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Lola got out of the taxi after paying the driver and she paid for the ride. When the taxi drove off, she stood on the dirt road by the entrance, looking at the ranch where she once lived with her parents. Now her mother lived in it with Thomas.

At the front, she talked to the guards who at first didn't recognize her. They took her luggage into the house and she stayed behind, deciding to walk around the ranch. She visited fields, where they had planted different fruits and vegetables. But her favorite was the strawberry patch because of the way its fragrance decorated the air she breathed. She visited the horse stalls, where her horse still lived. She hated having left Palomo behind because her father had given him to her. Lolita loved the ranch, she only hated one aspect of it, the fact that Thomas lived there as well.

As she made her way towards the house, she was stopped by the voice of a man, a voice she recognized from when she was a little girl. "I've never seen you around here. May I help you? I'm the owner of this ranch." He asked with a friendly smile he extended a hand out for her to shake as she cut the distance between them. He was speaking to her in German and it had taken her a couple of seconds to process what he was saying.

He had been loading his luggage into the car that would get him to the airport. But he stopped when he saw the young woman poking around the ranch. Her eyebrows contorted into a look of anger. "You're no one around here." She told him in English, so that he could understand her. Though in five years with Gabriella, he had been able to learn a lot about the Spanish language. "The owner of this ranch is Gabriella Gallegos."

Her words wiped the smile clean off his face. His eyes were suddenly full of recognition as he looked at her. Though he should have known it was her. She was the exact image of her mother with her long ebony hair and piercing green eyes. "Lolita?"

"Lola." She corrected him, her words were fll of pure venom that was directed at him. "I'm not a child anymore."

"I'm sorry, Dolores." This time he called her by her full name. One his face was a look of surprise at how much she had changed in very few years. And if he had to be completely honest, he thought she was beautiful. "Of course these lands belong to you and your mother, I only help her administer them on my free time. I have no intention of taking something that is rightfully yours."

"You should know that better than I do." She continued.

Thomas' lips turned down into a frown. "Lets not argue, Dolores. Its been years since I last saw you and I'm glad to see you all grown up. You're...you're beautiful." He paused for a moment, taking her in. He was mesmerized by her beautiful green eyes that reminded her of her mother's. He quickly added, "As beautiful as your mother. Your father did always say you got your looks from her." He smiled at the memory. It had been on the first day in which Ernesto got the job as Bayern's team manager, and he didn't last very long in the position.

"Save it, Thomas." Lolita spat. She didn't want to let herself become convinced by his words. She had been fooled by him once when she was younger, but never again. "You don't have the right to bring up my dad after the way you betrayed him."

"Whether you believe it or not, Ernesto was my friend, and I cared about him." Thomas assured her. "We used to get along, Dolores. Back when you were a little girl, we were friends. Remember?" Images of a ten year old girl running onto the field at the training ground came to his mind. He remembered how happy she used to be, the way she smiled. The way he could make her smile. Now he no longer had that ability. Lolita had been something of a younger sister, or even a daughter to him, and it pained him to see how much she despised him.

"That will never happen again." She told him, trying to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"It won't happen because you don't want it to." He explained to her. All the while she tried to wrench her arm from his grip. But all he wanted was for her to listen to him. Lolita hated Thomas and he wanted that to change. "The moment you decide, things can change and we can be friends again. Please, Dolores." The German footballer pleaded. "Give me the chance to be your friend again. If you won't do it for me, at least do it for your mother. You don't know how much she's suffered since you left." He knew better than anyone that it hurt Gabriella to be divided between her husband and her daughter. Thomas would do anything to please Gabriella.

"Its your fault I left in the first place." She told him. "When my dad died, you kept everything. The ranch, my mother, I'm surprised you didn't seek to take his management position at the club." She had now pulled her arm from his hold and headed towards the entrance of the house, but he once again stepped in her path. He wanted to talk to her before she got in the house, before Gabriella could find them already arguing.

"I'll do anything to make things better." He offered, he was desperate for her approval.

"Anything?" Lolita raised an eyebrow at him.

"Anything." He swore with a quick nod of his head. "You just ask and I'll grant it."

"I want you to leave this ranch and my mother alone." She said as if it were simple.

But Thomas shook his head. That was the one thing he was not willing to do. "You're asking me to leave Gabriella, who is my entire life? Don't you even care one bit that we are in love? You can't do that to her. Both of us, you and I, are her happiness—"

Lolita cut him off. "Okay, I don't have to listen to you."

Their argument was cut short by the cheerful voice of Gabriella Gallegos, who walked to her husband's side and took his hand in hers. "Thomas, Lolita, I see you already greeted each other."

"Yes." Lolita nodded, her face completely serious. "We already greeted each other. And I hope this is the only time I have to greet your husband." She said with disdain, remembering that Thomas would be going away while she was visiting her mother.

Gabriella nodded happily, completely ignoring the hostility and tension between her husband and daughter. "Well, I'm glad to have you both here, if even for a few minutes."

When a loud ringing interrupted them, Thomas reached into his pocket for his cellphone. He saw the caller ID and saw that it was Bastian. The rest of the team was probably already waiting for him at the airport, but he would be changing plans. He had no idea that Lolita would be visiting, but now that she was, he wanted to use that as an opportunity to get closer to her, for Gabriella's sake. Before answering, he told the two women that were standing by the entrance, "Give me a minute, I have a call from the guys." And Lolita looked all but pleased. Everything Thomas did seemed to bother her.

Gabriella nodded and he stepped off to the side, just out of earshot. The moment he hit the button on his phone to take the call came Basti's booming voice, "Hey Thomas! Where are you? We're waiting at the airport."

"It looks like you'll have to go without me." Thomas told his friend, trying to sound as though he felt bad for cancelling on them. "Lolita just came to visit and Gabriella wants us to spend some time together as a family."

What Thomas didn't know was that Gabriella wanted Thomas to be out of the country while Lolita visited because she wanted to avoid problems. The last thing she wanted was for her daughter to be mad at her.

"Gabriella is great," Bastian began, "But this is what I mean when I say you got married too early. Now instead of enjoying life with the rest of us, you have to do all kinds of family stuff."

"I love Gabriella." Thomas defended, "And I'd honestly prefer spending time with her. I wouldn't have married her if I didn't love her like I do."

"Whatever." Bastian said. "Say hello to Lolita for us. We haven't seen her since Ernesto died."

"I'll tell her." Thomas assured him, and ended the call.

He returned to his wife with a sigh, placing a hand on her shoulder lightly. "It looks like the guys already boarded the plane without me." He lied. "So I'll be staying here."

"No!" Lolita groaned, her green eyes looking up to the heavens. "I'm going back to Spain."

"Don't be childish, Lolita." Her mother scolded. "You're already here. A week at the ranch won't be so bad."

"It will if he's here." She glared at Thomas.

"I'll stay out of your way if that's what you want." Thomas offered innocently.

"Fine." She sighed in defeat. "I'll be in my room."

At least she would have someone to talk to while in the seclusion of her room, the handsome young man from the train station.

-

ayyyye. update for lolita.

omg guys. my sister reminded me about the hot cheetos burger from carl's and now i need one in my life. i have eaten one twice and now i feel like a drug addict with nicotine withdrawals.

its heaven. its like eating the best things in life, rolled into one. its like eating a piece of your favorite football teams. for me, its chivas and seleccion mexicana. it is fucking delicious. i really want one right now. the struggles of americans. haha. anyway, i hope you all like the update.

-clary xx