Neymar breathed a sigh of relief once he was done feeding and cleaning Davi. “Fed the t-rex as well?” Caro smirked. “Don’t even remind me of that” he groaned. I chuckled seeing his reaction, which earned me a glare from him. “I think I’ll head home now” I said. “So early?” Caro asked. “Yes, I’m tired” I said. “I’ll drop you” Neymar offered. “Oh, it’s alright. I’ll take the bus” I said. “It’s late and I don’t want you to take bus” Neymar said. “It’s only 8pm not midnight” I said. Neymar ignored me completely and grabbed his car keys. “Bye Fleur” Caro said and gave me a friendly hug. “Bye Caro. Where is Davi?” I asked as I looked around the room for him. “He is in his room” Caro said. “Give him a kiss from me” I said. “I will, it was nice seeing you again” she said. “When are you going back to Brazil?” I asked. “In a couple of days” she said. “Well, take care” I embraced her. “You too Fleur, keep an eye on Neymar” she said quietly so only I could hear it. I nodded and let go of her. “Ready?” Neymar asked. I nodded and followed him to his garage.
We were quiet during the drive to my place. He parked his car in front of my apartment and got out. He opened the car door for me and helped me out, since I was wearing heels. “Thanks” I said. “I should thank you” he said. “For what?” I asked. “For the toy and for not holding grudges” he said. “Neymar don’t be silly” I said. He held my chin and looked into my eyes as I looked into his. “Take care of yourself Flor” he said quietly as he leaned in. I gulped hard, believing he was about to kiss me, but he kissed my cheek instead. My heart beat was erratic nonetheless. “B-bye Neymar” I stuttered. “Tchau” he said. I shut my door behind me once I was in my studio. I leaned against it with a pounding heart and slid down to the floor. I buried my face in my hands and let the shameless tears trickle down my cheeks. Why was I crying? I didn’t quite understand this sudden surge of emotions that flooded through every cell of my body. After crying for a while, I felt better. Crying did help to process sad emotions. I put my hair up in a messy bun and washed my face. A glass of wine and my favorite pair of pajamas were my comfort for the night. I called Selina and ended up telling her everything that had happened today. I could never hide anything from her, even when I tried to, she always knew how to squeeze every last bit out of me. “Distance will do you good” she concluded. “I know” I said. “Are you ready for the exams next month?” she asked. “Oh dear lord!” I gasped. “This is what I meant by your life surrounded around him only. It’s unhealthy!” she said. “He is out of my life” I said. “Out of your life? You longed for him to kiss you girl!” she yelled. “It’s not even been 2 weeks, cut me some slack!” I groaned. “If you are not over him within a month, I’m calling in professional help” she warned. “Selina, don’t you dare call that lame matchmaker dude!” I yelled. She laughed evilly on the other end of the line. “If you give me no choice I will” she said. I could imagine her with a big smirk plastered on her face. “Can we change the subject?” I pleaded. “Fine! So what are you going to do now? Getting your job back or something?” she asked. “I actually went by there yesterday, since I had to buy new shoes at the mall” I said. “What did James say?” she asked. “He was glad to see me again and he said that he might have a part-time job for me. He asked me to come by tomorrow” I said. “That’s great news!” she said. “Yeah, else I wouldn’t have been able to pay next month’s rent. I’m running low on cash” I admitted. “You know you can always ask me for help right?” she asked. “I know Selina, but you know how I hate borrowing money from anyone, even from my best friend” I said. “You and your formalities” she grunted. “How is Pans & Company treating you? Is Marco still eager to get into your panties?” I asked with a grin. “It’s alright and don’t remind me about Marco! He bought me my favorite chocolates the other day” she sighed. “Why don’t you give him a chance?” I asked. “I like the chase” she laughed.
After being on the phone for over an hour, I finally had dinner and went to bed since I had to get up early.
“Fleur!” James smiled when he saw me walk into the big Decathlon sports store. “Hi James” I said and gave him a quick hug. “Sorry about yesterday, I wasn’t able to talk properly since it was a busy day” he apologized. “No worries, clients are our priority right?” I winked. He chuckled and nodded. “You can start tomorrow” he said. “What? So early?” I gasped. “Well I hired a student and she chases away the clients with her attitude. I couldn’t find a replacement so I had to keep her. I thanked the gods when you came asking for a job yesterday” he chuckled. “I have to thank the gods too then” I chuckled. “Hello, can you help me with something?” a woman asked, interrupting us. “Yes, of course” James said and gestured me to wait.
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[Flashback 1 year ago]
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University fees were ridiculous these days! My parents supported me, but I had 2 more siblings whom my parents supported financially as well. I didn’t want to burden them so I got a part-time job at a big sports store inside the Gran Via 2 mall. I had to thank my younger brother for it. He worked in the same mall and had overheard some employee talking about Decathlon hiring new people. I had some retail store experience, thanks to my last summer job at H&M. This was something different, but I saw it as a challenge. My job interview went well and I got along with the store manager James right away. I knew my way around the store within a week. I liked interacting with our customers, but I had better skills in managing the stock which was an equally important job. So James gave me the responsibility to do that. I went biking with my friends a few weeks later and unfortunately some reckless behavior from my part made my leg end up in a cast for at least a month. I wasn’t happy about it, but there was no point in bitching and moaning about it. I was able to continue my work fortunately with some help from James and the other employees.