Lean on Me

Part One - Chapter Four: What Are Friends For?

Fernando sighed as he sipped on his water, it had been five weeks since he had transferred to Chelsea; he was slowly wondering if moving to London had been worth the risk, it was early March and his marriage seemed to be suffering worse than ever.

The team were getting ready to travel to Blackpool for their weekend away match and Fernando was slowly allowing himself to adjust to the changes in his life; he had found himself becoming close friends with Cassidy who had been right about him needing to talk to someone.

“Morning,” Cassidy greeted as she approached the coach a couple of the players rolled their eyes at how cheerful she was for this hour of the morning; she grinned as she spotted Fernando as she waited for the coach to start loading.

“How are you?” Cassidy asked curiously as she watched the Spaniard for a moment, they had spoken the day before about a fight that he’d had with Olalla and that his wife was clearly up to something.

“I’m good,” Fernando said nodding his head as he moved to stand next to Cassidy, she smiled up at him knowing that he was putting on a brave face; she had been working with him so that he felt a little more confident about his move from Liverpool.

Cassidy opened her mouth to say something before the coach started loading, she rolled her eyes as she moved to get on while Fernando followed after her.

“So what have you been up to?” Cassidy asked as she sat down, she looked at the footballer for a moment as he settled in next to her; she was quickly becoming one of his best friends and he didn't know what he would have done without her in his life.

“I took Nora and Leo to the park yesterday, Olalla went out with her friends again,” Fernando said making Cassidy look at him and nod her head as she pulled out her book for the trip; she nibbled on her lip as there was a head count done.

Fernando licked his lips as he glanced around the coach; a couple of his team-mates were whispering about his growing closeness with the brunette.

“What about you?” Fernando asked making Cassidy look at him, she stared for a moment taken back that he wanted to know what was going on in her life.

“My sister is getting married in a couple of months so I’m stuck helping with organising the wedding,” Cassidy said making Fernando nod his head as he remembered his own wedding day; he swallowed as he realised that the entire day had been focused on Olalla, she had to have everything her way or she threw a fit.

***

Frank raised an eyebrow as he looked at Fernando and Cassidy; he tilted his head as he watched the brunette with the Spaniard.

“They seem close,” Frank mused as he looked at John as he watched the two for a moment.

The two had been getting close recently and while Frank was happy that Fernando had found someone to talk to, he worried about how close he was getting with Cassidy.

John furrowed his brow as he looked up from his book before he looked over at the two that Frank was talking about, he watched them for a moment as the two talked closely.

“Do you think that we should talk with Nando?” Frank said as he watched the two, it was clear that the two of them were close and he didn't want to see either of them hurt.

Fernando was a married man that needed to focus on his family while Cassidy had a serious boyfriend that wouldn’t be happy if he knew that she was getting close with someone else.

“And say what?” John asked as he looked at his friend, Frank loved Cassidy like a sister as much as he did but he knew that the brunette wouldn’t take the meddling in her life well.

“I don’t know maybe tell him to back off a little,” Frank said knowing that while Fernando probably meant well, he was getting involved with the wrong person; Cassidy was a lovely woman and she didn't need deserve having her name dragged through the mud.

“They’re just friends, Torres needs a friend right now… you’ve seen how bad he’s been playing lately and from what I heard his missus is causing him trouble,” John said making Frank look at him, he stared for a moment before he nodded his head; he knew what his friend was talking about.

Since the move Olalla had yet to make an appearance at any of the games that Chelsea had played and rumours were starting to build that Fernando’s marriage was in trouble.

“I just don’t want Cass getting hurt,” Frank said making John sigh as he realised that his friend wasn’t going to let this go; he looked at Frank for a moment wondering what he wanted him to do about the friendship between Fernando and Cassidy.

There was nothing wrong with being friends, there would be a problem if it developed into more and John seriously doubted that Cassidy would do anything like that.

***

Running a hand through her hair, Cassidy sighed as she stopped outside of her hotel room for the night as she looked down the corridor to where the footballers were all preparing to head to their own rooms.

“Can I talk to you Cass?” Frank asked as he stopped next to the brunette, he watched her for a moment before she nodded her head as she unlocked her hotel room door and allowed them inside; she licked her lips knowing that this had to be important.

“What did you want to talk about?” Cassidy asked as she ran a hand through her hair, she turned to look at the footballer as she set down her bag that had everything she needed for while she was away.

Frank looked around nervously before he cleared his throat as he tried to sort through his thoughts.

“It’s about you and Fernando,” Frank said as he watched Cassidy raise an eyebrow at him and cross her arms as she looked at him; Frank swallowed knowing that he had to tread carefully.

“I’m just trying to look out for you,” he said knowing that the brunette wasn’t going to probably like what he was about to tell her.

Cassidy nodded her head as she waited for Frank to continue, she had a feeling that she knew what he was going to say and he was right; she was getting close with Fernando but she only saw him as a friend.

“It’s okay Frank… I only see Fernando as a friend and that’s what he needs right now, things with Olalla are getting worse and he needs people to be his friends right now,” Cassidy said making frank sigh in relief for a moment before he looked at Cassidy concerned at what she had told him.

Cassidy sighed as she slowly started to reveal her concerns to Frank, she could trust him and if she didn't tell him then she was likely to tell Fernando and it would only ruin his marriage.

“I think Olalla is having an affair and that she forced Fernando to move to London to be closer to this other man,” Cassidy admitted after she had explained why she thought that Fernando’s wife was up to something.

Frank stared at her knowing that if Cassidy was right, Fernando was going to need as many friends as possible; there was clearly something wrong with his marriage.