[ That is Zarine's outfit and accessories for the el Clasico made by the lovely @cherryblossom117 <3 ISN'T IT AMAZING!? We love it ]
It's an uproar out here and every cheer rushes through Zarine's veins. I am actually here. I AM ACTUALLY HERE. What good did I do in my life to deserve this? I'm sitting in the VIP box, I can see Suarez's wife and Messi's girlfriend behind me, that one is definitely Zidane's sister I can see a resemblance and OMG Brad Pitt just sauntered in with his hat and the best part is that I'm sitting so close to the pitch, I can actually smell the grass. ZARINE HASAN IS AT THE EL CLASICO WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IT?
Its my last day here. My last day. I must make the most of it. Tomorrow I leave. I'm going to miss Madrid and my life here so much and most of all, Cristiano. What will the future hold for us, I wonder? She heaved a deep breath as the crowd went crazy at the sight of Real Madrid and Barcelona players walking out onto the pitch in perfect lines. Zarine jumped up, her Cristiano jersey one in a million of white jerseys, and screamed Cristiano's name.
Everyone in the VIP box gave her steely gazes but she didn't care. This was El Clasico for God's sake. This might even be her only El Clasico. There was no way she was going to hold back. The whole stadium stood up for the anthems and in the perfect symphony of voices, Zarine looked at Cristiano with a smile. He looked so serious, just like he always looked on the tv screens. So many matches, so many hours, so so many moments spent in admiration of this team, of loving this man...Cristiano, I love you and I'm proud of you.
He looked up, glancing towards the stands and finally stopping at finding her. For the briefest of moments, he smiled. It was so quick that the next second, the teams were shaking hands and running towards their places on the pitch. She looked wildly for him, there he was whispering something to Gareth and Karim at the other end of the pitch. She sat down and waited for the whistle to signal the start of the match. She looked idly towards Navas and in the process caught sight of a striker from the rival team. Neymar, who had been waving to the stands, saw her looking towards his area and winked.
Zarine scowled.
Neymar immediately ran towards his teammates and seemed to whisper something which resulted in them turning around and staring at her. The closeness to the pitch seemed suddenly uncomfortable. She could feel her ears burning red.
Oi you, Neymar, don't you dare gossip about me. Gosh, the enemy is staring at me. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. Gosh, STUPID REFEREE JUST WHISTLE ALREADY.
And at the count of the well-prayed-for whistle the game started. The crowd went berserk, shouts, screams, cheers, cusses, whistled and roars rang across the stadium.
"First time watching a game?"
Zarine turned towards her left to see a tanned, leggy blonde flashing a perfect set of pearly-whites at her, "Haha, yes. Is it my enthusiasm that gave it away?"
The woman stretched out a hand that had far more rings than fingers, "I'm Ashley, Cristiano's ex."
Zarine's jaw dropped as she took the verbal equivalent of a punch to the gut. She hastily smiled and shook Ashley's hand, "I'm Zarine, erm yeah, Zarine." Godddd, this is awkward so awkward like the height of awkward. Of course, she's Ashley Gucci, THE Ashley Gucci, who'd been dating Cristiano for a few weeks last year. And what's with that intro, huh? "Cristiano's ex"? Really? That's how she defines herself as.
"Your earrings are very eye catching. I love them," Ashley said, her eyes fixing on Zarine's dangling earrings.
On second thoughts, maybe she's a nice girl. I only ever knew her as Cristiano's girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend. Sure, she always seemed really mean and uptight but maybe that was just the media and its projection. What's happening to me? I should have an open mind on this. Let's be friendly here, Zarine. Be your usual self. Don't even try to be jealous of her gorgeous hair. Blonde wouldn't suit you anyway.
"Thanks," Zarine smiled and sat down. "Your dress though, it's beautiful. It looks like it was made for you."
Ashley rolled her eyes, "Well, duh. It was made for me by Dior."
"Oh that's amazing," Zarine tried to smile.
"I wish I could say the same for your sense of dressing but I can't. I've been observing and the earrings are the only thing worth praising even though they would look far better on me, if you don't mind me saying," she gave an overly warm smile.
What, bitch.
Ashley put her fingers to her lips in mock upset, "Oh dear Zarine, I'm so sorry if I hurt you by saying that. Sometimes I say things without thinking. It's not like you were dressing up for a man."
What even.
Zarine coughed, "And you were?"
"Beg your pardon?"
"I meant, are you dressing up for a man?"
Ashley pursed her lips into a smirk, "Oh I needn't dress up, I have a face and body which do the job enough but I do have a man here, if that's what you were asking."
"No, I wasn't-"
"After I broke up with Cristiano for obvious reasons, I became his ex and Neymar's present."
"Oh." WAIT WHAT SHE'S DATING THE ENEMY!?
"You didn't now that? Well, I know you are Cristiano's rebound but from one friend to another, I can call you my friend, right? Yeah, so from one friend to another, I have some advice for you. You and Cristiano wouldn't last, my dear. I know him, I know him very well, I know all of him," she winked.
Don't react. Don't react, focus on the game. Don't let the distractions get to you. Focus on the game, cheer your team, ignore her. OH MAN, WHAT DOES SHE MEAN SHE KNOWS ALL OF HIM?
"He can be very alluring but he can also be extremely childish. Plus, you can never really know what's going in his mind. Like he'll tell you he loves you but you know he doesn't. I mean, not to offend you or something, but you do have a zit on your face. I have this amazing sandalwood paste but it's really expensive I doubt you'd be able to afford it but don't worry, hon, I'll gift you now that we're friends."
