The Only Exception

Part Two - Chapter Seven: Making the First Step

“How is Lucia settling in?” Gerard asked curiously as he looked at Lionel, he hadn’t seen much of Lucia but Shakira was helping her prepare for the impending birth of her first child.

Lionel paused as he stopped getting ready to head home, the last week had been hard on him but he was slowly started to get used to Lucia’s presence in his life again.

“She’s doing well,” Lionel said as he pulled on his top, he didn’t want to admit that things were awkward between him and his wife; he had a lot of work to do yet to gain her full forgiveness.

Gerard sighed as he eyed his friend knowing that Lionel was struggling even if he didn’t say it, things were hard at home between him and Lucia; it was to be expected.

“You don’t have to pretend,” Gerard said as he leant against the locker next to Lionel’s, he watched his friend knowing that things were still awkward between the couple.

They were slowly working on their marriage, it would take time to fix all that had been done when Lionel had ignored Lucia for Antonella; it might not have been an affair in the physical sense but it was an emotional one from the footballer’s side of things.

“Is it that obvious?” Lionel asked as he looked at Gerard and sat down to pull on his trainers, what he had done with Antonella had greatly hurt Lucia and he was working to fix the damage that he had done.

Gerard nodded his head as he offered Lionel a weak smile, he knew that his friend was still to learn just how much Lucia had loved him before he had treated her how he had done.

“I want her to forgive me for the emotional affair that I had with Antonella but it’s just so hard,” Lionel said as he pulled on one of his trainers and tied the shoe lace, he chewed on his lip as he focused on what he was doing.

Lionel wasn’t sure who to turn to for advice since he didn’t know anyone who had ever been in this position before; he knew a few people who’d had an extramarital affairs but never anything like what he had done to Lucia.

Lionel had done a lot of research when he had first lost Lucia and he had been hurt to discover what he had done was more damaging than just the normal affair could be.

“I know that it’s not meant to be easy, what I did was horrible but I want this fixed before the baby is born,” Lionel said knowing his daughter was to be born in five weeks’ time and things weren’t looking any easier than they were the week before.

Gerard sighed as he sat down and watched his friend, he had seen Lionel do a lot of wallowing after Lucia had left and it was clear that he was struggling right now.

“You can’t just decide how long Lucia can feel betrayed for… give her time and show her that you are still there for her,” Carles Puyol said as he looked over at the younger footballer.

His brown eyes looked over at the two men knowing that Lucia would be really hurting even after five months of being away from Lionel.

Lucia had run away because it had been too painful to deal with and that was understandable but it had only paused her life for a while and now Lionel’s emotional affair with Antonella had to be dealt with.

“Spend every moment with her showing her just how much you love her and make her feel like the only woman in the world for you,” Carles said knowing that Lionel needed pointing in the right direction.

The Argentinian was doing well with not spending a lot of time with his friends and he wasn’t spending any time with women that could further damage his fragile marriage to Lucia; it was a good start but he needed to do more.

***

Lucia sniffled as she wiped away her tears, she swallowed thickly as she sat down quietly in the master bedroom as she took a shaky breath as she tried to calm herself down.

The blonde hated that she was still this weak after five months away, she had hoped she’d get over what had happened but the last week had proven her wrong.

Lucia had come to realise that her trip to Rome hadn’t helped her as much as she thought it would and Lucia was now left with all the emotions that she had thought she’d escaped.

Poppy was curled up beside her as Lucia blew her nose into another tissue, she rested her head on Lucia’s lap as she whimpered knowing that her owner was hurting right now.

The border collie’s head snapped up as the bedroom door slowly opened and a nervous looking Lionel stepped into the bedroom; he felt his heartbreak as he realised that everything that Carles had talked about was true.

“Lo siento Lia,” Lionel whispered as he hurried over to her, he wanted to comfort her and show her that she was the one that he wanted.

Lucia snuffled as she wiped her nose on the sleeve of her top, her blue eyes were bloodshot and her nose was red raw from her constant wiping of it.

“I love you so much Lia, so much,” Lionel murmured as he wrapped his arms around Lucia as best as he could, he had avoided touching her since she had come into his life again and now he knew it had only been hurting her more.

Lucia couldn’t contain the sob that she let lose, she had been trying to pretend that everything was okay with Lionel and now the floodgates had opened.

“How could you do that to me?” Lucia cried as she clung to Lionel, she had known that he didn’t love her when he had embarked on his emotional affair however she had hoped he respected her enough not to do that to her.

“I was blinded by the idea that she wanted me back,” Lionel said honestly as he closed his eyes and continued to comfort Lucia, he knew that he would never forgive himself for what he had done to her.

Lionel had no idea that behind closed doors she was like this and it was only when Carles had pointed it out that he had realised just how bad things were.

“I never meant to hurt you Lia and I’ll do everything that I can to fix us,” Lionel whispered as he left her tears start to soak through his top, he didn’t care that he would be a snotty mess; he wanted to prove that he regretted everything that had happened.

Lucia whimpered knowing that she was at least glad that he seemed to be honest with her now, she tried to calm herself again as Lionel continued to comfort her with soft words.

“It hurt to lose her but it nearly killed me to lose you Lia,” Lionel said as he recalled the first week after she had fled to Rome, he now knew that she had done it because it was a way for her to escape the pain of what he had done.

Lucia felt her husband trail his hands calmingly up and down her back, she felt herself slowly calm down as Lionel whispered comforting things to her.

“Te amo,” Lionel murmured again as Lucia pulled back from him, his brown eyes staring deeply into her blue ones as he wiped tears from her face.

Lucia swallowed as she opened her mouth hesitantly knowing that she had to say something back before Lionel stopped her.

“You don’t need to say it back Lia… I just need you to know how I feel,” the footballer said offering her a smile, this was the first step in fixing their marriage and he was determined that one day he would hear her say those three words to him.

Lucia nodded her head as she looked down at her hands, she felt a little hopefully for their future together now; they were taking a step in the right direction and they would slowly get better.