A Typical Love Story

Chapter One: The Wedding Disaster

Taking a deep breath as she stared up at the church were her best friend was getting married, Penelope Danes tried to calm herself down before she made her way up the steps and inside.

It had been over a year since Penelope had seen her best friend and she had been surprised when the invite had arrived to the wedding; he had only been with his current girlfriend for three years and it was too fast for Penelope’s taste.

It only seemed like yesterday that Daniella Semaan was giving birth to Cesc Fàbregas’s daughter and now they were preparing to wed.

Penelope peeked around as she tried to spot anyone that she knew, she hadn’t wanted to come and hadn’t even RSVP’d to the invite since she hadn’t known if she could do this.

It had taken one hell of a pep talk from her friend and publicist Aisha Tyler to get her to the wedding on time; Penelope was doing this for Cesc and because he was her best friend.

“Penny?” called a voice that made Penelope groan, she had hoped to go un-noticed since not a lot of people knew who she was; she’d only ever met Cesc’s family and a couple of his team-mates.

Turning around Penelope forced a smile to her face as she came face to face with Gerard Piqué who seemed surprised to see her.

“Hola Geri,” Penelope said softly looking down at her hands, she’d been a horrible friend the last few months and had completely avoided Cesc’s calls and letters.

Penelope shifted nervously, she could see people looking at them and it set her on edge, she wasn’t anything special and she would slip away when she had the chance before Cesc even knew she was here.

“So are you planning to object to the wedding… cause I’m sure that will rub Daniella up the wrong way,” Gerard teased as he tried to ease the tension, he felt sorry for Penelope and he had hoped she wouldn’t come especially when Cesc seemed determined to have her there.

Penelope smiled weakly at his joke, she could see Gerard was trying to make her feel better and it wasn’t working; her heart ached and she was wishing that she hadn’t come to the wedding.

“I’m sorry Pen…” Gerard said looking at Penelope, he wished that Cesc could see what was in front of him; everyone else knew and yet Cesc seemed completely blind to it.

Penelope shook her head, there was no reason for Gerard to be sorry; it wasn’t his fault that Cesc didn’t see that she was in love with him and had been for over seven years now.

“It’s okay… I’m gonna go find a seat now,” Penelope said quickly, the wedding would be starting soon and she didn’t want anyone else to see her; she’d sit near the back out of sight so Cesc wouldn’t know she was here.

Gerard watched as Penelope hurried away, she looked simply beautiful in her pink midi skater dress with pleated skirt paired with floral pointed high heels and a black snap frame quilted clutch bag.

It wasn’t the first time that Gerard had thought that Cesc was marrying the wrong woman, he just hoped that his friend was going to be happy with Daniella for the rest of his life since he would lose Penelope completely by marrying her.

***

Penelope sighed checking her rose gold and stainless steel bracelet watch, she couldn’t believe how late Daniella was being and she felt bad for Cesc; she bounced her knee wondering how much longer the bride was going to be.

Penelope wasn’t the only person getting bored of this waiting game and people were starting to wonder where the bride had gotten to; she was over an hour late now and the priest was expressing his concern to the groom and his groomsmen.

Gerard peek around trying to spot Penelope, he hadn’t told Cesc of her presence yet and he doubted she’d stay for the reception; he just hoped that Daniella would arrive soon.

Lia Fàbregas babbled as she sat in her grandparents arms, she was only one year old and had been dumped on Cesc’s mother just before the wedding by her babysitter.

“She’ll be here soon,” Cesc murmured to himself trying to calm his mind, he didn’t know what was taking so long but it was starting to worry him.

Gerard and Lionel shared a look, this was more than bad traffic and everyone seemed to sense it; they could only hope that Daniella would arrive soon so their best friend wasn’t hurt and it was all just a misunderstanding.

“Mr Fàbregas… I’m afraid if the bride doesn’t arrive in the next five minutes then you’ll have to leave, I have another wedding arriving in half an hour,” the priest said approaching the groom, he hated to be a bother but it was a very busy time of year for him and he couldn’t delay.

Cesc nodded his head running a hand through his hair, he peeked at his father who was trying to get a hold of Daniella or someone from the bridal party to see what was going on.

Cesc groaned wondering why this was happening to him, he had never done anything wrong in his life and now this; he almost sighed in relief as the maid-of-honour appeared.

Brianne looked incredibly nervous as she walked towards the front of the church, everyone’s eyes were on her as she approached Cesc holding white envelope.

Brianne cursed Daniella for doing this, she was about to break the poor man’s heart and she wasn’t sure he would recover from what she was about to do; it wasn’t going to be pretty either.

Penelope watched as a bad feeling formed in her stomach, she didn’t want to think the worst but everyone seemed to know what was inside that envelope.

“I’m so sorry,” Brianne whispered handing the letter to Cesc, she had been shocked when Daniella had demanded that to be dropped at the airport with Maria and Joseph.

Daniella had flown back to her ex-husband that morning without even warning Cesc that she was leaving him and now Brianne was forced to give him the news that he had been jilted.

Cesc shook his head in denial realising what was happening, he couldn’t believe that Daniella had left him at the alter like this; he had thought that they were happy.

It had all been going so well for them, he had just signed a contract to move from Barcelona to Chelsea for her because she missed London.

“The wedding is off,” Gerard announced wrapping an arm around Cesc and started to led him to one of the back rooms; Penelope watched from a far unable to believe that this was happening.

Everyone started whispering wondering what had happened, the couple had seemed so happy recently and she had just wanted Cesc to be happy.

Penelope didn’t make a move to follow, she doubted that Cesc would want to see her right now but there were things that she could do to help.

Penelope got to her feet and hurried to the front of the church to speak with Francesc Fàbregas and Núria Soler, she swallowed as she thought about all these people and the fact that they needed moving out.

Núria smiled a little at the sight of Penelope, she was happy to see the brunette even if it was now after the mess that should have been her son’s wedding.

“What do you need me to do?” Penelope asked offering a hand, there were things that needed doing and Cesc certainly wasn’t going to be able to do them; he had just been jilted at the altar.