[ zwölf ]
"I don't know why you still spend your free time in the service area when you are a professional footballer now and you own your own house." She said, without looking at the eighteen year old sat at the kitchen table, with his dirty sneakers on it. "Why don't you go there for a change, Gianluca?" She asked him.
He shrugged. "This is where I feel more comfortable. If it hadn't been for the bosses Thomas and Gabriella, who funded my career, I would still be working in the horse stalls."
Gianluca and his father Maurizio had worked on the property for years, even before Gabriella purchased it. They knew the land very well, but Gianluca wanted more. He wanted to be a footballer and Thomas got him a trial at Bayern, while he and his wife promised to pay everything he would need. His father didn't agree at first, but he finally did when he realized football was the one thing his son really wanted to do. Now Gianluca was on the first team and he still spent his free time helping around the ranch. He felt that he owed it to Thomas and Gabriella.
And his other reason for spending a lot of time in the kitchen was because Elsa worked there and he liked her. Though he was aware that she liked another.
"If I were rich, I'd stop working here." Elsa sighed. Her dream was to become a famous chef.
"Being rich isn't everything." Gianluca pointed out. "I'd be happy playing football and still being poor. But if money is what you want, I can give you everything you've ever wanted if you'll go out with me."
Finally turning towards him, her jaw dropped when she saw his muddy sneakers on the table and how they were dripping chunks of mud onto it. He had recently been at the horse stalls, she could tell just by looking at his shoes. "Oh my gosh, Luca! Ew! Get your filthy feet off my table. My grandmother and I eat here!" She scolded, while she used her hand towel to swat his feet away.
He quickly got up from his chair and ran out of her reach. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He quickly apologized.
"Get out of here!" She yelled, throwing her hand towel at him, which he caught in his hands and took a whiff of it.
"It smells like you." He told her with a grin and blew her a kiss before running off.
Elsa rolled her eyes.
-
Lolita walked, with flowers in hand and stopped at her father's tombstone. She hadn't even bothered to invite her mother to accompany her. She figured Gabriella was probably too busy spending time with Thomas to ever remember her first husband, Ernesto Gallegos. But Lolita could never forget him. He was her father and though he died when she was very young, she had many fond memories of him.
Setting the flowers down on his tomb, she said to him, "I'm sorry for going so many years without visiting you, dad." Her green eyes filled up with tears that stung as she spoke. She knelt down by his tomb now, her hands touching the cool stone with words carved in it. "You know how much I've missed you and how bad I wanted to visit, but I just can't stand seeing my mum with Thomas. I hate the fact that he's taken your place. Its very painful to be at home, seeing him occupy everything that was meant to be yours." By now she was sobbing.
She remained there, bringing her hands to her face and continued to let the tears fall for several minutes.
Finally composing herself, Lolita got up and left.
-
Lolita had returned back to the mansion to get ready. She had plans for the afternoon. Erik would only be in Munich for a few more days before returning to Dortmund for training with BVB. Meanwhile, he wanted to spend as much time with Lolita, who he was absolutely smitten with. Lolita was just his type and it seemed that she had a liking for him too.
