Falling In Love

 

Chapter One

 

            I zipped my last bag shut and stood up with a sigh. A heavy sadness weighed me down to the point where I had almost stopped breathing.

 

            “You sure you want to do this?” my best friend Rachel asked me.

 

            I looked at her and swallowed back the tears that were threatening to spill again. She shook her head sympathetically and pulled me into an embrace as the tears began to run.

 

            “I don’t have a choice. I have to go,” I whispered into her shoulder where I had buried my face.

 

            She squeezed tighter and then we both pulled back.

 

            “How long will you be gone?” she asked.

 

            “As long as it takes. I will keep in touch ok?” I said searching her eyes, wondering if she was mad at me for running away.

 

            “I’ll be here. Trying not to kill your brother,” she said wryly.

 

            Ray, as I called her, and I worked on taking my few bags and boxes down to the waiting car. I turned to face her once more.

 

            “There are no hard feelings towards you. Please don’t be mad,” I begged her softly.

 

            “I’m not mad. Just promise me you will be safe.”

 

            I gave her a tight smile and slid into the car. I drove to the airport and checked my stuff in. Then I made my way to the waiting area. Off to Madrid Spain in a way I had never expected. Technically I should have been off on my honeymoon there. Instead, I was going alone with a broken heart.

 

            “AJ! Wait don’t do this!” A familiar voice shouted.

 

            I looked up. Taylor came running towards me. I felt sick seeing my and stood up grabbing my purse.

 

            “Wait!” He jumped over a trashcan and grabbed me by my elbow. “You can’t go,” he panted staring deeply into my eyes.

 

            “Let go of me,” I said pulling my arm away.

 

            “Please, give me a chance,” he pleaded.

 

            “I am leaving Taylor. Nothing you can say or do will keep me here,” I answered him. My tone showing that I had lost all the fight.

 

            I had spent too many hours screaming at him. I had cried too many tears. By now, I was worn out and tired of fighting. They called my flight number and I looked at him.

 

            “I hope I never see you again,” I said softly.

 

            “We have the movies to film!” he said, his voice rising with hysteria.

 

            “I quit,” I told him over my shoulder and handed my ticket to the lady who scanned it.

 

            I glanced back one last time. Taylor stood there, shoulders hunched with defeat. I didn’t care. This was his fault. I stepped into the plane hitching my carryon on my arm and found my seat. I was in for a long flight.

 

            As soon as it was safe to, I opened up my I-pad and ran a Google search. Fans were already in a frenzy over the problem. Who was going to be Bella? There were so many rumors over what had happened that my head was spinning.

 

            I sighed and looked out the window. We were flying over the ocean and I felt both sad and happy at the miles I was putting between home and myself. I opened up an app and opened up a book. There was no way I felt like reading any of the Twilight books so instead, I decided to open up the travel book on Madrid I had downloaded to prepare for the honeymoon. I had a list of all the things I wanted but the thing I had always wanted more than anything was to go to the Santiago Bernabeu. I loved soccer, my favorite team being Real Madrid.

 

            Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas, so many wonderful players that I admired. I wanted to eat in one of the stadium restaurants, to gaze out on the famous grass. I was going to buy as many game tickets as I could and forget about reality. I deserved that much.

 

            I looked at a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo and smiled to myself. I had had a crush on him for ages. I was slightly giddy with the thought of breathing the same, beautiful Spanish air as he. Then I frowned and shook my head. No. No way. This wasn’t the time for silly crushes. I had to get over the latest blow in my life. That could take a while.

 

            Soon I lost myself in another book. This one was a scary story. No romance for me. I gasped grabbing my armrests as an hour later we hit a sudden pocket of turbulence. I gritted my teeth. I was terrified of flying even though I flew a lot. Soon enough it passed and I was so worn out that I fell asleep.

 

            When my eyes opened again, I was landing in Madrid. I smoothed my hair and grabbed my stuff. It was 6:30 am Madrid time. I arranged for my stuff to be delivered to the small villa I had rented and got a cab.

