Fever Dream ~ Neymar Jr

Chapter 56

2018

The next day, I got ready to drive to practice by myself for the first time. I had offered to swing by our apartment and take David too but because I wanted to get to Loges earlier, he had declined. I still hadn't spoken to him after his friendly movie night with Clara, so I had no idea how that went.

"Stay." Saad said, looking at me get dressed. He was splayed out on the bed, covered by a sheet.

"I have practice." I told him but bent down to kiss him.

"You're something else." He said, cupping my face. I thought back to what Valentine told me last night. Did Saad actually see what we had as something that could turn serious?

My problem was that for the last 4 years, there was only one man I ever saw like that. Sure, there were other men I liked or found attractive. I liked hanging out with them and enjoying their company, like Xavi and even Saad. But if you asked me to jump in front of a train, so that a hair on their head wouldn't be harmed, there was only one person I'd do that for.

"Will I see you tonight?" Saad asked me.

"I can't, I'm busy." I lied. "But you should go out, do something fun." I told him.

He chuckled. That was basically me telling him he was free to find someone else to spend his night with. "You really are something else." He said as I grabbed my boots from the floor and walked out of his penthouse suite.

On my way to Loges I pulled the car to a halt at the side of the road and rummaged through my backpack that I had the foresight to put in my car last night. I changed from my dress and boots to sweats and sneakers, since I was sure they'd be photographers outside Loges again.

There sure were. They started snapping pics and asking questions but they all also complimented me on my car. I wondered if I made the wrong choice to get a car that stood out so much.

I went to the women's locker room, thankfully not running into anyone, took a shower and put my kit on before anyone arrived. I remembered two years ago, when Neymar used to play poker all night and then go to practice in the morning, sometimes without having ever gone to bed. How worried his dad and I had been. And now here I was, doing the same.

After I was done getting ready, I headed to the coaching offices, to find coach Emery. He was in one of the bigger meeting rooms, having his morning coffee with the rest of the coaches. Ian was also there.

"Yes, Olivia?" Emery asked, when I got inside. I normally would have no problem telling him in front of everyone except Ian was there and he'd most likely try to shoot down my idea.

"Can I speak to you for a second?" I asked him.

Emery nodded and got up to join me on the corridor. Ian was shooting daggers at me through the glass. I half expected him to try to read our lips. "Tell me." Emery said.

"It's about the practices."

"Aren't you happy that we brought Coto on? I thought you and Neymar would be thrilled."

"No, we are. It's great because he and I, we started this together. And I spoke to him before I came here and he also agrees with my idea, that we bring in more people to those practices. We did it in Brazil too. We first started with Neymar but then expanded to other forwards. I thought we could start that here too, with Kylian at first."

"That's not a bad idea. It's something I have also thought about. Let me discuss it with my team and I'll get back to you." I nodded. "Thanks for coming to me. And also, thank you for all your hard work. It has not gone unnoticed. And it's getting us results. For both teams." He said, for the first time seeming like he cared for the women's team too. "You girls... I underestimated you." He added, before he walked back inside the room.