constant conversations // neymar júnior

dois: the book

Lara stared back at the guy, her eyes wide as she waited for him to answer her. He had light hazel eyes and when the sun hit them in the right places, she could see little specks of green in them.

"Oh, desculpe," he apologized before quickly correcting himself, "I mean lo siento." he said quickly, shaking his head in embarrassment. Lara smiled at him, "It's okay, I understand Portuguese." she assured him. A look of relief washed over his face and Lara knew instantly how he felt.

When she first moved to Barcelona for college, she was a bit dazed and confused with all the Spanish. She didn't have a lot of Brazilian or even Portuguese friends in Barcelona and it took her a while with a lot of struggling involved to be able to even order food at a simple restaurant.

"I was just wondering what book you were reading." the guy said, pointing at the opened book clutched tightly in Lara's hands. Looking down, Lara closed the book and held it up so that he could see the cover. "It's Looking for Alaska by John Green. Ever heard of it?"

The guy cocked his head to the right and shook his head, "Never. Is it about travelling or something?" he asked, observing the cover intently.

Lara chuckled and put the book down, "Nope. It's about this guy who goes to college where he meets this girl. She's just absolutely different but in a good way. It's one of my favorite books." Lara explained.

"I'm Neymar, by the way." the guy said before extending his hand to shake hers.

Neymar observed her face as he waited for her to shake his hand. She brushed her hair back and shook his hand, "I'm Lara. It's nice to meet you." she smiled.

Her hands were soft and they were smaller than his. She pulled her hand away after they shook hands before closing her book and setting it down on the table in front of her. She grabbed the red mug and took a sip of her drink.

"Are you Brazilian?" Neymar found himself asking. Lara nodded, "I am. And you?" she asked. Neymar nodded as well, "São Paulo. Born and raised." he said proudly.

Neymar was born and raised in a city in São Paulo called Mogi das Cruzes. He was taught by his parents to never disrespect a woman, and to never bite off more than you can chew, to stay down-to-earth and always to remember where he came from.

It wasn't exactly rare to find people who knew Neymar. He was one of the youngest footballing talents in the world, but Lara didn't know who he was - and he wanted to keep it that way. He was tired of girls taking him as 'Neymar the future best player in the world'. All he wanted was girls to see him as just Neymar.

"I'm from Belo Horizonte, born and raised as well," Lara explained, "I moved here for uni." she added with a smile. Neymar just looked at her with a smile on his face as well. It's been a while since he's met someone who didn't know who it was and he was just going to savor this moment while it lasted.

Lara's phone rang deep in her pocket and she pulled it out before rolling her eyes at the name on the screen. "Yeah?" she answered. She stayed quiet for the most part of the conversation, only saying 'ok' and 'yes' over and over again.

She finally hung up the phone and sighed before stuffing it back into her pocket. "I've gotta go, my boss is making me come to work even though it's supposed to be my day off." Lara rolled her eyes. Neymar frowned, a bit sad that his new found friend had to leave so soon.

"Well, okay," Neymar said before shifting in his seat awkwardly, "But can I get your number? So we can maybe talk about books again." he chuckled. Lara blushed and glanced at Maria who was pretending not to be looking at them.

Lara nodded and handed Neymar her phone. Neymar punched his number in and then proceeded to text himself so that Lara's number was also in his phone. He handed the phone back and shot Lara a smile, "I'll be sure to check out Looking for Alaska."

Lara looked down at her copy of the book, the pages worn out since she's re-read the book so many times. She thought about it for a while before handing the book over to Neymar, "If you want to, you can take my copy. It's in Portuguese so maybe it'd be easier to read. It's pretty hard to find Portuguese translated John Green books here in Barcelona."

Neymar looked at Lara stunned before nodding and taking the book from her hands. "Obrigado." he murmured, looking over the book happily. Lara nodded, "No problem. See you around, Neymar."

//

Neymar flipped another page in the book as he sat by the dinner table in Dani Alves' house. Dani invited the squad over for some dinner and Neymar couldn't resist bringing the book with him just to check it out - and now, he couldn't put it down.

"Oi, Neymar!" Rafinha called from across the table. Neymar put the book down and turned towards his friend, "What?" he asked. "What are you reading?" he asked.

Neymar smiled and held the book up proudly, "Looking for Alaska. No, it's not about travelling the world."

"Cool, where'd you get it?" Leo Messi pitched in this time, looking at his friend intently. Neymar smiled as he thought back to Lara, "This girl I met at a coffee shop. She lent it to me, it's her favorite book and she wanted me to read it. She's Brazilian too."

Dani Alves tilted his head as he listened to Neymar gushing about Lara. He knew that Neymar's had a rocky past when it came to relationships but the way he talked about Lara made Dani think that this was something good that has yet to come.

//

ok chapter two :) i hope you guys liked it