 

            “To the Santiago Bernabeu please,” I instructed.

 

            “Right away Miss,” the driver smiled and began weaving through the Spanish traffic.

 

            We arrived after a 20-minute peaceful drive. I paid the fare and entered. I walked down shaking slightly. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I walked all the way down to the front row, walked to the center and sat. I breathed in deeply to calm down.

 

            Suddenly I heard a flurry of fast Spanish. I looked up startled as a guy ran towards me.

 

            “Um what?” I croaked out shrinking back against my seat.

 

            Then, with the beautiful morning light behind him, I saw who it was and tried not to shriek.

 

            “What are you doing here so early? Who are you?” he asked switching to English when I didn’t answer his Spanish.

           

            “Xabi Alonso,” I breathed out in awe.

 

            He stopped at looked at me curiously then sighed.

 

            “An American crazy, just what I don’t need,” he muttered angrily.

 

            “Hey! I am not crazy! I am a fan and I have every right to be here and if you don’t like it tough shit Mr.!” I shouted loosing it.

 

            I stood up storming away. How dare he!

 

            “Hey! Hey wait. I’m sorry!” he yelled running after me. He jumped over the wall and stood in front of me. “I’m sorry. I just am under a lot of stress.”

 

            I crossed my arms, glaring at him.

 

            “Well you are a rude guy and I am done wasting my time talking to. I am trying to enjoy myself and I can’t if you are near me,” I snapped, stepping around him.

 

            He dodged around me again blocking me from walking further.

 

            “No really. I was so out of line with how I behaved. May I treat you to breakfast?”

 

            “You won’t leave me alone unless I agree will you?” I eyed him.

 

            He grinned.

 

            “Nope.”

 

            I looked around the otherwise empty field, then look back at a player I really admired.

 

            “Fine, sure. Let’s go,” I finally answered.

 

            He led me with him chatting up a storm, suddenly friendly, but I wasn’t really paying attention. I was too busy staring in awe as we walked through the stadium past the locker rooms towards the player parking lot.

 

            “Did you bring a car with you?” he questioned interrupting my thoughts.

 

            I turned to him.

 

            “No, I took a cab here,”

 

            “Hop in then,” he said pointing to his fancy car.

 

            I hesitated once more looking at him before slipping in.

 

            “Where are we going?” I asked as he got in and got us on the road.

 

            He smiled.

 

            “You’ll see,” he replied.

 

            I sighed to myself hoping I wasn’t being a fool.

We pulled up to a beautiful house. I glanced over at him and he smiled.

 

 

 

            “Are we at your house?” I questioned him.

 

 

 

            “Yup,” he replied getting out motioning me to as well.

 

 

 

            “Don’t you think it is a bad idea to let a stranger into your house?” I asked as I stepped out and followed him to the front door.

 

 

 

            “You look harmless enough and besides, do you really want to be hounded by paparazzi?” he glanced over his shoulder at me as he opened his door.

 

 

 

            “Wouldn’t be my first time,” I mumbled and entered the beautiful, modern, Spanish home.

 

 

 

            He gave me a strange look as he led me into the kitchen.

 

 

 

            “Do you have any food allergies that I need to know about?”

 

 

 

            “Nope, not at all,” I said sitting on a bar stood.

 

 

 

His kitchen was huge and beautifully done with black and grey marble. He opened his fridge getting out a pitcher of orange juice and poured me some in a glass he took out of the freezer. I sipped the refreshing juice as he got things out of his fridge and pantry to start cooking.

 

 

 

“Do you need some help?” I offered watching him.

 

 

 

He turned and smiled at me.

 

 

 

“No you just relax. I need to make up for my rudeness.”

 

 

 

I gave a strained smile and hopped off the stool. Slipping off my shoes and carrying my juice, I walked to the massive glass French doors. I admired his backyard. He came up behind me a few minutes later.

 

 

 

“Why are you here?” He asked gently.

