Finding Love

Rosalie

"I don't think there is anything in this world that can prepare you for the pressure of social media"

We cheered when the team walked on the field, I smiled seeing Mateo; boot free. The media hadn't been the easiest on his recovery there were so many rumors saying his career was over and some were happy to see him gone. But he ignored it all and pushed to be back. 

His mom stood up dancing to  his return, Isabella and Francesca did the same copying their grandmother. "I'm happy to see my baby boy back" Catia expressed as she watched the teams huddle on the field. 

"Me too Catia" I said rubbing her back. The men got posited but I didn't see Mateo anywhere.

"Sophia do you see him on the field?" I asked standing up to get a better look. 

"No" she answered as we both searched for him. There was no way their coach benched him again. The ref blew the whistle and the game started. 

"Ayyy! Why is Mateo benched!" Enzo yelled as the screen zoomed in on the Brazil team locating Mateo sitting angrily. That man was beginning to piss me off. How could he bench him? His ankle was ok,  "This is some bullshit!" I cursed next to Catia and Sophia. The doctor said he was clear almost three hours ago. 

We all watched the game disappointed Mateo wasn't playing, neither team were making a goal and everyone was getting irritated. "Maybe if they put Mateo in we could get a goal" Enzo mumbled under his breath frustrated by the first half of the game. Brazil was struggling against Cameroon and we saw their coach get stressed on the screen.  

I watched him point to the bench and Mateo sprinted on the field as a sub, I jumped up with excitement!  "Go Mateo!!!" Enzo and his wife yelled as Brazil got possession. It was about time they put him in!

 The game started to get interesting as Vinicius kicked the ball to Mateo and he sprinted to the goal, as he was about to score a defender rammed into him and they both fell.

I closed my eyes worried he was hurt but Mateo got up quickly and ran back in. He got the ball again and passed it too Richarlison, he caught to the ball and charged to the goalie  but was blocked by defenders. Passing it back to Mateo, he shot at the net fast but the goalie covered it. 

"Dang" we all sighed but we're proud of Mateo's shot on goal. The game reset and Brazil tried to score again. It wasn't looking good in their favor, Neymar had recently been injured and put out the game so there was a lot of pressure to score.

Going into the second quarter Cameroon got possession and instantly shot on goal earning their win again Brazil. We all sat shocked by the outcome. It was Mateos first game back and they lost, his father looked disappointed and went inside. I rubbed Catia's back, "he played good" she said looking at me. 

I agreed though they lost Mateo had an amazing comeback. Sophia had been quiet since the second quarter and I turned to check on her, "are you alright?" I asked. She looked at me then back at her phone I was confused on what was happening. 

"Mama, why is everyone staring at Rosalie?" Francesca asked making me notice people in the stands pointing and whispering at me. 

I was getting anxious and put my sunglasses back on to hide from the disgusted faces, "Rose think you should look at this" 

Sophia gave me her phone and a picture of Mateo and I outside of his hotel was posted all over twitter. I gasped scrolling through the photos, reading the headliner "Souza's new girlfriend?" 

"This cannot be happening" I said looking at the comments...

"Mateo likes black women?" 

"That looks like one of the interviewer-" 

"What is he doing with her kind?"

"She's probably with him for the money" 

"Who does she think she is touching Mateo like that?" 

"Mateo Souza is taken? My favorite bachelor soccer player"

People started to pull out their phones and record me. How did this happen? We were careful not to be seen my anyone. I got up and ran inside to hide from the camera. Sophia followed after me.

"Rosalie, its not that bad" she tried to calm me down but I was freaking out. The one thing I wanted to do was stay out the publics eye. My relationship with Mateo was still growing, I didn't need extra attention. 

I opened my phone and saw my instagram spammed with comments. How did they find my social media? There were mixed reactions and I couldn't handle the pressure. Mateo's name was trending on twitter and I saw people connecting the dots, pulling up our interviews and stalking my post

I kept reading the comments and twitter posts inside the box as Catia brought me some water and Sophia answered calls. 

"He even follows her on instagram and liked her recent post!" one of the comments said 

Another underneath replied, "she was wearing his jersey today too!"

The thread went on...

"They're defiantly dating!" 

"Finally a soccer player with a black girlfriend" 

"He needs to be with a Brazilian girl. Not some negro americano"

That comment had over 600 repost, I was slowly losing my mind. They were making so many stories about me and Mateo without knowing us. I limited my comment on instagram and shut the phone off. 

"Yes mama... she's ok" I heard Sophia say on the phone

I had multiple messages from my mom and sister asking if it was true but I couldn't answer any of them. Drinking the data Catia gave me I wanted to go home and act like none of this happened.