"I'm so sorry, Cass," Mélissa pouted, and Cassie shrugged.
Romain had joined the girls for lunchtime that day, officially because he wanted to see his 'best friends in the whole wide world', secretly because Mélissa and he were dying to hear the mysterious story of Cassie's Christmas Eve.
And what a story it was.
"It's okay," she said, because well, she didn't know what to say else. Of course that it wasn't okay, but didn't she really have the choice? Not at all.
Neymar was a jerk. End of the story.
"His sister seems really sweet, though," Mélissa added, and Romain nodded in agreement. "I mean, she didn't have to come and apology for him."
"She is really mad at him. And I kind of feel bad now. I mean, we are not even properly dating, so..."
"So why is he that jealous?" Mélissa shook her head.
"They kissed," Romain answered.
"Yeah, but I mean, that's it. He didn't ask her to be his girlfriend or something. They shared a kiss."
"Several," Cassie whispered.
"Several what?" Mélissa rolled her eyes, "you know that you have to make sentences to speak?"
"Several kisses."
"Sever—what?!"
"She's right," Romain nodded. "What?!"
"Well after the first kiss we stayed like an hour on the roof kissing—"
"And why didn't you mention that before?!" Mélissa asked, half-mad, half-excited.
"Let me finish. And the next morning he knocked at my door and he basically kissed me good morning."
"My heart is broken," Mélissa sighed. "This is so cute and he just...ruined it all."
"His family is leaving today," Cassie said, and Romain frowned.
"Are you gonna say goodbye to them?"
"Yes, of course. I mean, I don't wanna see Neymar at all, but I can't do that to his family. I'm going there after work to say goodbye to them."
"Do you want us to come with you?" asked Romain, and Mélissa snored.
"You coming is the worst idea ever. But I can come if you want me to."
"Thank you guys," Cassie smiled, "but I need to do it on my own. I'm a strong and independent woman, you see?"
"Hell yes you are," Mélissa high fived her. "I'm proud of you."
"Yeah, me too," Romain nodded. "You slay."
"Since we are talking about strong and independent women, I..." Mélissa bit her lips before taking a deep breath. "I told my family that I like girls."
"Liss, I'm so proud of you," Cassie smiled, and Romain left his chair to take Mélissa in his arms.
"How did they react?"
"They actually asked me if I was dating Cass," she laughed, and Cassie smiled.
"That's because I'm pretty hot."
"Honestly, you're not even my type."
"I don't know if I should be offended or not."
"You should," Romain nodded his head.
"You're even less his type than I am, so shut up."
"So, is there a girl?" Romain asked, and Mélissa shrugged.
"I still don't know if she likes girls. Or just me or, you know. How am I supposed to know? Should I ask her straightforward? She's gonna run away if I do that, right?"
"Just tell her how you feel?" Cassie said, and Romain nodded.
"Yeah. It's kind of stressful."
"Not for the strong and independent woman that you are," Cassie winked, and Mélissa smiled.
"I love you guys."
"We love you too."
_
And there she was, back at it again with being stressed about knocking at Neymar's door.
But it was not because she was nervous anymore. Now, she was mad and disappointed. And she didn't want to see him at all. But she had to, so she took a deep breath and knocked.
Thankfully, Rafaella is the one who opened the door with a big smile.
"Cassie! What are you doing here?"
"I came to say goodbye to you guys. You're leaving tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, we are," she nodded. "You didn't have to do that. Actually, you don't have to do that."
"I know. But I wanted to."
"Come in," Rafaella offered her with a smile, and Cassie smiled back before entering.
The apartment was pretty quiet, even the TV was off—something that wasn't usual at Neymar's.
"Mom and Dad are in the kitchen, I'll be right back," Rafa said before leaving, and Cassie mentally thanked her: she didn't feel like going to the kitchen to say goodbye to them. But obviously, that's the moment that Neymar choose to come in the living room.
He stopped on his track and looked at her, surprised to see her.
"They are coming," Rafaella said, coming back, and Neymar lowered his gaze before leaving the room.
"Cassiiiie, are you leaving?" asked Davi, hugging her, and Rafa laughed before answering to him.
"He asked if you were leaving," she explained, "Carolina is coming tomorrow to pick him up, but he didn't remember."
"I miss mom," he said with a very cute voice, and Cassie smiled. For once, she didn't need translation. "Adeus Cassie, te amo."
"I love you too," she smiled.
Nadine and Pai appeared, and they both said goodbye to Cassie with sad smiles. She didn't spend much time with them, but she knew that they were amazing people and she kind of felt guilty for lying to them.
"Thank you for everything, Cassie," Nadine said. "Really. You're perfect for him and it's his loss if he doesn't realize it soon enough."
Cassie hated goodbye, but those were even bitterer because she didn't know if it was a simple goodbye or a definitive one.
______
Early chapter bc I am leaving in a few and won't be there in the evening
Love ♡