 

 

 

I turned to him leaning on the doorframe.

 

 

 

“You invited me over for breakfast.”

 

 

 

“No I mean, why are you in Madrid by yourself?”

 

 

 

“Who said I am here alone?”

 

 

 

“I can just tell.”

 

 

 

I shied away uncomfortably. I wasn’t about to spill my humiliating guys to this guy I knew but didn’t. My mouth watered smelling the cooking food. I slipped out from under his arm and went to stir what was in the pan.

 

 

 

“Ok how about we start with an easy question. What is your name?” he asked leaning against the bar now.

 

 

 

I looked at him surprised and then relieved. He didn’t know who I was. This could work out well to my advantage. I considered making up a name but figured the truth should be safe.

 

 

 

“AJ McKenzie,” I finally answered.

 

 

 

His face scrunched up cutely.

 

 

 

“That sounds familiar. Isn’t there an actress by that name?”

 

 

 

I sighed.

 

 

 

“Yeah.”

 

 

 

He looked at my face, my expression and decided to drop it.

 

 

 

“The food should be ready,” he said grabbing two plates.

 

 

 

“Why were you at the field so early?” I asked him, my turn for questions now.

 

 

 

His cheeks reddened.

 

 

 

“My girlfriend and I broke up. I wanted to go shoot some balls to try to let go of some stress.”

 

 

 

“Oh I’m sorry to have interrupted. You didn’t invite me here to make her jealous or anything did you?”

 

 

 

He shook his head carrying over the plate with fried potatoes and fluffy eggs.

 

 

 

“No way, no romance for me any time soon,” he declared setting a plate before me.

 

 

 

I took a bite, it was so good, he was an amazing cook. We sat across from each other eating in silence. I was dizzy with jet lag and so tired both emotionally and physically. I could feel the tears building up again.

 

 

 

“Could you excuse me for a bit please?” I begged softly getting to my feet.

 

 

 

“The bathroom is down the hall on the left, third door,” he instructed.

 

 

 

I nodded, head down and found it. I shut the door feeling faint. I ran the cold water and splashed my face then gripped the sink. Taking some deep breaths, I tried to calm down. When I opened the door, Xabi stood waiting his face showing his worry.

 

 

 

“Sorry,” I whispered.

 

 

 

“Sometimes it helps to talk. Won’t you talk to me?” he asked not pushy.

 

 

 

“Can we finish eating first?” I asked trying to put it off.

 

 

 

He hesitated then took my hand.

 

 

 

“Sure.”

 

 

 

We finished the meal and I did the dishes waving off his help. He made cups of coffee and had them ready as I finished. I dried my hands and accepted a cup adding milk and sugar than we sat on his couch in his living room. I tucked me feet under me and took a sip of coffee.

 

 

 

“Do you like the Twilight books and movies?” I began looking at him.

 

 

 

He smirked.

 

 

 

“No not really. No offense,”

 

 

 

I smiled and set down the cup.

 

 

 

“As you may or may not have figured out already, I play the main character Bella in the films. We have done Twilight and New Moon.”

 

 

 

He watched me with a smile. I felt myself smile back. He was so different from the guy I had met earlier.

 

 

 

“Anyway, the actor who plays the character Jacob, and I got closer. Taylor Lautner, not sure if you heard of him. We were friends first as we met for Twilight and then he and I are the leads for New Moon, we got even closer. Well right at the end of filming New Moon, we decided to get married. It felt so right. I was head over heels, madly in love with him,” I said looking at my lap.

 

 

 

The feelings I had had for him made me blind to other things.

 

 

 

“So you are married?” Xabi asked.

 

 

 

I laughed bitterly.

 

 

 

“Nope. Not married,” I answered looking at him.

 

“Is this where I get the tissues?”

 

 

 

I sighed.

 

 

 

“Probably. Anyway the planning went perfectly, and when my wedding day came I was so happy. We got married, the whole cast was there, it was better than the wedding Stephenie Meyer wrote in Breaking Dawn,” I said wistfully.

