Book 1: It's Time for Africa

Chapter Three: The Right Woman

Fernando frowned as he entered the stadium early that morning, it had been a week since he, Iker and Sergio had come up with their list of qualities they wanted in a woman.

Of course, it had been difficult since they all had different tastes in women but they had finally agreed on the type of woman they wanted.

His thoughts quickly turned to the team’s intern for the tournament, who no one had met since Vicente had been keeping her busy and away from the team.

Fernando came to a complete stop as he spotted Alyssa; she was wearing a dress similar to the one he had seen her in when they had first met.

“Alyssa?” he asked unsure of himself making the brunette stop what she was doing and looked at him, she should have expected to bump into him sooner or later while at work.

“Hola Fernando,” she replied with a smile making the Spaniard smile back at her, happy to see her again; he didn’t know what it was but he had missed her.

“Hola… what are you doing here?” he asked curious as to why she was walking around the stadium which was currently closed to the public.

Alyssa smiled at him shyly, she wasn’t sure how he would feel about seeing her again but she knew that he would have found out sooner or later.

“I’m the national team’s intern,” the brunette revealed making him smile at the idea of seeing more of her; he nodded wondering why he hadn’t thought of that earlier.

Clearing her throat, Alyssa glanced down at the paper work she was holding that needed to be given to someone; she felt a little awkward especially now that he knew she worked for the team.

“I better get going,” Alyssa said making him nod sadly, knowing she probably had work to do; there wasn’t anything between them but there was this odd connection between them.

After the two of them had said their goodbyes, Fernando watched her leave as Sergio and Iker entered the building; the two of them followed their friend’s gaze to Alyssa as she disappeared down the corridor in front of them.

“She’s pretty,” Sergio noted as the three friends headed for the locker room for training; Fernando nodded as he glanced at his two friends.

“She’s the national team intern,” the Spaniard said making his two friends look at him interested, this made Alyssa an ideal candidate for their plan.

“What about her?” Iker asked curiously, they needed someone that was attached to the team for the plan to work since they were heading for South Africa soon.

Fernando looked at him startled for a moment, then glanced back at where Alyssa had disappeared thinking about spending more time with her; he nodded interested in the idea of dating her.

Sergio stared at the older footballers and nodded as well, she was the sort he usually went for, and this just might work for all of them.

                                                        ***

Alyssa sighed as she finished the last of her filing before she glanced at her mobile phone; she hadn’t heard from anyone back home since she arrived in Madrid apart from her family. 

Alyssa was currently studying at university and had taken this internship in hopes of improving her chances of getting a job when she graduated and it was also an excuse to avoid her ex-boyfriend.

The brunette thought about heading back to her apartment for lunch as she stepped out of the office where she had been working, only for her to walk straight into Fernando; who smiled at her as he steadied her.

“Hola,” the footballer greeted as he helped her find her feet, he had spent the better half of an hour looking for her to ask her to join him and the others for lunch.

“Hola,” Alyssa replied as she brushed some hair back behind her ear as she looked up at Fernando, she hadn’t expected to see him again today.

“Me and my friends were wondering if you’d like to join us for lunch?” Fernando asked as they started to walk down the corridor.

The brunette nodded since she didn’t really want to have lunch alone again; she was starting to miss talking to people.

Fernando smiled at her as they started out of the stadium; he knew that they’d have to approach the subject carefully when they asked Alyssa.

The two of them walked to his Aston Martin Rapide, which Alyssa tried not to stare at in awe, since she knew that he got paid a hell of a lot more than she did.

Fernando opened her door for her, just like José Antonio had done when she had arrived in Madrid, allowing Alyssa to climb inside and put her seatbelt on as Fernando walked around to the driver’s side.

The footballer smiled at Alyssa as he slipped on his own seat belt on.

“So where are we eating?” Alyssa asked curiously, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the footballer or the fact that he wanted to have lunch with her.

“Iker’s house… there’ll just be four of us. Us, Iker and Sergio,” Fernando said making her nod; she knew that the three were close friends, so it didn’t really surprise her.

***

“So Alyssa where are you originally from?” Iker asked her as Fernando offered her a seat at the table; the brunette sat down and looked at the eldest Spaniard who had spoken.

“Castile-La Mancha,” Alyssa replied as Sergio smiled at her; her voice was the sweetest sound he had ever heard, it was softer than he had imagined.

Fernando sat down next to Alyssa and looked at her with interest, he didn’t know much about her and he wanted to learn more.

“What made you take the internship?” Fernando asked her curiously making Alyssa blush lightly, which Fernando thought only enhanced her beauty; she wasn’t like the other woman that the footballers had dated in the past.

“I’m actually studying at university,” Alyssa said making them look at her surprised, they weren’t sure how old she was since she looked kind of young.

This was the woman for them; there was something about Alyssa that seemed to attract each of them, she was perfect for what they needed.

The talk remained light until Iker looked at the other two who nodded at him, they were all in agreement that Alyssa was the one that they wanted.

“Alyssa… we have a proposition for you,” Iker said making the brunette look at him confused, he knew that this was going to be confusing.

Alyssa looked at the footballer for a moment the turned to look Fernando and Sergio; she didn’t know what she could offer three well-paid men like them.

“Just hear us out before you speak,” Sergio added knowing how this might sound to her, it would be strange for her to hear; this wasn’t something three men usually asked a woman.

Alyssa nodded warily now slightly worried about what she would be asked; the brunette had all sorts of bad thoughts running through her head right now.

“Alyssa we would like you to be our girlfriend,” Iker said as delicately as he could, which was definitely not what Alyssa expected him to say.

The brunette opened and closed her mouth as she tried to wrap her head around what he had just said to her, this was certainly going to be interesting.