A Typical Love Story

Chapter Seven: Growing Attraction

Cesc stifled a moan as he rested his head back against his pillow, he closed his eyes while he wiped his hand on his boxers; he felt ashamed at what he had just done.

All night he had been thinking about Penelope, she plagued his mind ever since he had walked in on her naked and he knew it was wrong, she was just his best friend.

Cesc lay in his bed trying to ignore the ache that he had in his stomach, he felt horrible for what had happened and what he had just done.

Penelope was his best friend and the person that he could always rely on, Cesc didn’t want to mess anything up by doing anything stupid like falling in love with her.

“Get a grip Fàbregas,” Cesc muttered shaking his head, he pushed off his duvet and climbed out of bed; he ran his fingers through his hair knowing that he needed to get himself together.

Penelope deserved the world and he doubted that she would want him that way, she was his best friend and that was it; Cesc was just going to have to deal with it.

Cesc quickly dressed and prepared for the day, he needed to make sure that Lia had a decent bedroom if he wanted to stand a chance against Daniella.

Cesc closed his eyes, he knew that Daniella would fight dirty and he was sure that he was going to have to do everything to make sure that he didn’t lose Lia like Elie had lost Maria and Joseph.

It was going to be a tough process and Cesc was sure that it would go to court, he would have to prove that he was better than Daniella at raising their daughter.

Cesc chewed on his lip, he couldn’t allow himself to get distracted when it came to doing the best for his daughter; any feelings that he was developing would have to be ignored.

***

“Morning,” Penelope greeted as Cesc walked into the kitchen, she offered a weak smile at him while she sipped on her coffee; she knew that things were going to be awkward between them.

Penelope still couldn’t believe that Cesc had managed to walk in on her like that, if they were going to live together then she was going to get a lock for her door so it wouldn’t happen again.

“Morning…” Cesc murmured shyly, he set about making his breakfast trying not to look at Penelope; his mind had already jumped to what he had seen and what he had been doing that morning.

Penelope watched Cesc, they needed to get over this and she was sure that it could be easily since Cesc only saw her as a friend; she was the one that was secretly in love not him.

“How about we just forget what happened last night?” Penelope offered trying to make things better, she didn’t want Cesc to be upset and he had enough on his plate right now; she didn’t wish to make things worse for him.

Cesc turned around and looked at Penelope, he swallowed as his mind showed him the very dirty thoughts that he’d had that morning; he had jerked off to them and he felt even worse for it.

“Sure,” Cesc spluttered trying to ignore the images that his mind was creating, Penelope had no idea what he had done and he felt ashamed that he had done that.

Cesc busied himself making breakfast, he cursed his mind for making him think about Penelope like that; she was his friend and he didn’t love her like he loved Daniella.

Penelope stared at Cesc wondering what was wrong, she brushed some hair from her face as she tried to not be hurt by his response; she didn’t want anything to change their friendship.

“So are we going to Ikea today?” Penelope asked knowing that Cesc wanted to sort out a room for Lia, she was sure that they could forget about what had happened; it wasn’t as if they’d done anything stupid.

Cesc nodded his head nibbling on toast, he wanted to get everything ready as soon as possible; he would focus on his career and his daughter since nothing else mattered.

“Are you okay Cesc?” Penelope asked staring at him, she didn’t know why he was so quiet and she guessed that he was bothered more than he had let on about running into Daniella.

Penelope set down her cup and sighed, she wished that there was something that she could do to fix Cesc; she knew that he deserved so much better than Daniella.

Penelope climbed off her chair and walked over to Cesc, she hated that he was troubled while Daniella got to live her life without any consequences for what she had done.

“I’m fine… just a little tired,” Cesc lied softly looking at Penelope, he would never forgive himself if he lost her as a friend and he hoped that he would never lose her.

Penelope nodded her head, she offered Cesc a small smile wishing that she knew what was bothering him; she finished her coffee and put her cup into the sink hoping that he would be okay.

Cesc watched Penelope, he swallowed hoping that his strange new feelings that he had for her would go away; she was his best friend and it had to stay that way.

***

“So what colour do you want to do Lia’s bedroom?” Penelope asked looking at the aisle of paint that she was standing in, she chewed on her lip before moving to peek back at Cesc; he had been off all day and she was worried about him.

Penelope brushed her fingers through her hair, she was starting to wonder if maybe a call from Gerard might help Cesc in some way.

“I don’t know… what do you think?” Cesc asked knowing that he had to think about what he wanted for his daughter, they had to think of a colour scheme and he was hopeful that Lia would like her room.

Penelope sighed, she didn’t know what to say and she crossed her arms knowing that this wasn’t going to be easy; she wished that this was a little easier.

“How about red and brown?” Penelope said moving to point out the two colours that she was talking about, she looked at Cesc who nodded his head looking just as lost as before.

Penelope sighed and moved to collect the paint, she would come up with a plan for it when she got it home; Cesc moved to help her glad that he had brought Penelope with him.

“I was wondering if you would come to my match this weekend?” Cesc asked making Penelope look at him, she knew that he was in a bad place right now and she would do anything to support him.

Cesc set both sets of paint into the trolley, he smiled at Lia hoping that she would like her room since it wasn’t going to be pink or purple.

They had both been Daniella’s favourite colours and Cesc didn’t want to see them after their break-up, he had to move forward and he was doing this his way.

“I’d like that,” Penelope said with a smile, she was glad that things weren’t too weird between them and in a couple of months she would have to deal with Cesc moving on from Daniella.

Cesc smiled and nodded his head, he didn’t know what he was going to happen and she was the only person that he truly trusted; the brunette had been his rock the last few weeks.

“Great,” Cesc said trying to ignore the odd feelings that were building inside of him, he didn’t know what was going on with him but he wasn’t going to let it ruin things with Penelope.