Keeping Secrets

Chapter One: Things We Keep Hidden

Megan Martinez took a deep breath as she stepped into the private box where she was meeting her brothers for the match; she was due to watch Real Madrid play against Barcelona, something that made Megan a little nervous.

For the last six years of her life, Megan had been secretly dating the Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos; something that would certainly get her into trouble with her father.

Gerard Martinez was a youth couch for the club and former player, he had made Megan promise that she would never get involved with any of the footballers and she had until she met Sergio.

“There you are Meg,” Marcus Martinez said as he smiled at his baby sister, he had worried that she wasn’t going to show up.

Megan flashed a smile as she moved towards them, she had opted to wear a little grey wrap front top and slim boot cut jeans paired with brown ruched faux suede ankle boots; she didn’t want to take sides especially when two of her brothers were Barca fans and the other two were Real Madrid fans.

“You could have picked a team Megan,” Karl Martinez said as he rolled his eyes, he was proudly wearing his Real Madrid shirt as he sat by his younger brother Rory.

Megan rolled her eyes as she plopped down into her seat and set her black tassle detail slouch bag down at her feet; her hazel eyes looking around the field as the teams warmed up.

Megan had spent a lot of her childhood at the stadium watching her father play and even now as an adult it was rare for her father to invite her down to watch the team play.

Megan sighed brushing her brown hair back over her shoulder, offering a glance to her brothers who were bickering about which team was best.

Being the only daughter of Gerard Martinez often had its perks such as good seats to watch Real Madrid play; but Megan hated the attention that came with it.

It was the main reason that she had dyed her blonde hair brown, so no one would recognize her and so she looked less like her mother, which often pained her father.

Of course, Megan knew that sooner or than later she would be in the spot light, whether she liked it or not because she was dating a footballer; biting back a smile she watched as the teams started to get into place.

No one else had seen what Sergio had done but Megan had, it was a simple way of letting her know that she was on his mind when he was preparing to play a match.

“So who do you think will win, Megan?” Marcus asked as he settled his twins down for the match; Megan rolled her eyes as she turned to look at the eager faces of her four brothers.

“Does it really matter?” Megan replied making Marcus frown while her elder brother scoffed, making her look at him; Adam wasn’t known for his patience or for his humour when it came to football.

Marcus and Adam had been born when their father had played for Barcelona and as such, were Barcelona fans. Meanwhile Karl and Rory were Real Madrid fans having both been born, or had been brought up in Madrid when Gerard had played for Real Madrid.

Megan was the only one, who seemed too refused to take as side, much to her brothers’ annoyance; she didn’t see the logic in the bickering, which usually ended up with someone getting sulking or a trip to the hospital.

“They’re both good teams,” Megan said making her brothers groan at her words, she smiled and shook her head; she couldn’t tell them her secret, not yet anyway and she was sure that they would only rat her out to their father if she did.

Turning her attention back to the match, Megan watched as the two teams battled for control of the ball; of course her eyes always glancing at her boyfriend as he played, she was thrilled that she got to see him play live.

No one ever seemed to notice that she was here watching him; before long the half time whistle was blowing and Megan swallowed as she peeked at her brothers nervously.

“I’m just going to the ladies room,” Megan said before shaking her head, she wouldn’t get a response, they were too busy arguing about the match to notice her.

Megan tucked her bag under her seat, she was sure it would be safe while she was gone and her phone wasn’t inside of it anyway; she wouldn’t be gone long, just long enough to see Sergio.

***

Megan nibbled on her lip as she waited for Sergio, she was hidden in a corridor which was never used and they always meet here when he played a game; it was one of the few places they could be them without the eyes of the press.

Sergio was running late and Megan had never known him to turn up on time during half time at a match; she jumped as she felt someone touch her.

“You’re always so jumpy,” Sergio teased making Megan sigh in relief before she turned and looked at him, he smiled before moving to cup her face; he hadn’t seen her in days.

“I missed you,” Sergio whispered as he pulled her close, he couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have a girlfriend like her; the last six years had been amazing and he didn’t regret hiding her away.

“Really… even with a match this important?” Megan asked making him roll his brown eyes and press a kiss to her lips; Sergio knew that she was joking and she was always more important to him than any football match.

Sergio held her close for a minute, he missed seeing her like this; of course the lead up to end of the season was important and she was often away traveling because of her job as a translator.

All too soon, Sergio tensed knowing that he would have to return to his team-mates and she to her brothers; Megan sighed and looked up at him, brushing his brown hair from his face.

“I’ll see you tonight?” Megan asked hopefully making him smile and nod; pressing a kiss to her lips, he savoured the moment before he heard his Captain call for him.

“Of course amor,” Sergio said making Megan blush lightly at his words; holding her close one last time, he sighed as he pulled away and offered her a smile.

This was the hard part and it was never easy to pretend that she wasn’t his girlfriend, he was doing this to protect her.

“I’ll see you tonight,” Sergio promised her making Megan smiled as she watched him walk away until he disappeared from sight.

Megan hoped that he would win this game; she didn’t like seeing him upset especially when he lost, she knew how passionate he was about his playing.

Upon returning to the box where her brothers were sitting, she wasn’t surprised to see Marcus look at her confused.

“Where did you go?” Marcus asked making Megan roll her eyes as she sat between the now divided brothers; they were all sulking and it was clear that it would be a while before they all calmed down.

“I told you I was going the ladies room,” Megan replied making Karl roll his eyes at her words, he was sure she was off flirting with some rich guy that was around and trying to get herself a rich husband.

“Did you fall in?” Karl asked, making Rory laugh while Megan glared at him lightly though she tried to hide her smile; she loved her brothers and she hoped that one day she could tell them that she was dating Sergio instead of keeping them in the dark.