Will men and women ever be able to play football together?
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Ever since she started to play football professionally, Tamira Singer's dream has been to start a new football competition: the respective male and female first teams of a club form a n...
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"Don't look at me like that, I'm not happy about this either," Tamira said instead of greeting Neymar.
He was coming down the stairs wearing a simple jeans and T-shirt combo. The outfit looked comfy. Plus, his feet were bare, which made Tamira all the more jealous – her mother had made her dress up to the occasion, so she was stuck with high-heels and a dress; blue, to go with her eyes.
"Don't I know it," Neymar mumbled, but otherwise ignored her presence as he went past her and through a doorway. Tamira followed him begrudgingly, not really knowing what else to do now (she'd been hovering around the entrance door, a part of her still hoping she could escape this evening).
Her mother was already greeting Neymar's sister Rafaella and his best friend Gil with a kind smile and a warm hug, and Emma was following her example and extending the greeting to the just arrived Neymar, albeit with more reservation (there were loyalties to uphold).
Tamira was eyeing the spectacle in front of her and waving at Rafaella and Gil shortly, when Neymar's dad came up to her, a gentle smile on his face. "Thank you for coming," he said softly and Tamira returned the smile, shaking his hand.
"I guess it's no problem," she replied. As she said it she couldn't help but glance over to where Neymar was standing, listening to her mother talk about the drive here. He smiled at her mother while he answered her question about the house, and Tamira thought it was an honest one, so... points to Neymar for trying to be nice. Plus, if he could manage, so would she.
Pai sighed. "I hope it's alright with you all," he said a little louder to get everybody's attention. "It's such a nice evening, I thought we could eat outside? It's so warm for late October, isn't it? Right through the glass doors, dear."
Dear? Yuck.
Her mom grinned like a school girl, making Tamira roll her eyes. "I know the sentiment," Neymar muttered next to her. They were the last to go through the door and Tamira could make out the grimace on her face in the reflection of the glass. "Come on, filho. Let's see what your grandpa's up to."
The presence of the little boy with blonde hair only now registered with Tamira and she smiled down at him gripping his father's hand. Davi, Neymar's son. He looked up at her with big dark eyes, then he said something in Portuguese and Tamira frowned, not understanding. Davi turned to look at his father, arms reaching up. Not a moment later, Neymar chuckled and picked up the boy and said something in Portuguese back to him, making Davi smile bashfully and hide his face in his father's neck.
Tamira thought she was about to die from the cuteness of it all.
"Say it in Spanish, Davi. I know you already can do that," Neymar encouraged his son.
"You play with my daddy," the Spanish words pronounced oddly by the young boy. "You play football too."
Tamira nodded and smiled, gazing at Davi. "You're right, I do. In the women's team. And the mixed one with your dad. Your name is Davi, right?" The boy nodded after a moment's contemplation, after which Tamira felt relief inside of her. She'd been worried Davi wouldn't like her. Wait. Why would she care about that?
