Faking Us

Chapter Three

Chapter Three: A Reason

I awkwardly walked inside my work. The customers there stared at me weirdly. I shrugged them off. Though it did get me thinking. Was I wearing my uniform inside out? Did I put the wrong pair of jeans?

I was in the middle of deep thinking when I heard Maria's voice echo behind me, "Hey Mrs. Da Silva Santos."

I rolled my eyes in a playful manner, "We're not married. We're just dating." I tried not to spill anything about it being fake.

"Catalina, you're acting so normal about this. You're dating Neymar Jr, the professional football player hottie. You're not going to at least brag about it?" She scoffed in disbelief.

I chuckled, "Fine, you want me to brag? I'm Neymar Jr's girlfriend." It felt weird letting those words roll off my tongue but it also felt nice. I've never had a boyfriend in my life and saying that my first 'boyfriend' is Neymar Jr feels awesome. Not to mention that he's actually just my friend. Then again I'm friends with most of the Barcelona team.

"How is he in bed?" I heard Josefina shudder.

I blushed immensely, "I-I don't know, we barely started dating! We're not doing anything like that!" I would never dream of having any intimate actions with Neymar, nope. I haven't even lost my virginity yet, let alone my first kiss. Again, we're just friends.

I wouldn't mind letting Marc do something to me....

What the hell is wrong with you Catalina Del Santoso?! Stop having dirty thoughts about Marc, he wants nothing more than a friendship. Now that I think of it, I'm in the friendzone for sure. Oh that's depressing.

I sighed deeply, fixing my work uniform's hat. I stood still at my station which was the cashier today. I pressed a few buttons in the register, causing it to start a fresh page.

I saw the silhouette of a person walk towards me. I continued on pressing buttons saying, "Welcome to Mario's Pizza Cuisine, how may I help you today?" I slipped a smile on my face and looked up at the customer.

"Hey peanut." He smiled sweetly.

My lip twitched in annoyance, "Hey...Neymar."

"I need to pull you out of work, we need to discuss something." He leaned against the countertop.

The customers inside were legitimately freaking out. I sighed, "Neymar, I'm working. Now shoo." I motioned my hand at the door.

He grabbed my wrist, "We need to go now."

I pulled my wrist back, "I'm working. Come back later when I finish my shift." I pointed at table for one. He pouted, walking towards the table. He was suddenly surrounded by fans and to my dismay, he brought in a lot of customers. Most of the customers weren't there for the food but while they were waiting to take their picture with Neymar, some were hungry and decided to buy food. I hated the fact that I had to be stationed at the register on this specific day. My specialty is in the kitchen.

By the time it was closing hour we had to kick out all the fans but that didn't stop them watching from the outside.

I pulled a chair in front of the table where Neymar was sitting.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"Guess who I got a call from?" He said excitedly, patting his hands on the table.

"Your manager?" I shrugged.

"Well he did too but I got a call from my dad!" He smiled widely.

"Your dad? That's great news I guess." To Neymar it seemed like a huge deal but I just thought he was overreacting.

The smile on his face fell into pieces. He sighed, "The reason why you're pretending to be my girlfriend is because of my dad."

"Your dad?" I repeated.

"Lets go to my car and lets talk about this privately." He whispered. He grabbed my hand and we left the store. We managed to push through the screaming fans until we got inside his expensive car. Of course he drove off to somewhere because the fans also followed us to his car.

He parked behind a local Spanish bank. I stayed quiet until he was ready to speak. He seemed sensitive about the subject of his dad.

At last he finally spoke up.

"My dad is dying."

My eyes widened, "What?"

"He's at a hospice." He croaked.

"Neymar, we've been friends for over a year, why haven't you ever thought to tell me?" I questioned, resting my hand on his shoulder.

"It was last week when I found out that his condition was so bad that he had to be sent to a hospice. I know he's dying and it would be a miracle if he survived." He looked me in the eyes, "Thats when I needed you. His last wish is to see me with the woman I really do love. That's why I needed you to pretend to be my girlfriend and get the word out because I know he doesn't like Bruna or Gabriella. You're my friend Cata, thank you for doing this."

He took a few deep breaths.

I pulled Neymar into a hug, "I'll be there for you. Don't worry."

I felt his arms wrap around me. His heartbeat went to fast to a more slower pace.