You Belong with Me

Part One - Chapter Twenty-Four: Small Problems

Alexa sighed as she and Daniella walked down the streets of Madrid, they were enjoying the summer together while their boyfriends were at work.

Daniella had recently started to date Karim Benzema, which meant she was spending a lot more time in Spain than she had first expected to.

The two friends had enjoyed some lunch before they discovered that they were being followed by the press, the two women ignored them as they walked through town.

Alexa was wearing a cream lace crochet blouse and black floral spot print midi skater skirt paired with tan chain detail ballet pumps, and was pleased that it was keeping her cool while she was out with Daniella; the red head smiled at her as they walked.

“So how are things with Cristiano?” Daniella asked as she looked at Alexa, she could see that there was something bothering her best friend and she wanted to make sure that everything was okay.

Cristiano had given Alexa, a bank card with access to his bank account when they had returned to Spain for their holidays; Alexa knew he wanted to provide for her but it was bad enough he was paying the bills for their home, her student fees and everything else.

“They’re okay…” Alexa said as they walked into a shop, noticing that everyone turned to look at them; Daniella chuckled as they walked through the store, she loved the attention that she got from dating Karim.

“So what’s wrong?” Daniella asked as she looked through a couple of tops, Alexa nodded as she looked at her best friend who raised an eyebrow at her.

Alexa didn’t want to be a gold-digger, it was a rule that she had set herself when she had started dating Cristiano and she was feeling powerless right now.

“I’m thinking of getting a job…” Alexa said as she looked at a top, she shook her head and moved away from it, once she had seen the price; Daniella looked at her confused, she wondered why Alexa couldn’t just enjoy this.

“I love Cristiano… but it’s driving me crazy that he pays for everything,” Alexa said, she had always worked for the things that she wanted; but with Cristiano he just kept giving her expensive items.

Daniella sighed, the red head was aware that Alexa wasn’t used to being given gifts and that she liked to pay her way on everything but she finally didn’t have to.

“Have you talked to him about it?” Daniella asked knowing that Alexa wasn’t one to complain, she usually let things boil until it was too late; the blonde sighed and shook her head.

“I don’t know how to approach this with him...” Alexa said carefully as she noticed a woman picking up the top she had looked at before.

Daniella looked at her and nodded, Cristiano was a proud person and if Alexa wasn’t careful she could really hurt his feelings by rejecting his gifts.

“So what were you thinking?” Daniella asked making Alexa smile at her as she pulled a letter from her pocket; Daniella took the paper and looked at the blonde surprised.

“I can’t believe you kept in contact with them,” Daniella murmured making Alexa nod her head, she never thought that she would contact them again after the nightmare they had been while she was in high school.

***

Arriving home, Cristiano smiled as he spotted Alexa sat on the couch reading; he knew that something was bothering her and he wished that she would talk to him about what was on her mind.

His two dogs, Marosca and Abelhinha moved to greet him as he walked into the living room; Alexa looked at him and smiled as he kissed her softly.

Cristiano sat down next to Alexa, he sighed as he leant back on the couch and looked at her; he needed to talk to her about what was going on.

“Lexi?” Cristiano asked her making Alexa close her book and look at him; she knew he had picked up that something was bothering her, she bit her lip making him sigh.

“Amor, what is bothering you?” Cristiano asked as he watched her closely as she set her book on coffee table; Alexa brushed some hair from her eyes and looked at him, she really didn’t want him to worry, and it wasn’t like it was something dangerous.

“It’s nothing,” Alexa dismissed making Cristiano sigh, he gently took her hand making his girlfriend look at him, he brushed some hair behind her ear.

“Alexa…” Cristiano prompted making her sigh and shake her head, he would call her by her full name if it got her to talk to him about what was bothering her.

“Really it’s nothing,” Alexa said making him frown at her words, he raised an eyebrow at her making her shift slightly as she looked at him; he didn’t believe her for a moment and if it was nothing then it wouldn’t bother her.

“I don’t like it when you pay for everything…” Alexa said her voice a whisper when she finished, though she knew that Cristiano had heard her; she peeked at him hoping that she hadn’t made him mad.

Shaking his head, Cristiano kissed her softly as he drew her close; he had known that this hadn’t been easy for her, she was so used to being self-reliant because of her parents.

“I don’t want people thinking that I’m a gold-digger,” Alexa continued as Cristiano pulled back slightly, she looked at him wondering if he understood what she meant.

Cristiano shook his head as he kissed her, Alexa felt him wrap his arms around her; he didn’t think that she was and he wanted her to have the best in life.

“I like spending money on you… I don’t care what anyone else thinks,” Cristiano said making her sigh as they pulled apart, he wanted to give her everything that she deserved and more.

Cristiano kissed her head and closed his eyes, he knew what she was thinking; Daniella had called him to warn him about Alexa looking for a job to support herself.

“You deserve to be given nice things,” Cristiano said as Alexa looked at him; he hoped to dissuade her from getting a job, he knew that people would talk but he liked providing for her.

“It’s just… you pay for everything, and I feel guilty,” Alexa said making him nod as they sat quietly as he took in what she said; he wondered what job she had taken interested in.

Alexa rested her head on Cristiano’s shoulder, she worried that he wouldn’t be happy with what she intended to do; it was related to her mother and Cristiano made it clear that he didn’t trust or like Martha.

“So what were you thinking?” Cristiano asked her softly making Alexa pick up the envelope that she had on the table and handed it to him.

“My mother used to make me do some modelling…” Alexa started, she watched Cristiano frown at the mention of her mother; he didn’t like where this was going and he hoped that Martha hadn’t got her claws into Alexa again.

“It wasn’t much… just a couple of shop campaigns, I stopped so I could finish my junior and senior year of high school; I kept in touch with my agent,” Alexa explained as she peeked at her boyfriend, she watched his face to see how he would react to what she had said.

Cristiano looked over the letter as he took in what she was saying, he didn’t trust Martha and he really didn’t want anyone associated with her near his girlfriend.

Cristiano was going to have Jorge check in on the agent, he had a feeling that Martha was trying to use Alexa again.