The Wedding Date

Part Two - Chapter Two: Discovering the Truth

Cristiano bounced his knee as he sat in his Lamborghini Aventador, his brown eyes locked on the restaurant as he waited for Rhea to finish; the footballer felt slightly stalkerish especially since Irina had already gone back to her hotel for the night.

From the moment that he had laid eyes on the brunette, Cristiano had known that this was where everything changed and he hoped that Rhea would help him; he needed to see Felisa again even if she was still upset with him.

The footballer looked at his watch, he groaned wondering when Rhea’s shift would finish, it was starting to get late and he worried for the young brunette; he sighed in relief as she stepped out of the restaurant and looked around.

Cristiano climbed out of his car knowing that he had to speak with her, this was his final chance at finding Felisa and he wasn’t going to allow it to slip through his fingers; the footballer quickly approached Rhea knowing that she was truly his last hope.

“Can we talk?” Cristiano said making the brunette jump in surprise, she stared at him as she clutched at her bag surprised that he had been able to sneak up on her like that.

Rhea looked at the footballer wondering what he wanted, she knew that things hadn’t ended well between him and her sister so it was a surprise to see that he had waited for her after work; Felisa had fled so that he wouldn’t track her down and now he had found her sister instead.

“Por favor Rhea… I have been searching for your irmã since she left,” Cristiano pleaded as he looked at the brunette, he didn’t care if anyone caught him talking to her; he needed to see Felisa again, he needed to let her know that he still loved her.

Rhea stared at the footballer, she could see that he was desperate and if he loved her sister like Felisa loved him then she knew that she had to take this chance for her.

***

Rhea sipped on her coffee as she looked across the table at the footballer, he was wearing his hood up and had a baseball cap on to hide who he was; Cristiano had taken her to a late night café so that they could talk in peace.

“I know everything,” Rhea said carefully as she watched Cristiano, she wasn’t sure how much he expected her to know but over the past year she had forced her sister to open up about what had happened between her and him.

The footballer looked at Rhea, he was a little surprised that Felisa had opened up to her sister about them; he had treated her so badly in the end that he wished he could change everything.

“You said some terrible things to her… and she was stupid in running away from you,” Rhea said stating her opinion, she had always hoped that her sister would see sense about what had happened and would go and tell Cristiano that he was a father; the footballer had been upset and had lashed out when he clearly didn’t mean it.

Cristiano nodded his head as he sipped on his coffee, he wrinkled his nose in disgust at the taste as he looked at Rhea who was thinking; he was glad that she had agreed to speak with him.

“How is she?” the footballer asked as he set down his drink, he had no interest in drinking it instead he picked up the spoon and messed with it; he had so many questions and he hoped that Rhea would be able to answer them all for him.

The brunette paused knowing that it wasn’t her place to tell Cristiano about Thalia yet, she knew she’d have to tell him if he wanted to come and see her sister since she had a feeling that he wasn’t going to leave.

“She’s doing well… she works as a masseuse now, the pays crappy but it keeps a roof over our heads,” Rhea said as she offered Cristiano a small smile, her blue eyes watching him seeing that he really did care for her sister; she just hoped that there was nothing to stop them being together again.

Cristiano nodded his head, his stomach twisted at the thought of Felisa struggling, he wished she would have taken the cheque when she had left Portugal; it would have made tracking her down easier and he wouldn’t have had to worry as much about her.

“She still loves you… talks about you a lot to Thalia,” Rhea said without thinking, she blinked as she realised what she had said; she had meant to ease his mind on her sister’s feelings and she hadn’t meant to bring in his daughter into this.

Cristiano stared at Rhea confused, he remembered a lot of what Felisa had said to him when they had been together but he didn’t remember her ever mentioning a Thalia; he could tell that Rhea hadn’t meant to tell him about her.

“Who is Thalia?” Cristiano asked as he glanced around, he hoped that no one had recognised him otherwise this little meeting would be all over the news; they were sat at the very back of the café just out of sight.

Rhea swallowed as she realised that it was now or never, she just hoped her sister would forgive her for what she was about to do; she took a deep breath as she prepared herself.

“Thalia is my niece… Felisa’s daughter,” Rhea said gently making Cristiano stare at her, he couldn’t help but feel a little devastated at the brunette’s words; he hadn’t known that Felisa was a mother and he hated that she had kept it from him.

The footballer looked down at his coffee for a moment, his mind filled with more questions than answers as he tried to control himself; he wasn’t sure what to ask next.

“Thalia’s three months old,” Rhea revealed knowing that this would allow the footballer to figure out who the baby’s father was; she hoped he wouldn’t be too upset with her sister for hiding this from him.

Cristiano’s head snapped up and looked at Rhea, his mind quickly working out what this meant; he had been with Felisa a year ago and there was only one possible explanation.

“She’s mine?” the footballer asked to be sure, he felt a lump form in his throat as Rhea nodded her head; she watched him concerned that he would be angry at what she had told him.

Cristiano opened and closed his mouth in shock as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that he was a father; his heartbeat wondering what his daughter looked like.

“Lisa wanted to tell you but she feared what might happen, something to do with your irmã Katia,” Rhea explained as she watched Cristiano, she remembered asking her sister when Thalia had been born about contacting the footballer but Felisa had been terrified that Katia would steal away her daughter because of what had happened.

Cristiano nodded his head, he hadn’t forgotten all of the trouble that Katia had brought to his mother’s wedding; if she hadn’t of invited Luciana to the wedding then none of this would have happened.

“I need to see Felisa,” Cristiano said desperately as he looked at Rhea, he was grateful for her coming to talk to him but after she had told him that he had a daughter he now needed to speak with Felisa; he needed answers that only she could give him.

Rhea stared at the footballer knowing that her sister was going to be far from happy with her about this, however Felisa had given up everything for her and this was her chance to pay her back.