Off the Deep End (Cristiano Ronaldo / Lionel Messi)

Chapter 3: The After Party

Later that night

No one had a bigger smile on their face than Cristiano Ronaldo that night. He won the Golden Ball. He won it and he damn sure deserved it: he worked so hard for the past year. It felt so good to see the almighty Lionel Messi licking his lips, clearly disappointed with the result.

When the gala ended most of the guests – including Cristiano - left the Congress House for an after party held a few kilometers away at a luxurious mansion owned by some Swiss millionaire. The place was spectacular: the floors and walls were covered with dark marble tiles, the decor was modern with a hint of gold and velvet here and there and there was a big heated terrace which – despite of the chilly January weather – was quite popular among the guests.

Cristiano was sitting at the terrace in the company of random footballer players and couches, sipping ice tea. Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. had gone home with his grandmother so Cristiano was free for the night.

"It's such a shame you don't drink, Ronaldo", Manuel Neuer remarked, taking a big gulp of his Czech beer. "I'd love to see you drunk."

"Oh really?" Cristiano laughed. "Who knows, maybe I'll surprise you."

Neuer shoot him a lopsided smile.

"Nah, why bother! I have seen it before: a man doesn't like to drink, then he wants to have a taste, he takes a little, he takes a little more... and, in the end, he just can't stop and everything goes puff!"

Everyone at the table laughed at Neuer's vivid vocal performance. Cristiano noticed he was running out of ice tea.

"I have to go get some more, can you please keep your eye on this?" he asked Neuer and pointed at the Golden Ball trophy. Neuer – who was the second runner-up for the award - rolled his eyes and patted Cristiano's back.

"Burn, burn..." he joked, but nevertheless promised to take very good care of the statue.

***

Cristiano Ronaldo didn't really like to drink. But for some reason today he decided to throw the caution to the wind and took a glass of red wine. He didn't want people to notice, though, and retired into the garden on the opposite side of the mansion to enjoy his drink. In the middle of the garden there was a beautiful fountain and he decided to go there to have a closer look.

He stopped briefly, when he spotted someone sitting by the fountain. It was a man wearing a shiny wine red suit, slouching and spinning a football between his index fingers.

Lionel Messi.

Leo raised his head and forced a smile on his face.

"Hi."

"Hi", Cristiano answered. It was quite clear to him that Leo wanted to be left alone, but he couldn't resist the chance to talk one on one with his biggest rival. "Can I sit here for a while?"

"Go ahead", Leo replied. "The best party is somewhere else, though."

Cristiano chuckled and sat down next to the other man. He took a long gulp of his wine. Leo looked at him incredulously.

"I thought I read somewhere that you don't drink at all."

Leo put the ball down and reached for his own glass of wine.

"I guess the exception proves the rule."

"Seems like it. Of course you have a pretty good reason to drink after all. So do I", Leo continued and drank again. "I hate to lose."

"So do I", Cristiano repeated and Leo gave him a sad smile. Cristiano didn't feel like a winner anymore. He knew what Leo was feeling. Despite of everything he had achieved, the pressure and drive to be the best was just so overwhelming it overshadowed anything else. You had to be the best every single time. Anything less was a failure.

"Where's Mrs. Messi by the way?" Cristiano asked suddenly, trying to change the topic.

"She went back to the hotel already. She knows that I need some time on my own now, she's such a great woman."

For some reason Cristiano felt an uncomfortable shift in his chest. Maybe it was the wine.

Suddenly he was very aware of how close he was sitting to Leo, their legs touching. He sneaked a look at the other man. Leo looked calm, almost stoic. There was a deep furrow between his brows and Cristiano realized he had never really thought of Lionel Messi as a person – as Leo. But as soon as this thought came to him he pushed it out of his mind. What was he thinking even?

He gave Leo's thigh a pat, drank some more wine, grabbed the ball and stood up.

"Well, are you going to mope all night or would you like to to spar with the player of the year?" he challenged and Leo rolled his eyes.

But then he laughed.

"Why not."

They moved to a little field next to the fountain and stood facing each other. Cristiano could tell Leo had been drinking: he was swaying a little from side to side.

Leo started. He dribbled the ball closer to Cristiano, then fooled him with a little feint to his left and dodged him easily. Cristiano let out a displeased grunt and flicked an invisible speck of dust from his shoulder as Leo passed the ball to him.

It was Cristiano's turn now. He took a few long strides towards Leo, trying to intimidate him a little. When he got close he made several quick stepovers, but somehow Leo managed to give the ball a little kick and Cristiano lost the control of it.

They continued like this for a while, each trying to trick the other and Cristiano totally lost the track of time. He didn't remember the last time he had had this much fun. It was exciting to see Leo Messi in his element: his feet were quick as lightning and the fact that they both were wearing suits and dress shoes only added to the thrill of the moment.

Then at one point, when Leo once more had almost succeeded in his attempt, Cristiano stuck out his foot, tripped him and sent them both tumbling to the ground, Cristiano landing on top of Leo.

The time stopped right then and there.

It was like a dream. Cristiano first saw Leo laugh, then turn serious. He couldn't hear anything, but his heart racing in his ears. He felt the adrenaline rush in his veins and he must have raised his hand and brought it to Leo's face, because he could feel his fingers tracing Leo's jawline like they were searching for something.

He was suddenly scared of how much he just wanted to get closer to the other man, to feel him up... to kiss him.

"Um, what are you doing?" Leo asked, his voice coming from a far distance. Cristiano, who realized his eyes were fixated on Leo's lips, blinked, looked him in the eye and saw there a lot of questions.

Then the spell broke. Leo pushed him away, got up to his feet and cleaned his clothes. When he was ready, he shot a look of disbelief at Cristiano.

"I think you've drunk enough for tonight. Please take some water next", he stated, excused himself and left.

Cristiano hid his face into his palms when he listened to the receding footsteps, the cold wind blowing on his back.

'What the hell did just happen?' he finally whispered to himself, desperate to believe it was just a dream.