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"what are you here for then?"
when luara and neymar arrived at márcia's apartment, she was in a good mood, but at the sight of the football player, she was raging. she disgusted at the sight of him on the tv, let alone in real life.
luara rolled her eyes, huffing, "mamãe."
"hm? what is it?" márcia ignored her daughter's plea, and threw the dish cloth over her shoulder. she didn't even look at them. she had her hands busy in the sink, washing dishes.
"i have to tell you something." luara responded, taking no notice of her mother's disinterest. with an annoyed hum, she exhaled, "i'm– engaged."
her mother's hands froze in their spot, halfway through washing a plate. after a few moments of stood in a still, agonising silence, she squinted her eyes, "let me see."
luara nudged past neymar and rounded the counter to her mother, who dried her hands and spun to face her. she lifted luara's left hand, twisting the diamond ring, examining it closely. luara was on edge. her mother was silent, and she didn't know how to take it. neymar, who stood on the other side of the kitchen counter, leaned forward and folded his arms across the surface, waiting for something to happen.
finally, she let out a hum, still eyeing the ring, "no."
"what?"
"you're not doing it, i won't allow it." she started to take the ring off luara's finger, but luara was quick to stop her.
"what– mamãe–"
"no, luara." márcia said sternly, finally lifting her eyes, and shooting daggers with them at neymar, "he's gonna hurt you again, and again. i am not being the one to wipe your tears away and–"
"i'm not going to hurt her, márcia." neymar stood straight, shaking his head and cutting her off, "why do you think i put that ring on her finger, huh? why would i wanna marry her?"
márcia and luara stood stunned. luara didn't expect him to stand up to her mother like that, but he did, and, she had to be honest. it turned her on a little bit. but she didn't want to think about that just yet, not when her mother was in the room.
"here," neymar rounded the counter too, standing in front of her, "márcia, please can i have your permission to marry luara?"
márcia stared at him. luara had never seen her so silent before, she had to cling onto neymar's sleeve to stop herself from laughing.
"i'll send you flowers every sunday. no fail. no money, though. i'm not buying luara off you."
after another moment of staring at him, she glanced down at the ring, humming, "hmph. it is a beautiful ring."
luara hummed in encouragement, tilting her hand a little bit.
"no fail, you understand? i like my orange roses."
neymar nodded. of course both of them liked roses. the only difference was that luara's favourite were red. a scarlet red, in pretty black and gold paper.
"i better be going to those dress fittings, luara." she turned, getting back to her dishes.
luara sucked on her teeth playfully, moving in front of neymar so her back was against his chest, and intertwining her fingers with his, "mhm, yes, mamãe."
