Feel My Love

Chapter Seven: Front Page News

“Have you seen the papers?” Darren asked when Aoife opened the door to him, he had come straight around to her house as soon as he had seen the news that morning; he knew that Aoife was going to want to see this.

Aoife stared at Darren for a moment before she allowed him to step into her apartment, everything was pretty much in boxes and she wasn’t going to be in Paris much longer.

“Good morning to you too,” Aoife replied with a roll of her eyes, she had no idea what Darren was talking about but she was sure that it was the reason that he looked like he had robbed the news stand.

In his arms, Darren had several newspapers and magazines making Aoife was sure that the source of his surprise visit; she closed the front door behind him and slowly followed him into the living room wondering what was going on.

Darren peeked at Aoife, he wasn’t sure how he was going to react to what he was about to show her; the announcement of her relationship with Marco hadn’t gone out yet but this was just as important.

“So what is it?” Aoife asked moving to sit down, she eyed Darren sure that it wasn’t going to be a picture of her and Marco; she hadn’t seen the footballer since she had come to Paris, she hadn’t really spoken to him either.

Darren took a deep breath before he slowly started to set the papers down, he looked at Aoife wondering what she would say; she had every right to be upset about what he was showing her.

Aoife raised an eyebrow at Darren before reaching for one of the magazines, she picked it up to see what Darren was trying to show her; she stopped when she realised who was on the front pages.

“Is that Belle?” Aoife whispered staring at the pictures of her twin sister with some man, she didn’t recognise him but it was clear that Belle was cosy with him.

***

Marco stared at the morning paper, his stomach turning as he recognised the man that was with Belle; he didn’t even know why he was so surprised that Belle had run off to Hamburg to be with David.

Marco took a deep breath, she had sworn to him that David was nothing more than a friend and he had believed her; now he knew the truth and he couldn’t help but feel nothing but anger at what Belle had done.

“I can’t believe that she did that,” Mats Hummels whispered looking at Marco, he felt bad for his friend and he knew that things with Aoife were going to move so fast.

Mats feared that his friend was rushing into things and he hoped that Aoife was prepared for how much her life was going to change by marrying Marco.

“What are you going to do?” Mats asked doubting that the press were going to let this go, they would want details about what was going on especially since it was clear that Belle was no longer in Marco’s life; she was with someone else in Hamburg.

Marco shrugged his shoulders, he really hadn’t wanted to deal with Belle anymore even if she was due to become his sister-in-law when he married Aoife; the pictures were everywhere and people would ask questions.

“I’ll have to release the announcement of my engagement,” Marco murmured wondering how much longer Aoife would be in Paris, he had to cover his back when it came to what was happening.

Mats nodded his head thinking about how much Marco’s life was going to change, none of the team had met Aoife yet and they were sure that she was like her twin sister.

Marco groaned rubbing his eyes, he had so much going on right now and he didn’t know why he had ever thought that things with Belle would work out; she had never been truly happy with him.

“When is Aoife coming back?” Mats asked knowing that Marco would need someone to go with him to pick his fiancée up, he was banned from driving because he didn’t have a license and Aoife would be bringing a lot of things back with her.

Marco looked at his captain, he had no idea when Aoife was flying back from Paris but he had a feeling that it would be in the next few days; he would have to call her after training to get an idea of when he could expect her back.

“I have no idea,” Marco admitted a little nervous, he was meant to be marrying Aoife but he hadn’t even spoken to her in the week since she had returned to Paris to pack up her life.

Mats grumbled wondering if Marco had any idea how hard things would be when he married Aoife; he had seen the agreement between the couple’s parents and they were expecting a grandchild in the first year or two of marriage.

“Marco… you need to start getting to know her,” Mats reminded him, he looked around the training pitch knowing that they were the only one around; the team weren’t doing so well this season and he had no idea if they could come out of this funk that had them trapped at the bottom of the table.

It wasn’t going to be ease saving the team from relegation, they had twenty matches to turn everything around and they needed to focus.

“I know… it’s just hard,” Marco replied shaking his head, he wished that he wasn’t injured so that he didn’t have to be stuck at home while the team struggled on.

***

Belle peeked at her phone surprised that she hadn’t received one call from her sister or their parents, she had expected them to demand that she come home after appearing in the news with David.

It had been hours since the pictures had appeared everywhere and she had no idea how the paparazzi had found her but still apart from a call from Lindsey to let her know about the papers nothing had happened.

“Relax… stress isn’t good for the baby,” David whispered pressing a hand to Belle’s stomach, they both knew that it had been a surprise to find out that she was pregnant but it had been exciting news for the couple that they hadn’t been able to share.

Belle smiled sadly, she had been so excited when she had found out that she was pregnant; she had even picked up the phone to call Aoife to share the news, it was only David that had stopped her from telling anyone that she was going to be a mother.

David feared that if Belle was to tell her family that she was pregnant that they would assume that Marco was the father and force her to marry him; he didn’t want to lose his girlfriend or child to someone like the footballer.

“I just worry… things have been so quiet lately,” Belle murmured turning to look at David, she loved her new life and she had brought this on herself when she had fled without telling anyone where she was going but she wished that she knew what was happening with Marco and his parents agreement.

“I’m sure everything is fine,” David reassured giving Belle a kiss, he wasn’t going to let her return to Dortmund, he could only imagine the mess that had been left behind when she had run away to be with him.

Belle nodded her head, she doubted that Lindsey would have kept her in the dark about anything; she trusted her best friend to tell her all the details about what was happening back in Dortmund.

Belle closed her eyes, she would just have to wait for the right time before she reached out to anyone.