Cause and Effect

Five

^not sure if I'm more jealous of Hector or Thierry in this pic xD

Once Hector and Granit had left us, I turned to look at Thierry, who was observing me silently.

"So, I signed Neymar this afternoon, he joins us next week after his return from Brazil," he stated.

I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Nothing like being blunt about it," I responded. "Why are you telling me this?"

"As you can imagine, we paid quite a lot for him," he said. "But Barça also offered to take you, plus a small fee, in exchange for Neymar. I turned it down, of course."

I stared at him incredulously.

"Me?" I repeated.

"You, Nia Ramos," he chuckled. "I just wanted you to realise I'm not the only one who can see your potential."

"I'm not ready to leave yet anyway," I shrugged. "I know I'm from Barcelona, but..."

I broke off, not sure if I wanted to express how I was feeling to him. He waited patiently for me to speak, until I decided I could trust him.

"But Arsenal is my home now," I finished.

"Your blood's about as red as mine, I guess," he chuckled. "And maybe now is not the time for you to leave. But when the time does come, don't be scared to take a chance. I promise I won't try to hold you back from your dream, and you'll always find your way back home when you're ready."

I nodded, taking his words seriously.

"You did, I guess," I said.

"I did," he smiled.

"Thank you," I said honestly. Thierry had surprised me with his words, I hadn't expected him to be so thoughtful.

"Now go and enjoy the dinner," he grinned, patting me on the back. "And if you must date Sanchez, for heaven's sake don't ever break up! I'll be furious with you if you ruin your chemistry."

"Wait how did you know?" I asked him, incredulously.

"I know everything, it's in my job description," he smirked. "Now go!"

All of the others had already arrived, since I'd been talking to Thierry for quite some time. My seat was somehow between Hector, and none other than Neymar himself. Across from us was Alexis, Granit, and Mesut. This would be an interesting dinner, to say the least.

"Nice of you to join us, Nia," smirked Granit, who was the first to notice my arrival at the table. "Been chatting the boss up again, I see."

I glared at him.

"Ha Ha, look how hard everyone's laughing at your funny joke," I said sarcastically.

The other guys chuckled, whilst Granit rolled his eyes at me. I took my seat between Hector and Neymar, and turned to smile at the latter. He returned the smile cheekily, but before either of us could speak, Alexis introduced us.

"Maybe you'll stop begging me to introduce you to Neymar Jr now, Nia," he laughed.

"Hey!" I protested. "At what point did you hear me begging you?"

"You nearly died when Lex told you he might be transferring to Arsenal," Mesut chuckled, agreeing with his friend. "That was pretty funny."

"Oh, that explains it," Neymar chuckled.

"Explains what?" Asked Alexis, confused by his words.

"You couldn't wait for Alexis to introduce us, you had to come find me yourself, huh?"