Chains

Chapter 7

Crazy. Loon. Mentally unstable.Deranged. A down right idiot.

If it was any other time I wouldn't even dream of thinking of my sister that way.But I had no choice. She gave me no choice. Her actions didn't fit the blonde that I knew. Not only did she force me to go to a kid's birthday party,but she knew for a fact who the kid belonged to. She knew for a fact who I struggled and worked so hard to make those 100 cupcakes for. And the worst part of it all, she knew exactly why  she wanted me to attend the party.

The past 30 minutes were filled with some forced, awkward conversations that I had to endure with his close family and friends and not to mention the reluctant encounter I had with Carolina. I tried my best to avoid her like poison, but Shakira made sure that we crossed paths. I tried my best keep the fake smile plastered on my face from fading but I could only endure so much of her actions. No one person should be that happy to see someone they weren't even that close to, especially when they were an accomplice in your ex-boyfriend's cheating shenanigans.

Luckily, I was saved by Rafaella who needed help with setting up a treasure hunt for the kids. So now I was outside with the heat of the Barcelona sun pelting my skin.

"Come Lou. I thought you were gonna help me" Rafaella whined as she hid a wrapped box with a toy inside behind a flower pot.

I opened my eyes to look at her. Here I was sprawled out on the ground while she had already hid half of the toys. But I couldn't help myself from being so ineffective. I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out. It's like the sun had set some sort of curse on me which made me the most lethargic and unproductive twat on earth with no proper communicating abilities.

"No worries, I'm here now to help"

I didn't even look to know who that was. The voice paired with that familiar cologne that suddenly filled the air was more than enough confirmation for me.

After about 10 minutes, the shuffling and toy-hiding stopped. Rafaella sat beside me on the grass, flashing me a huge smile. Before she could unleash her hidden intentions, I apologized for not being much of an assistance to her.

"It's just that, I can't handle this cursed sun. The heat is just too much for me"

Before she could reply, another voice filled the air.

"It's not the sun that's making you so hot, meu coração ."

My head flashed in Neymar's direction just in time to meet the wink he threw in my way. My eyes widened at his comment which earned me a smirk from him. Without another word he walked back inside the house. I turned back to Rafaella whose huge smile seemingly got even bigger.

"What was that hm?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows while giving my shoulder a soft nudge.

"A failed attempt at flirty maybe,I don't know." She gave me another nudge to the shoulder.
"Oh come on. Seriously Lou. What's going on between you two? Hm" she asked, her words laced with excitement.

I raised my eyebrows, getting a bit annoyed at the situation. This is the fist 'encounter' that I've had with the guy since the dinner and all of a sudden there's something going on between us. Rafaella could definitely read the the expression on my face as her huge smile began to fade.

"You still haven't forgiven him yet, huh" she said knowingly, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Should I?" I asked. I could feel my breathing get heavy as I recalled that night and the bouts of depression that followed. I really didn't want to go back in that dark place, but it was slowly but surely taking over me. I got up from the ground and went back inside, ignoring the calls from Rafaella. I searched for Shakira but she was engaged in a deep conversation with a group of parents . I didn't want to interrupt because I knew she'd find a way to involve me in the conversation that I wasn't in the mood for.

I headed for the door only to be stopped my a loud voice.

"No don't leave !" I looked behind me to see Rafaella but sadly her outburst caught the attention of Shakira and Neymar. Great, just what I wanted. I quickly made my way outside, not bothering to explain myself or even spare them a second glance.

After realizing that I didn't drive here and that Shakira had the keys to her car, I decided to walk instead. Bad idea.

The moment that I had decided to continue my overly dramatic exit from his house by walking in the hot, blazing sun was the moment I realized how deserving I was of a room in a mental institution . But my pride didn't allow me to go back . Instead, it made me walk for almost an hour until I reached a familiar road. I recognized that the road led to the beach we went to a few days back. I instantly continued on the path I was on until the familiar salty air filled my nostrils.

I quickly took off my shoes so I could feel the warm sand on my feet. Although my feet were tired, I walked a bit more until I was right at the seashore. The cool waves crashed against my feet, helping me to cool down my sun scorched body. I took a few steps back and sat down , allowing my feet to still get hit by the waves but the rest of me to remain dry.

As I took in the beautiful scenery to clear my mind, my phone began to ring, resulting in a frown forming on my face. I took the phone out if my pocket to see that Maluma was calling me. I reluctantly answered his call.

"Why are you calling me?" I asked,playfully. I could almost see him frowning.

"Well geez, what crawled up your rear end today? You promised to be nice to me " I chuckled a bit then shook my head .

"Seriously , what do you want" I asked, chuckling.

"Fine. I'm just calling to inform you that we have a date on Friday"