Zarine made a wry face and replied in a tone dripping with sarcasm, "Wow, thanks for all your friendly advice, Ashley, but I have to see the match because, you know, I probably won't be able to afford another match."
Sarcasm was lost on her 'friend' who continued, "I really care for you and that's the only reason I'm telling you all this. Cristiano's friends are the worst. They'll plot against you and they're the biggest perverts in the world. Have you met the most obnoxious guy in the world? Well, Cristiano probably wouldn't show you off to his friends so I'll tell you. James Rodriguez is the world's biggest, most obnoxious jerk. He used to call me a bitchy gold digger ex but I always knew he liked me. He'll spend the whole time trying to get into your pants like he tried with me and keep coming between you and Cristiano."
Zarine, who was trying her best to ignore Ashley's voice and focus fully on the match, glared, "It's pronounced Ha-mez Rodriguez."
"Gareth is okay. He was the one through whom I met Cristiano but I wouldn't put it past him to grope you or something. If you ask me, you're much better off without Cristiano."
Zarine said, through gritted teeth, "For the record, I've met his friends and they're nothing like that. And as for your advice, I think I'm fine on my own. I can judge for myself and do what's best for me without your advice so stop wasting your breath on me."
For sometime after that Ashley was quiet, allowing Zarine to enjoy the match even though every few minutes her mind would replay some of the hurtful things she had said. She tried to shake it off. Cristiano's rebound. Ugh, don't let the bitchy gold digger get under your skin.
Her eyes followed Real Madrid's passes and just like that she was off her seat, cheering, "C'mon, c'mon, Kariiiiiimmmmm! And yassss it's a GOAL!!"
At half time, Zarine got up from her seat and walked around towards the back of the rows where the washrooms were at. Anything to get away from that Ashley.
"Hey," a soft voice distracted her from her thoughts.
Zarine turned around with a scowl, not really wanting to meet anyone. Her scowl dropped in shock because right in front of her stood a replica of Toni. She took in his appearance. The same soft blonde hair, the same blue eyes, the same cute smile except Toni was probably stepping out onto the pitch after half-time, and this guy was in jeans and tees smiling shyly at her.
"Umm hey?" Wait, he couldn't be-
He pushed his hands into his pockets and blushed, "I'm Felix, Toni's-"
Zarine immediately joined the dots in her mind, "You're Felix, Toni's brother. Wow, you look just like him."
He laughed, "We get that a lot. Some people think we're twins."
They walked back to the seats together. Felix was easy to talk to, a bit shy at first but friendly once you got to know him.
"It's my first El Clasico too," he was saying. "The atmosphere is amazing but the VIP box is so uptight. That was how I spotted you actually, the only one going absolutely crazy."
She laughed, "Aww, you sound jealous."
"I totally am. I was sitting between two old execs who looked at me as if I'd committed a huge crime when I cheered for Toni."
Zarine chuckled, "Don't be too envious. The woman I sat with has been absolutely intolerable."
"Well," he squinted in Ashley's direction. "There's an empty seat beside her. We could ask her to shift and then we could cheer and go crazy together."
"YOU ARE A FUCKING GENIUS!"
About thirty people turned to glare at this outburst.
He blushed deeper, "Thanks, Z."
The match started and though Ashley refused to sit beside Felix resulting in Zarine sitting between them, this half was going way better. Both the teams were so aggressive around each other and their moves were becoming so fast that it was difficult to know everything that was happening on the pitch. Sergio and Dani were having a pretty verbal altercation down the pitch and suddenly cards were being handed out.
"Man, I love El Clasicos. All of it. It's so exciting and fierce and pure awesome. Does your team have a crazy rivalry with someone in the Bundesliga?"
He looked surprised, "You know about me?"
She rolled her eyes, "Duh, dude, I'm a well-researched, dedicated fangirl. How did you recognise me though? And don't say you googled me or saw me playing because neither is possible in my case."
He smiled and shook his head, "Toni told me he got Cristiano's jet in a bet for a week and that Cris's girl, Zarine, was responsible for it. He did mention you're a bit obsessed, fangirl-wise."
"Aww," she mocked-cried, "Toni thinks I'm weird."
Before they could say anything else, they groaned as a corner was given to Barca.
"Not fair," the two of them booed.
They watched in dismay as Pique headed in a goal and people went crazy whistling, cheering and booing.
"Ah, that's Gerard, right?" Ashley murmured. "He does look fine."
"I thought you were dating Neymar," Zarine muttered.
Ashley huffed, "I know but I always like the tall ones. Cristiano, Gerard, Ibra...come to think of it, Shakira has been far too long with Gerard. I believe he needs a change. I might be Cristiano's ex, Neymar's present but I'm definitely Gerard's future." Once she started, she didn't stop and soon she was back to her anti-Zariano talk, "He might be holding you, he might be kissing you, he might be sleeping with you, but he's thinking about me. Always."
Bitch, I haven't slept with him...yet.
[ Ashley needs to go back to her BitchyGoldDiggerland. NOBODY WANTS YOU HERE YOU FAKE GUCCI.
And omg Felix is such a babe!! It's so weird after writing this chapter we got to know it's his birthday today :D Happy birthday cutie pie <3
PLUS WE FORGOT TO SAY IT IN THE LAST UPDATE BUT THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH WE NOW HAVE 105K+ READS ON THIS BOOK WHICH IS INSANE! You guys make us so happy :')
So go ahead and tell us your views on this new chapter, Ashely, Felix and what you think is going to happen next xx ]