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*One Week Later*

“Look I know you don’t want to talk to me but I had to warn you,” Kate bursts out after I answer the phone.

“Are you ok? What’s wrong?” I ask alarmed by her urgency.

Kate sighs.

“Harry was photographed last night on a date with Cressida Bonas,” Kate says.

Harry. On a date.

“Oh. Well whatever, he is single, he can date whomever he pleases,” I finally answer.

“How upset are you?” Kate questions gently.

“Not upset at all,” I lie. “Besides, I have a date myself,” I stammer out.

“Who?”

“Cristiano Ronaldo,” I reply casually, hoping she doesn’t hear my shakiness.

“Oh, the footballer you met with Harry?” she questions.

“Yup. Same one,”

“Well, hope you have fun,” she tells me.

“Thank you darling. Talk to you soon!” I hang up and growl frustrated.

I grab my cell phone again and dial Cristiano.

“Hello baby doll,” Cristiano greets when he answers.

“Hey what are you doing?” I ask sitting down.

“Just finished practice. What’s up?”

I sigh.

“Can you come over?”

“Right now?”

“Please,”

“Sure, I will drive over. See you soon,” he says and hangs up.

Groaning with despair, I wait for him to arrive. Strange as it is, my footballing crush has turned out to become a close friend. Job interviews were done for the day so I changed into a pair of black sweat pants and a tank top. Throwing my hair into a messy knot, I pad barefoot into the kitchen to make something for Cris to eat when he got here.

“What’s wrong love?” Cristiano asks walking in.

I tell him about Kate’s call, about Harry’s date and my lie about having my own date.

“Would a date with me be so bad?” Cristiano asks.

“Well, no but you have become one of my best friends. I don’t want to ruin that,” I sigh and sit down hard.

“Look, it has only been a week since you got here. I say go for it,” Cris says leaning forward.

“Cris, my feelings for Harry were not fake. I loved him enough that yes, even though I was scared, I wanted to marry him. Instead I let my fears ruin it. I can’t just go run and jump into another relationship.”

“No one said anything about a relationship. A date. Harry is moving on with his life AJ, you are allowed to as well. Maybe we won’t like dating each other and will stay friends. We won’t know until we give it a try though.”

Cris has a point. Obviously it didn’t matter to Harry we had only been broken up roughly 10 days. He has moved on with the blond, model thin Cressida. I sighed and looked at Cris.

“You are right.”

Cris laughed. He knew already how much I hated to be wrong.

“So… we got a date?” he smirked.

I rolled my eyes at him but smiled.

“I guess so yes. We have a date… if you are asking me that is,” I respond coyly.

“AJ, I would like to invite you over to my house for dinner,” Cris said staring deeply into my eyes.
I inhale sharply. I have dreamt of this moment for so long. I smiled slowly.

“Ok, yes Cris. I would love to join you for dinner,” I whisper.

He kisses my cheek and stands.

“I need to be going then so I can get ready,” he says.

I walk him out and decide what to wear. I am so nervous that nothing seems right. Sighing I glance at the clock. Ok, I have plenty of time. I head to the living room where the hardwood floors call to me. They are one of the main reasons I had chosen this apartment. Digging into the closet, I pull out my soft, leather ballet slippers. I take them everywhere for good luck. Slipping my feet in the soft, worn shoes, I feel myself relax. I don’t practice en pointe anymore, but dancing ballet keeps me in shape and grounded. Turning on the radio, I plug in my I-pod and my favorite musical piece, Canon in D Major begins.

The back of the sofa makes a great ballet bar for me and I begin to warm up. The violins begin their dramatic crescendo and I lose myself in the dance.

“Isn’t that a wedding song?” A familiar voice breaks into my relaxation.

I stop dead, confused. No way.

“Hello? Are you going to answer me?” he demands.

I whirl around. I have left my laptop on from my earlier skyping and he has tuned in.

“What do you want Harry?” I snap.

“The song you are listening to, do you know it is a wedding song?” he asks again.

I shrug my shoulder.

“So? It happens to be my favorite song and I’ve always used it for ballet.”

“William said I should let you know that for the queens ball coming up, I will be taking Cressida Bonas with me,” he says after a pause.

“Why would William think I care?” I shoot back.

Harry is silent. I am sure my comment stung. I don’t care. I cross my arms over my chest; hip cocked to the side a bit. After a moment Harry looks at me again.

“Kate says you have a date with Cristiano Ronaldo. Is it true?” he questions.
“Not that it is any of your business but yes. I do have a date tonight with Cris,” I reply.

Harry winces at my nickname for him. Doesn’t matter if I didn’t make it up but to use it shows we aren’t strangers.

“Well, I hope you have a good time then AJ,” he answers; his voice has softened.

