I'll Be Thinking of You

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Back in Portugal

Neymar sighed looking at the clock on the wall, he didn’t like it but he knew that Meena had to go back to Lisbon that weekend; he just wished that he could have gone with her but he still had matches to play.

The letter that Meena had received from Miguel had set the footballer on edge especially since the man was in prison and had managed to find out where Meena was working.

“What are you doing today?” Nadine asked looking at her son, she was pleased that Meena was out of the way for a couple of days since it allowed Neymar to bond with his new girlfriend.

Gabriella chewed on her toast, she was doing her best to keep her cover as Neymar’s girlfriend but it irked her that Nadine was pushing her son into a life that he clearly didn’t want.

It made the model wonder what else Neymar had been forced into doing; she knew the Brazilian’s father had been a footballer and it made her wonder if he had pushed Neymar to follow in his shoes.

“I’m taking Gabriella to lunch,” Neymar murmured moving to mess with his cereal, he was waiting for a call from Meena to let him know that she had landed safely; he wanted to know that she was safe.

Nadine frowned, it was almost as if Neymar was moping around after the nanny and she didn’t like it; she had no idea why he was so upset about Meena being gone when she wasn’t important.

“That sounds nice,” Nadine said peeking between the couple, she did hope that this would work out better than his last girlfriend; especially since he deserved to have a decent girlfriend.

Neymar nodded his head, he was barely listening to his mother and he wished that he could tell her that he was really dating Meena; the brunette was a big part of his life and he felt horrid for not sharing his happiness with his parents.

***

Aranea nibbled on her lip as she waited for her older sister to arrive, it had only been a couple of weeks since she had last seen Meena but she felt that she should apologise now that she knew the truth.

Gabrielle and Carlos had sat Aranea down after they had heard what had happened, they hadn’t wanted their youngest daughter to know what had happened to her sister but it was clear that she needed to know now.

Aranea had been shocked and sickened to hear the story behind what had happened to Meena; she hadn’t even realised that her sister had been pregnant six years ago.

Of course, Aranea had been punished for her irresponsible behaviour and she was now spending her weekends working at her father’s office since she couldn’t go out with her friends.

“There she is,” Gabrielle breathed relieved to see Meena, she had feared that her eldest wouldn’t return to Lisbon after she had been told that Miguel had found a way to contact her.

Carlos had been furious since Miguel had been banned from contacting Meena after he had been sentenced to nineteen years in prison; he had served six years now and there was still a long time left to go.

Aranea looked up and stared at her older sister, she couldn’t believe how poorly she had treated her and now that she knew the truth; she hoped to make amends for what she had done.

Meena forced a smile as she walked towards her mother and sister, she wasn’t surprised that her father hadn’t come; it was hard enough being back in Lisbon after what had happened.

Gabrielle walked towards her daughter, she pulled Meena into a hug glad that her daughter had come home to her; she would support her no matter what happened.

“I missed you,” Meena whispered hugging her mother back, she doubted that she would ever have coped without Gabrielle and she was glad to have a mother like her.

Gabrielle squeezed her daughter in a hug, she closed her brown eyes wishing that there was some way to take away all of her daughter’s pain.

“Let’s get you home,” Gabrielle whispered ignoring the flinch that Meena gave, Lisbon would never be her home and she loved Barcelona so much now; it was going to be a long few days stuck in her childhood home but she had come back for Isabella.

Aranea was silent as she watched her mother and sister, now was clearly not the time to beg for forgiveness; she would wait until Meena was a little more relaxed about being back in Portugal.

***

Neymar smiled when he saw that he had a text message from Meena, he sighed in relief when he saw that she was home safe and sound; he just hoped that her trip went well and that she would be okay.

Neymar wished that he could have been there to support her, she was his girlfriend and he hadn’t been able to go with her since no one knew that they were dating.

His team-mates had begun to wonder if there was something going on between them especially since Neymar had pictures of his family, Davi and Meena inside of his locker at the Camp Nou.

“You miss her?” Gabriella guessed walking into the living room, they had a moment to themselves and Nadine was nowhere in sight; she felt bad for Neymar who was clearly missing Meena.

The footballer usually got to see his girlfriend every day of the week and now he would have to go a few days of not seeing her; Neymar would clearly struggle with not having Meena around.

“I do… I wish I could have gone to Portugal with her,” Neymar said shaking his head, he put his mobile back in his pocket and looked at Gabriella; he wondered where his mother had disappeared to since he hadn’t seen her in a while.

Gabriella nodded her head, Neymar wanted to support his girlfriend when she was facing her demons; it was a horrible thing to do and Neymar wanted to be there for her.

“It’ll be okay… Meena is a strong woman,” Gabriella said remembering the story of what had happened to the brunette; she didn’t know how someone could come out the other side of something like that like Meena had.

Neymar nodded his head with a smile on his face, he brushed his fingers through his hair thinking about why he had fallen for Meena; she wasn’t like the other women that he had gone out with in the past.

“That’s why she’s my girlfriend… she’s strong, independent, beautiful,” Neymar said with a smile, he was so lucky to have Meena as a girlfriend and he hoped that they had a good long future ahead of them.

Gabriella nodded her head, a smile on her face as she listened to Neymar talk about Meena; it was clear to anyone who listened to him that he was very much in love with the nanny.

Unknown to Gabriella and Neymar, Nadine was stood just outside of the living room out of sight listening to them; she leant against the wall as she listened to her son talk about Meena.

Nadine had no idea how Neymar had felt and she felt bad for forcing him to focus on someone that he clearly didn’t like; she was also upset that he hadn’t felt like he could share this with her.

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Author's Note:

Is there anything that you guys would like to see happen in this story? xxx