"MY BAD, GIRLFRIEND." Hugo and Chiara rented a tent in Ipanema. Chiara took a sip of the lime caipiroska.
"Relax, buddy. I know you were uncomfortable seeing that so-and-so there. The unspeakable."
"Yeah" he breathed out.
"Is he always around there?"
"If he is, I'm never setting foot there again."
"Oh my god…" Chiara hurried to complete: "Not because of what you said, but… Didn’t he say he wasn't leaving here?"
"He was supposed to be far away from here. Far, far away."
"When you two broke up…" she was careful to choose her words, to approach the subject. "When each of you went your separate ways, hadn’t the other creature traveled days later…?"
"I really thought he had traveled. Maybe he has traveled." Hugo paused. "Until what happened today."
"I wish I hadn't recommended Leblon as the first option."
"It’s not your fault" Hugo looked Chiara in the eyes. "You don't have to feel this way. It’s out of our control."
"True. But the atmosphere got heavy… Didn't it?"
Hugo took a long sip of the caipiroska.
"No" he smiled, placing the nearly empty glass on the table. "It didn't. Now let's talk a little more about you, how about that? I want to know how you're doing…"
"Me?" Chiara raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, ma’am!" Hugo laughed. "I know you got engaged to Vanessa…"
"It was out of the blue, you know?"
"I knew. Vanessa is the last romantic in the world" Hugo joked.
"I have to agree with you on that…" Chiara laughed.
They continued talking about the post-engagement.
...****************...
"HE’LL PAY ME." Aron was playing volleyball with three other guys. One of them was his friend and his partner: David. Before defending the ball, the boy comments:
"Why do you insist on that, man?"
Aron stopped, staring at him. In doing so, he missed the ball. The two guys on the other side signaled, ending the game.
"You think I'm going to let that day go by so cheaply? He had the police escort me from his apartment…"
"But then you screwed up" David shrugged. "You didn't want to accept the end of the relationship and threw a vase that almost hit him in the head."
"If it had hit him…"
"You're kidding, right?"
"No."
There was a brief moment of awkward silence.
"It would be much worse if it had hit him" David said.
"Who can say… I would hit a vase. Then another one… Then I’d run away. Who would find me?"
"I really don't believe you're not kidding" David gave a nervous laugh.
"Never been more serious."
The coldness in Aron's voice — and the naturalness with which he spoke all this nonsense — left David speechless. The two hardly saw each other and that volleyball match on the beach was just a random opportunity. David remembered and understood why he didn't hang out with him that much.
"I’m going to go."
"Tired?" Aron laughed, mockingly.
"I'm tired."
"Then go, weakling."
David returned only a little punch with his hand and kept walking. He tried not to walk too fast. He no longer recognized the guy who was once his friend. Or maybe he didn't really know him?
...****************...
"GOOD MORNING, P.H." greeted Alex, who sat on the corner of his desk holding a mug full of coffee. That was Pedro's nickname inside the police station.
"Good morning…" Peter only looked at the man there once, while typing rhythmically on the computer. "I'm here filing some stuff…."
"Leave that work to the clerk."
"No way. Silly thing. I’ll do it myself."
"Hmm" Alex shrugged.
"But tell me…"
"Tell you what?" Alex set his mug down on Peter's desk, frowning at him.
"Any news on the case?"
"The witnesses should give their statements today. With that, we can make some progress in this case."
"Hope so" Peter let out his breath. "Seems like a tricky business to solve."
"Let's hope it just seems that way." Alex stood up. "Soon it’ll be time for someone to come here and give a statement."
"Okay."
"There's fresh coffee in the break room. Be sure to grab some."
With that, Alex left.
"Okay."
...****************...
HUGO RETURNED FROM THE SEA. He sat down on the lounger, wearing his sunglasses. He had ordered just one more drink, taking the first sip.
"The sea is delicious" he commented.
Chiara was looking at the horizon.
"It really is."
There was a moment of silence. Chiara took another sip of the caipiroska. She put her hat on her head and, letting out her breath, began to touch on the subject:
"Buddy."
"Say it."
"Can you answer me a question?"
"I can. I just can't guarantee the answer will be satisfactory" Hugo joked.
"But I'm serious, boy."
Hugo let out his breath.
"All right. Ask me what's going on in that titanium mind of yours…"
"Are you okay? For real."
He was silent. He frowned.
"Girlfriend…" he adjusted himself on the lounger "I'm learning to deal with this trauma. You're home alone just fine, and out of nowhere your ex-boyfriend invades your space and says he's going to kill you. This same ex-boyfriend throws a large porcelain vase at your mirror, almost hitting you in the head… Anyway. You, out of nowhere, see your life flash before your eyes like a movie while he continues to chase you with a sharp object… Insisting on ending your life… Anyway." Hugo let out his breath and concluded: "It’s a mess. Heavy, even."
Chiara remained silent. Even though she had lived through that fateful day with Hugo — she accompanied him to file a complaint with the police — she is still shocked.
"Did you go back to therapy?"
"No. Not yet."
"I'm also behind…" Chiara decided to change the subject. She didn't want to turn that conversation into a session. Much less Hugo, of course. She completed: "Until I have a day marked on my therapist's schedule… I'm going to forget my problems with one more drink."
"Then it's two of us" Bruno raised his empty caipiroska glass. He motioned to the boy at the kiosk "Hey, my dear, see two more of these here."
"A day off with alcohol never hurt anyone" Chiara finished her drink.
"I'll say."
...****************...
HE ALREADY LISTENED to the first witness. It was one of the closest friends of Janine, the young woman who disappeared abroad. The young woman said that Janine had received a proposal to work abroad, to receive in euros and be able to send money to her family. This young woman judged that there was nothing wrong and that Janine would actually do well.
Peter asked if the young woman had ever seen the person who made this job offer to Janine. As expected, the answer was no.
Since he wasn't going to get much out of it, the young woman was dismissed. Then the mother came to testify.
"Did your daughter show you a photo or conversation from this person who made the job offer?"
"No" the lady replied. "She didn't show me who he was. She only showed me what it was: the proposal. I read it. It seemed very good and truthful. I just didn't know who was behind it. I believed it was someone trustworthy. I could have insisted on actually meeting this person… Have looked at a portrait just out of doubt…"
"Well, ma'am" Peter winced. "Quite a complicated situation, but… Answer me one thing: besides the young woman who came here, did she have anyone even closer?"
"Yes, of course. At the place where she worked. A certain Eliza. The two have known each other for a long time and certainly Janine must have said more things to her."
"Do you have the address where I can find this Eliza?"
"Of course. I'll give it to you…"
"Write it here, please" Peter offered a notepad and pen.
The lady wrote it all down.
...****************...
THE DAY AT THE BEACH was great. Hugo came out of the shower, wrapped in a towel while drying his hair with the other. He noticed that the clock said six-thirty in the afternoon. All he wants now is to spend the rest of the day lying in bed, binge-watching some random series. He was back tomorrow.
Before, he decided to check his email to make sure everything was okay — if there wasn't an important message that was ignored all day. He hoped not. Until there was only one unread message. Hugo was taken aback just reading the subject:
...TRANSFER ORDER...
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