Love Will Find A Way

Part One - Chapter Nine: The First Date

Later that evening, Jessica had come round to Nicole’s flat to help her get ready for her date with Cristiano; the blonde was surprised when her friend had told her that after weeks of strange visits the footballer had finally asked her out.

Jessica watched as Nicole carefully brushed her hair so she didn’t start to lose it before she needed to; Jessica had already selected the outfit that she wanted Nicole to wear for her date and the brunette was pleased with it.

“So where do you think Ronaldo will take you?” Jessica asked making Nicole laugh as she set her brush down and turned and looked at her friend.

She hadn’t really had the chance to get any details from Cristiano after he had asked her out and she was a little worried that it would be somewhere public.

“I don’t know as soon as I agreed he left…” Nicole said nervously making Jessica roll her eyes, as she handed the brunette a navy top with structured neckline and twist front and black low rise lace up ankle grazer jeans; she would finish off the outfit with a pair of black heeled sandals.

It didn’t take long for Nicole to get dressed before the two friends headed for the living room where William was waiting for them; Jessica kissed William and looked back at Nicole who opened the fridge for a bottle of water, making the two look at her concerned.

“It’s nothing just the chemo starting to take effect,” Nicole reassured them making Jessica sigh and hug her best friend before they heard someone knock at Nicole’s front door.

Nicole pulled away from Jessica, who squealed slightly, as she made her way towards the door leaving Jessica and William in the kitchen.

Once Nicole opened her front door, she was surprised to see Cristiano wearing dark jeans, a black shirt and dress shoes; the footballer stared at the brunette in awe for a moment before he swallowed.

“You look bonita,” Cristiano said as he smiled at her, he had been a little nervous after he had left the library; Nicole smiled and closed her door behind once she was sure that she had picked up her keys and mobile phone and put them in her faux fur clutch bag.

“Gracias you don’t look so bad yourself,” she replied as Cristiano lead her down to his Aston Martin DB9; Nicole rolled her eyes at the sight of yet another expensive car making Cristiano chuckle as he opened the door for her allowing her to climb in.

Once Cristiano had gotten in the car himself, they were off on their date making Nicole look at him curiously; she wanted to know what they were doing since she was worried that there was something going on.

“So where are you taking me?” she asked looking at him as they started off down Nicole’s street, Cristiano chewed on his lip for a couple of seconds as he glanced at her; he had thought long and hard about this before he had decided on where they would go on their first date.

“Since I didn’t think you’d appreciate being followed by the press, I’m taking you to my house so that I can cook for you,” Cristiano said with a shrug making Nicole look over at him and smile; she was grateful that he wasn’t going to drag her into his world.

***

After a couple of minutes the couple arrived at Cristiano’s home making Nicole look at it in awe making Cristiano chuckle as he helped the brunette out of his car; she swallowed knowing that she could never afford a house like this.

“It’s hermonsa,” Nicole whispered making Cristiano look at her surprised as he unlocked his front door, the footballer quietly lead Nicole into his kitchen where he had also everything already set out.

Cristiano signalled the brunette to sit down making her smile as he looked at his cooker slightly lost.

“So Chef Ronaldo, what will we be enjoying for our meal?” Nicole asked sitting down at the table that was stationed in Cristiano’s kitchen.

Cristiano glanced at Nicole and smirked, he knew that it was going to be pretty clear that he didn’t often cook for himself but he wanted this to be special.

“Well senora I will be cooking espetada, a typical Portuguese dish,” Cristiano said as he tried to show off his cooking skills as he started to prepare the dish; Nicole rolled her eyes as she watched Cristiano start to cook before he turned his attention to her.

“So how are things at home?” the footballer asked making Nicole shrug knowing he was fishing for details about what had happened.

However she wasn’t ready to share what was wrong just yet; she knew it was stupid but she didn’t want him to treat her any different than he was right now.

“Not bad, my padre’s still in town, he’s gonna stay until after Isabel’s birthday and my younger brother should be flying out for a visit soon,” Nicole said not telling him the complete truth about what was going on, Cristiano nod before he sat down in front of her.

He knew that whatever was going on couldn’t be too important if she wasn’t going to tell him right now.

The two spoke quietly between themselves until Nicole noticed the cooker was on fire, she cleared her throat knowing that this wasn’t going to end well for their date.

“Your cookers on fire,” the brunette said nodding at the flames that had engulfed the grill where their meal was cooking; Cristiano jumped up and started to fan the flames trying to get them out, Nicole rolled her eyes at the panicked expression on his face.

Nicole quickly soaked one of Cristiano's kitchen towels before nudging Cristiano out of the way and covering the flames with the towel; the brunette wrapped his arms around Nicole’s waist and looked at their ruined dinner before sighing knowing that they were going to have to order out.

***

“I had fun tonight,” Nicole said as Cristiano walked her back to her apartment, after they had ordered some Italian everything had gotten better; the footballer chuckled as he looked at her as they arrived at their apartment.

The pair smiled at one another as they stood outside of her home, the brunette shifted nervously wondering what was going to happen next; she hadn’t been on a date in a long time and she didn’t know what to do next.

“Seriously?” Cristiano asked as he looked at her, a lot of the women that he had dated in the past wanted expensive dates and dinners but she was completely different and he hadn’t been sure how to handle her; he knew that he was going to have to make sure that he didn’t treat her like he did his ex-girlfriends.

“Seriously… it was eventful,” Nicole said with a smile, she couldn’t remember the last time that she had felt like this and she only hoped that everything worked out for her now; she hadn’t had much luck when it came to men and she had a feeling that Cristiano was different.

The footballer smiled as he looked at her, he hoped that next time he would be able to give her a date that she deserved; he wanted to make her happy and he had never felt like that before.

“Buenas noches,” Nicole said as she stepped closer to the forward and kissed his cheek, she stepped back as she moved to unlock the front door knowing that this had been a good night; Cristiano stared at her shocked as a smile formed on his face.