Love Will Find A Way

Part One - Chapter One: Getting Tickets

For as long as Nicole Bartolini Garcia had lived in Madrid, she had always wondered what was so captivating about the game of football; she lived roughly half an hour away from the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, which meant most if not all of her neighbours were Real Madrid fans.

Nicole had never really seen the interest of men, no matter how good looking they were, running up and down a pitch after a ball; so she never took an interest in the sport; much to her cousin Sergio's annoyance.

It was Nicole's day off from work and the brunette had two of her friends round camped out in her apartment living room enjoying a movie marathon in their PJs.

Jessica was one of Nicole's university friends and the two hit it right off with Jessica helping Nicole perfect her Spanish since she was used to speaking mainly Italian.

Jessica now worked at a local fashion designers store where she had high hopes of getting some of her own designs made; she loved designing and often took Nicole hostage so she could dress her up.

"Can we por favor watch the end of the match?" Jessica's boyfriend whined as he looked at the two women, he wasn't surprised when they grinned and shook their heads before turning their attention back to the film that was on the television.

William pouted making his girlfriend roll her blue eyes before she handed him the remote making Nicole shake her head as he smirked and filled the channel over to watch the Real Madrid game to appear on the television screen.

Jessica smiled and looked over at her best friend, who grinned at her; this always seemed to happen when William wanted something, Jessica would give it to him without a second thought.

"Maybe you should get yourself a new boyfriend Nicole then you won't mind me and William being sweet," Jessica teased making William chuckle at his girlfriend's words; he knew that they could be annoying sometimes but he loved their relationship no matter what.

Nicole looked down at her hands as she thought about her friend's words, she hadn't had a boyfriend since what had happened last year; she didn't know if she was ready to move on.

The brunette stood up and walked out of the room; Jessica bite her lip knowing she had probably upset her friend, she was all too aware what had happened to Nicole and why she wasn't dating anymore.

Once she entered her kitchen, Nicole sighed as she headed straight to her fridge-freezer and pulled out a carton of Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough; setting it on the counter, she fished two spoons from the draw knowing that she wouldn't be alone for long.

Jessica joined her in the kitchen, looking a little guilty over her comment as she offered the brunette a short smile; the two hadn't really talked about what had happened before.

She knew Nicole wasn't ready for a boyfriend not after what had happened with her last one even if it was a year ago; she wasn't ready to move on from what had happened.

"You're better off without him," Jessica said trying to cheer Nicole up, knowing what Nicole was thinking about; the way things had ended had been a nasty shock and the brunette had ended up in hospital after what had happened.

The two women stayed in the kitchen for the rest of the match, allowing William to enjoy the game while they worked their way through the tub of ice cream.

They both looked at William as he joined them in the kitchen, his mobile phone pressed to his ear and a smile stretched across his face; it was clear that he had something planned now that the match had finished.

Nicole looked at him warily as William said his goodbyes and hung up the phone, she had a feeling that she wasn't going to like what her friend had planned.

"You will never guess what I got the three of us tickets for," he said excitedly as he grinned at the two women; Jessica looked thoughtful trying to imagine what had gotten William so excited, while Nicole waited for her friend to get bored so he would tell them anyway.

"Okay, okay I'll tell you," William said making the two woman smile at him; he reminded them of a child at Christmas; taking a deep breath, and holding it for a dramatic pause he then spoke.

"I have gotten us tickets to see Real Madrid play Barcelona this Wednesday," William announced looking at them excitedly; Jessica looked at her boyfriend surprised, it was no secret that William was a massive Real Madrid fan.

So she knew she shouldn't have been to surprised that he had gotten tickets, Nicole on the other hand smiled and hugged William in thanks; she wasn't about to burst his bubble by saying no to him even if she didn't like the sport.

"It should be fun," she said with a shrug causing William to get even more excited about what they would be doing; Jessica rolled her eyes, as she wrapped her arms around his waist holding him still so she could press a kiss onto his lips.

"We cannot wait," she said looking at Nicole who grinned and nodded; they both knew that they wouldn't be playing much attention to the match.

***

Nicole yawned as she tired up her living room, she knew that her flat-mate wouldn't be back for a few months so she was home alone now; she was dressed in her cream tiger top and bottoms.

The brunette sighed as she checked her living room one more time before she padded back into her bedroom, she didn't know what it was but she had been feeling exhausted recently and she knew that if it continued then she'd have to go and see her doctor.

Climbing into bed, Nicole picked up her book as she got under the covers and started to read; she knew that she had work in the morning but she couldn't help picking up a book and started reading.

The brunette knew where William had gotten the tickets, it really didn't surprise her that after five years of living in Madrid that her cousin had finally managed to get her to one of his matches.

Not many people knew that she was the maternal cousin of Sergio Ramos; Nicole didn't really see him a lot as she tended to avoid being in the public.

The last thing that the brunette wanted was to be harassed by the press because of who her cousin was; she loved Sergio but she didn't want the trouble that came from recognized as part of his family.

Nicole chewed on her lip as she thought about her family, it had been hard for them over the last few years; her father lived out in Italy while her family seemed scattered across Europe.

Staring at the pages of her book, Nicole blinked as she tried to focus on what she was reading; she sighed as she closed her book and rubbed her eyes, she didn't know what was going but she knew that if this continued she needed to make an appointment at the doctor's.

Nicole set down her book on her bedside table before she ran a hand through her hair and laid down on her back; her blue eyes stared up at the ceiling as she thought about the match and wondered if it would change anything in her life.