Lean on Me

Part Two - Chapter Sixteen: Repercussions

Fernando cursed and stumbled back as he was punched again by one of his team-mates, who thought that confronting the Spaniard about what he had done was the best idea to deal with the rumours going around.

“I swear… I had nothing to do with Roberto being sacked,” Fernando said clutching his bloody nose, he winced knowing that it was probably broken; he hadn’t known what to say when Petr Čech had confronted him about what was going on.

Fernando wiped the blood from his face as he looked at the team-mates that had turned on him, he was suddenly glad that Cassidy hadn’t come into work today since Leia had been feeling a little warm that morning; he didn’t want to worry her with what was going on at the club.

“Really because we heard that you did so that you could get Benítez,” Oriol said glaring at the older Spaniard; he couldn’t believe that Fernando would do such a think but if Juan had said it then it had to be true in some form.

César nodded his head in agreement, neither of them could believe that the world cup winner; he had been thrilled coming to work with Fernando but now he wasn’t sure what to think if this was how he treated people.

“I didn’t do anything…” Fernando protested wiping his nose again, his fiancée wasn’t going to be pleased when he went home like this; she was already wary of having him and Juan on the same team since things between them were falling apart.

Demba Ba clenched his fist as he glared at Fernando, everyone had loved Roberto after he had led them to a win last season; he just didn’t understand why Fernando had done something like this when things had been going so well.

“What the hell is going on?” John barked stepping into the locker room, Frank had told him already what Juan had done and while he had tried his best to shut down the terrible lie some of the team hadn’t heard yet that it wasn’t true.

“Just teaching Torres some respect,” Petr said looking back at the captain as Frank also entered the room, he was a little surprised the two captains hadn’t been involved yet in beating Fernando up for what he had done; he knew that they wouldn’t be pleased when they learnt what he had done.

“What are you talking about?” Ramires asked looking at the small group gathered, he had spoken with David that night when he had heard the rumour and was shocked that Juan had done this; he knew they’d been having problems but he had never thought Juan would turn on Fernando like this.

“For Christ’s sake… Nando’s innocent, Juan spread the rumour to cause trouble,” Frank said looking at Fernando, he could see that the other footballer had taken a beating before they had arrived and he knew he had to put an end to this now.

***

Juan glared at Frank as the team gathered for a talk, he knew that his lie had been caught out and he was going to be in a lot of trouble when he was exposed; he couldn’t help but be happy whenever he looked at Fernando.

“Okay I know that you have all heard this rumour that Fernando got Roberto sacked and I want to put an end to this now,” John said glaring at Juan, he couldn’t believe that the younger player had caused this much trouble over nothing; Cassidy had made it clear that she loved Fernando and Juan needed to accept that.

It was clear that if he continued to make trouble then he wouldn’t have a place at Chelsea for much longer; John hoped that it wouldn’t cause Cassidy to lose her job since it was her that Juan was lashing out over.

“Now you all know that Nando and Juan aren’t on the best of terms right now… Roberto didn’t lose his job because of Fernando, Roman fired him because he wants to win a lot of trophies and we all weren’t playing well,” John said running a hand over his face, he couldn’t believe he was having to deal with this now; he glanced over at Juan who was sulking in the corner alone.

It didn’t take long for everyone to figure out what had happened, they slowly all looked at Juan wondering why he would spread such a rumour; he had caused so much trouble by doing so and now Fernando had a bloody nose.

“Nando I’m so sorry,” Petr said turning to the man that he had punched, he couldn’t believe that he had done that to the Spaniard; he felt horrible seeing the damage that he had done to the striker’s face and knowing that he had done it.

Fernando waved him off, he didn’t blame anyone for what had happened; this needed to be sorted out and now before Juan did something that could end his career or cost Cassidy her job.

“This has to end Juan… I don’t know what you want me to do, I am engaged to Cassidy and we have a family together. I’m sorry that you are hurting but there is nothing that I can do,” Fernando said shaking his head, he needed this to end before someone really got hurt and he knew that it wasn’t going to end well if it did continue.

***

Cassidy glanced at Fernando as he returned home, she had heard from Frank what had happened at training and she wasn’t surprised anymore that Juan would do such a thing; he seemed determined to hurt both of them.

“Cass?” Fernando said sensing that something had upset his fiancée after he had checked on a sleeping Leia and Noah, he was glad to see that his daughter’s temperature had gone down; he had worried that she had picked up some bug.

Cassidy sighed as she turned to face him, she wondered for a moment how she would tell him what had happened while he had been from work; she knew it wasn’t going to end well when Roman Abramovich visited her at home.

“I don’t want you to get upset but Roman came to see me,” Cassidy said ushering him into the living room, he needed to sit down before she told him what the club owner had wanted; she could already see that he was worried about what had happened.

Fernando watched her concerned, he knew that with Juan and his falling out that the owner had been worried that it would tear the team apart however Juan had managed to do that with his lie earlier that week.

“Nando… I’ve been sacked,” Cassidy said softly making her fiancé stare at her shocked, he swallowed as the brunette looked down at her hands and allowed her words to sink in; apparently Juan had caused more damage than he had thought.

“Roman thinks that I was too much of a distraction and since I tore the team apart then he didn’t want me working for the club anymore,” Cassidy said as she tried to wrap her head around what was going on, she had worked at Chelsea since she had left school and now she had lost her job she wasn’t sure what to do.

Fernando cursed Juan as he pulled Cassidy into his arms, the younger footballer had cost Cassidy her job because he couldn’t accept that she didn’t love him and had caused so many problems.