You Belong with Me

Part One - Chapter Twenty-Five: Please Don't

Cristiano frowned as he flipped through the portfolio that had been on the kitchen table, he lingered on a couple of the pictures; it had arrived that morning and it had set the footballer on edge even more than before.

Cristiano didn’t notice Alexa stepping into the kitchen as he looked through it, she watched him nervously wondering what he thought.

Cristiano looked at her as he closed the portfolio, making Alexa shift uncomfortably at his gaze; she remembered her mother’s ridicule of how she wasn’t as pretty as her older sister when she had modelled.

Cristiano watched her intently for a moment before he stood, Alexa watching him uncertainly before he kissed her; he was going to talk her out of this if it was the last thing that he did.

“You look beautiful,” Cristiano told her as he wrapped his arms around her waist, there was no denying that the pictures were lovely but he still didn’t want Alexa working as a model.

Cristiano watched her for a moment; he could tell that she wasn’t interested in going back to modelling and he hoped to use this to talk her out of it.

Martha couldn’t be allowed to control her, she didn’t care for anything else but the fame that Alexa now had; it had taken a lot to stop Martha bragging to the paps about them.

“You don’t have to do this nena… I really don’t mind,” Cristiano said making her sigh as Alexa looked at him; he held her close as if hoping that she would listen to him.

Alexa didn’t want to have to keep relying on Cristiano, it didn’t seem fair even if he was worth €93.9 million; she wanted to be able to support herself and this seemed to be the only way.

“I know… but it still bothers me,” Alexa said making Cristiano roll his eyes as he kissed her, Alexa wrapped her arms around his shoulders; her mother was thrilled with the idea of having a famous model for a daughter.

Cristiano rested his head against hers, he watched her for a moment; he didn’t want to see her hurt and Martha was using her for her own means.

“Lexi…” Cristiano begged softly, he had had Jorge to check out her agent and he had heard nothing but bad things about the woman; he just hoped that Alexa wouldn’t go through with this.

“I’ll think about it,” Alexa said making him nod as he kissed her again; Alexa knew that it was bothering him that she wanted to do something that she didn’t like, but she couldn’t let him pay for everything.

                                                                        ***

Alexa frowned as she read through her reading list for her first year of literature at the University of Madrid; she had to admit that they had seemed eager to accept her and Daniella when they had submitted their applications.

Daniella was insistent that she wasn’t going to attend California University on her own and Karim was eager for her to stay with him in Madrid.

Alexa had known that none of the things that she would need would come cheap, her father and older siblings were offering to help pay for things since Cristiano was paying for her to study.

Alexa didn’t want to tell Cristiano, who was would insist that he covered her expenses; the blonde sighed as she looked over the letter, she hid it quickly as she heard Cristiano enter the room.

Cristiano raised an eyebrow at her as she stroked Abelhinha who was sat on her lap, she smiled at him; as he sat down he watched her closely.

“Daniella says she got her reading list,” Cristiano said making Alexa curse her best friend; Daniella was slightly addicted to twitter and it was going to be her undoing.

“Alexa?” Cristiano said as he waited for her to give him the letter, he would need to see it if he wanted to make sure that she got the books that she would need to study.

Alexa grumbled as she handed the letter over, she had hidden it behind a pillow and she felt bad that he was going to have to spend more money on her.

Cristiano read the letter as he sat down next to his girlfriend, she still had a few weeks before she started university and then he wouldn’t see a lot of her.

Alexa watched him as she ran her fingers through Abelhinha’s fur; she swallowed as she tried to ignore the guilt that she felt for him paying for it.

“That doesn’t seem so bad…” Cristiano said looking at her, Alexa nodded causing Cristiano to sigh; he knew that it bothered her that he would be paying for the things that she would need.

Alexa looked away from him as she wondered what she should do, she didn’t feel like she had a choice if she wanted to support herself then she was going to have to take the modelling job.

“Nena…” he murmured making Alexa look at him, he pulled her close making Abelhinha get off her lap; she looked at him as he kissed her neck.

***

“Please don’t,” Cristiano pleaded as he tried to stop Alexa from ringing the agent to set up a meeting with her; he didn’t want her to do this and he was never going to trust anything that came from Martha.

“I don’t want to but I can’t let you continue to do all of this for me,” Alexa said shaking her head, she held her phone in her hands and looked at her boyfriend; she couldn’t keep doing this and she had to find a way to support herself while she was at university.

“Okay… what if I told you that Jorge had found you a job,” Cristiano said as he looked at his girlfriend, he had been working all day to convince her that modelling wasn’t her only option and it hadn’t worked so far.

Alexa looked at Cristiano curiously, she nodded her head to show that she was listening; she would take anything right now and it didn’t have to be modelling.

“It’s a part-time job at a book store but the pays good,” Cristiano said as he carefully reached to take her phone, he wasn’t going to let her do this and he was going to still put money into her account even if she did take the job.

Alexa chewed on her lip as she allowed Cristiano to take the phone, she loved books and it was the reason that she was taking a literature course; she would only be able to do part time because of her class schedule.

“Alexa por favor,” Cristiano said as he sat the phone behind him, he watched her face as he kissed her softly, his fingers brushing through her hair as he drew her close; he had promised to protect her and he was going to do just that.

Alexa swallowed as she allowed herself to think, she was sure that this would be better than anything else that she could get.

“Okay,” Alexa conceded as she smiled at Cristiano, she was sure that she would do well at the book store; she was just relieved that she didn’t have to work with her former agent.

Cristiano grinned as he looked at his girlfriend, he kissed her softly as he drew her closer; he was thrilled that she was going to take the job that Jorge had gotten for her.

“Obrigado,” Cristiano said as he deepened the kiss, his hands holding her close as he hoped that this would put an end to whatever Martha was planning.

The footballer didn’t trust his girlfriend’s mother, she was a gold-digger and he wondered how Alexa’s father remained with a woman like that.