Just Give Me A Reason

Chapter Twenty-One: Missing You

“How are you coping?” Marcus asked sipping on his coffee, he had come around to help Bailey pack for her trip to London as well as making sure everything was sort of ready to move apartments.

Bailey nodded her head looking at her best friend, she missed Sergio and she couldn’t wait to see him again; the last week had been a difficult one and Spain had lost their opening match against the Netherlands.

“It’s been hard, but Una is keeping me busy,” Bailey said peeking at her daughter, Una was five months old now and she was slowly preparing to start crawling around the apartment.

Marcus nodded his head as he smiled a little, he was happy for his friend and was glad to see that she wasn’t struggling too much without her boyfriend; he worried for a moment that Bailey had gotten too attached to Sergio.

“That’s good,” Marcus said setting down his cup, he had noticed how fast things were moving between the couple and he worried that this time apart was going to affect Bailey negatively.

Bailey nodded her head looking at her best friend, she could see that he was worried and she didn’t blame him; things between her and Sergio were moving so quickly and she had grown attached to her footballer boyfriend.

“It’s okay Marcus… I’m still taking things carefully with him,” Bailey said watching him closely, she didn’t want her best friend worrying for nothing when they weren’t rushing things too much.

Marcus nodded his head, his eyes watching his friend while she fussed over Una; he had saw that things seemed to be getting serious and he wanted to keep an eye on things.

Sergio and Bailey were head over heels for one another, so much so that they didn’t seem to realise how fast things were moving between them after only three months.

***

Sergio lay back on his hotel bed and stared up at the ceiling, he closed his eyes while he thought about his girlfriend; he couldn’t wait until later to call her and speak to her.

It had been a week since he had left Spain to come to Brazil and after the disaster of a first match; Sergio hoped that the match against Iran would go better.

“You miss her?” Fernando asked from his own bed, he had been reading when Sergio had come in and he could see that his friend was struggling; the last week had proven just how much he had grown attached to his girlfriend and her daughter.

Sergio nodded his head as he turned his body slightly to look at his best friends; they were always room-mates when it came to international tournaments.

“How do you do it?” Sergio asked with a frown, Fernando had a wife and two children back home waiting for him; yet he always seemed so relaxed when it came to being away from them.

Sergio didn’t know how his friend managed and he wished to learn Fernando’s secret, it was something that he needed to discover if he was going to make it without Bailey and Una.

Fernando chuckled as he looked over at his best friend, he had never seen Sergio like this before and it was a nice change; he just hoped Sergio knew what he was doing.

“It’ll never be easy… but you learn to cope, they’ll always be at home waiting for you,” Fernando said with a smile, he watched Sergio as he sat up and set down his book; he was curious about Bailey and Una, he had heard so much about them the past week.

Sergio nodded taking in his friends words, he hoped that he would get to be that confident one day.

“May I ask you something?” Fernando asked softly, his brown eyes watching his friend hoping that he wouldn’t be out of line; he had seen how much Sergio loved Bailey even after such a short time.

The national team were all expecting the Sevillian to be engaged by the end of the year, they were all betting on when Sergio would pop the question; he wasn’t going to waste time on Bailey.

Sergio nodded looking back at his friend, his hand messing with his phone; he didn’t mind people asking him about Bailey or Una, they were slowly becoming his new family.

“How do you manage with Una… she’s someone else’s daughter,” Fernando said carefully, he didn’t want to upset Sergio but he worried his friend was getting ahead of himself.

Only Iker knew about Una’s father and none of the team had been able to get anything out of him, only the fact that he had dumped Bailey and disappeared off to California for a new job.

“She’s mine… in every sense of the word but biologically,” Sergio said with a shake of his head, he didn’t see Una like that and he never would; she was his little girl and no one was going to take that away from him.

Fernando blinked surprised at his friend’s words, he hadn’t expected anything like that and he was in awe; he just hoped that Sergio was aware of what he was doing.

“And the real padre?” Fernando enquired with a worried frown, he didn’t know what would happen if Bailey’s ex-boyfriend returned and Sergio was forced out of the picture after bonding with Una; it would be painful to watch his friend go through such a thing.

Sergio glared at his best friend, he was sure that Fernando would meant well but it was still a painful question; it was something that Sergio feared constantly especially when Bailey’s parents called.

“He didn’t want her… he didn’t want that perfect little girl,” Sergio said angrily moving moved to show Fernando a picture of his girlfriend and her daughter; he didn’t understand how anyone couldn’t want Una.

Fernando looked at the picture that Sergio showed him, it was easy to see why people assumed that Una was Sergio’s; his friend hadn’t denied it and she looked a little like him.

“He’s not coming back Nando…” Sergio said with a small smile, he didn’t know what David was telling his and Bailey’s parents but it was clear he had someone else and had no intentions of ever coming back for the child that he had abandoned.

Fernando nodded softly at the smile on his friend’s face, he had never seen Sergio like this and he couldn’t believe that his friend was actually settling down like this.

“Then I’m happy for you,” Fernando said patting Sergio’s shoulder, he smiled a little before his mobile rang; Sergio moved away allowing his friend to speak to his wife.

The Sevillian messed with his own phone for a moment, he shrugged sure that Bailey wouldn’t mind if he called her; he moved to the balcony while Fernando lay back on his bed speaking to Olalla.

Pressing the phone to his ear, Sergio sighed as he looked out over the pool and leant against the railing; he wished that Bailey and Una could be with him right now.

“Hola… I miss you,” Sergio said as the call was answered, he couldn’t stop himself especially after a week away from her; it had been hard and he was looking forward to seeing her and Una again.

“How are you?” Sergio asked moving carefully to sit at the table, he doubted that anyone could see him and Fernando would call him if anything happened.

Sergio sat back in the chair, Brazil was a beautiful country but it was nothing like home to him; he was excited to show Bailey where he grew up and he was sure that she would love Seville.

Sergio just hoped her visit to London would okay, they didn’t like him and never would.