iv. ira

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"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." --Proverbs 15:1.

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                wrath: (n) extreme anger.

Cristiano and Adelaida continued seeing each other for months beyond the time that they met. With each time they saw each other, she felt herself falling more and more hopelessly in love with the world famous footballer. And he felt the same for her. He saw in her innocence something different and new, which he hadn't seen in most of the women he had encountered in his career. 

She was sweet and caring, and could do no wrong in his eyes. 

And he wanted her all to himself.

One day, on another one of his visits to Madeira, he asked her something that he considered to be bold. He had asked Adelaida to travel to Madrid with him. He wanted to show her around the town, but what his heart desired most was for the young woman that he was fascinated with to be at one of his games. Cristiano promised her he would behave. He knew the way she was raised was very conservative and he respected that. It was one of the reasons why he loved her. 

Adelaida smiled at him as she finally agreed, though she admitted to him that she would need to consult with her grandmother, and parents before making her final decision. Their opinion was of upmost importance to her and she thought they would be okay with it. Even though she was already twenty-three years old and very much capable of making decisions on her own, she always told her family where she was going. She grabbed his hand in hers and led her to her house, which was on the next street from where the church was. By that time, her grandmother would be having breakfast with her parents.

Being the youngest of her family, Adelaida still lived with her parents, while her older siblings already had lives of their own. The only way she thought to leave the house where she grew up was by the hand of her husband. 

What she didn't know was that would change.

She opened the front door to her house and dragged him along into the kitchen. The portuguese footballer chuckled at the childish way in which she swung their entwined hands back and forth. His smile was wiped clean off his face when he saw the serious face of her grandmother as she saw them together.

"Mom, dad," She smiled wide with excitement. "You trust me, right?"

Her mom nodded, digging her fork into a piece of fruit. "Mhm."

"So...I was wondering if it would be okay if I visit Madrid for a few days." She said as a half question and half statement.

"With what money, sweetie?" Her mother asked. The Vieira family was did not live poorly, but they certainly did not live a luxurious life. They merely lived comfortably with the money her father made and the money Adelaida recieved from her bible study classes. It was just enough to get them by without worrying about anything.

"I'll take care of everything." Cristiano spoke up shyly.

"No, no, no." Her grandmother shook her head immediately at the suggestion. "Adelaida can't go with you to a new place alone. Who knows what kind of intentions you have with her."

"Grandma," Adelaida pouted. "I'm twenty-three, not a child. I can take care of myself."

Mrs. Vieira turned to see who the person that came with her daughter was. She seemed impressed as she remembered, "Cristiano. Hey, isn't that the name of the boy my friend talked about long ago?"

Cristiano looked at Adelaida, confused.

Adelaida shook the thought away, "I'm sure its just a coincidence."

"I don't agree." Her grandmother crossed her arms over her chest firmly. Then looking to Adelaida's parents, she added, "Sergio, Romina, say something."

Mrs. Vieira sighed. "But mother, Adelaida is twenty-three. Let her see the world. Besides, knowing her, I'm sure she won't do anything you would consider to be bad." Mr. Vieira nodded silently, agreeing with her.

Grinning victoriously, she asked, "So, I can go?"

Her parents nodded.

"No," Her grandmother intervened again. "I forbid you to leave with this man, Adelaida. He's not good for you."

"How would you know?" Adelaida argued. She was upset that her grandmother as acting that way and it was beginning to ruin her happiness. How could she possibly be happy when she didn't have her grandmother's approval. She tried to reason with her, "God would want my happiness, wouldn't he? And my parents already gave their permission." Beside her, Cristiano felt bad about the situation. He never thought that loving Adelaida could bring her so many problems. He wanted to intervene, to say something to make the situation better, but he was frozen. And he also doubted there was anything he could say that would help. Her parents doubted the two would stay mad at each other for too long and decided to stay out of it. They had already given their permission and had nothing else to say.

Cristiano watched them as though they were daft. How could they let an argument like that happen in front of their eyes and not do anything to stop it? With him it was a different story because he wasn't a member of the family. But her parents needed to do something.

Her grandmother would not listen to her arguments. "You can't just do what you please."

"Yes, I can." said the twenty-three year old. "Its my life. Let me live it the way I want to."

"If you leave this house," Her grandmother finally said, "you will no longer be welcome here."

An anger that she'd never felt before burned like fire in her dark brown eyes. "If that's the way you feel, grandmother, then consider me dead."

Adelaida tugged on Cristiano's hand and led him to her bedroom where she packed her things in a suitcase. And he comforted her when the tears streamed down her face. She loved her grandmother, but she also loved Cristiano. And it wasn't that she loved him more, she only wanted to fight for what they had.

As they walked out of the Vieira's house together, he could hear her grandmother say with a sigh, "My poor granddaughter, they'll both burn together in hell..." 

Those words were engraved into Cristiano's mind forever.

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update after a bajillion years. from here there are only three more chapters and the epilogue, so four updates. i don't even remember why i stopped updating this frequently. but i will try to do so. anyway, i hope you're all enjoying the story. i might post the next one in the series when this one is over. maybe the aron johannsson one about the seven joys of christmas. i don't know yet.

so give this a nice vote and thank you for supporting me! i love you...

-clary xx