 

 

 

We both shifted knowing now was the ugly part. I looked at him took a deep breath and continued.

 

 

 

“So during filming I didn’t realize Taylor was dating Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift. I thought it was just me. After the wedding at the reception I looked all over for him. I was so confused. Where the heck could he be? I walk into the bathroom and there he is with his pants around his ankles locked around Taylor Swift.”

 

 

 

“You have got to be kidding me!” Xabi exclaimed.

 

 

 

“Wish I were but yeah, my brand new husband of two hours was already cheating on me. He claimed he didn’t know better, that he was young. Well I stormed out of the bathroom and sent everyone home. The cast became furious at him, especially his sister, my best friend Rachel who plays Alice in the movies.”

 

 

 

Xabi winced feeling my pain and took a drink of his coffee. I took a sip as well.

 

 

 

“So then, I got the marriage annulled, started packing everything and here I am!”

 

 

 

Xabi’s eyes widened. He leaned forward choking on his coffee.

 

 

 

“It just happened recently?”

 

 

 

I nodded.

 

 

 

“Four days ago to be exact.”

 

 

 

He shook his head.

 

 

 

“No wonder you are so emotional. You are so strong chica,” he commented.

 

 

 

I sighed. Strong? I was sobbing all the time; I had run away from home. I was humiliated and felt like I was dying. Xabi shifted and wrapped his strong arms around me, I lowered my head to his chest and once again, I was a sobbing mess.

Chapter Three

 

 

 

I opened my eyes confused. Where the heck was I? Sitting up slowly I winced. My head was pounding from all the crying I had done and my eyes were practically glued shut with dried tears.

 

 

 

“Hey. You’re awake.”

 

 

 

“Oh Xabi, I am so sorry.” I said sitting up and rubbing the sleepiness from my eyes.

 

 

 

He sat down next to me with a smile.

 

 

 

“You needed to sleep. No big deal,” he said

 

 

 

I yawned and stretched out.

 

 

 

“What time is it?”

 

 

 

He glanced down at his watch.

 

 

 

“7pm,” he replied.

 

 

 

My jaw dropped.

 

 

 

“I slept the entire day away?” I exclaimed.

 

 

 

He laughed.

 

 

 

“Time change will do that to you.”

 

 

 

I stood up straightening my top and smoothing down my hair.

 

 

 

“I should get going, I have taken too much advantage of you,” I said looking for my shoes.

 

 

 

“Well you are probably hungry. Want to grab some dinner? Together?” he asked holding my shoes.

 

 

 

I hesitated. I figured I could use a friend.

 

 

 

“Alright but my treat,” I answered.

 

 

 

He laughed putting an arm around my shoulders.

 

 

 

“Deal.”

 

 

 

I slipped my shoes on and took my purse to the bathroom to freshen up my hair and makeup. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought about Taylor for hours, well sure I was asleep most of them but I wasn’t plagued with nightmares.

 

 

 

Xabi and I headed to a cute little place for a fantastic dinner. My chicken and rice dish was amazing and his fish looked great. We split desert and decided to head to a club.

 

 

 

“You are a great dancer!” I shouted above the music as he spun me around the dance floor.

 

 

 

“Not too bad yourself,” he said into my ear pulling me up against him grinding.

 

 

 

Suddenly, I felt someone press up against me from behind grinding in time with Xabi and me. I looked over my shoulder and was shocked to see Sergio Ramos.

 

 

 

“Sup guys!” he called out loudly.

 

 

 

I gave Xabi a weird look but went with it in my hot Madrid sandwich. The song finished and Xabi took my hand leading me to a table where a couple of other Madrid players sat. Iker Casillas and Angel Di Maria smiled at me as I sat with Xabi and Sergio.

 

 

 

“Who is this lovely lady?” Angel asked Xabi.

 

 

 

“My new friend AJ,” he answered squeezing my hand under the table.

