"If you were not a footballer," Sergio said, raising his glass towards Marcelo, "what would you have been?"

It was the night of their La Liga win. They were still excited with adrenaline, the loud music of the party and the euphoria of the teammates making everything a notch higher on the craziness scale, and yet, the question slowed down Marcelo.

A frown crawled up his forehead and he nearly asked Sergio if this was the time to ask twenty questions. He sounded like one of those journos who want trivia for the papers. So, Marcelo decided to give him his well-practiced answer. "Being a footballer is my life. I cannot imagine being anything—"

"Aww, do I look crazy to you?" Sergio laughed. "We all have thought about it. Alternate versions of us. Now me—EVERYBODY QUIET! Now me...I would have been a bullfighter, a matedor..." His eyes glittered with whatever vision he had conjured up. "No, no, tell me the real thing. Give me the...scoop, is that what they call?"

His vice-captain, however, was aware that Sergio was drunk and that everyone in the party was now listening on to their little conversation. "Uh, I think Perez is calling me to the dance floor. Catch you later."

Instead of going to that dance floor with the non-existent Perez, he disappeared in the small crowd, finally stopping by table stocked with appetizers. Picking a fluffy sugared donut, he looked around.

Nacho was busy telling Sergio that he would have been a mathematician.

Morata's loud voice interrupted them. "I would have made a fantastic stripper. Want a demonstration?"

Lucas cheered loudly with Sergio while Nacho looked disturbed. It was Zidane who swooped down beside Morata and saved the day by dragging him gently but surely away from the bar.

Marcelo saw the manager bringing a very giggly Morata towards him and he decided it was time to disappear towards the dance floor.

"Marcelo, wait, I need you to handle Alvaro for a—"

"Sorry, Zizou, I think Perez is calling me to the dance floor. Gotta go, sorry." He bounded to the dance floor and immediately found himself beside Toni who was talking with Keylor, both of them supposedly undercover. He followed their gaze and saw that they were staring at Cristiano who was dancing with Zarine.

He couldn't help but smile as he looked at the perfect couple. Zarine reached up to fix Cristiano's tie who blushed and ruffled her hair lovingly. He heard her laugh. "You look like a tomato."

"A hot tomato?" Cris replied.

"Just a squishy tomato but I still love you, don't worry." She giggled.

Yes, Marcelo decided, they were such a perfect couple. It was such a pity that Zarine didn't have a sister!

"What are you two whispering about?" he asked.

They jumped slightly, looking very guilty.

"Oh, nothing," Toni quickly said.

"Just discussing that this should be the break-up time for Zariano," Keylor said at the same time and then turned red.

Toni smacked his arm. "Dude!"

Marcelo could never understand just how pessimistic these two were. "Why do you think they are about to break-up?"

"You haven't read the newspapers?" Keylor stared.

"Or the gossip coloumns?" Toni looked shocked.

"Or the viral speculations?"

Marcelo shook his head.

"Which rock have you been living under?"

They closed around him and it was Toni who whispered, "They have been arguing a lot lately. Their families don't get along and there have been cheating rumours."

"Seriously? They look very happy to me." He pointed towards them. "Have you ever seen anyone in more love?"

Keylor tutted, "Appearances can be deceiving."

"Besides who's cheating on whom?" Okay, he was a bit intrigued and he just loved gossip.

Toni frowned. "The gossip columns aren't sure. Sometimes they say Cristiano is cheating on her, sometimes they say Zarine is cheating on him."

"So basically it's just rumours," Marcelo said.

"The point is there are rumours," Keylor said. "And you know what's next? Suspicions, arguments, fights, divorce!"

"They aren't even married!"

Toni made an exasperated noise. "Divorce sounds more dramatic than break-up."

"You guys are crazy." Marcelo laughed. "I can't believe you are at a party and instead of getting drunk and sleeping with someone, you're discussing chances of a Zariano break-up."

"No, we aren't doing just that," Toni said, proudly. "We are actually betting who will have a break-up sooner—Zariano or Sharim."

Oh, right, Marcelo thought. Karim had Shaheen over too. He looked for them and found them goofing around on the dance floor. She was laughing at something he had said, or maybe just laughing at him while he was pouting and blushing.

"Either way," Keylor continued, "this will prove our point. Relationships formed over social media have a very low success rate."

An idea entered his head. He asked, "What about relationships formed through a common friend, a mutual acquaintance?"

They both looked stumped. Finally Toni had to admit, "A higher success rate, probably, though there would be a number of factors—"

"Excuse me then, I got a number to get," he smiled and walked over to Shaheen and Karim decisively.

"Hello, Shaheen, Karim," he nodded. "How are you? Good, good. I was wondering if you could do me a favour and maybe introduce me to your sister, give her my number or the other way round maybe?"

"Marcelo," Karim groaned. "Seriously!?"

He looked hopefully at Shaheen, ignoring the baldie, putting on his best puppy-dog gaze.

Shaheen replied, "Sorry, Marcelo, Chand likes someone and Noor...I don't think she would be interested."

"How do you know? Have you sisters been discussing me?" He winked.

She burst out laughing. "Sadly, we haven't."

"Then you should! Please, just ask Noor once?"

"Okay, how about I let her know and if she is interested I'll have Karim give you her number and vice verse?"

Karim grumbled, "Don't include me in this."

But Marcelo was over the moon. He had stalked Shaheen's facebook long ago and he knew Noor was beautiful and sophisticated. Well, at least that was the impression he had got from the pictures. Why wouldn't she be interested in a hunk like him? He smiled and said, "Thank you, Shaheen. I am really grateful."

"Don't bank on it though. I doubt she will be interested."

Oh she will be, he smirked.

Later that night, he lay awake in bed and Sergio's voice replayed in his mind. "If you were not a footballer, what would you have been?"

He hadn't answered because he hadn't known exactly what he would have been. No, that was incorrect. He had known exactly what he would have wanted to be. If he closed his eyes, he could see it so clearly. A luxury resort owner, a perfect businessman with the most famous destination holiday package in the world.

It had been a silly childish dream, borne out of watching Pablo's exquisite Resort around the plaza. He had thought of the name years ago—Marcelo's Resort.

And suddenly, he was wide awake. A resort owner and a footballer. Why couldn't he be both? The season had just ended. He had time on his hands. He was a powerful man. He could do anything he wanted. Why hadn't he thought of it before?

Plans began forming in his head with intensity. He could have it there. Yes, there. And the walls would be that colour and the trees. The swimming pool. The driveway. The garden. The opening night. The chiefperson...he stopped, a shrewd smile forming on his face. Oh he had the pick of the lot to choose from.

***

Hello, everyone! We're back at this and as usual, we need your support to continue this and turn it into the fantastic book we want. So, please vote if you liked it and comment to tell us what you're looking forward to, what you liked and whether you enjoyed it.

Just a few points for a heads-up:

1) The RM team is the one we had in Omegle and Snapchat, as this story picks up right after them. We'll add in new players and accommodate transfers when applicable to the storyline but tbh, we'll be keeping our favourites right here in this series.

2) If you're a new reader, 

a) Zarine is a character from Omegle.

b) Shaheen is a character from Snapchat. Noor and Chand are her elder and younger sisters respectively, as introduced in that book.

c) It would be better if you read these two books before starting Marcelo's Resort as this is the third in the series.

3) We love you, as always! ♡