With My Heart Wide Open

Chapter 18

Sergio walked into his house, throwing his bag on the floor and his keys on the entry table. Real Madrid had been playing on the road and he was glad to be home. If he hid away in his house, he could hide from reality and nobody could ask stupid questions and plenty of people were asking stupid questions. Well he thought the questions they were asking were stupid. Who is the mystery woman, Sergio? Who is your new girlfriend, Sergio? Will the mystery woman make an appearance at the Champions League Final, Sergio? Is it true that you met your new girlfriend at a club and proceeded to brawl with another man to win her, Sergio? 

He wanted to tell all of them to shove their questions up their asses. The media was so quick to assume that Audrey was his girlfriend. She probably would have been if she had stayed in Madrid. She got on a plane, though and left Sergio holding what was left of his heart, the very same heart that he had been ready to give her. He had never felt so strongly about someone, so quickly, in his entire life. Audrey had said that she thought she loved him too, but at the same time she wasn't willing to take a chance and see if it was true. Part of him understood, she had been through a lot in the last year, so he didn't really blame her for being hesitant to pull the trigger on something so new and unknown. He had been scared too. 

Now though, he didn't have to worry about it. Audrey had been extremely distant the past few days. When they did speak, she was very short, almost like she didn't want to talk to him. Last night and this morning when he had tried to get a hold of her, she didn't even bother to answer. His text messages had been disregarded as well. He was sure that it was the beginning of the end. Sergio just wished that Audrey had the heart to tell him and not go about it by just ignoring him completely. That hurt worse than if she just said the words. She was done with him and she wouldn't be coming back to Spain. 

Sergio entered his bedroom, discarding his shirt and layed on his bed. Staring at the ceiling, he couldn't help but recall the memories of Audrey's last night in Madrid. After she opened herself up to him in the car, he had carried her to this very bed, where they had stayed until him and Karim had taken Audrey and Macy to the airport the next afternoon. He needed a new bed. There was a ghost in this one that would never go away. Man he missed her. So much that it made his heart physically hurt. He didn't want to remember what little time he had spent with her, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. What he should be doing was worrying about the Champions League Final that was in two weeks. It was the most important game of the season and he didn't have time to just sit and wish for something that was never going to happen. 

Karim had been a mess since Macy had left as well.  Except there was a big difference in his situation. Macy was actually talking about coming back to Madrid to stay. Audrey wouldn't even return his text messages. Shaking his head, Sergio got up from the bed. He was going to go for a run before he put his fist through his wall. That always helped clear his mind. He would have to run a thousand miles to clear his mind of the beautiful blonde that stole his heart and threw it on the ground, though. 

****

Five unread messages.

Audrey glared at her phone because she knew that all five of them were from Sergio. She couldn't face him, even if it was just over the phone. Her heart ached. She didn't want to hurt anybody or disappoint anybody, but both of those things were unavoidable. 

Sergio wasn't familiar to her. Jake was. Sergio wasn't the one that had held her heart for almost seven years. Jake was. Sergio wasn't the one that had made her promises of a future. Jake was. Yet, Sergio wasn't the one that had made her a million false promises and left her brokenhearted when she needed him most. Jake was.

Wiping the flood of tears running down her face with the back of her hand, she knew what she needed to do and she hated to do it, but she didn't feel as if she had a choice.