The Footballer's Girlfriend

Part One - Chapter Twenty-Three: Christmas Shopping

"What are your plans for Christmas?" Behati asked following Eliana into another store, the two friends had decided to do a little shopping before they left New York and now was the perfect time for them to do so.

Eliana paused and looked to her friend, things had been going so well for them recently and she knew that her parents had plans this year meaning that she had been forced to make different plans.

"I'm going to spending it with Cristiano," Eliana replied with a smile, she was looking forward to spending Christmas with her boyfriend of over a year; she couldn't believe how things had progressed for the two of them.

It had only been a year ago since Eliana had been so nervous about meeting his family, now they had moved forward and she was looking forward to what might happen next for them.

The couple were already living together and Eliana had no idea what to expect from her boyfriend, her thoughts had slowly started to drift towards marriage and she was curious if that was what Cristiano wanted next for them.

"Really?" Behati said surprised she had been dating her boyfriend for nearly seven years and had yet to spend a Christmas with him; she was a little jealous about how Cristiano was with Eliana.

Behati knew that she was being silly but she didn't feel like she was moving forward with her relationship like her friends were; Miranda had a son and was happily married while Eliana's relationship was going from strength to strength.

"He insisted... especially since his mother is refusing to host this year," Eliana replied softly, she shrugged her shoulders knowing that Dolores wasn't in the best of moods recently especially with Hugo being in hospital.

It would be another week before Hugo was released from hospital and then he was off to spend the next six months in a rehab here in America; Cristiano wasn't going to let his only brother end up in an early grave and no wasn't an answer anymore.

"What about your parents?" Behati asked sure that William and Jennifer would want their daughter home for the holidays, she knew that Eliana didn't get to see them much especially since her job involved so much traveling.

Eliana just shrugged, she had no idea what was going on with her parents right now; her mother had insisted that she not come home and she worried that they were having marital problems.

Jennifer hadn't said much to her daughter, only that she was trying to convince William to take a holiday that they both needed; things were so tense between them and she was trying to hold their marriage together.

"I honestly don't know," Eliana murmured not wanting to talk about it, she didn't know what was going but she was sure that things were going to be okay between her parents.

Behati watched Eliana for a moment before she sighed and wrapped her arms around her best friend, she could see that her friend was trying to hide her concern about her parents' marriage.

Jennifer and William might have thought that they could hide their problems from their daughter but Eliana was all too aware that there was something going on.

"Let's focus on finding a sexy gift for that man of yours," Behati said changing the subject, she didn't wish to ruin their shopping trip and there was bound to be paparazzi somewhere around watching them.

Eliana nodded her head with a small smile, she was sure everything was going to be fine with her parents and that they had just hit a bump in their marriage.

Behati linked arms with Eliana before dragging her into the closest store, she was determined to ease her friend's mind about what could be going on back home.

***

"I miss you," Eliana murmured into the phone as she brushed some hair from her face, she had just gotten in from her shopping trip with Behati and had managed to do some of her Christmas shopping.

Eliana was happy with the fact that she had managed to get her boyfriend a couple of gifts that she was sure that he would like; she still found it hard to shop for him since he had a lot of stuff.

Eliana slipped off her shoes and curled up on the couch, she couldn't wait to get home to Madrid and she was looking forward to seeing her boyfriend again after such a long time.

It had nearly been a week and Eliana hated that she had been away for so long, she wanted to relax and she knew that Cristiano had a lot of matches in the run up to Christmas.

Portugal had qualified for the Euros next year and Eliana was a little excited, she was determined to go and support her boyfriend when he went to Poland and Ukraine for the tournament.

"I'll be back in a couple of days... I promise," Eliana whispered peeking at the television, she smiled at the sweet words that Cristiano said to her; she was going to be happy to be home and she knew her agent would have little things set up before Christmas.

Cristiano was one of the best things in Eliana's life and she had no idea how she had gotten so lucky, she was sure there were tons of models that would kill for a chance with him and yet she was the one that he wanted.

Eliana chewed on her lip, she was sure that they were going to go the distance and the fact they hadn't talked about marriage was something that made her a little curious; she wanted to know if that was something that Cristiano wanted as much as she did.

***

Cristiano rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he had no idea who could be knocking at his front door; he peeked at the clock knowing that it couldn't be Eliana since she was still in New York for a couple more days.

Cristiano mumbled to himself annoyed climbing out of bed making Abelhinha look at him, he ruffled the dog's fur as he wondered who it could be and why they were walking him up at this hour of the night.

Heading out of the master bedroom and down the stairs, Cristiano listened to whoever it was pound on his front door; he hoped it was important since he had training the next morning and he wasn't in the mood to deal with any drama.

Opening the front door, Cristiano stared surprised to find Eliana's mother at the front door; he had no idea what to think about his girlfriend's mother standing outside of his home.

"Jennifer?" Cristiano asked confused and he wished that he had known that she was coming, he frowned when he noticed that she had been crying and it made his stomach turn.

Eliana had called him earlier that day and she had been fine, he doubted that it was anything related to her; he was sure that she was okay and he hoped that there was nothing wrong.

"May I come in?" Jennifer asked softly, she hadn't known where else to go and she knew that her daughter was away right now; she just hoped that Cristiano wasn't going to turn her away at that moment.

Cristiano nodded his head and stepped aside to allow Jennifer into his home, he had no idea why she was here but he doubted that she had come for a visit; Eliana would have warned him if she was.