In Another Life || neymar

4. another life

4. another life

With three hours before his flight would leave, he got up and got ready with a newfound motivation driving him. The plan was that he was going to show up and she was probably going to be there already, like she always was whenever they argued. Her schedule started much earlier than his. The two of them lived equally close to the training grounds, but on opposite sides. He lived to the north of it and she lived to the south. Plus, he wasn't even on the team anymore. The previous day had been his last with Santos FC, and he had already cleared his locker and said his goodbyes to everyone there. But he just wanted to see Xenia and make sure that she was okay, even if she didn't want to talk to him.

When he got to the training grounds, he immediately noticed that his access badge didn't work anymore. It was literally just his ID with the Santos logo on it that gave him access to the facilities and all the players only spots within the training grounds. He didn't think too much of it though, due to the fact that he was no longer part of the team and they had probably terminated his access to the grounds once he left the previous day.

Neymar waited until another person with access came around and followed right behind them to get in. He parked in his usual spot, and went straight for the press building. It was only five in the morning, which meant that Xenia was probably in the gym working out. That was part of her daily routine. She would get up at four thirty, change into her workout clothes, and drive the ten minute distance to the training grounds. She would then work out for an hour and get in the showers at five forty five. After that she would get ready for work, get a snack and walk to the press building for her six forty five start time. Neymar always asked her why she didn't just work out after work. She always got out at three fifteen and that was around the time he was doing a cool down session at the gym to finish up training for the day at four in the afternoon. 

But she always felt self conscious about going, and she mentioned it to him. She liked going there in the early morning instead because there was only a handful of people, more likely employees. In the afternoon it was mostly the athletes who went.

He went straight to the gym in the facilities and looked around for Xenia, noticing she wasn't there. The gym was mostly empty except for two employees and maybe five other people who were there working out. He tried the hotel next. She told him that sometimes when she was early in finishing her work out and getting ready, she'd swing by the hotel to say good morning to Alizey and Moira. 

At the front counter to check in was Moira. It was around five thirty in the morning and in thirty more minutes, he was supposed to be at the airport already. Since he was twenty one years old, his parents trusted him to be able to travel alone. His father had gone with him to Spain a month prior to sign contracts and find a nice apartment for him to live in. Though his family loved him and it pained them to be apart, they would not be moving to Spain with him. Their home was Brazil and his parents knew they needed to give him the space to grow as a person, and not just as an athlete. Neymar made sure to let them know that they would always be welcome in his new home.

As he walked up to the counter, a big smile formed on her lips. He knew from his cousin Alizey that Moira was the opposite of nice though. She was rude to the customers for no reason and was very uncooperative on the job. But when it came to Neymar, she was always as polite as ever.

"Hey, how can I help you?" She asked the footballer with excitement. 

"Have you seen Xenia around here by any chance?" He asked, and at his question, her smile dropped from her face. He thought it was because she didn't really like Xenia. Neymar had always told his girlfriend that. That she should drop Moira because she was jealous of her. He could tell by the way she spoke to her, but also from the way she looked at her. She always looked at her like she was an obstacle in the way.