Chapter Twenty-Four: The New Girlfriend

                                    

                                          
Neymar grumbled turning over and wrapping his arms around Meena who was curled up beside him, he hadn’t been able to pry himself away from his girlfriend that night after she had told him her story. 
                          
Neymar was furious about what Miguel had done to her and he could see why she wanted to take things slow and he respected that; he didn’t want to rush things with her. 
                          
Meena cuddled into Neymar, she was glad that he had stayed with her overnight after she had told him about what had happened to her; it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. 
                          
“What time is it?” Neymar murmured softly, he didn’t open his eyes while he cuddled Meena; he didn’t want to get up but he had to especially since Davi couldn’t see them like this. 
                          
Meena opened her blue eyes and peeked at the clock on the night stand, she stared at it for a moment and groaned realising that they had to get up. 
                          
“Seven o’clock,” Meena said peeking at Neymar, she truly didn’t know how he had managed to stay all night and she was glad that Davi hadn’t come and woke them up. 
                          
Neymar groaned, he buried his head into Meena’s neck wishing that they could stay in bed together like this all day; however he had training and Meena had to look after Davi. 
                          
Meena laughed quietly as she untangled herself from Neymar, she smiled at him while she climbed out of bed; Neymar pouted disappointed that they weren’t staying in bed. 
                          
“You have training,” Meena said teasingly moving to put on her dressing gown, she had a feeling that they were going to be okay after what had happened. 
                          
Neymar watched his girlfriend, he hated that she was right and he hoped that they would have more time together soon; he didn’t want things to fizzle out like they had done with Bruna.
                          
***
                          
Meena laughed softly fussing over Davi, she adored the little boy and it allowed her not to think of the small details that could have been so different. 
                          
Isabella would have been two years older than Davi and Meena didn’t like to dwell on the fact that she would never see her little girl grow up. 
                          
“How about some lunch?” Meena said smiling, she glanced at the clock knowing that Neymar would be home soon; she sighed getting to her feet wondering how everything would change now. 
                          
Davi nodded his head and followed after Meena, the two were nearly in the kitchen when there was a knock at the door. 
                          
Meena paused for a moment and frowned, she didn’t think that they were expecting anyone and her parents had been on an early flight back to Portugal with her sister so it couldn’t be them. 
                          
Davi looked up with big eyes at Meena as she moved to answer the door, he pouted a little until he saw his grandmother on the other side of the door. 
                          
Meena blinked surprised that Nadine was standing before her, she was sure that Neymar didn’t know that his mother was coming to visit; he would have told her if he had known.
                          
 “Olá,” Meena said stepping aside to allow Nadine into the house, she chewed on her lip as Nadine stepped inside; she knew that the woman didn’t like her and she was going to have to hide her feelings for Neymar. 
                          
Nadine ignored Meena’s greeting, she had no interest in the nanny and was only coming to check on things to make sure that Meena wasn’t making a move on her son now that he was single. 
                          
“How’s my favourite grandson?” Nadine said fussing over Davi, she ignored Meena knowing that she didn’t trust the brunette not to trap her son.
                          
 Davi hugged his grandmother while he looked at Meena, he could see how tense his nanny was and it made him curious about why. 
                          
“Excuse me… where do I put my bags?” said a voice from behind Meena, the brunette turned around to look at the model that was standing at the front door with sunglasses on. 
                          
Meena opened and closed her mouth, a bad feeling forming in her stomach as she realised that Nadine was up to something; she had no idea what Neymar would do when he came home. 
                          
***
                          
“Mãe,” Neymar said surprised to see his mother as she rushed to greet him when he return from training; he wrapped his arms around Nadine and hugged her. 
                          
Neymar didn’t know why his mother hadn’t called before coming to see him, he didn’t like it when people just showed up and he worried what would have happened if she’d walked in on him and Meena.
                          
 “I couldn’t resist coming to see you,” Nadine said with a smile, she pulled back from Neymar knowing that she had brought the perfect new girlfriend for him with her and she was sure that he would like her. 
                          
Neymar raised an eyebrow at his mother, he was missing something and he could see how tense Meena was; he wished that he could comfort his girlfriend in some way. 
                          
“I brought someone to meet you,” Nadine said smiling, she signalled for the woman to stand making Neymar frown wondering who she was. 
                          
Nadine stared at her son for a moment, she had made sure that everything was okay before she had dropped this on Neymar; he deserved the best and he was going to get it. 
                          
“This is Gabriella, your new girlfriend,” Nadine said pleased before sneaking a look at Meena, she was determined to make sure that Neymar had a girlfriend that was up to his level and wasn’t the help. 
                          
Neymar stared at his mother, he had no idea what she was talking about but he had never met Gabriella before and she wasn’t his girlfriend. 
                          
“I cleared it with your agent and this will be perfect for you,” Nadine said knowing that having a girlfriend like Gabriella Lenzi was going to be good for Neymar’s career; he was going to be the next big thing. 
                          

                          
Meena took a calming breath before she walked out of the living room, she couldn’t watch this anymore and she knew that things were only going to be hard from here; she didn’t know if she could watch Neymar with another woman. 
                          
Nadine smirked watching Meena walk out of the room, she was doing this to make sure that Meena knew her station in life; she was never going to be good enough for her son. 
                          
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Neymar,” Gabriella said smiling, she was a model and having a footballer for a boyfriend would do wonders for her career; she wasn’t interested in having anything serious with Neymar.
                          
 Neymar nodded his head, he couldn’t believe that his mother had planned this and he had a feeling that his father had also agreed with this; he took a deep breath wanting to go after Meena but he couldn’t. 
                          
The last thing that the couple needed was for Nadine to find out that they were dating right now, she would only try to break them up. 
                          
“Ditto,” Neymar said with a weak smile, he didn’t trust his mother for a moment and he wished that she wasn’t meddling with his personal life; he was capable of finding his own girlfriend. 
                          
Meena was the one that he wanted and he didn’t care what his mother thought, he was happy and he wished that his mother could understand that he wasn’t interested in dating the model.