My heart skips a beat. Could he still possibly care for me?

“Yeah Harry. You too,” I answer, my thoughts and heart racing.

He signs off and I am left with the violins caressing the emptiness with me. Now, after the talk with Harry, the song just brings tears to my eyes. Blinking my eyes hard, I return to my ballet stretches, but my heart is no longer in it.

Sighing, I turn off the music and flop down my head in my hands. Funny how with out seeing Harry, I was able to almost push all of the hurt away, yet, now that I talked to him, saw his face; I feel the pang in my heart worse than ever. I decide to get ready for my date with Cris and yank off the slippers. I stomp to my room wanting to stomp the pain out of my heart. What the heck should I wear? I am just going to Cristiano’s house for dinner so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal but it is.

Jeans might be too casual but it isn’t like I am going to show up in a ball gown. I growl softly flinging clothes out of my closet. I can almost hear Harry ask ‘what the bloody hell am I doing?’ I don’t want to dress too sexily right? Yet I don’t want to look like a librarian. Oh for crying out loud! Why is it so hard to be a girl?

“Ok Alexandra. You are a big girl, you can dress yourself,” I say out loud firmly.

I pull out a pair of black leggings and a boyfriend style red sweater. I pull on the outfit and slip into some casual black ankle boots. I curl my hair with a curling iron, add some mascara and lip-gloss and am satisfied. I quickly add a pair of hoop earrings and survey my appearance. Satisfied, I grab my purse and head out.

At his house, Cristiano opens the door wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. I blush at the sight of his bare feet and chest.

“Am I too early?” I ask him shyly.

“No, I just had a hard time deciding what to make for dinner and fell behind,” he replies sheepishly.

I laugh lightly as he lets me in. The house is filled with a rich aroma of whatever he has made for dinner.

“Do I need to put a shirt on or am I ok?” Cris questions with a sly look in his eyes.

I shrug.

“It is your house. Dress however you want,” I offer.

“Great. I will stay like this then,” he replies.

Taking my hand, Cris leads the way into the kitchen. With an exaggerated bow, he pulls out the chair at the round kitchen table and I slip in easily.

“Make yourself at home and I will serve us,” he says placing a quick kiss on my cheek.

“Don’t you need help?” I ask.

“No doll, you just relax. This is your night,” he winks as he gets down two plates.

“How was your afternoon?” I ask him watching his back muscles move as he fixed our plates of food.

“Stressful,” he laughs. “Needed to make a good impression for our first date.”

He walks over with the food. On our plates is a pile of rice with pieces of chicken and mango on top of the rice.

“Wow this looks great,” I exclaim as the scents hit my nose. “Wait. I smell coconut,” I say examining the plate.

“Coconut rice darling,” Cris replies.

I lift the fork and take a bite. I am deeply impressed with the flavors of the sweet coconut rice and the savory chicken. The mango pieces add just a little something extra. Cris joins me and we talk about the things going on with us.

“I am getting so bored though,” I complain.

Cris looks alarmed.

“With what?”

I sigh.

“Ok, I have to confess something,” I say.

He raises an eyebrow worriedly.

“I am a huge bookworm. I find myself feeling dull, as I don’t have any new books. I brought along three with me on this trip and have already read them a couple times each! I am going crazy with out new material,” I exclaim.

“Books? But darling, do you not have an e-reader?” he questions confused.

I sigh.

“I’m an oldie but goodie. I love the real thing. Sure I have a reader but I want books!”

“So… can you not go to a book store?”

“Sure. I could…. IF I KNEW WHERE ONE WAS! Do they sell books written in English here in Spain?” I question feeling dumb.

“Actually yes. They do. I can show you after dinner if you desire.”

I can feel myself light up.

“Oh! Please! Yes, please do show me!” I say bouncing with excitement.

I see his amused look and blush. I must seem like such a loser but I can’t help being excited. We eat as Cris begins to tell me about soccer training, the stresses, his goals, how the team is doing and so on. I listen intently, thrilled to have an insider view on my favorite team. I ask questions and we laugh over some of my opinions. Being on this date with Cris is so different than dating Harry. It feels normal, yet something still feels as if it were missing. I guiltily push away my Harry thoughts and refocus as Cris cleans the table up and faces me.

“How about we get to the book store before it closes and then we come back for the dessert I made?” he asks with a smile putting on a shirt and his shoes.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be rude,” I answer.

“It would be rude for me to keep you waiting to get together with your true love,” Cris replies offering me a hand.

I fear Cris knows that I was thinking of Harry and then realize he meant books.

“Thank you,” I smile accepting his hand.

He leads me to his car and we drive to a cute, indie bookstore that sells books in both Spanish and English.