The Footballer's Girlfriend

Part One - Chapter Seven: Been Hurt Before

“Are you really sulking about this?” Eliana teased following Cristiano out of the café after they’d bet up for lunch, she was impressed that in the two months that they had been dating.

Cristiano sighed looking at Eliana, he knew that she was going to New York and it was for work but he had wanted to spend more time with her and that wasn’t going to be possible if she wasn’t in the country.

“I can’t believe you have to go away,” Cristiano murmured wrapping an arm around Eliana’s shoulders, he had no idea what he was going to do when she was away.

Eliana smiled, she wasn’t going to be gone long and she hoped that things would be okay while she was in New York; they would be filming the show on the 10th and it wouldn’t be aired until later that month.

“It’s only for a couple of days,” Eliana reassured gently, she was expected to model in three of the six segments and she couldn’t let the team down; she had worked so hard to become an angel and she couldn’t throw it away now.

Cristiano nodded his head, he knew that Eliana had a job to do and she couldn’t put off her work for him; he could never ask her to do that especially when he couldn’t do the same.

“I just wish that we could spend more time together,” Cristiano said shaking his head, he moved to open the car door for Eliana trying to work out what they were going on.

Eliana smiled and looked at her boyfriend, she was sure that they could manage a couple of days without seeing one another; they had to get used to being apart at some point especially since they both had extremely busy schedules.

“I know… but I only have a few weeks left of university before Christmas,” Eliana mused smiling, she wrapped her arms around Cristiano and gave him a small kiss; she had no idea what they were going to do but she had a feeling that they were going to be okay.

***

“Obrigada for lunch,” Eliana whispered taking off her seatbelt, she had no idea when she would see Cristiano again but she hoped that it would be soon; she left tomorrow for New York and wouldn’t be back until the weekend.

Cristiano nodded his head, he stared at the apartment block where Eliana lived and took a deep breath; he had gotten used to seeing her nearly every day.

“Cris… it’s only for a couple of days,” Eliana said seeing that her boyfriend was still sulking over the fact that she was going away for work; she had no idea what else to say to him but she knew that they’d have to get used to this if they wanted things to work.

Cristiano looked at Eliana, he didn’t blame her for doing her job and she had warned him about the show weeks ago; it was a big thing and it was rare that Eliana got called up for catwalk shows while she was studying.

Eliana had made it clear that she only did a couple of shows a year and that her main focus was her final year of university; she had so much to do and Cristiano was going to have to get used to sharing her attention.

“I know,” Cristiano whispered closing his brown eyes, he wanted nothing more than to spend time with his girlfriend; Eliana had never left the country before while they had been dating and he hoped that they could handle being in different countries.

“I just wish that you could stay,” Cristiano muttered looking at Eliana, he had never had this problem before and it made him a little unease about being away from Eliana for a little while.

Eliana nodded her head, she had no idea how to ease her boyfriend’s mind and she wanted nothing more than for things to be simple between them; this was only a small bump in the road.

“I just wish…” Cristiano murmured shaking his head, he felt uneasy about being away from Eliana and it brought back bad memories of his last model girlfriend; she had cheated on him while he was away all the time and it had hurt a lot when he had found out.

“It’ll be fine… we’ll speak all the time,” Eliana promised smiling, she would call Cristiano so much that he wouldn’t have time to miss her; she had no idea why he was so worried about her going away.

Cristiano watched Eliana, he had to trust her if their relationship was going to work; he had never felt like this before and he couldn’t let her slip through his fingers because of his own fears.

“What bothers you so much Cristiano?” Eliana asked trying to work out why he was so upset about her going away, they had been dating for two months and things were good between them.

Eliana watched her boyfriend making no move to get out of the car, she wanted to know why he was so worried about her going away for about four days; she wouldn’t be gone long and she had already promised to call him.

“Long distance… I’ve done it before and it didn’t work out,” Cristiano murmured watching Eliana, he wasn’t going to let his past get in his way; he knew that the blonde wasn’t anything like Nereida.

Eliana stared at Cristiano, she wondered which of his past girlfriends had hurt him so badly, and she wanted to reassure him in some small way that everything was going to be okay between them.

“I’m not moving away,” Eliana replied softly, she had no idea which ex-girlfriend that he was referring to but she had a feeling that he had kept quiet about what had happened for a reason.

Cristiano nodded knowing that she was right, he had dated a lot of models in the past and he had never dated one that acted like Eliana; she was a breath of fresh air and he needed that in his life.

“I know that but you’re going to be away so much and I can’t help but worry,” Cristiano said looking at Eliana, he had known that she was a model and that she had to travel but this was the first time that she had gone away since they started dating.

Eliana took a deep breath before she took Cristiano’s hand, she had no idea how to reply and she hoped that he could trust her; she wasn’t going to cheat on him or dump him when someone better came along.

“Nothing is going to happen Cris… I’m not leaving Madrid,” Eliana reassured leaning across the middle of the car to kiss Cristiano, she had strong feelings for him and she couldn’t see things going bad for them.

No one but close friends knew that the couple were dating, they hadn’t been spotted by paparazzi while out together yet and things were good.

Eliana was based in Madrid and was signed to a company there, she wasn’t going to be moving to America or England; she had made that clear to her agent when she had started university.

“I’ve been hurt before Eliana and I don’t want that to happen again,” Cristiano whispered feeling vulnerable, he had never felt like this before and he didn’t know what to do; it was like Eliana held his heart in her hands and it made him feel scared about what she would do.

“I’m not going to hurt you Cris… just like I know you won’t hurt me,” Eliana whispered resting her head against his head, she was happy right now and she didn’t want to lose that; they were still new to this and they were going to have to get used to everything.

Cristiano smiled leaning forward and kissing Eliana, he had no idea what he would do if he lost her; he was happier than he had been in a while and he didn’t want to lose that.