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We ended up going to the same tavern I had gone with David and Marinho last time. I remembered the conversation I had with David then. If you like him, make sure he knows. David gave good advice. When we got inside I saw David with his parents. Of course they'd be there as well. When they saw us they all got up to greet us.
"C'mon join us!" Marinho said.
Neymar looked at me and his friends and everyone nodded. We linked two tables together and pulled up chairs.
"Long time no see." David told me when I sat next to him.
"Great coincidence, isn't it?" Regina asked.
David made an incoherent sound. Neymar and I exchanged a glance.
"So Olivia, how long are you staying in Brazil for?" Regina asked me.
"For the World Cup."
"Only?"
"We don't have any plans yet but there is always a possibility of a continuous collaboration with the CBF."
"Olivia has gotten attention from the coaches. She's helping me train." Neymar told Regina.
"This is big." Marinho commented. "Coaching football in Brazil isn't taken lightly."
"What are you doing in those training sessions? Neymar never says anything!" Gilmar asked.
"It's all top secret." I joked. "In all seriousness, we have signed a contract."
"I've told you they take it seriously." Marinho said again.
"We are using the data we collected from our simulations to better the instinctual responses to particular likely scenarios."
"In other words we cheat." Neymar added quickly, a grin forming on his mouth.
"Not exactly!" I objected. "We are deceiving his brain if you will. Teaching it how to respond to particular situations."
"This all sound very impressive." Regina said. "Don't you think honey?" Regina turned to David.
"You're very impressive Liv." David told me. "You know who else thinks she's impressive mum? Her boyfriend." He said pointing at Neymar.
We all looked at each other speechless.
"Guess the cat's out of the bag." Neymar commented.
"Are you ready to order?" The waiter appeared.
The rest of the lunch was a little awkward but everyone started engaging in conversations again, except for David. I speculated that the reason he was mad at his mum was because of what Thiago had told me.
"Could you make an effort please?" I whispered in David's ear. "Your parents are here to see you."
"I'm just not in the mood." David said, his head buried in his hands, his locks obscuring it completely.
"I get that." I told him, putting my hand on his shoulders. I noticed his mom watching us. She had a worried expression on her face. "But David..."
"I know."
When we finished lunch we drove back to the compound. I had only briefly talked to Neymar's friends but I liked them. They were fun to be around and were his friends since they were kids. They were always supportive of him.
Upon reaching the compound Marinho expressed a wish to see the pond and everyone decided to head there. I felt a hand on my wrist and turned around. It was Regina.
"We will meet you inside." I told the guys. "It's getting hot out here." Everyone but Neymar and Jô was already out of ear's reach. Neymar turned to look at me. We communicated without words, like we always did. Once again I was surprised at how quickly he and I had gotten to such a level of understanding. He turned around and followed the others to the pond.
Regina and I started walking towards the entrance of the compound.
"Thank you for staying back." Regina told me.
"No problem." I said. We reached the game room which was still empty and sat on the sofas.
"David's told me about you Liv. You've been a good friend to him since you came to Brazil. That's why I wanted to talk to you." Regina continued. "I want you to tell me what is wrong with him. He..." Her voice broke. "Is this about Sarah?"
Was there a point in denying it? I could tell his mum was feeling bad about this and it broke her heart seeing her son like this. I nodded.
"I see." She said and her voice sounded harsh all of a sudden. She blamed Sarah I realized. Without knowing the whole story, she blamed Sarah.
"We don't know the whole story." I told her. "But... David is gonna be fine." I tried to say reassuringly.
When the boys came back from the pond it was time for them to go. We said goodbye to David's parents and got back inside to look for Rafaella. Neymar refused to call her and when Gilmar did we found out that she and Alex had gone to Rio and she wouldn't be back.
"Nice to meet you guys." I told Gilmar, João and Jô.
"You too."
Neymar went with them to the parking lot and I went to the game room. David was there. He was sitting on the sofa, watching TV.
"Hey." He said when he looked up and he saw me. I walked up to him and sat on the couch. I wrapped my hands around his arm and rested my head on his shoulder. "I know what you want." He said. He raised his hands in a sign of defeat. "Sarah mentioned you met in Sao Paulo."
I nodded. "I was—"
"I know Liv." He said, taking my hand in his. "But Sarah and I? We are unfixable at this point."
"Why?"
"I look at you two," David said, motioning towards the door and I saw Neymar coming inside, "and we were like that too. But we haven't been like that in a while."
"But that can change again." I said as Neymar sat across from us.
"There are some things you can't go back from." David said.
"Like what?" I asked. "What is it that she did that is so bad?"
"He asked her to marry him and she said yes." David said.
"Theo?" Neymar and I exclaimed at the same time.
"How do you know his name? Never mind. Yeah him."
"Oh my God." I said, not believing what I heard. "This makes no sense."
David chuckled.
"Wait, she said yes? When? But she came back to you!" Neymar said, looking probably as confused as I did.
"Did she realize she loved you? She made a mistake accepting his proposal?"
"Even she isn't sure at this point." David said, putting his head in his hands.
"I don't get it David. You decided to spend some time apart and—"
"No, as it turns out it wasn't even like that!" David said. "That's why this is all so fucked up! Because it's not just about me and Sarah, so many people have gotten involved!"
"What do you mean?" Neymar asked.
"My mother." David said looking at Neymar. "I don't know what the hell she told Sarah, she won't admit to anything but I know she meddled. And next thing I know Sarah said yes to that guy!"
"Does she love him ?" I asked.
David shook his head. "I don't know."
"David listen to me. This is getting you nowhere." I told him, taking his hand in mine. "You have to talk to Sarah and clear this mess. It's affecting your mood and your game and this is the most important thing right now."
"She's right man." Neymar said. "It does you no good to wallow in self-pity. And who knows? Maybe Sarah has a good enough explanation."
"You're right." David said, looking up at us. "I'm gonna talk to her." He said standing up.
"Now?" I asked.
"Why not? I'm tired of feeling like this! That's your thing." He told me, finally cracking a small smile at his own joke.
"And he's back." I said sarcastically. "I hope I don't regret this."
"You and me both sister." He said as he closed the door behind him.
"Okay, that was weird." Neymar said as he came to sit next to me. I wrapped my hands around him. "That's your thing? He's hilarious even when he's sad."
"Ha ha." I said. "Seriously now, what he said about his mum? Is there a chance it's true?" I asked.
"I don't know babe. I know Regina doesn't like Sarah but she used to. And at lunch today..."
"That was just David. I mean she barely knows me, she wouldn't try to set me up with her son just to get rid of Sarah!"
"Mmm." Neymar said.
"You guys watch lots of telenovelas around here." I said.
"You know in the one Bruna's playing right now, her TV mother—" Neymar started saying but I threw a pillow at him. "Let me tell you!" He exclaimed as I turned around and tried to throw another one at him but he grabbed me by the wrists. I tried to fight him off and he finally released my wrists only to start tickling me mercilessly. I got up and ran to the door, Neymar on my heels and fell on someone.
"Ouch." I exclaimed looking up. It was Neymar Senior.