"Have you heard from Neymar?" Ana asked peeking at her best friend curiously, she had been surprised when it had been announced that Neymar was moving to Paris.
It was not something that she had ever seen coming and she was even more surprised that Valeria hadn't gone with him and stayed in Paris.
The two of them had worked together for a couple of years now and the two of them had become fast friends from the moment that they had met.
However, Ana could not help but notice the longing glances that Valeria had been sending to her phone as if just hoping that it would ring.
"Not since yesterday," Valeria mumbled messing with her salad, she had been relieved to get back to work and have something to distract her rather than sitting around the house and doing nothing.
The dogs had been a great distraction but there was only so many times that Valeria could play fetch before she was certain her arm would fall off.
It was strange being in the house without Neymar and she doubted that she would ever adjust to the fact that she was going to be living alone again.
Neymar was in Paris, he wasn't going to be coming back here anytime soon and she needed to get used to that; they spoke when they could and it reminded her of when they had first started dating.
"How is he settling in?" Ana questioned, she hated seeing Valeria so down and she wished that there was something about it; she couldn't imagine being so far away from the person that she loved.
Hell, she couldn't go an hour without seeing a silly message from her girlfriend, they were always sending each other the most silly things to make the other laugh.
Valeria had made the right decision for her, she had decided to stay back and Ana respected her for that; she knew how important it was for Valeria to stand on her own two feet.
"He's doing well... Dani and the others are keeping him busy," Valeria replied glad that he had friends looking out for him in Paris even if it did mean that he missed her calls in the evenings.
But it was good that he had that support around him, the last thing that Valeria wanted was for him to go through any of this alone.
Ana was silent for a moment watching her friend, she didn't want to say something that could further upset Valeria; she focused on her own lunch for a moment as she thought about how she could best offer support.
There was no denying that it had been a difficult situation when Neymar had announced that he was moving; it had been rather unexpected even if Valeria had expected him to proposal.
The two of them had talked about how they thought he would propose and Ana had been the one to help pick out the dress that Valeria had worn that night.
However, what's done was done and there was no going back now; it was just something that they were going to have to get used to since they lived so far apart now.
"And how are you handling it?" Ana asked concerned, she was here for whatever Valeria needed and she knew that her friend would have her back in the same way.
They would be lifelong friends that Ana could tell, no matter where their lives took them; she was sure of that and Valeria was someone that Ana knew that she could count on for anything.
"I'm fine," Valeria replied, it had been strange being home without him and Valeria had found it hard being home almost waiting for him to walk through the front door sometimes.
The dogs were great company and work was a good distraction, it wasn't sure what would happen when she didn't have any distractions to take her mind off him not being there.
"I am sure that he misses you just as much as you miss him," Ana reassured resting a hand on Valeria's shoulder, she gave it a squeeze before the bell rang signalling the end of their lunch break.
The two women shared a look knowing that their talk would have to end here, the two shared a small smile before they got to their feet and prepared to head back to their classrooms so that they could teach their afternoon classes.
Valeria checked her phone one last time before she pocketed it, she wished that she could have spoken with Neymar a little bit before she had to head back to work but she guessed it would have to wait until she got back to the house that night.
***
Stepping into his house, Neymar couldn't help but notice the silence that greeted him once he was inside; he didn't like the fact that he came home to no one there to greet him.
Usually when he came home from training, he would be rushed by the dogs coming to greet him followed by Valeria and Davi depending on what they had been doing.
Dumping his bag by the front door, Neymar wandered into the lounge and collapsed onto the couch before he flicked on the television to distract himself.
The longer that he spent here, the lonelier he felt and he hated that nothing really seemed to distract him while he was home alone; sure, he had friends to go out with but they weren't always available.
Most of them had families of their own and Neymar did not fault them for wanting to have family time; he would be the same if his family were here with him and people were nagging him to go out.
It was hard to believe that things had worked out the way that they did, he had thought things would be different when he moved to Paris but he had found himself struggling.
Davi was with his mother most of the time and Valeria was back at work, he tried to speak with them when he could but sometimes it felt like days before he had a decent amount of time to speak with them.
Neymar hadn't told anyone that he was struggling and he felt so out of sync with everyone else, he longed for someone else to be trapped on this island with him and he was looking forward to having Valeria visit soon.
He hadn't said anything to his girlfriend about how he was feeling; he didn't want her to feel guilty for not moving with him when he understood why she was reluctant to move.
Staring blankly at the television, Neymar flipped the channel until he found something that could entertain him and keep his mind off the empty house that he lived in alone.
He groaned finding nothing that could offer any sort of distraction, he threw down the remote in frustration and glared at the television that was now playing some sort of black and white french movie that was on.
Closing his eyes, Neymar rested his head on the back of his couch as he listened to the movie play; he couldn't help but wonder what Valeria was doing right now.
With the school term starting up, she had been a little busy preparing and teaching her classes; she had sent him pictures just before the term had started of her bare classroom.
She had asked him for suggestions on what she could do for decorations and declined the idea of having one of his jerseys displayed saying that it would be too much of a distraction for the children.
Already they were struggling to talk to each other and Neymar wanted nothing more than for the entire situation to just disappear.
He longed for the days when things felt so easy between them, he could pick her up from work or surprise her at lunch time once his training was done; hell, he would even take visits to the classroom over this right now.
Neymar opened his eyes and looked towards his phone, he knew that he should probably call Valeria; he had missed a couple of her calls and often there were times when he just plain forgot to call her back.
Neymar hesitated for a moment before he dialled her number, his heart pounding in his chest as he peered at the clock on the wall trying to work out if she would be home from work yet.
Pressing the phone to his ear, Neymar frowned as her phone rang through and he sighed when his call went to voicemail; he leant his head on the couch and threw his phone onto the pillow next to him.
He had training tomorrow morning and he couldn't even plan a surprise trip to Barcelona to see her, he very much doubted his coach would be thrilled at his behaviour if he did so.
The sound of his doorbell ringing caught his attention and Neymar furrowed his brow since he wasn't expecting anyone; he moved to answer it hoping that it wasn't a fan that had jumped the gate.
The last thing he wanted to deal with was excited fans, he loved his fans but them coming to his house was not something that he could tolerate.
Opening the door, Neymar paused surprised to see his father on the other side and he blinked confused what he was doing here since he had thought that the man had gone to Brazil.
The smile on his father's face did little to ease Neymar's concerns, he stepped inside wondering what had brought him here and why he hadn't called to say that he was coming to see him.