Chapter 91

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Neymar had booked my ticket to Fortaleza one day before he and the team would get there, which coincidentally was at the same time as his interview. Maybe he thought I wouldn't watch it that way, but he didn't account for the dozens of TVs in the airport or the personal TVs each airplane seat had. The result was that the moment I walked into the airport his face was plastered on about a hundred screens.

"I can translate." Sarah offered as we sat and waited for the airplane to start boarding.

"No." I said quickly. "Thanks though."

She nodded. "I don't know when we'll see each other again, now that David and I..." She started saying.

"We're friends. Regardless of David and whether you are with him or not."

Sarah smiled. "Maybe I'll come to a game. Maybe— oh, that's your flight." She said as my gate was announced.

We walked towards the line. "See you soon." I told her as I hugged her. "And thanks for letting me crash."

"This way miss, you have early boarding." The guy I gave my ticket to said.

"I do?"

"Of course." He said and led me to the plane which was completely deserted except for a few people. "This is your seat." He said.

First class. Classic Neymar. He knew I'd be pissed about it but he did it anyway.

"Champagne miss?" The stewardess who had just appeared offered.

"No— no. Um, actually yes. I'll have some." I said the moment I sat and came face to face with yet another screen showing Neymar's interview.

"There are live subtitles." The stewardess said to me as she handed me a glass.

"Thank you." I said as I sipped and turned on the subtitles.

"So I have to ask you, there are some pictures of you that have surfaced recently, are you aware?"

"Yes, I'm aware." Neymar answered.

"And people noticed we know the girl you're with as one of your coaches. Isn't that forbidden?"

"No." Neymar said and his voice was strained. "I mean, she's not one of my coaches. She is a university student that the CBF has collaborated with on a project."

"But she's technically under CBF jurisdiction. Your coaches can't have liked that. Especially since Globo reported she was fired shortly after the pictures became public. I have to say Neymar, people are anxious your head isn't 100% on the World Cup."

"That's the furthest thing from the truth." Neymar said. "I am committed to my team and to my country."

"That's wonderful to hear. And people are glad the distraction has been removed."

"She's not a distraction." Neymar said angrily. "If you must know—"

"Yes?" The reported egged him on.

"She has helped us immensely. Her whole team has. And none of us are distracted. We want to win." Neymar said regaining his composure, somewhat.

"You mean this isn't distracting?" She asked again, pointing towards a giant screen behind her. It was a shot from the game against Chile, just before the penalties started. It showed me, whispering in Neymar's ear.

Neymar had turned red but not with embarrassment. He was angry. "That," he said, "won us the game."

"What do you mean?" The reported asked. "What did she say to you?"

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