[ acht ]

Just as Lolita warned her mother and Thomas, she spent the rest of the day in her bedroom. Though she wanted nothing more than to leave and return to Spain with her grandparents, she respected her mother's wishes to keep her in Deutschland for at least a week. Lolita knew it would be unbearable with Thomas around, but she would get by if she could avoid him as much as possible. And in her room, avoiding Thomas was virtually easy.

Lolita's eyes filled with warm tears as she looked around her bedroom. Everything was exactly as she had left it when she moved away. The only thing different was that her bed was made, but all her belongings were int he exact same position. This gave the room a feel as though she had never left, as though she had gone to visit her grandparents and would be home soon.

On her bulletin board were pictures of her with her parents, her with her white horse, even a picture of Uncle Basti filling in as her temporary horse. There were photos of her with Marc and Elsa, sharing a laugh when they each got goldfish for pets. Lastly, she spotted a picture of her and Thomas, eating a clown pop together, on both their faces were bright smiles. Lolita's eyebrows furrowed in anger at the sight of it. How could she have been friends with someone like Thomas? She thought he had probably been out to get her mother from the beginning, and her father's death made things easier for him. Her hand reached out to tear the photograph from her bulletin board just as her bedroom door opened and in walked a young woman.

A big smile formed on Lolita's lips when she recognized her. Who else could it be but her best friend? "Elsa!" Lolita ran into her friend's arms and hugged her tight. Elsa was just the same as she had been when they were children; her long auburn hair, fair skin, and hazel colored eyes.

"Its so great to see you again, Miss Dolores." Elsa replied rather hesitant.

Lolita pulled away, eyeing her friend with a hint of sadness. "Dolores? What happened to calling me Lolis, or Lolita?"

Elsa shook her head. "My grandmother warned me that now that we're older, its not right for a servant to have so much familiarity with the family we serve. She wants me to call you Dolores now, and she won't even let me talk to Marco anymore." A frown formed on her lovely face. Lolita had always known that Elsa had a crush on Marco ever since they were children. But Marco, who had been raised by a family of wealth and old traditions, preferred Lolita.

Lolita's expression finally dropped to a frown upon hearing her friend's words. Even when they were children, Elsa's grandmother didn't like her grand daughter playing with Lolita. She always said that Elsa's place was in the kitchen, where they worked. "But I want you to call me Lolis. Don't you worry about a thing, I'll talk to your grandmother."

Suddenly, Elsa's behavior changed and she was just as bubbly and sweet as Lolita remembered. "Oh my gosh, thank you Lolis. You don't know how much we've missed you around here."

"Not Thomas." Lolita muttered under her breath. "He probably wanted me gone."

"No." Elsa shook her head. "The boss has missed you too. You know, we all know how much he loves children and wants some of his own. But your mother hasn't wanted to have children with him yet for your sake. She wants you to accept him first."

Lolita sighed. "Then he'll probably die childless. And please don't call him the boss, Elsa. He may be important in the world of football, but he is no one around here."

Elsa nodded, agreeing not to call him the boss in Lolita's presence. But she argued. "You know, he's a nice guy. Maybe if you gave him a chance..."

"I can't." Lolita shook her head in refusal.

"Okay." Elsa finally said, dropping the subject.

The two girls had plenty of time to catch up and it was a few hours before news of her arrival reached the neighboring ranch where Marco Stefandl lived with his family.

There was a knock on Lolita's door, and the seventeen year old called, "Who is it?"

"Marco." The person on the other side of the door said.

"Marco!" Lolita shouted in excitement. It had been years since she had seen him as well. "Come in. I was just talking to Elsa about you."

The doors opened to reveal a seventeen year old footballer. A grin spread across his lips at the sight of Lolita. "I came as soon as your mum told mine you were back." And with less enthusiasm he waved at the young woman who watched him adoringly. "Oh, hey Elsa."

"Hallo Marco." Elsa said shyly.

"Yeah," Lolita sighed. From the moment she parted her lips to speak, Marco was already hypnotized by her. "My mum told me Thomas would be gone for a whole week. But surprise, surprise. The devil himself decided to skip out on his vacation just to ruin my life."

Marco chuckled. "You act like he's Satan."

"He is." Lolita affirmed.

"Actually, that's Lewy." Marco joked. Lolita had forgotten that Marco and Thomas were probably even friends because Marco was with the Bayern youth team.

Getting up from her spot on the bed next to her best friend and straightening out her white apron, Elsa coughed awkwardly. "I should go. My grandmother might need help preparing dinner."

Nodding, Lolita offered, "Come see me after dinner. We can have a sleepover just like when we were kids."

Elsa said nothing and left the room, heartbroken at Marco's indifference.

"You know, you could have been nicer to Elsa." Lolita pointed out to Marco.

"Sorry," He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "She and I were only friends because of you. And besides, my mum doesn't like it when I make friends with the service."

Lolita became offended at his words. A gasp escaped her lips. "Well that's tough for you then because if you won't be Elsa's friend, I won't be your friend."

"But Lolis..." He began.

"But nothing." She said firmly. "The three of us used to be best friends. Don't tell me you don't remember that."

"Okay." He finally agreed. "I'll be more social with Elsa."

"Great." Lolita grinned.

She remained in her bedroom, talking to Marco. And even when she was summoned for dinner, she refused to join her mother and Thomas.

At the dinner table, Gretta, Elsa's grandmother announced to the two at the dinner table, "Miss Lolita says she will not be joining you for dinner tonight." or any night as long as Thomas is in the house, Gretta left out the rest of Lolita's words. Her words caused her mother's expression to drop to a frown. It broke Thomas' heart just looking at how upset it made her.

Pushing his chair back and getting on his feet, he told his wife, "I'll go tell her to come down for dinner." He offered.

Gabriella shook her head. "You'll only make things worse, amor." She told him, reaching to take his hand in hers. "Let her be. She'll come to us whenever she's ready."

"Where has that attitude gotten you, Gabriella?" Thomas asked her, suddenly frustrated. "Its been years and she still won't listen. She does what she wants. She's only seventeen, she needs to understand that there are limits to her childishness. When she was twelve, I could understand her behavior, but enough is enough. She needs to stop."

Instead of making Gabriella more upset, she smiled. "Look at you, already sounding like a dad."

Thomas sighed and his expression softened. "You know I love Lolita as though she were my own daughter."

"I know." Gabriella nodded. "Just don't force her into loving you. Be yourself and she'll eventually remember the friendship you shared."

Her suggestion made Thomas think, and it gave him an idea. He needed to be the same way he was when she was a child. He needed to win her over not only for his wife's sake, but for his own.

-

finally an update for lolita.

and the seleccion plays today against peru! lets go seleccion mexicana. they defeated guatemala on saturday. and in other news (still mexico nt), the u20 team who is representing us at the new zealand world cup, dfeated uruguay yesterday! woooo. there are many more matches to come, including a match against brazil on sunday. super nervous. but proud of my boys.

anyway, i hope you all like the chapter. thank you so much for reading. it means alot to me.

i love you.

-clary xx