Feel My Love

Chapter Five: Having Dinner

“You didn’t have to do this,” Aoife squeaked following Marco, she hadn’t expected him to insist on taking her to dinner; it was her last night in Germany and she had wanted a nice quiet night in before her flight tomorrow.

Marco chuckled looking back at Aoife, it had been a rough couple of days since Belle had left and he had done his best to deal with everything that had been thrown at him.

Stepping into the restaurant where Marco had taken her for dinner, Aoife wondered if it was too late to go home and change; her cobalt zip T-shirt and dark wash skinny jeans paired black faux fur trim ankle boots weren’t suitable for a place like this.

“Relax,” Marco murmured throwing an arm over Aoife’s shoulders and drawing her close, he wanted her to be more at ease with everything that was happening; the paparazzi were going to notice them soon and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

“Reservation under Reus,” Marco said with a nod to the hostess, he knew that people were going to notice that his wedding hadn’t happened and he wasn’t with Belle anymore; he had no idea how he was going to explain to anyone that he was no marrying her twin sister.

Aoife shrank into Marco’s side as the woman looked at her for a moment, she wasn’t used to the attention and she doubted that she ever would be; she just wished that things were simple again.

“Right this way,” the hostess said sparing a look at Aoife, she was a little confused since she knew for a fact that the brunette before her wasn’t Marco’s fiancée even if she did look a lot like Belle, it wasn’t her.

Marco eyed the hostess for a moment, he doubted that it would be long before it was all over the news that he had been seen with someone that wasn’t Belle; he had spoken to his agent who was coming up with a good cover story.

***

“What do you do?” Marco asked looking at Aoife, he wanted to learn more about the woman that he was going to marry; he doubted that they would have much time before now and the wedding to just be them.

Aoife was going to be his wife and while Belle had talked about her sister, Marco hadn’t really paid much attention to what she had been saying; it hadn’t matter to him back then like it did now.

“I’m a teacher, I work in primary school teaching,” Aoife replied with a shrug of her shoulders, she doubted that she would be able to find a job in Dortmund as quickly as she had found the school that she worked at in Paris.

Marco nodded his head while he messed with his food, it wouldn’t be hard to find Aoife a job around here; he leant back in his chair hoping that in a few months everything would have calmed down again.

“Will everything be okay?” Aoife asked nervously, she had no idea what was going to happen when people found out about this and she was a little frightened of the back lash.

Belle had been a popular WAG among the football fandom, Aoife had once teased her sister having people look up to her like that; she had no idea how anyone would react to the news that she was now taking her own sister’s place.

“It’ll be fine… my agent will release an announcement next week to tell them of our relationship,” Marco reassured, no one would know why Aoife was really marrying him and he wanted to keep it that way.

Marco could only think of how messy this could all turn out if he didn’t handle this properly, he didn’t want people threatening Aoife and making her feel bad about their marriage.

“What will it tell people… you were meant to marry Belle,” Aoife murmured quietly, she felt bad for what was happening and she wished that this wasn’t going ahead; she had never wanted a life like this.

Aoife was used to being in the background, she wasn’t anyone important and Belle had always been the twin to be up on stage doing whatever she wanted to do.

“The relationship fell apart and she’s moved on with her life, I’m now in a much happier place and have someone who I want to spend the rest of my life with,” Marco replied with a shrug of his shoulders, the facts about what had happened needed to be changed but that was what they would be telling people.

Belle wasn’t a part of his life anymore and she had made that clear when she had run off to be with someone else without telling Marco anything that was going on.

Marco couldn’t believe how brave Aoife had been to offer herself in her sister’s place, he had a feeling that Belle had no idea what sort of mess that she had left behind when she fled on their wedding day.

It didn’t take a guess for Marco to figure out that Lindsey knew where his former fiancée was; she hadn’t been around since Belle had fled and it was clear that she had something to hide since Marco had called her several times.

Marco wasn’t interested in actually talking to Lindsey, he just wanted her to pass on a message to Belle to say that he wanted her to be happy and he understood; he couldn’t get a hold of Aoife’s sister since she had changed her mobile number.

“I actually have something for you,” Marco said nervously, he slowly moved to reach into his pocket a little worried that Aoife wouldn’t like his gift; she was his fiancée now and in five weeks they would be married.

Aoife watched him curiously, she brushed some hair from her face and gasped as Marco pulled a ring box out of his pocket; she didn’t have to guess what was inside, it was only a reminder of how real all of this was.

“It’s a different ring from the one I gave to Belle,” Marco explained carefully opening the box to reveal the white gold third carat diamond engagement ring that he had picked up yesterday.

Marco wanted everything to look right and it would only raise questions if Aoife was spotted not wearing it; he was doing as much as he could to make this look and feel real.

“You didn’t have to,” Aoife spluttered allowing Marco take her left hand and slowly place the engagement ring on her finger; she could only imagine how much something like that cost.

Marco shook his head, they needed to start getting used to the idea that they were going to get married; Aoife had been staying in one of his spare rooms since the agreement had come into place and it wouldn’t remain like that when they wed.

“It’s nothing… plus we’re going to have to get used to it,” Marco replied with a light smile, his mother was already preparing for the wedding and had begun to plan it without saying a word to Aoife; he was sure that she would continue until someone stopped her or the day arrived.

Aoife stared down at the ring, it was probably worth more than her salary for a month, she had no idea how he had managed to pick up a ring without her noticing.

“How do you want to get married?” Marco queried curiously, he wanted Aoife to have the wedding that she wanted and his mother would be planning something big; which he doubted was Aoife’s style or what she would want.

Marco didn’t mind how he got married but he was sure that Aoife had some small idea about what she had always wanted for her wedding day; Belle had been so excited to plan their wedding and had all sorts of ideas.

“I don’t mind… as long as it’s simple,” Aoife replied softly, she could already imagine what Manuela was doing and it was going to be big.

###

Author's Note:

WAG - Wife and Girlfriend of a Footballer.