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

89.

-Katerina POV-

I stood outside on the balcony. I rested my hands on the metal railing and let my head hang down. I felt like I was going to throw up or pass out, maybe both. The silence of the night was calming and it was the first time I'd been outside in days. The trees were wrapped in twinkling lights that sparkled under the moonlight. I looked down at myself in the Olympic-sized pool and found myself frowning back at the reflection. The Rey's mansion was built on a hill and the view included all of downtown Santiago and the mountain ranges behind it. It had a way of making you feel so small. I took off my mask and threw it to the side without caring where it landed. I raked my fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp in hopes it would make the pounding in my head go away. It didn't.

I heard a footstep behind me and my heart rate shot up. I jumped and turned around. "It's me," Neymar said apologetically. I sighed in both relief and dread as I turned away from him. He came beside me and leaned against the railing with his body facing me. "Can I just breathe for a second?" I groaned with my eyes closed.

"I wasn't saying anything," he said.

"There's a shock because you had a lot to say a few days ago," I muttered impulsively. He sighed heavily and I rethought my words. I pursed my lips and bit the inside of my cheek. "I'm sorry. I'm having a bad day, a bad week really," I sighed.

"Don't be. I deserve it," he mumbled. "What I said to you was fucked up and what I did at your party was-"

"Just because we do bad things, doesn't mean we deserve the fallout," I cut him off. "You had your reasons at the time."

"That doesn't make me any less apologetic," he mumbled.

"Can we not talk about it tonight," I frowned with my hand up to stop him from continuing. 

He responded with silence when I said that and I didn't bother to fill it. I focused my eyes on the view of the Gran Torre, the tallest building in Santiago, admiring the glow of the moon's reflection. On the 20th floor of it was the Inversiones Reyes headquarters. Santiago was one of the largest cities in South America and was the financial center of the country. It was people like Damon's father who put Chile on the map as the richest country on the continent. He may not have liked me much but he was loved by the nation, just like all of the Las condes families. The 1 percenters living in the hills, separated from the rest of the city. The connotation alone made my grandmother choose to live an hour away in Valparaiso, despite my mother offering her to live in our guest house.

People spent their whole lives dreaming of living here, of sending their kids to Nido de Aguilas, the best international school in the country, conveniently located in the Las condes neighborhood, where tuition alone costs more than the median household salary. Nido was a place where students were adults trapped in teenage bodies, inconvenienced by the mundanity of a class schedule. We learned more at the events our parents dragged us to, the galas, the dinner parties, the weddings, or better yet, the events our parents told us not to go to. The scandals, the inside deals, they were things we didn't even blink twice at. They were a rite of passage. It was a grooming process, ripening us to take our parents' place. My mind went to my mother, all of the hell I'd given her marriage after marriage, divorce after divorce. I gave her a run for her money and a good share of bad headlines but I could never- I would never- I couldn't even fathom the thought. What Damon had done was beyond my wildest imagination. Who knew the kids would grow up to be even worse than our parents were.

I was pulled out of my inner monologue when Neymar put his jacket over my shoulders. "You're shivering," he said.

"Oh, thank you," I replied. I snapped back into reality and remembered where I was.