The Footballer's Girlfriend

Part One - Chapter Sixteen: Eliana's Birthday

Cristiano laced his fingers with Eliana’s and ignored the calls from the paparazzi that were determined to get their attention, he had no interest in stopping for them when they were out to celebrate Eliana’s birthday.

The couple had grown used to the media interest in them and things had been pretty quiet after Eliana’s exams had finished and the season had wrapped up for a couple of months.

Eliana kept up with Cristiano easily, she was glad that she was able to walk in heels without any problems since her boyfriend had a habit of walking pretty quickly without stopping for anything.

Once the couple were inside, Cristiano let out a sigh of relief knowing that for now they didn’t have to worry about any paparazzi while they were in the restaurant; he wished to celebrate Eliana’s twenty-fifth birthday without being followed.

“You okay?” Cristiano asked looking to Eliana, he wrapped his arms around her and drew her close while they waited to be seated; he hoped that they would be able to enjoy themselves.

Eliana nodded her head, she knew that Cristiano was easily annoyed when it came down to the paparazzi; she was used to it and doubted that they would ever change.

Cristiano opened his mouth to say something when the hostess came over to show them to their seats; he took Eliana’s hand wanting to relax since they both had time off.

Cristiano only had national matches left and would travel to Portugal next week to start training with his national team-mates so that they could prepare for the friendlies and qualifiers now that the club season was over until the end of July.

Eliana smiled following after Cristiano, they would be going to the Maldives in July for two weeks after she had graduated; she was sure that they would have a great time and wouldn’t have any issues.

They both deserved a break and Eliana knew that she would be busy come September with a new campaign and Cristiano had a new season to look forward to.

***

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Eliana said with a shake of her head, she hadn’t been expecting him to get her anything and she knew that he had been busy recently; she had no idea what to say.

Cristiano chuckled smiling at Eliana, he hadn’t been able to resist and had put a lot of thought into what to get her and he had picked something that would let everyone know that she was his.

Eliana gingerly opened the black box that Cristiano had handed her and stared down at the 18ct gold-plated swarovski crystal name necklace that lay inside; it had been personalised with Cristiano’s name and the letter i in his name had been dotted with a small crystal.

“Now you have a piece of me wherever you go,” Cristiano mused gently moving to put it on Eliana, he liked the idea of everyone seeing the necklace on her and he knew that it was pretty simple compared to what he had originally wanted to get her.

Eliana moved her hair out of the way so that Cristiano could put the necklace on her, she had a feeling that this was a little toned down compared to what he could have gotten for her.

“It’s beautiful Obrigada Cristiano,” Eliana said once the necklace was around her neck, she turned to look at her boyfriend and gave him a kiss; she really did like it and was glad that he hadn’t gone completely overboard when it came to getting her a gift.

Cristiano brushed his fingers through Eliana’s hair, he deepened the kiss knowing that he had another gift planned for when she graduated from university; he couldn’t help himself and he knew that it was going to be an important day for her.

Eliana pulled back a little from Cristiano, she knew how quickly they could get carried away and the last thing that they wanted was for them to do something stupid while they were in a restaurant.

“Later,” Eliana whispered to Cristiano, she was very aware what would happen if she didn’t stop him now; the last thing they ever wanted was for the paparazzi to get hold of any sort of story about them.

Cristiano grumbled to himself and nodded his head, he knew why she had stopped him and he didn’t blame her; anything of that sort could wait until they were home alone.

Eliana laughed softly, she had a feeling that Cristiano wasn’t going to forget and she hoped not; things were going well and she loved spending time with him in any way.

Cristiano smiled looking to Eliana, he wanted to spend the rest of the night with her and he wasn’t just going to let her slip through his fingers when she only had an empty apartment to go back to.

***

Cristiano kissed Eliana as they sat outside his house in his car, he couldn’t help it and he knew that they would have to go inside; he had Eliana to himself for the night and he liked the idea.

“Cris,” Eliana murmured brushing her fingers through his hair, she wasn’t going to sleep with him in his car; she doubted there was any space in the car for them to do more than make out.

Cristiano grinned ducking down to start kissing down Eliana’s neck, he loved the little noises that she made and he loved being the one that caused her to make those noises.

Cristiano groaned as his mobile started to ringing, he grumbled to himself pulling away from Eliana to answer it; he paused at the sight of his mother’s name on the screen before he moved to answer it.

“Olá mãe,” Cristiano greeted leaning back in his chair, it was getting late and he had no idea why his mother was calling but he guessed it was important.

Eliana took a couple of deep breathes trying to calm her breathing, she looked at Cristiano curiously as he frowned; she guessed that this wasn’t going to be a short talk with his mother.

“What happened?” Cristiano asked feeling his stomach drop, his mother was crying and it sounded like something had happened to Hugo; he knew his older brother had a problem and it scared him what could have happened.

Eliana continued to watch Cristiano, he sounded upset and she felt her stomach turn as tears filled in her boyfriend’s brown eyes; she hated not knowing what was happening.

“Is he okay?” Cristiano whispered trying to keep himself from crying, his brother had been rushed to hospital and it didn’t look good; he cursed Hugo for doing this to them after what had happened to their father.

Eliana was silent as she watched Cristiano, she prayed that everything was going to be okay and she knew how much her boyfriend’s family meant to him.

“I’ll come to Portugal,” Cristiano said to his mother, he needed to be with his family and he knew that Eliana would understand; she wouldn’t stop him and he would make it up to her when he came back.

Eliana chewed on her lip, she was glad that she had remembered her keys and she would happily go home if Cristiano had to rush away; she would wait until later to find out what was going on.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Cristiano whispered looking to Eliana, he would have to drop her off home before he headed for the airport; he had to get to Portugal and fast.