You Before Me |Neymar Jr.|

Chapter 13

Alex's POV

My phone rang from under the pillows of my bed, the familiar marimba sound filling my room. I pick up, smiling to myself. Right on time - 05:45 am.

"You ready?" came Neymar's voice through the phone?

"I'm always ready," I responded earning a laugh from his side.

"Oh and Kylian said he wanted to join today. I don't know if he's actually coming though."

"Well then call and ask," I said.

"Oh yeah. I can call him," he remembered. Dumbass.

"What?"

"Oh nothing." Didn't mean to say that out loud.

"Okay well, I'll meet you at the corner," he said, ending the call.

Neymar and I decided that every day at 5:45 am, we would head out on morning runs. I was already doing it and just had to get Neymar on board. Of course he whined about it but eventually he agreed. So far, three days had passed and we were still on track. No breaks. Yet.

I zipped up my active jacket and stepped out. Last night, I had a conversation with my parents. I know, shocking. I wasn't expecting it either. After nearly 2 years, they finally decided to call me. My parents and I had always had a rocky relationship. Their point of view was completely different from mine. I was "rebellious" in my ways.  Our opposing views clashed leaving a less than loving family relationship. My brother on the other hand... he's a different story. Yes, I have a brother. Now 28 years old and my parents' definition of a perfect child. That is, until he decided to join the Marines. Both my parents had wanted us to grow up and have "decent jobs". The odd thing is that my father and mother both work for the FBI. My mother is assistant inspector general of the FBI while my father is the lead of the Criminal Reponse division. My parents were in my mother's words, "utterly devastated" when my brother broke the family tradition and joined the Marines instead of FBI. They never gave him permission. But I did. I pushed him to follow his dreams and do what he wanted. Not what his parents did. But I myself had a dream to be just like my father. I hated him but wanted so terribly for him to be proud of me. That's all I wanted. I thought I had done it. Made my parents proud. Joining the academy in Quantico and going through rigorous training.  I made my way up through the ranks to the #1 agent in my class. But it wasn't enough. I was humiliated in front of the whole administration when my father called me useless and incompetent. That I would never be good enough. That's when I realized that nothing would make my parents love me. Or be proud of me. I didn't need them to. I was proud of myself. And so was my brother. He had been the one to get me through. Reminding me of what I had told him earlier.  The opinion's of others do not matter. Only your own does.

My parents had called to tell me that they were "in town" and wanted to come visit me. I knew something was up. They were trying to convince me to drop the mission I had. I nearly dropped my phone when they told me what they wanted.

"Honey, we think it's best if you drop your case with that Brazilian boy and come back to the states. There are so many things for you to do here."

Better things my ass. The whole conversation had gone to shit after that sentence. I hated it when people were fake and tried to act like we were best friends. That was exactly what my mother was trying to do. Pretend like she cared. I was tired of people taking things I enjoyed doing. And frankly, I loved being away from home. In a new country every week, travelling around with the team. I enjoyed Neymar's company, listening to his stupid jokes and cleaning up after him. It made me feel like I was needed. That feeling you get when someone makes an effort to check up on you or when people notice you were gone, even if it was just for 5 minutes. That feeling, it's incredible.

All my pent up anger needed to be released, the frustration clawing at my body. Begging for me to let it all out.

"Salut," Kylian greeted at the same time Neymar said "hola".

I gave them a exaggeratedly confused look.

"Whaaat? Ich verstehe nicht," I responded, earning even more confused looks from the two boys.

"Too many languages," I laughed, as the boys agreed.

"Languages get pretty complicated in the football world," Neymar said "I mean, I had to learn Spanish, English, and now French."

"Ooooh fancy," Kylian said.

"Oi, we're not here to chit chat," I interrupted, "get a move on!"

"What does that mean?" Kylian asked as we started jogging.

"Like start doing whatever you're supposed to," I explained. He nodded, understanding the phrase.

Neymar and I started off jogging side by side but soon, I picked up speed. After 3/4 mile of jogging, I began running ahead. Kylian took my spot beside Neymar a little ways behind me.

"Honey, we think it's best if you drop your case with that Brazilian boy and come back to the states."

"You think you're good enough to be a real agent? Think again Natalia."

"Why can't you just be a normal girl. Wear nice dresses, be well mannered. Not manly, fighting and killing people."

The words rang in my head creating a loop on repeat. Why can't I be the perfect daughter they wanted? Am I really just a screw up? Am I annoy to people? Am I a disappointment?

Anger and frustration courses through my veines as my legs pumped faster along the trail. The trees blurred into a long line of green and the lake disappeared from beside me. All I could hear was the sound of blood pounding in my ears. The vibrations of my feet hitting the floor traveled up my legs, sure to cause an ache tomorrow. A strangled cry came from my throat as I fell to my knees. My vision went in and out of focus and my head felt heavy. Deep breaths Natalia. In and out. I felt the adrenaline slowly leaving my body taking my energy along with it. I got up and walking down to the edge of the lake, watching the birds bathe on the edge. I hardly registered the sound of footsteps and voices called by my name. A hand was felt on my shoulder and I turned abruptly.
"Hey, it's just me," Neymar said holding his hands up.
"You run hella fast," Kylian panted, plopping down right next to me.
"Sorry," I grimaced. I could feel Neymar's eyes on me, trying to get me to look at him. When I eventually did, he frowned at me.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah everything's fine. Why do you ask?"
"You've never run like that. You literally sprinted the whole way here."
" I just felt like running faster today. Getting all that energy out."
He nodded, definitely not buying what I was saying.
"We'll finish this later," he muttered in Spanish before sitting down in between Kylian and I. We sat there watching the sunrise over the lake.
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Hope u guys enjoyed this chapter. It was a glimpse into Natalia's past and what she's going through right now.
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Ciao,
-Mia