 

 

 

“New friend?” Iker asked eyebrow raised.

 

 

 

“Friend.” Xabi and I said together firmly.

 

 

 

I leaned back against his side and his chest with his arm around my shoulder. I snuggled against him sipping water and relaxing. The guys talked about returning to practice the following week.

 

 

 

“So AJ, how did you and Xabi meet?” Sergio asked.

 

 

 

I grinned up at Xabi who blushed.

 

 

 

“He cursed at me in Spanish and called me a crazy American,” I laughed.

 

 

 

The guys looked at each other confused.

 

 

 

“You American girls are sure turned on by strange things,” Angel said.

 

 

 

I burst out laughing.

 

 

 

“Not exactly.”

 

“Loco,” Xabi laughed pulling me out of the booth.

 

 

 

I danced mostly with him but joined the others for a couple of dances each. Around 11 pm we decided to leave.

 

 

 

“It was a pleasure meeting you senorita,” Iker said kissing my cheek, followed by Sergio and Angel.

 

 

 

I returned the sentiments and walked slowly with Xabi to the car.

 

 

 

“Are all the Madrid players nice?”

 

 

 

“Yeah, pretty much.”

 

 

 

My thoughts drifted to one particular player and that caught Xabi’s attention.

 

 

 

“Any one in particular that you want to know about?” he asked teasing.

 

 

 

I rolled my eyes.

 

 

 

“No.”

 

 

 

He backed me against his car blocking me.

 

 

 

“AJ,” he started, his face serious. “If you do not tell me who, I will be forced to do something drastic.”

 

 

 

I raised my eyebrow, eyeing him.

 

 

 

“Alright, I warned you,” he said and began to tickle me.

 

 

 

I was squirming and shrieking with laughter.

 

 

 

“Stop! Please stop!” I begged him, tears falling from laughing so hard.

 

 

 

He stopped with a grin and I was panting to catch my breath. He was silent waiting and I began to blush.

 

 

 

“No! Say it ain’t so!” he pleaded clutching his heart.

 

 

 

“I didn’t say anything!” I protested.

 

 

 

He shook his head in a mocking sad way.

 

 

 

“I see it in your eyes chica. You are one of the CR7 followers.”

 

 

 

“Whatever,” I said pushing him away.

 

 

 

He spun me under the moonlight and smiled.

 

 

 

“It’s ok. I won’t make fun of you,” he answered.

 

 

 

“What does it matter? I’m a recently, broken hearted, divorcee. Not his type.”

 

 

 

“You are pretty, smart, sexy, a good dancer, nice… you’re any guys type. Most of all Cristiano’s,” he insisted.

 

 

 

“You bug me,” I muttered.

 

 

 

He laughed letting us finally get into the car. I put my feet on to the dashboard suspecting he was a guy in love with his car and I smirked to myself as I saw him wince, but to his credit, he didn’t say anything about it.

 

 

 

“Want me to introduce you to him?” he finally asked.

 

 

 

“NO!” I shouted horrified.

 

 

 

He laughed again. I shook my head annoyed and gave him my address. He pulled up to my casita and faced me.

 

 

 

“AJ?”

 

 

 

“Yeah wasabi?”

 

 

 

He blinked confused. I giggled.

 

 

 

“My nephew calls you Wasabi Alonso,” I explained.

 

 

 

He smirked.

 

 

 

“Look this won’t be the last time I see you right? We are friends?”

 

 

 

I studied him in the moonlight.

 

 

 

“I would love to be friends. I was terrified of being here alone not knowing anybody.”

 

 

 

“See you tomorrow at 9 am then,” he said.

 

 

 

“What for?”

 

 

 

“You need an official tour of the place so you won’t always get lost,”

 

“Oh you rock! Thank you!”

 

 

 

He got out, walking around to open my door. We hugged and he kissed my forehead.

 

 

 

“See you in the morning,” I agreed.

 

 

 

Walking inside I silently thanked God for sending Xabi to me.