Episode 4

Elisa enters the house, and Anderson leaves. He was trying his best to get her attention, but Elisa only saw him as a good friend; she never thought of him in any other way.

As she enters, Elisa looks for Gisele. She goes to the kitchen and finds only the maid cleaning the floor.

“Good afternoon, Samira. Have you seen my mother?”

“Good afternoon, Elisa. I haven't seen her today.”

“That's strange. Where could she be? And my father?”

“Your father left right after you, and he didn't even come for lunch!”

“All right. Thank you, Samira.”

Elisa goes up to her room, drops her things, and goes to her parents' room. She goes to the closet and is startled because all of Gisele's things are gone!

“This can't be... My mother wouldn't do that!”

She begins to search all the drawers and cabinets, but nothing. Only Eduardo's clothes remain!

Elisa begins a desperate cry. A terrible pain takes hold of her heart. It wasn't possible that Gisele would have the courage to leave like that!

“No, no, this can't be happening!”

She breathes heavily and goes back to her room. For a moment, she remembers a kiss. She thought it was a dream, but it was actually her mother saying goodbye in the middle of the night.

She falls to her knees in despair, her face bathed in uncontrollable tears.

Elisa takes her cell phone and calls her mother, but there is no answer; it just goes to voicemail. So, she deduces that there is only one place Gisele could have gone: to Aunt Teresa's house in Brazil!

“Girl, what happened?”

Elisa was in tears on the bedroom floor, feeling completely alone and lost.

Samira hugs her in consolation. Elisa allows herself to cry on Samira's shoulder. She cries and cries until her tears dry on their own.

“Cry, my child. Let that anguish out!”

“My mother... she... she left me, Samira. She abandoned me... Just when I need her most!”

“Oh, my child, I'm so sorry, my dear!”

“Doesn't she love me anymore?” (She cries)

“I'm sure there's an explanation, dear. Your mother loves you. She shouldn't be long.”

Elisa is silent, wipes her tears, gets up, goes to the bathroom, throws water on her face, and returns to the room.

“Thank you for your support, Samira. At least you stayed...”

“Well... Lisa, I have something to tell you.”

“Am I thinking what I think I am?”

“Unfortunately, today is my last day here... I'm so sorry, but it's been three months since your father paid me. I tried to make it work, but the bills keep piling up, and my daughter and granddaughter depend entirely on me, since the 'father' didn't want to take responsibility!”

“Three months? My God, I didn't know that, Samira. This is very serious... So, is that why Jaime didn't pick me up today?”

“He hasn't been paid for three months either. He had to get another job. He has two small daughters and a wife who depends on him.”

“I understand, and I really want to help, but I don't have much either…”

“No, child, don't worry. Everything will be resolved. Now, focus on yourself and this new phase that you are about to live. I know it's not going to be a marriage for love, but who knows? Maybe you and this young man won't get along? Who knows, maybe you won't fall in love with him... Sometimes we don't understand, but God has His way of working!”

“So, you already know?”

“I'm sorry, my dear, but everyone heard your parents arguing.”

“Right. I think the whole building heard... Anyway, I'm only doing this to get my father off the hook. I would never fall in love with a man like that!”

“You haven't met him yet, so don't judge him. Who knows? Maybe he won't win over that little heart of yours?”

Elisa smiles.

“Funny...”

Samira and Elisa talk for a while longer and soon say goodbye. The woman would only work until the end of the afternoon.

…

Elisa tries calling Gisele several more times, but to no avail. It always goes to voicemail or is disconnected, as if Gisele doesn't want to be bothered!

Feeling frustrated, she throws her cell phone on the nightstand and goes to take a shower. When she gets out, she puts on a sweatshirt with shorts underneath, dries her hair, and stays in her room reading one of her favorite romance novels. Sometimes, she remembered that she would never live that, and a few tears fell. In the afternoon, Filipa stopped by, but Elisa wasn't in the mood to leave the house. She explained the situation with her mother without going into details. Finally, Filipa understood and went alone.

(…)

At the company, Eduardo had a lot of problems to solve. He owed a lot of money to his employees, and he didn't know where he was going to get such a large amount. The phone wouldn't stop ringing, and without a secretary to answer it, he was completely lost.

“Heavens, what am I going to do now? How could I have sunk so low?”

While he lamented alone in the huge, empty company, Gisele landed on Brazilian soil. She was sad. It hadn't been easy to make this decision.

When she disembarked, she took a taxi and went straight to the house of Teresa, her older sister. Gisele had married young at the age of 19, to an American. At 22, she became a mother, and since then, she had dedicated herself solely to her family. She was always faithful to Eduardo, always by his side supporting him in everything. Now, after everything, she felt betrayed by the man she loved so much, but with all the recent events, she stopped to think and realized that she needed time for herself; she needed to cool her head, even if it meant being away from her daughter. Gisele believed that Elisa wouldn't understand, so she preferred to leave in the early morning hours when everyone was asleep.

The taxi stops in front of the small house. Gisele pays the fare and gets out of the car. The driver takes her luggage and drives off. Teresa owned a clothing store in town; she and Gisele were partners, so she believed that Brazil was the best place for her to spend some time!

“Sister, I've missed you so much. When you said you were coming, I almost didn't believe it!”

“It's been almost 10 years...”

The two stay there hugging for a long time, then enter the house. Gisele unburdens herself about everything to her sister. They both cry and laugh together.

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