The Footballer's Girlfriend

Part One - Chapter Twenty-Seven: William's Blessing

"Thank you for letting me stay," Behati murmured smiling weakly at Eliana, she didn't know what she would have done if she hadn't been invited to stay with her friend; she didn't think that she could cope after how things had ended.

Eliana shook her head and moved to hug her friend, she had no idea how Behati felt right now but she knew that she couldn't let her do this alone; she was going to support her no matter what happened in her own life.

"How are you?" Eliana asked pulling back to look at Behati, it didn't look like her friend had been getting much sleep and she knew that it wasn't a good sign; she wanted to help her get over her cruel break-up with Jamie.

Behati shrugged her shoulders, she was just glad to be out of London and away from the memories that she had shared with Jamie; she couldn't believe that he had ended things like that and she knew that she had to move on now.

Eliana sighed shaking her head, she had no idea what was going through Behati's mind but she hoped some time away would be good for her; she wanted nothing more than to help and she had some time off to make that happen.

"Let's get out of here," Eliana mused smiling a little at Behati, she hoped her friend wasn't going to mind sharing the house with her and Cristiano; her boyfriend was away a lot and Eliana knew that Cristiano didn't mind Behati being there.

Behati slipped on her sunglasses to avoid the paparazzi getting a picture of her this tired; she wasn't in the mood to deal with them and they were going to have a field day when they found out that her and Jamie had broken up.

Eliana led Behati out of the airport and headed for her car, she ignored the paparazzi that were quick to start following the two friends and take their pictures.

***

Behati peeked around the guest room that Eliana had set her up in, she nodded her head and moved to sit down; she was happy that she didn't have to be alone right now after what happened.

"This is nice," Behati murmured looking to sit down on the bed, she was glad that she had friends like Eliana that she could rely on when times were tough; she hated that she hadn't seen her own break up coming.

Eliana chewed on her lip, she was a little curious about what had happened but she didn't want to push; she had no idea what had happened because Behati had been sobbing when she had called her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Eliana asked softly, she moved to sit down next to Behati on the bed and she had a vague idea about how Jamie had ended things but things were still a little confusing and she just wanted some answers.

Behati took a deep breath, she didn't mind talking to Eliana about her break up; she owed her that much after the blonde had invited her to stay in Madrid for a while.

"I flew out to London to surprise him," Behati murmured shaking her head, she'd had it all planned out and she had hoped that things were getting better for them; they had come through their rough patch and she was so happy that they had fought for their relationship.

Eliana was silent, she recalled that Behati had told her about her plans to surprise Jamie since she had the week off; she had been in Hawaii for a photo shoot which had finished quicker than had been expected.

"I went up to our apartment, I knew he wasn't expecting me," Behati mumbled sniffling, she felt like crying again as she remembered what she had come home to and she felt sick.

Eliana took her friend's hand in comfort, she hated that Jamie had done this and she wondered what he had been thinking when he had broken her friend's heart.

"He was there with some junior model," Behati spat furious as she recalled the woman that she had found practically naked with her ex-boyfriend; she had stood frozen upon waking in on them in the living room.

Eliana stared shocked, she had never thought that Jamie would do such a thing and she wanted to strangle him; she didn't understand why he had fought to keep the relationship alive if he had been cheating on Behati with some younger model.

"He said that he had been meaning to break things off for a while now, that the relationship had run its course," Behati whispered outraged that he hadn't broken things off with her when they were having problems; instead he had waited until things were going well to do it.

Behati had no idea why Jamie had fought for them then ended things, she doubted this was the first woman that he had cheated on her with and that thought hurt; she wondered how many there had been in the seven years that they had been together.

"I'm sorry," Eliana whispered not knowing what else to say, she hated Jamie even more now and she doubted his little fling would last long; she was starting to wonder if most men thought it was okay to cheat.

Cristiano seemed to be an exception to the rule sometimes, when they were together he always had his eyes on her and his friends had told her that she was all that he talked about when she was away working.

"Where is Cristiano?" Behati asked curiously wanting to forget about her own problems, she was surprised to see that the footballer was nowhere around; she doubted that he was far since he had a match that weekend.

***

Cristiano stared across at William, he had only come to see the man because he wanted to do the right thing; Eliana wasn't really speaking to him after what he had done to her mother and how he was acting now.

Cristiano tried to hide his disdain for the man across from him and the woman at his side, she was about twenty years younger than him; Cristiano didn't see the appeal especially when William had been with Jennifer for thirty odd years.

"You want my blessing to marry my daughter?" William murmured wanting to be sure that he had heard what Cristiano had said right; he couldn't believe that this had come around so quickly.

To William it only felt like yesterday that he was meeting the footballer as his daughter's boyfriend and now they were planning on getting engaged.

"That is what I would like sir," Cristiano said respectfully, he had come all the way to Madeira while he had a couple of days off; he wanted William's permission since he already had Jennifer's.

William sighed closing his eyes, he hadn't spoken to his daughter in months and he knew that she was upset with him for what he had done to her mother; he would be divorced by the end of the month and he knew it was for the best.

"You have my blessing Ronaldo," William stated opening his eyes to look at Cristiano, there was no denying that Eliana was happy with him and the relationship had lasted a lot longer than expected.

Cristiano felt a weight lift from his shoulders, he was a little surprised that William had agreed since the man hadn't been overly fond of him before now.

"Make my little girl happy," William said knowing that there was a large chance that he wouldn't get to see Eliana get married, he would do anything to make up for what he had done.