Episode 6

"SO YOU TALKED." Chiara found Hugo at an open-air bistro in Botafogo. They were having coffee, while the subject of the conversation was David.

"He came to tell me to be careful. Of all people…" Hugo sipped his cup.

"Complicated" Chiara tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The breeze was strong. "Does he know you're moving?"

"He arrived just as I was seeing off a buyer. He definitely deduced it."

"And do you think he'll tell?"

"No. They've grown apart."

"What do you mean?"

Hugo thought about the conversation he had with him.

"They haven't kept in touch since the release. As far as I know, the case is now in the hands of another lawyer."

"That's a relief, I guess."

"Aron did it to provoke me."

"Why?"

There was a moment of silence.

"I haven't told you. Yet."

Chiara frowned.

"And what haven't you told me yet, boy…"

"It's a long story."

She sipped more from her coffee cup.

"If you want to summarize…" she said. "I'm all ears."

Sometime after breaking up with Aron, Hugo went out to dinner with David — as if he didn't want anything. After going to the restaurant, they continued talking about the wine they had, which was delicious. Hugo claimed that he had the same wine, from the same vintage, in his small cellar and David didn't believe him. Hugo invited him into his apartment.

"Then you showed him you had the same wine stored" said Chiara.

"I showed him" Hugo shrugged.

"And what happened next?"

"We drank enough glasses to empty the bottle."

"Wow. He drank money, then."

Hugo couldn't help but laugh.

"Something like that."

"And then…"

"Then we started shooting the breeze."

"Drunk."

"That's right. But it wasn't a binge. At the restaurant we had a glass each and at home at least 3 each. Around there."

"Shooting the breeze…"

"Continuing…" Hugo shifted in his chair. "The conversation went in a direction it shouldn't have gone."

"Things heated up."

He just nodded.

"You kissed."

"It could have stopped there" Hugo scratched the back of his neck.

"Hooked up" Chiara's jaw dropped.

"I remember exactly what he said, even though I don't remember much about that night…" he allowed himself to travel to the not-so-distant past. He continued: "Aron is a huge son of a bitch for treating you like trash."

"He didn't lie."

"Then he took my knee. And he kept saying that if Aron hadn't arrived first, the story could have been different."

"David is not a bad person. He really does seem like a decent guy" Chiara joked.

"I think so too" Hugo said softly in the same joking tone. "It really could have been different, but it didn't happen."

"Life has its purposes" Chiara took the last sip of her coffee.

"It's fate… I'd rather not think about it, so as not to get frustrated for nothing."

"That's right…" Chiara tilted her head to the side. "So you guys slept together."

"I didn't even get there yet" Hugo laughed and continued: "After he told me all that, we kissed. He kisses so well… I have to agree with that. Then we started in the living room and I, daringly, dragged him to the bedroom. We stayed up all night."

"The next day must have been a little awkward."

"A little. I liked it, deep down. He didn't want to have breakfast because he was running late for a hearing. I didn't mind. I wanted to process what had happened. It was better for him to stay away."

"And where does Aron fit into this story?"

Hugo let out his breath.

"He saw David leaving" he said. "The jerk was starting to stalk me. When he saw the guy who was once his friend coming out of the same condo as me… I found out about this detail in the worst way."

"What do you mean?"

"David sent me a picture on WhatsApp. He had a bruised face and was lying in bed. I was speechless. And he told me on the phone that that guy saw him leaving the condo."

"So that was the trigger for that break-in at your apartment…"

"It was."

"Now it makes more sense" Chiara pointed out.

"The important thing is that he's far away from me now. And I'm going to be further and further away."

Chiara decided to change the subject, after a brief moment of silence.

"You sold another piece of furniture, right?"

"I did… My apartment is getting emptier."

And now the topic was the move.

...****************...

"DON'T BE NERVOUS." Pedro reassured Eliza. They were facing each other, separated by a large, rectangular table, in the meeting room reserved by the manager. Silence reigned there, a little peace. The commerce two floors below was an almost inaudible sound.

Eliza took a sip of water, attentive.

"Anything you know about Janine's trip out of Brazil will help me a lot" Pedro stressed calmly, holding her gaze. "You understand?"

"You got it" Eliza let out a breath. "I'll do my best to help."

Pedro nodded in approval.

"Are you and Janine close?"

"Yes" Eliza answered promptly. "She was even going to call me to let me know that everything is okay. So far I haven't received any calls. I heard through the grapevine that her family reported her missing, but I'm not that close to them… Just her."

"But her mother knew about your closeness with Janine."

"Yes, she knew. I've been to visit Janine at her house a few times. Girl talk, gossiping here and there… I know her mother, but I don't have much contact with her."

"Did Janine tell you about this trip out of Brazil? This job offer she had received…?"

"She told me about it. But she didn't give me many details. She's the kind of person who waits until it works out to share it with God and the world, you know…"

"I know."

"And I was just waiting for news from her…" Eliza paused thoughtfully. She continued: "Because I was also interested in going after that kind of job."

"And what kind of job was it?" Pedro clasped his hands together on the table, tilting his head slightly to the side to hold her gaze. "What was the proposal Janine received? Can you tell me?"

Eliza was silent for a brief moment. She was trying to remember in detail.

"She told me she saw it on Facebook. You know those Job Offer groups? Well, she saw an ad there for a seamstress position. Since she has experience for a long time, she applied and was called for an interview."

"Was this interview recent?"

"I think it's been over a month."

"How did she manage to go to the interview? Can you tell me?"

"She…" Eliza hesitated for a split second, but continued: "She made up that she had to leave early to deal with an important problem. That was after lunch. And she went to that interview. The manager doesn't know about this…" She looked at the closed door.

"Relax." Anything said here stays between us. "Pedro indicated with his hand." You can go on.

"So, the next day she told me about the interview." She said there were several candidates until she reached the elimination stage. In short: she passed everything. She entered the admission process, got her passport…

"Passport?"

"Yes. She needed to get it." She said the vacancy was abroad.

"Did she say exactly where to? The country, in this case."

"Barcelona."

"Spain…" Pedro drummed his fingers on the table thoughtfully.

...****************...

SHE WOKE UP GROGGY. She couldn't move her body much on the bed at all. It might have been extreme physical tiredness, due to the long journey. Even groggy, sleepy, Janine could remember that she was supposed to be well-rested — or was she confused because of the jet lag? She was trying hard to get her bearings.

She was in a dark room. The bed, apparently, was a single. The natural light from outside was coming in through some interior crack, since it went almost up to the ceiling. She guessed it was still dawn or night. She didn't have a watch. Her cell phone, where is it?

She turned her head to the side heavily, feeling more tired. A little dizzy. What was going on? Why was she almost vegetating? Wasn't everything supposed to be seemingly normal?

She allowed herself to stop. She breathed slowly, now. Trying to calmly search for any recent memories…

With her eyes closed, flashes began to run through her mind like a low-light film.

... Let me go! Get off me! Get me out of here! ...

Strong arms carrying her weight, dragging her as she resisted.

... I'm not staying here! I want to go home! ...

The floor. Room in semi-darkness. Crying. Someone had thrown a bottle of water through the crack. More resistance, pounding on the steel door.

... Get me out of here! Help! ...

Drink this water, girl. A different voice now.

She felt dizzy as she drank a long gulp of water, after her throat dried up from screaming so much. Before she realized what had happened, Janine succumbed to a dreamless sleep.

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