+ nueve

I sat across from Dieter as we ate at an Italian restaurant a half hour away that was not too formal and not too casual. My eyes looked over the menu with excitement.

"I hope you like Italian food." He told me with a nervous smile.

"I love it." I flashed him a grin. Everything looked amazing.

The waiter came to our table after about ten minutes, to give us enough time to consider our options, and I ordered the cheese ravioli plate while Dieter ordered the chicken alfredo. As we waited for the food to be served, he began a casual conversation with me. "So, how do you like Mexico?" He asked with a smile.

I raised an eyebrow at him in question. "How can you tell that I'm not from here?"

He gave the tiniest shrug of his shoulders, like it was painfully obvious. "You just have an air of being a foreigner. Plus, your Spanish is good, don't get me wrong. But you don't use any slang like we do. You talk kinda...formally. And you have a very slight accent." He was choosing his words carefully. Like he was afraid I would get offended.

I blushed at his words because it made me realize that he was so observant. He had gathered all of that from just talking to me twice. I wondered what else he might have noticed about me.

With a shrug of my shoulders, I decided to answer his previous question. "I haven't seen much of it. But what I have seen has been really lovely. What about you?" 

If it was difficult to know about the personal lives of musicians and actors, it was even harder to know about the personal lives of athletes. Still, it was common knowledge that Dieter Damm Villalpando had been born in Guadalajara after his parents married. Hid father was the heir of an important communications company in Germany and he had travelled to Mexico to study abroad. His mother was from a family that owned a bakery in town. They had met when the bakery started offering free coffee to the university students during finals week and he was in there for hours in order to study.

The family then moved out to the US for two years, and then Canada for two years, before moving to Berlin when Dieter was four. They didn't return to Mexico until he was seventeen, probably around the same time that Enrique moved to Mexico from Venezuela.

A smile graced his lips as he told me, "Same." Adding, "I've spent most of my time since moving to Mexico at the Chivas training facility."

Soon the waiter set our plates in front of us and we started to eat. I had been so indecisive about choosing my meal because ravioli and chicken alfredo were my all time favorite Italian meals. Dieter caught me staring at his food hungrily and he gestured down at his plate. "Do you want to try some?" He asked with a polite smile.

I bit my lip, about to say no, but my hunger got the best of me. "Yes."

He scooted his plate close to me and I picked up a forkfull of noodles. Stuffing them into my mouth, I sighed happily. Thinking to make things a fair trade, I stabbed a ravioli square with my fork and leaned over the table, offering it to him. "Open up, Dieter." I giggled, moving the fork like an airplane before his face.

The twenty one year old shook his head. "You don't owe me anything."

I shook my head, refusing to take no for an answer. "Just eat it, Dieter. Please."

Rolling his eyes at me, he sighed. "Fine." 

Opening his mouth, I slid the ravioli square into his mouth and he ate it happily.

-

After dinner he took me to a local park that had a lake in it and we waited for the sun to go down.

An elderly man wearing a Mexican national team jersey walked by, selling shaved ice that he had been hauling around in a little red cart and Dieter stopped him. The footballer waved him over and the man approached us with a warm smile. Dieter told him in Spanish. "Two shaved ice cones please."

It took him a few seconds to prepare our frozen treats; mine bubblegum and Dieter got vanilla. He handed them to us and Dieter paid, he had refused to let me pay because in our culture it was the gentleman's way to pay while on a date. On the wooden bench, we watched the beauty of the sunset as it disappeared behind the horizon line and when the moon started to illuminate the sky, I got up with a content sigh. "I should probably get back." I told him shyly, pushing a stray strand of hair from my face and my eyes looked down at my feet.

"Yeah." He replied with a sigh.

He drove me home and walked me all the way up to the gate, where I pressed the button for the speaker for the guards to open up for me. The gates opened slowly, and I looked into the distance, my eyes falling upon Enrique's house.

With Enrique everything seemed lovely because I saw it that way, through rose colored lenses. He had been my celebrity crush since I was a child and getting to meet him and interact with him was like a dream come true for me. But with Dieter everything was natural, everything felt more real. He was the same type of person that I was and that made us click instantly.

Taking a step forward, towards the house, I told him. "I had a great time with you today."

"I'm glad you did." He smiled, reaching out to caress my face as I was no standing there facing him. He startled to lean into me, his lips seeking mine and his brown eyes closed.

