The Footballer's Girlfriend

Part Two - Chapter Twenty-Four: Sara Gonzalez

William took a deep breath as he walked into the restaurant where he was meeting his daughter and her fiancé, he was nervous about his fiancée meeting Eliana for the first time and he hoped it went well.

The last two weeks had gotten better than William had thought, he had been careful when it came to talking about Sara since it was a fragile situation and he didn't want to upset Eliana in anyway.

Jumping in surprise, William peeked at Sara as she took his hand and smiled at him trying to reassure him that this was all okay; they were hopeful that things would work.

Sara was nervous about meeting Eliana, she couldn't imagine what the younger woman thought of her after the divorce that had happened between William and Jennifer; it hadn't been how she wanted things to go but she couldn't regret her life now.

Of course there were consequences for how her relationship had come to be, a lot of people were far from happy that she'd gotten together with a married man and destroyed his marriage; the couple had lost a lot of friends because of what happened.

"It'll be fine," Sara whispered to him, she wanted to be on good terms with his daughter but she would understand if Eliana wanted nothing to do with her.

Sara had no intentions of playing mother to the woman that was only eight years younger than herself, she wished to be friends and she wasn't going to push for anything after what had happened.

The couple were lead to a private room that Cristiano had set up, he didn't want people watching the awkward meeting when he knew that this wasn't going to be easy on Eliana.

Jennifer had been supportive of Eliana speaking with her father, she was never going to like Sara but she didn't want her daughter to lose out on spending time with William no matter what had happened between him and her.

"William," Cristiano greeted nodding when he spotted William and Sara, he was a little surprised that he wanted this meeting to happen now; he really hoped that William knew what he was doing.

Peeking up at her father, Eliana's eyes easily sliding to the woman that was trying to hide behind him; she felt her stomach turn a little knowing that this was going to be the woman that William married.

The room was silent as Sara and William took their seats, it was tense for a moment while they all wondered what to say; they all knew this dinner would set about the future of everything that happened for them all.

Eliana messed with her napkin, she wasn't entirely sure what to say to Sara and was suddenly glad that Cristiano had insisted on coming with her; she had no doubts that if he hadn't the entire evening would be spent in silence.

"How is Elsa?" William asked smiling at the thought of his granddaughter, he hadn't been able to resist showing Sara pictures of the little girl; he was hopeful that one day Sara might even get to meet his grandchild.

"She's good," Eliana replied awkwardly, she was thankful that her mother was watching her daughter for the evening and she knew that Jennifer didn't want Eliana to fall out completely with her father after what had happened.

The former couple hadn't spoken a word to one another since their divorce and while it was clear that they were better off this way; Jennifer and William had no interest in speaking to one another again.

Something that made Eliana feel awkward since she had no idea what to do, she knew that at some point her parents were going to be in the same room and she often felt the need to take sides.

***

"So Sara what is it you do?" Cristiano asked attempting to keep conversation going, he sipped on his water and wondered what to make of the woman sat across from him; she wasn't what he had been expecting after everything that had happened.

The last thing that Cristiano wanted was to judge a book by its cover but he just couldn't see how Sara and William worked together; she just didn't seem the type to get involved when it came to a failing marriage.

"I'm a hairstylist," Sara replied softly, she could tell that this wasn't going entirely as well as she had hoped and she guessed that it was going to take some time before Eliana would fully welcome her into her life.

Sara was willing to wait and she hoped that in time things would get better, she was just going to have to get used to not being around her fiancé when it came to family things.

It didn't take a genius to guess that Eliana would want William to give her away when she got married in August and that Sara would not be invited to the big day.

Jennifer was obviously going to be there and the last thing that Sara wanted was to cause any problems on what was meant to be the biggest day of Eliana's life; she would stay away if asked to and she was sure it would be best.

Eliana and her family would be welcomed at William and Sara's wedding, they wanted to have them there especially considering that everyone else was making it clear that they weren't going to come.

"How are the wedding plans coming?" William asked sure that there wouldn't be much left to do now, the wedding was drawing closer and he was confident that everything would be worked out by then.

There was nothing more William wanted than for Sara to be at his side when Eliana got married but he wasn't going to push the issue if Eliana and Sara didn't get along; he just wanted everything to be perfect in his life again.

***

"What do you think?" William asked watching Sara walk back to their car, he couldn't help but ask and he wanted to ensure that Eliana was okay with this; it wasn't going to stop him from marrying Sara but he wasn't going to push for more.

Eliana crossed her arms and looked down at her shoes, the bead detail jersey dress that she was wearing doing little to keep her warm in the cold evening air.

"Does Sara make you happy?" Eliana replied peeking over at Sara, she wasn't sure how she felt about the other woman but it was going to take some getting used to.

It was still so strange for her to think that this was the woman that had helped destroy her parents' marriage, Eliana might have forgiven her father but it was still quite fresh for her.

"More than anything," William said feeling a little disappointed that Eliana didn't look happy, he guessed that he had been so sure she'd be okay with this that he hadn't considered that anything else would be going through her mind.

Nodding her head, Eliana looked down at her feet and nodded her head while she wondered if she would ever get used to this; William was going to marry Sara and she was going to have to get used to that fact.

"Then that is all that matters to me," Eliana said offering her father a weak smile, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him hoping that he wouldn't push for more. 

Eliana felt awkward around the woman that her father had cheated with, her mother was nowhere near ready to move on and yet here was William about to get married again like nothing had happened. 

William closed his eyes, he really hoped that Eliana would come around sooner rather than later so they could all be a family.