David called Thiago to ask where the yacht was and it turned out they hadn't left the port yet. The traffic wasn't that bad and we made it there in less than 15 minutes.
"I am glad you changed your mind." David said as we got on.
"I hope I won't regret it. And how about you and Sarah? Is everything alright?"
"I think it will be. I will fill you in on the details later."
"Hey, you're back!" Marcelo said when he saw us. "And Sarah too!"
Everyone came to greet Sarah and ask me about my ankle.
"I am glad you came back. How's the ankle?" Alex asked me.
"It's alright. I have the crutch too so it's better. And I will me fine in a few days."
"That's great. But you'll miss a few practices, ha?" Fred asked.
"Probably."
"Coach won't be happy about that. We have come to depend on you." Bernard said.
"Oh you have, haven't you?" Marina teased him and everyone laughed. They had their hands around each other, sitting on one of the couches.
From the corner of my eye I saw David and Sarah in a corner talking. David looked really happy and I was glad about that.
"Can I get you anything?" Alex asked, guessing my thoughts.
"Some water would be great."
"Coming right up." He smiled.
As we left the port I looked out at the endless sea. It was breathtaking.
"You came." Neymar said approaching me.
I turned towards him. He was only wearing a bathing suit.
"I hope it's alright."
"Of course it is. We both won, remember?"
"Yeah, I'm not so sure." I said, not referring to the scavenger hunt.
"Livvie, about before..."
"There's no point in talking about things you can't say. Why beat around the bush?"
"I don't want to beat around the bush, whatever that means."
I chuckled. "It means circling around a topic that you aren't willing to talk about."
"I want to talk about it. Just not here. Not now."
"Olivia right?" I heard from behind me. "You remember me?"
"Bruna... Hello." I said as she approached us. She slid her hands on Neymar's waist and smiled at me.
"Congratulations on your win." She said.
Neymar's expression looked pained.
"Thank you."
"I didn't realize you'd be joining us. Neymar told me you were injured."
"It's nothing." I said pointing at my ankle.
"I hope you have a speedy recovery." Bruna said.
"Thank you." I said again.
"Sarah! You're back." Bruna exclaimed as Sarah and David came to my rescue.
"I am, hello Bruna, Neymar." She said.
"I didn't realize you and David got back together." Bruna told her.
"I didn't realize you and Neymar did, either." Sarah answered.
The boys were oblivious to what was going on, thinking this was a normal social interactions, but with girls it was never about what they said, but how they said it. And the fact was that Bruna and Sarah didn't like each other at all.
"It's been all over the papers." Bruna said.
"I don't read yellow press." Sarah said casually but Bruna looked angry.
"Neymar let's go to the deck. It's such a beautiful, sunny day."
Neymar nodded. "See you later guys."
"Wow. You really don't like each other." I commented.
"Who doesn't like who?" David asked confused.
"Nevermind honey." Sarah told David and then turned to me: "But no, we never did."
"Thank you for the rescue anyway." I told her.
"David!" Someone yelled.
"Excuse me ladies." David said leaving us alone.
"You know Liv, David was right before. It is obvious to anyone that looks at you two that Neymar has feelings for you."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"I am. It's obvious. The only one that maybe doesn't know it is Neymar himself. But Bruna definitely does."
We stayed there for a while with Sarah, chatting when we heard loud voices from the deck.
"Let's go check it out. Maybe Neymar is fed up with Bruna and threw her overboard." Sarah said and we started laughing.
When we reached the deck I realized it was nothing like that. Almost everyone was gathered there laughing and having fun. We went up to where David was sitting with Thiago and Dani.
"So girls we were just thinking of going for a swim, are you up for it?" Dani asked us.
"I'd love to but unfortunately..." I said pointing at my bandaged ankle.
"What about you baby?" David asked Sarah.
"I think I'm gonna hang out with Liv here."
"You should go." I reassured her.
"Are you sure?"
I nodded.
"Well then, give me a minute to go change." She said.
When Sarah came back they all went to the back of the boat to dive in. Almost everyone had gone in by that time and I decided to go up to the last floor of the boat.
I thought I'd be alone there but I wasn't.
"Hey." I said. "We meet again."
Neymar turned around to look at me. His face was thoughtful.
"I should go." I said and turned towards the stairs again.
"No, no, please don't. Thinking that my presence in a room is enough to drive you away is too heartbreaking."
"That's not what I meant. I didn't want to bother you." I walked up to the edge of the boat where he was.
"You never do." He said taking a step towards me.
I chuckled.
"Are you having a good time?" He asked me then.
"Sure." I nodded looking down towards the guys who were swimming.
"I am glad we are friends again." He said. "And I hope you and Bruna get along too."
I was about to say that I didn't think that that was possible or even necessary but I stopped myself. I followed his gaze and realized he was looking at her as she was swimming in the sea and she was looking at us. "Sure." I said again.
"Alright, I think I'm going for a swim." He told me.
I stayed there for a while longer. Bruna was still looking at me, her lips firm. She looked angry.
When Neymar dove in she swam towards him and I was probably pushed away from her mind. I sighed.
"Hey." I heard from behind me.
I turned around to come face to face with Alex. He was still dressed in his clothes.
"How come you aren't with the others?" I asked.
"I was looking for you. I knew you couldn't go swimming." He told me as he approached.
"I'll be fine, you should go."
He chuckled. "No need."
I smiled. "Alright." I said. And at that moment the choice I had to make seemed obvious. Maybe it wasn't really a choice between Neymar and Alex. Maybe it was only a choice between trying for happiness and settling for misery.