Bringing my hands to his chest, I gasped, pushing him away gently. "Please don't."

His face dropped into a frown. He bit his lip, holding back the feeling of rejection he was experiencing. Turning away from me, he murmured. "Sorry Anna Belen. I didn't mean to disrespect you or anything. I just thought...maybe you felt the same way as me."

I coughed awkwardly, placing a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "Its not that. Its just...I don't kiss on the first date." I informed him shyly.

Turning back towards me with a glint of hope in his eyes, he asked me, "Does this mean we're going on a second date then?"

"If you'll ask me out." I smirked and I leaned in to press my lips against his cheek. "Good night Dieter."

"Good night, beautiful." He replied with a warm smile.

-

I opened the front door to find the house was dark, except for a light and a sound that accompanied it. It sounded like someone was watching a movie. My footsteps carried me across the marbled floor and into the living room. I was trying to be quiet with my steps, but it was almost impossible.

My heart melted when I saw, through the darkness, Enrique with the children. Alejandra was sitting next to him while he held Luis Enrique in his arms. Another little girl was next to Alejandra, and I assumed her to be Viridiana. Silvia had informed me that she had two other daughters from her previous marriages, Livia and Viridiana. Livia was already fifteen years old, and Viridiana was only six. All three children were already asleep, but he wasn't. He stared blankly at the screen, not wanting to move in order to let them sleep.

"Hey." I whispered, tiptoeing over to stand in front of him, and he turned his attention towards me.

"Hey." He responded with a false smile tugging at his lips. But it was more like he was forcing that smile more than anything.

Closing the distance between us, I bent over and picked up Luis Enrique, cradling him in my arms carefully.

"Do you need help with the kids?" I asked.

There was a slow nod before his tired response left his mouth. "Please."

I tried my best to go up the stairs without holding onto the railing, it was a difficult process. But I finally made it and Enrique led me down one of the hallways towards Luis' room. He opened the door for me and left me to go set Alejandra down in her room, and Viri next. I walked across the room, placing the infant into his bed and tucking him in. Watching him sleep soundly moved my heart and I leaned in to kiss his forehead.

Enrique was faster than I and had set both Alejandra and Viri in their beds and he was now waiting for me at the doorway.

His arms crossed over his chest in a casual manner, he asked, "How was your date?"

I grinned with excitement as I remembered the events of that afternoon. "It was nice."

"Just nice?" He questioned, cocking an eyebrow at me. "So you won't be seeing him again?"

I shrugged, trying to suppress the smile on my face but it was inevitable. "If he asks me out again, I suppose I will." I told him calmly.

"But you just said-" He pointed out and I cut him off.

"By nice I didn't mean terrible or mediocre." I argued back, confused that he seemed to dislike Dieter without even really knowing him. "I meant it was genuinely nice. I liked spending time with Dieter."

He let out a sigh of frustration. "Ani, I don't want it to look like I'm interfering with your personal life because that's really not it. I'm just concerned for your safety. You went on a date with a guy you talked to once, for about five minutes. As your friend, I think it is my duty to tell you this."

"Dieter is a nice guy." I informed him.

"And you would know that after one day?" He questioned. It was like he was trying his hardest to make me have doubts.

"I would know that in a second." I spat, a slight annoyance tinging my words. Sucking in a deep breath and running a hand through my long dark hair, I added, "Maybe this friend thing won't work out after all, Mr. Guzman. I'd rather return to having a strictly teacher-student relationship and we can both stay out of each other's personal business."

Biting his lip in annoyance, he said, "If that's what you want."

"That is exactly what I want." I nodded.

"Fine by me." He replied.

Tired of arguing with him, I stormed out of little Luis' bedroom, pushing past him with my shoulder.

-

a new chapter for this story I was writing over two years ago. I remember saying I was mostly writing it for myself. since back then I was a huge Enrique Guzman fan. 

his voice, his music, I loved that man.

I still think he was extremely handsome, and I have a ton of chapters for this fanfic pre written. so whilst I begin to get back into the habit of writing again, I will be editing and posting these pre written chapters over the next few weeks.

honestly, I don't think anyone will be reading this story. as I only had like 3 readers when I was first writing this. and that was 2-3 years ago. but again, as I mentioned, I would like to complete it for myself. because I like him as an artist and because I want to get back into the swing of things.

thank you all for your support in all of my stories. I have been on wattpad for over ten years already and have had only positive experiences.

-clary