When I Met You

Part One: C14 Brunch.

We walked in to the conference hall and were guided to a big room with a bug table that was big enough to seat all of us.

The table had name cards on them to guide you where to sit. I looked around to find mine, which I did. It was near the end of the table but not the very end. Beside me was Marcelo. When I saw him I smiled and sat down on my chair, putting my purse in the ground beside me.

I decided to continue our conversation from before while we wait for everyone to he seated.

"So, you were saying something about your brother." He said.

"Yes, my brother. Well he lives back in Toronto with his little family. He has a son, my nephew, who is the cutest person in the world." I said smiling. I really wished that they were here with me right now, I could really use the help. "So yeah. Tell me about your family."

"Well similar to your brother, I have a wife named Clarisse, and a son named Enzo." He said. I could tell that he loved them a lot, just by the way his eyes lit up as he was talking about them.

"That's sweet, do they live in Brazil as well?" I asked.

"Well as of right now, they are back in Madrid at our house because that is where I live as I play for Real Madrid. But they will be here soon before the world cup when the grounds will be open to families." He said.

"That's nice. You must miss them?" I asked.

"Do you miss your family?" He asked.

I nodded and then he nodded too. Marcelo was what looked like a tough guy on the outside but he was a total softie. Hearing him talking about his family made me miss mine. Marcelo is such a great person.

David was sitting across from me and beside him was Oscar. Ashley was sitting beside him. I looked at her and smiled.

We continued talking until all but one seat were occupied. Meaning that there was one player who was missing. That one seat was beside me and that person was Neymar. Oh boy.

I closed my eyes and our started to replay in my head. I remember his face when he told me everything. So vulnerable. But I don't care. He says that he did it because he 'wanted to he treated normally', well he's going to get exactly that. When normal people lie, other people with act normally and be upset. If he thinks that because he is Neymar Jr, he can have it his way, he's wrong.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and looked at the hand. My eyes followed it to meet with a concerned looking Marcelo. He must've noticed my facial expression.

"It's okay." He said. Of course.

I looked down in my lap and soon the once empty chair beside me was now filled by the one and only, Jerk Jr.

He looked at me and gave me a sad look. No Adriana, no.

My hand flew to the side of my head to my temples and started to massage them with my fingers. Oh no, here we go again. I put my elbow on the table and massaged my temple even more. Neymar must've noticed because I felt a hand rubbing circles on my back. I opened one eye and saw Neymar's concerned face. I flinched a bit and shuffled around trying to get his hand off in my back.

"Adriana, are you okay?" Coach Scolari said from across the table. He was sitting on the other side of David. "You look pale."

I took my fingers away from my temples and tried to ignore the pain. I put up a fake smile and looked at coach. "I'm okay." I then grabbed my purse which I knew had my meds. "I'll be right back." I said parting for the washroom.

However, the pain in my head was too much to bare that I made my way to the side of the path towards a wall and slumped to the ground. I put my head in between my legs and groaned in pain. Holy shit, this is intolerable. I feel like I'm going to die.

As much as I wish I could've reached in my purse and got my meds out, I was too much in pain to do so.

"Adriana!" I heard a male voice yell. I didn't bother to look up because my head was pounding.

Whoever it was walked up to me and sat down.

I groaned again in pain and the person quickly reached for my purse pulling out a water bottle and my meds. He put his hands on my head lifting it from between my legs.

I opened my eyes and once again my eyes met with hazel greens. For a second I really thought it was Joia who was here with me. His face was concerned and filled with care. But then, when I realized it wasn't, that it was the indescipible, lying Neymar, I flinched out of his touch and took the meds and water bottle out of his hands. I put the pill in my mouth and drowned it down with water. I closed my eyes and exhaled a breath of release. The pain in my head was still there, but it was less.

"Are you-" He started.

"Stop." I said cutting him off. His face was hurt.

"Adriana, please." He said. As much as I wanted to hear him talk to me, I didn't. "I will do anything for your forgiveness. Please."

"Joia, this is not the place to talk about this." I said, but then I realized that I just called him Joia. "Sorry, I meant Neymar."

"It's okay. You can call me Joia. I like it when you do." He said softly. Goodness, I don't want to call you that. "If this isn't the place to talk about this, promise me you will talk to me about this."

"You think this is all easy. Guess what? It's not. I'm not superman. I can only take so much." I said grabbing my purse and standing up. Without glancing at him, I dusted off my pants and ran a hand through my hair. Ignoring him I strutted my way back to the room we were eating in and pulled up a fake smiling acting like nothing happened.

When we all know that something did.

Throughout brunch it was pretty much eating in an awkward silence. I would look up from my plate here and there and be confronted with a sympathetic smile from the others.

After about and hour of eating and just talking around, it was time for the conference. The staff part of CBF, was called in first and well, now that I'm technically staff, I had to go with them.

Nervous.