One Night in Santiago/Football Under Flashing Lights (Neymar Jr. Fan Fiction)

39.

-Katerina POV-
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" I heard the thick Chilean accent say. I was frozen and I felt my car keys slip through my shaking fingers. My heart beat was definitely audible and I could only imagine how pale I looked. "Nice to know I can still take your breath away," he smirked. I tried to ask what he was doing here or how he knew where I was or anything to answer the millions of questions in my head but nothing managed to come out.

He took a step toward me and I automatically stepped a few steps back. He slowly bent down to pick up the car keys that I had dropped. He held them out to me and I took them quickly. My breathing was short and raspy and I felt like I could collapse any minute. "D-Damon, how d-did you f-find me," I stuttered in a whisper. It was a dumb question but it was all I could form into words. My eyes started to blur with tears and I tried desperately to blink them away.

"Katerina, stop being a dumb bitch for once in your life and think logically. You're name and face is on every fashion magazine. It wasn't hard," he said in an irritated tone. I knew that tone and I knew what came after that all too well. I instinctively crossed my arms over my body protectively. When I felt no impact on my body, I looked at him cautiously. He was looking over my head which caused me to follow his gaze. There were two women walking to their cars talking and laughing, completely unaware of what was going on. I suddenly felt a painful grab on my upper arm as he pulled me behind a wall. He was quick to push my back against the concrete and I contorted my face in pain. "Listen because I'm only saying this once: if you ignore my messages again, this," he squeezed my arm unbearably tight, "will get much worse. And if I were you, I wouldn't tell Prince Charming or anyone else about this little meeting because trust me, I'll know. Are we clear?" He threatened as his face was inches from mine. I turned my face away and couldn't hold back my tears of fear and pain.

I nodded quickly because I wanted to get out of this as soon as I could. Thankfully, he loosened his grip as soon as I responded and I let out a small breath of relief. However, he didn't move his hand nor his face from mine. I shivered as I felt his hot breath on my tear stained cheek. I felt his lips kiss my cheek and I cringed with my eyes closed as more tears fell from my eyes. He rested his lips there for a few seconds before he moved back. "I hope to see you again soon. I've missed you," he whispered. He let me go after that and pulled the hood of his black sweatshirt over his head before he simply walked away, leaving me to cry against the wall.

I couldn't bare open my eyes until I heard the sound of a shutting exit door. I gasped for air and tried to regain control over my breathing. I looked around frantically and hoped no one had seen us. I rolled up my sleeve to quickly examined my arm where he had grabbed me. There was a bruise there slightly darker than my skin tone in the shape of an obvious hand print. I pulled down my sleeve and decided I needed to get out of this parking garage.

I walked quickly to my car and got in, locking the doors immediately. However, I couldn't drive anywhere looking the way I did. The paparazzi would catch me for sure and this wouldn't make a pretty headline. I pulled down the visor mirror and saw my distressed expression staring back at me. The makeup that the stylists had done was completely ruined by my endless tears. My expression didn't change even though I knew he was gone, I was still terrified. I felt beyond violated and definitely not safe. I had always had the thought in the back of my mind that it had been Damon who was sending those strange texts yet hearing the confirmation sent chills down my spine. I kept telling myself it was impossible since I had changed my phone number as soon as I could after he and I broke up but boy was I wrong.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the ringing of my cell phone. I jumped at the sudden sound and waited a few seconds contemplating if I should answer. What if it was him calling now? I cautiously pulled it out of my handbag and read the caller ID. '❤️❤️❤️,' it said. It was the contact name I had given Neymar. I took a quick deep breath and cleared my throat in case my voice was croaky. I accepted the call and answered, "hello."