The Only Exception

Part One - Chapter Three: The Search Begins

“Gracias,” Guillermo said as Celia Messi handed him a drink, she smiled at him and nodded her head knowing why he had come to see her and her husband; they’d had an idea after the phone call that they’d gotten from their youngest son.

“So what can we do for you?” Jorge Messi asked as his wife sat next to him, they weren’t sure how they could help in the search for a wife for Lionel; they knew that their son was making things difficult for himself and they didn’t know why.

Celia had hoped that things would have worked out with Antonella so that her son could have been happy; they had broken up and she had no idea what had caused it.

“As you know Lionel wishes for the club to find him a wife… now I need to know if there is anyone from his past that could help me with this search like a childhood sweetheart,” Guillermo said as he looked at his client’s parents, he knew that the sooner that they found someone for Lionel; the better that things would be.

Celia and Jorge looked at one another as they thought for a moment, their son had three major girlfriends in his life; Macarena Lemos, Luciana Salazar and Antonella Roccuzzo and they’d all ended badly for their son in some way.

The two couldn’t think of anyone that would be considered close to Lionel that could possibly become his wife; they thought back over their son’s short time in Argentina and struggled to come up with a name.

“What about Lucy?” Rodrigo Messi asked as he walked into the room, he had just heard Guillermo ask about childhood sweethearts and he knew the blonde was the perfect fit.

“Lucy?” Guillermo asked unfamiliar with the name, he knew nearly all of Lionel’s close friends and he had never heard of this Lucy; however from the looks on Celia and Jorge’s faces they knew the blonde that Lionel had never spoke to him about.

Celia looked at her husband as she remembered the little blonde girl that used to be close friends with her son; she could recall how the girl had followed Lionel around for years and was one of his best friends before he left for Barcelona.

“Lucy Castro, she was one of Leo’s best friends before he went to play for Barcelona… I wonder whatever happened to her,” Celia said as she looked at her husband, it had been in thirteen years and Lionel had left for the airport with the promise that he would never forget her.

That was the last time that any of the Messi family saw the little girl as she hurried home as Lionel drove away in the taxi for the flight that would led him to become the world’s greatest footballer.

“I have no idea… I don’t even remember where she lived,” Jorge mused as he took his wife’s hand, he furrowed his brow in thought wondering what had ever happened to Lucy Castro.

***

“Can I get you anything else?” Lucia asked as she nibbled on her lip, she looked at the two people sat in her section that were dressed in suits; the blonde was slightly curious about why two such people were in the restaurant where she worked.

It wasn’t the nicest place to work in the world and she knew that there were better and more upscale places for business people to enjoy their lunch; Lucia shifted on her feet knowing that her shift finished soon.

“I’m fine Gracias,” Guillermo said as he looked through the information that he had managed to get from Lionel’s parents; he had a feeling that Lucy Castro would be the best chance in finding a wife for his client though finding her was going to be a problem.

“I’m good as well,” Leslie said as she sipped on her drink as she helped look through the options that Lionel’s parents had been able to provide them with; they were a both a little surprised that the footballer had forgotten all about Lucy and their friendship.

Lucia nodded her head and headed off to serve someone else allowing the two to talk about their options; she had no idea that she was one of the women that they were looking for.

“Any ideas?” Leslie asked knowing that this wasn’t going to be easy, she was curious about how they would find some of the women that they had been given; it was clear that they would have possibly moved on and they had no idea how easy this could be and how difficult it could turn.

“Argentine consensus should be able to help us track some of them down,” Guillermo said as he continued to look over the list, he sighed hoping that this women would be easy to track down especially Lucy; since from what he had heard from Celia, the blonde would be the perfect choice for the position of Lionel’s wife.

Leslie nodded her head as she started to make a list of what they needed to do to find these women and to have Lionel meet them; he was in the middle of a season and they didn’t want anyone disturbing this important stage.

“How is Leo?” Leslie asked carefully as she looked at Guillermo, she had only seen the footballer before they had left to come to Argentina but she knew that his agent had been in constant contact with the footballer about what they were doing.

Guillermo sighed as he looked at the lawyer across from him, in all honestly this was the first time in a long time that he had seen Lionel this excited about something; the footballer wanted constant updates on their search so he was a part of it as much as possible.

***

Lionel swallowed as he went through pictures of his life back in Rosario, he couldn’t believe that he had forgotten about Lucia; he felt horrible that he had broken his promise to her, he sworn that he would never forget about her.

“Lia,” Lionel murmured as he traced the picture of his childhood friend, he hoped life was treating her as well as it was treating him; while he had achieved his dream of becoming a world class footballer, she had always wanted to be an artist and study in university.

Lionel sighed as he stared at the picture of them as children, he couldn’t help but hope that he would see her again; he would love to catch up with her, he’d been a bad friend and hoped to make it up to her.

Lionel shook his head as he felt a bitter twist in his heart, he didn’t know what it was but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he wouldn’t like what he found; he knew that Lucia’s family had its problems and he hoped that they hadn’t brought her down and crushed her dreams.

Lionel reached for his phone, he knew that his agent was going to track Lucia down since she was one of the candidates for becoming his wife but even if she didn’t meet the profile then he wanted to see her again; he had missed her more than he had realised even if he had forgotten her.

“Hola Guillermo… I need a favour,” Lionel said softly as he stared down at the image of him and Lucia as children, he wasn’t going to allow her to slip away again; his career was important to him but not as important as their friendship had been.

The footballer looked away from the picture and into the box that had been stuffed into the back of his wardrobe since he had moved into his home knowing that things needed to change.