Élisa accepted the dinner proposed by Celine, but not without putting her in a difficult situation.
"Sure?" Élisa asked, smiling as if she were challenging her. "Weren't you going out with your friends?"
In a second, a thousand thoughts passed through Celine's mind. What do I say? I can't make up an excuse; it's too late for that. Did I seem weird when I suggested dinner? God, what can I answer? After having a conversation in her mind, she finally replied.
"You're right, I had plans with them," she replied, "but... you're about to start traveling, right? For the Nations League. If we don't meet now, who knows when we'll see each other again. I can meet up with them tomorrow."
Well played, Celine, she told herself, and that's even though she's not the footballer here.
Élisa smiled, realizing that Celine didn't hesitate in her response. Celine did well there.
"You're right," Élisa said and then took out her phone to call Océane. "Let me make a call then."
Celine nodded and quickly pretended that she was also canceling on her friends. Élisa didn't move far enough to take her call and Celine began to pay attention to her call, curious if she would tell the truth or not.
"Hello, Océane. I know we had plans to go out now, but... I'm with Hervé's girlfriend in an unexpected commitment. Anyway, we'll see each other before I leave, okay?"
Élisa surprised Celine by telling the truth, and deep down, it stung a bit that she referred to her as "Hervé's girlfriend" as if she didn't have her own name. However, Celine assumed she called her that to prevent any jealousy.
"Done," Élisa said. Celine also indicated that she was ready, and both began to walk together.
The sunset was already over the clear sky of Paris, almost giving way to the starry night. The two Parisians continued walking through the center until they found a restaurant that caught both of their attention. As they walked, they chatted about various topics, realizing that the conversation was flowing quickly and organically. They even started joking with each other.
"But how could you, Celine?" Élisa said with laughter. "Putting ketchup on popcorn?"
Celine was laughing out loud and inevitably lightly hit Élisa's shoulder every time she laughed. Clearly, Élisa was enjoying that gesture.
"They told me it would taste good! I just trusted," Celine said in defense, although she changed the subject. "Look! This is the restaurant I was telling you about, let's go."
Unconsciously, Celine took Élisa's hand and led her to the entrance of the restaurant. Before they could reach it, a paparazzi aggressively approached them. The Parisian defender quickly protected Celine with her arm, preventing her face from being seen.
"De Almeida, are you on a date with your girlfriend? What's her name? Tell us about her."
Élisa began to laugh annoyed; she really hated it when paparazzi invaded her personal space. She didn't like at all that they assumed Celine was her girlfriend because it wouldn't be good if that rumor started circulating, especially when Celine is the girlfriend of her coach. She didn't want trouble.
"Just because I'm a lesbian, you assume that any woman beside me is my girlfriend?" Élisa commented angrily. "What a shitty medium."
The paparazzi kept asking the same questions, doing everything to get some information about the Parisian defender's private life.
"And if you're so desperate to know," Élisa said irritated, "she's Hervé Renard's girlfriend, my coach. Now leave us alone."
The restaurant hosts noticed that paparazzi were bothering none other than Celine Leroy and Élisa de Almeida, so they quickly sent security to get rid of the media and gave them quick access to the restaurant.
"Apologies, ladies Leroy and De Almeida," said the restaurant manager. "We're very sorry that this happened at the entrance of our restaurant. We'll increase security to avoid this again."
Both nodded in appreciation. It wasn't their fault, but they thanked for the concern.
The situation they had faced completely ruined the good dynamic they had. Élisa couldn't stop wondering, what if Hervé sees these photos? Will he think there's something strange? Or maybe he thinks we're friends because that's all we are, and it shouldn't be more. On the other hand, Celine was also full of questions. Damn, what will my family think if they see me with someone openly homosexual? Will they think I'm leaving Hervé? Hervé, I don't think he'll say anything; after all, he was the one who told me I could hang out with them to chat and be friends, and that's what we are and will be, nothing more.
Because they were so worried about what had just happened, both suppressed what they had felt when holding hands. Celine took Élisa's hand, and she felt her hand being completely embraced by Élisa's, which somehow seemed sweet to the influencer. Élisa, feeling Celine's grip, squeezed her hand as if trying to protect her, causing a series of feelings in her body.
"Ladies," a security member came to their table. "I just wanted to let you know that we managed to take the camera from the paparazzo; your space and privacy are safe."
Both thanked the person infinitely and, upon seeing each other, started laughing.
"Why were you so worried, Celine?" Élisa asked jokingly.
"You were more worried than I was!" Celine said, laughing. "It seemed like you had seen a ghost."
"I was just worried because I wanted to look good in the photos," Élisa said as she fixed her hair.
Celine started laughing, but obviously, she didn't believe a word she said.
"I just didn't want the media to distort a photo just to get a news story about my life," Élisa said, tired of the media trying to invade her private life. "Besides, imagine if Hervé saw the photos; he'll scold me for being in a restaurant instead of training."
"I don't think he would have said anything to me," Celine said with resignation. "He barely pays attention to me."
Élisa wasn't so surprised by that. Hervé was a busy man, and she didn't understand why he was with a 24-year-old girl. It seemed terrible to her, but she couldn't judge. However, she was curious to know more about the relationship with him, just to understand how well or how poorly it was going. You never know.
"Why do you say that?" Élisa asked.
Celine wasn't sure about discussing the topic; she didn't want to end up talking about how terrible her relationship with Hervé was and confessing that she's only with him because she needs to be with someone important for the Leroy family's wealth and reputation to continue growing.
"I don't want to be that person," Celine said. "Who only talks about the bad in her relationship. Tell me something about you instead."
She already knew that this relationship wouldn't be good, the defender thought instantly.
"It doesn't bother me," Élisa said. "I can be that lesbian friend who gives advice to the heterosexual friend."
Celine choked on the water she was drinking and began to cough just when she heard Élisa call her heterosexual.
Celine really didn't know how heterosexual she still was since she had that dream with Élisa.
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Hello! I'm back with a new chapter :) I hope you like it! How's the fic going? Tell me in the comments :)
I try to be consistent with the updates and not take more than two weeks per chapter. I hope you don't feel like I'm abandoning you too much, haha.
Thanks for the support! Sending you lots of love :) Here's a photo with cute doodles.