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Cassie hated to go back home when it was already dark outside.
Not because she was scared-she was living in Paris since forever, she was used to the city-, but because to her, it meant that the day was over already.
Unfortunately, that was happening a lot these days, not only because it was almost mid-December, but also because her work wasn't really one with precise hours.
She was a journalist for Girl Boss, a new magazine exclusively online. They were basically writing about everything, sharing their points of view and experience, and that was the kind of things that people wanted to read nowadays-Cassie as well, that's why she was proud to be a part of it. She loved her job, the only thing that she didn't like was to be stuck at the office when it was time to go home.
She was living alone in a pretty nice apartment in the French capital for two years. She found the journalist job at Girl Boss three months after graduating from high school-her aunt knew the boss, which gave her a big advantage. Instead of leaving her aunt's house at the same time, the latter offered her to stay a little longer to save money, and Cassie was really thankful for that. A little less than two years later, she was finally leaving her aunt's house-a heartbreaking moment for the both of them-for this amazing apartment.
She never had to complain about it. They were two apartments on every floor-a normal one and a big one, and she was pretty lucky, because the big apartment next to hers was empty until something like five months ago. A guy was living there, and he had a son, but he wasn't with him all the time, so she guessed that he was living with his mother. Anyway, the guy wasn't very noisy, which was good. She didn't see him that often, because they seemed to have opposite hours when it was about work. However, when they did meet on the doorstep, he was always friendly to her, saying hello with a big smile.
But today, he was nowhere to be seen-probably in his apartment already-, she was alone in the corridor, cold, and pretty tired.
She took her heels off and entered in her kitchen with a sigh. She wasn't even hungry, she just wanted to drink a glass of water and took that dress off to wear something comfortable while watching tv. But she didn't have the chance to do any of those things, because she heard several knocks on her door.
She frowned and looked at the time: almost 9 pm. That was not her aunt-not her type to visit at this time. That was probably not her best friend Romain, who was currently in Norway for his holiday. And finally, that wasn't her colleague and best friend Mélissa, because she was always calling her before coming to see her.
So she just went to the door and opened it, and she was surprised to see her neighbor on her doorstep.
Neighbor that was secretly nervous and annoyed at himself right now.
"Uh...hi," he said, unsure.
He didn't want to bother her-she looked tired. Like, really tired. With shadows under her eyes.
"Hi," she smiled. "Can I help you?"
"I'm sorry, I forgot that here, 9 pm is not an hour to knock on people's door, I'll come by again tomorrow."
"Oh, no, it's okay," she shrugged, "Come in."
He nodded and entered the apartment. He was surprised to see that it was kind of the same as his own, but in a smaller version. And without all the Christmas decoration that invaded his own apartment already.
"Do you want something to drink? To eat?" she offered, and he shook his head.
"I'm fine, thank you. But you should have a drink and eat something."
What the fuck Neymar, why did you just say that? She can do what the hell she wants.
"I just-you just got home, so you must be hungry and everything," he explained, and she smiled.
"How do you know that I just got home?"
Wow Neymar, you're doing amazing in this conversation, just keep going!
"I...guess."
She nodded, still smiling.
"I'll be right back, you can sit on the couch," she said before entering the kitchen, and he nodded.
Well, that was awkward, and he didn't even start to tell her why he was there. But at least, she was smiling. Probably because he was awkward, though. And also because his French was bad.
"I'm here," she said, sitting on the couch next to her-well, on the other side of the couch actually, so they weren't even close-, a glass of water in her hands.
"You sure that I'm not bothering you?"
"I am sure. What's going on?"
"I don't really know where to start," he said honestly, and she nodded, not really alarmed.
Oh boy. You should be alarmed.
"So, hi, nice to meet you, I'm Neymar," he said, extending his hands, and she shook it.
"Cassie. Nice to meet you. Can I ask you where you came from? Because your accent is certainly not French."
"Brazil. Well, I was living in Spain."
"That's so cool," she said, really impressed. "Well, do you like Paris so far?"
"Yeah, I really do."
She smiled, and he took a long breath.
"Okay, look...you are probably going to think that I'm insane or something like that but I really need you to...consider it."
She nodded her head.
"I may have talk about you to my sister saying that you were cute and then she started to ship us and I really miss her and I really wanted to make her happy so I said that we were dating and obviously she is a talker so she told my parents and now my whole family think that we are dating and they are coming in a few days to spend Christmas here," Neymar said without taking in breath, and Cassie was looking at him, puzzled.
This hot guy though she was cute? This hot guy basically said to his whole family that they were dating?
What?
"I'm sorry this is awfully weird but could you pretend to be my girlfriend for a week? I'll pay you back, I really will. You can have everything you want."
"I need to...get some fresh air," she said, and she got up to open the balcony door and closed it behind her.
So...it could have been worst. She could have hit him, for example, or yell at him, like, insult him. Well, she still could do that when she'll come back. He knew that what he was asking her to do was weird, but he didn't really have any other choice. He just couldn't tell his family that it was all a lie. They were so happy to know that he was finally dating someone new.
He raised her head when he heard her coming back. If she didn't want to, which was understandable, he'll just-
"I'll do it."
"Are you sure?" he frowned.
"Yeah."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ HEY GUYS IT'S FINALLY DECEMBER This book looks a lot like one of my book in French I am apparently obsessed with people faking to love other ppl probs bc that's what I do with y'all 😉 Nah seriously i'll update everyday around 7:00 French time and if I don't I may have forgotten so feel free to insult me in PM + Girl Boss is inspired by the tv show The Bold Type what a tv show That's it bye i'll see y'all tomorrow
