The Only Exception

Part One - Chapter Nine: Reaching an Agreement

Lucia took a deep breath as Lionel showed her into the apartment that he had, she knew that she couldn’t put off this conversation any longer; they needed to talk about what he had asked her back at the hospital two days earlier.

“So have you considered what I asked you?” Lionel asked nervously, he had given her some space to think about his question and he knew that it wouldn’t be an easy decision and he was willing to give her whatever she wanted; he was going to win her around whatever it took.

Lucia chewed on her lip, she felt nervous even when she knew that she could just as easily say no if she didn’t like what he had to say.

“I have and I have some questions,” Lucia said as Lionel led her into his living room, it over looked the city and made her curious about why he was asking her something like this.

Lionel could have any woman he wanted and he’d been speaking to models and actresses about this before he had asked her to marry him.

Lionel nodded his head as he took a seat on the couch and looked at her, he would answer any questions that she had for him; they’d have to discuss what he’d expect from her anyway.

“How would this work?” Lucia asked as she watched him, the blonde needed to know what was going to happen if she said yes to his proposal; she didn’t want any surprises even when she agreed, her thoughts on what he had said at the hospital.

Lionel stared at her for a moment, he had the contract ready but wasn’t going to present it to her until they had both agreed on a few things; the blonde would have a few things that she wanted.

“We’d be legally married, you wouldn’t have to share a room with me…” Lionel said as he watched Lucia, he knew that it was asking a lot but he had a feeling that this would be as easy as breathing for them; she was the perfect person for this.

Lucia nodded her head as she watched Lionel, she had a couple of questions and she knew that Lionel wouldn’t hide anything from her; she trusted him more than she should. “And children?” Lucia asked knowing that people would expect the footballer to become a father, she knew that it was something that she also wanted and she didn’t know if he would want the same; Lionel hadn’t said anything about what he had wanted out of this only that he wanted to marry her.

Lionel smiled softly at the thought of children, he didn’t want to force Lucia to do anything that she didn’t want to do but it was something that he wanted.

“It depends on how you feel about that… I could always hire a surrogate, or we could go for in-vitro fertilisation,” Lionel said as he watched Lucia, he didn’t want to force the issue with her and he couldn’t help but smile as she wrinkled her nose at the suggestion of IVF.

Lucia looked at him as she thought about what he had said, she didn’t want any child that she was going to have being conceived in a test tube.

Lionel chuckled knowing that they probably had the same idea that a natural conception would probably be best; he hated the idea of a test tube baby and he knew that they’d be able to have a child without any problem.

***

“What if either of us meet someone else?” Lucia asked as she sipped on her drink, they had spent the morning having a serious talk about what would happen if they married; the blonde knew better than anyone that they needed to talk about this before they rushed into anything.

Lionel swallowed knowing that while he wasn’t going to ever find anyone but there was a chance that Lucia would; he had given up on love and he knew that she might be his only chance of happiness.

“Then I’d let you go,” the footballer said softly, his brown eyes looked down at his hands knowing that he would let her free if she did ever meet anyone; he had no hope for himself but he didn’t want to keep Lucia from someone that she loved.

Lucia stared at him as she realised that he didn’t include himself in that statement, she wondered if he had truly given up on ever finding love like he had told her previously.

“Leo,” Lucia said shaking her head as she set down her drink and moved to take his hands, she hated that he thought that no one could love him; she sighed knowing that he would find someone.

Lionel looked at her and offered her a weak smile, he didn’t know what he would do if she didn’t accepted his offer; she was one of his last hopes and she was the most perfect out of all of them for this.

“Okay,” Lucia said as she looked at Lionel, she would probably regret this at a later point but she knew that right now this was the right thing to do; Lucia was thinking of her family, who he had promised to help and she was sure that being his wife wouldn’t be that much of a problem.

Lionel blinked in surprise as he stared at her, he didn’t know what she was agreeing to for a moment before realisation hit him; he stared at Lucia as her words started to sink in.

“You’re saying yes?” Lionel asked as he tried to wrap his head around this, he hadn’t expected her to agree so easily but they had spent the entire morning going over what would happen and the contract so there was nothing really to speak about other than thoughts that came to them.

Lucia nodded her head making the footballer sigh in relief, he laced his fingers with hers it had been a difficult decision; one that hopefully wouldn’t haunt her.

***

Guillermo sipped on his drink as he sat across from Leslie, the two were celebrating the news that Lucia had signed the contract; the wedding was to take place in a week’s time and then everything was set for Barcelona.

“I can’t believe that we did it,” Leslie said knowing that Sandro was thrilled that Lionel would be signing on to end his career at the club with this move; she was in for a pay rise for sure.

Guillermo nodded his head knowing that Lucia had been the one that they should have focused on the start; the blonde was clearly what the footballer wanted over the models and actresses that he had been looking at.

“So the wedding is on the 23rd,” Guillermo said knowing that Lionel wanted to have everything sorted as soon as possible; Lucia was going to have to move all of her things to Barcelona and that meant she was going to have to get used to an entirely new country.

Lionel had asked his agent to ensure that everything was arrived for Lucia’s father, he wanted his future father-in-law to have the best care available and he didn’t want Lucia’s parents to be too upset about what had transpired between him and their daughter.

Lucia had asked for their arrangement to be kept quiet since her parents would never accept that she had married Lionel over a contract; she was willing to lie to them to make them happy.

“Here’s to a Lionel and Lucia,” Leslie said as she raised her glass, she had seen how the pair had looked at one another and she wished them both the best in the future; since it was perfectly clear that they both had feelings for one another.

Lionel just needed to realise that letting go of his ex-girlfriend would be for the best so that he could move on with his life.