her away, she cheekily smiled at Cristiano as she led Sophia away knowing that the footballer had his own friends to talk to.

The women all grinned when Sophia and Carolina entered the part of the house where they had all gathered; they didn’t want to sit talking around their spouses while they drank and talked about sport.

“You look sexy,” Sara said as she wrapped an arm around the blonde and pulled her into the seat next to her; she grinned as she glanced over at Cristiano, who was talking with Marcelo, his brown eyes locked on Sophia.

***

Stefan smirked as he thought about how easy it had been for him to slip into the party, he had had worried that there was going to be some serious security when he had decided to gate crash the party so that he could see Sophia.

Stefan took a sip of his drink as he watched the blonde talk to some of the other women; he had to admit that she looked simply stunning tonight and he knew that Cristiano didn’t deserve her.

Stefan frowned lightly at the look some of the younger drunker players gave her, and even the look Cristiano was wearing as they looked at Sophia.

None of them would know how to treat a woman such as Sophia, she needed to be treated with respect, respect that only he could show her.

Watching her for a few more moments, Stefan knew tonight would be the night that he would make his feelings for Sophia clear; he had been waiting years to tell her and he knew now would be the right time to do so.

He watched as Sophia excused herself and disappeared from the room and headed towards the kitchen; he counted to ten before he finished his drink and slowly followed after her, the last thing that he wanted to do was alert anyone to what he was going to do.

Stefan smirked as he watched Anastasia wrap her arms around the unwilling Cristiano, he knew that the Russian model would be the perfect distraction for what he was doing.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Sophia collided with someone making her stumble but she didn’t fall; she sighed in relief that she hadn’t before she made sure that she hadn’t dropped anything.

“I’m so sorry,” Sophia said as she looked up into the blue eyes of the man before her, the sandy haired man smiled down at her; she swallowed as she realised who it was and she was shocked to see him at a Real Madrid party.

“Stefan? What are you doing here?” the blonde asked slowly stepping back from him as she crossed her arms across her chest; Stefan couldn’t help but smile at her, she was even more beautiful close up and he knew that he was lucky to be in her presence.

The two of them were stood in the kitchen, which had the downstairs bathroom connected to it; Sophia swallowed as she realised that she was alone with Stefan with no one to see either of them.

“I was in the area and heard you’d be here tonight,” Stefan said making Sophia shift uncomfortably when she was dating Gerard; he and the other players had warned her about Stefan.

He had a reputation of being a little weird and he had done nothing but stare at her when she had been with the Barcelona defender.

“Well it’s nice to see you again but I have to be getting back to my fiancé,” Sophia said as she played with her engagement ring; Stefan frowned as he looked at it knowing she deserved better than the Portuguese forward.