'Hello.' he said glancing at the three of them and then resting his eyes on me.
I looked down, holding onto Neymar's tight grip of my hand. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were scanning Kylian.
'Hey.' I said with a small smile.
I could hear Luca and Andrea's feet walk away from this situation. Kylian looked at me, then at Ney and back at me, none of us saying anything, creating a tension you can cut with a knife.
Kylian sighed. 'You guys look really good.' he said with a faint smile. 'And I want to congratulate you on becoming official.' he said nodding his head.
I frowned at his words, confused where this was coming from.
Was he sincere? Was he trying to start a fight? I couldn't read him.
Neymar looked confused, but with a smug smile on his face nodded his head. 'Thank you.'
A tall blonde girl walked over to us, who looked like she could be a model. Only if she wasn't one already.
'Are you not going to introduce me?' she said with a smile glancing from me to Ney, her eyes now stuck on my boyfriend.
Calm down, Irina.
Kylian moved his arm and placed it around her, not breaking the eye contact with me.
'Nat, this is Irina and her boyfriend, which I assume you recognise, Neymar Jr.'
'Nice to meet you.' I said extending my arm.
'Pleasure's all mine.' she shook my hand in response.
As no one was saying anything and the tension was unbearable, I decided to excuse ourselves and take us away from this awkward situation.
'Looks like he found another girl to mess around with.' Neymar said rolling his eyes.
I knew Neymar missed Kylian. And I knew that I was the main reason why they fell off, but he never wanted to agree to that. He said there's many other reasons but I didn't believe him. They've been inseparable for so long and now they were acting like strangers.
I screeched when I felt someone pinch my waist. 'Oh my God!', I laughed when I saw Marquinhos and his wife behind me smiling.
'Ça va?' he said. 'You guys look amazing.'
'Ça va bien.' I smiled. 'Thank you, you guys look incredible too.'
He introduced me to his wife, about who I heard many things since I became part of the team.
***
The evening was going well, a lot of money being donated to charities and everyone getting along, conversations being heard all around. We were sat with Luca and Andrea, Marquinhos and Carol, Presnel and Sarah, and Marco and Laura.
Neymar's eyes lit up and his head turned towards me immediately, as Pagodão do Birimbola started playing, making me laugh.
'Let's go.' Luca beat Ney to it and extended his hand towards me.
Neymar playfully smacked his hand away. 'Don't you have a girlfriend?' he said standing up, smiling.
'Yeah, but my girlfriend isn't a fan of this song. Your girlfriend is.' he said looking at Andrea who rolled her eyes laughing.
'Yeah, well she's my girlfriend.' Neymar said looking at me.
'But she's my bestfriend.' he carried on, making me and Andrea laugh.
I stood up and looked at Andrea. 'Do you mind?'
'Please, he's all yours.' she said laughing.
And with that I grabbed both Ney and Luca towards the dance floor. I positioned myself in between them, letting Ney give the start. We started doing this little choreography Neymar taught me and Luca, stealing the spotlight. Everyone was looking at us with a smile on their faces, while me and the boys were laughing. After the song finished, I threw my arms around their necks and dragged them into a hug. We danced a bit more, Andrea joining us at one point.
***
We all returned to our seats, Neymar caught up in a conversation with the boys.
'I'm going to go outside for a cigarette.' I told Ney.
'You want me to come with you?' he asked.
'No, no.' I smiled.
Before standing up and walking away, Neymar gave me a kiss. On my way to the smoking area, I decided to scan the room looking for the golden boy. Without needing to grab his attention as he was already staring at me, I nodded at him towards where I was going.
There was no one in the smoking area, so I took a seat on the couches and waited to see if Kylian would show up. After a few minutes, he appeared in the doorway with his usual stupid smile.
'Does your boyfriend know you're sneaking out to talk to me?' he smiled, standing in front of me.
'Can you just sit down?' I said rolling my eyes.
He took a seat next to me, and sat there in silence while I was building up the courage to say what I had to.
'Look, I know you probably don't like me very much anymore, as I'm a constant reminder to why you and Neymar drifted apart.' I sighed. 'And I am truly sorry for that.' I said turning my head towards him, who had a blank expression on his face. 'I hope somewhere deep down you know that, that was never my intention.' I said not breaking the eye contact. 'The point is, he really does miss you and he tries to fill this emptiness that you left, with Luca. But it's not the same.' I said looking away and fidgeting with my fingers. 'You know him, he's very stubborn and he won't listen to me regarding making things right between you two...' I turned my head towards him, meeting his eyes again. 'All I'm asking is if there's any chance you can... maybe... talk to him and try work things out.'
He was quiet for a moment and then bursted out laughing, a confused expression showing up on my face.
'What makes you think I want to talk to him?' he asked, his eyebrows frowned slightly.
'You don't?' I asked quietly, confused.
He didn't say anything, looking away from me and down to the ground. After a few moments of silence I decided to stand up.
'Yeah...' I said facing Kylian who was still sat, but was now looking at me. 'It was stupid of me to even suggest this.' I turned around to leave but he grabbed my arm, making me to turn and face him again.
'On one condition.' he said, a smile growing on his face.
'Which is?'
'I get to spend a day with you.'
