One Night in Santiago/Football Under Flashing Lights (Neymar Jr. Fan Fiction)

67.

-Katerina POV-

Not having Neymar in London for the CFDA awards was the only downside of the day. Luckily, just as he and Alexis left me, my mother landed and she and Jose took me to a very nice celebratory breakfast. It had been a while since I got to do fashion week with my mom since she was almost always unavailable due to show prep but she dedicated the entire day to going to events with me and being my date to the award event. It was nice to have her around to talk to and to give me advice for my interviews and meetings. After all, no matter how old you are, a girl needs her mom sometimes.

In my case, I needed my mom more than I cared to admit right now. The reality was: I was terrified of going back to Barcelona. Damon had gotten bolder with his threats since my departure and it was something I knew him well for while we were together. However, this year, I had a lot more on my plate and I couldn't physically satiate his need for my attention. As a result, he threatened to go after Rafaella if I didn't break up with Neymar soon and though I fought him off for a few days, the picture he sent me of Rafaella through her apartment window was enough for me to give in.

I had been very concerned that Neymar heard me on the phone but when he didn't mention anything, I thought it best to leave it that way and just avoid the question. Luckily, I had Clara as a sure fire fallback excuse for my late night calls but I wasn't sure how long that would work. I needed Damon to use the bank card I had given him in order to gain some ground on him but for whatever reason, he hadn't yet and until he did—I was putty in his hands.

"Mija, are you nervous? You're going to get crease lines if you keep doing that. Relax," my mom pinched my cheeks, bringing me out of my internal debate. I rolled my eyes at my mom's biggest concern being wrinkles and rejoined the conversation between her and Ezra. we were in the limo on our way to the CFDA event and to say I was nervous was definitely an understatement. This was the biggest night of my career so far and to be receiving the award from my mother tonight would be the most epic moment of my life.

My mother brought me the most beautiful gown for the evening. It was bold and simplistic all at the same time. It was a white halter neck gown with gorgeous crystal detailing around the bust and it had a long cape that featured the same detailing and trailed behind me. I matched the navy accents on the dress with navy blue point toe heels and silver jewelry. I felt like a million bucks but for some reason, I couldn't get my face to match my mood. There had been so many occasions like this that Damon had always ruined in the past. Although I knew Neymar would never do that to me. In fact, he did the opposite. Earlier this afternoon, I had received the most beautiful bouquet of roses from him. He spoiled me any chance he could and I loved him for it. The more I thought about him and all he did for me, the easier it was for me to relax. I needed to enjoy the night because this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and my mother was right--I didn't want any wrinkles.

My mom and Ezra had been talking about the Victoria Beckham show we had been to earlier this afternoon and I weighed in on my thoughts when it was warranted. Before we knew it, we had arrived at the venue. I was so happy to be here with my mom and Ezra and the paps went crazy for us. After some solo shots of me in my gown, my mom and I did a few interviews. We greeted a French reported and answered her questions about our upcoming show before we reached a Spanish reporter. "You two look gorgeous tonight," she complimented, kindly. "I know many tabloids have taken and ran with the news about Vera working with Rick Staleger. We've heard that as of last week his contract was terminated which left a lot of us asking questions. Would you clarify things for us?" she asked my mother directly.

"Certain things were brought to my team's attention that did not align with our values as a brand and we eventually had to amicably go our separate ways," she answered politically. I sighed a silent sigh of relief at that because Rick-gate had significantly increased my blood pressure so I was beyond glad he was out of the picture and we could all move on with our lives.