Episode 14

When Mrs. Flavia told me I could come in, I prayed to all the saints I knew and to God for everything to go well. And deep down, I prayed for nobody here to find out whose son I was. I don't know, I suddenly felt terribly afraid of that. Maybe it was because I was lying to my mother, and you should never do that. If she knew where I was trying to get a job, she'd have a fit.

The room was spectacular, and my eyes tried to take in everything they could at that moment—even turning and seeing him sitting at his desk. It was the first time I had been in front of a CEO, a very important person from such a big company.

I swallowed, took a deep breath, and took firm steps, accompanied by a pair of beautiful eyes that looked at me with sympathy. Now that was a first.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Caique."

"Good afternoon, Fernando. Welcome to my company. Please, have a seat," he replied, and I sat down in that very comfortable chair feeling three things: hope, fear, and such a pleasant perfume that I knew I would never forget.

Next, I went through the most comfortable job interview of my life. It already started in the HR department because Michele was very nice and polite to me, which was something to be admired for a black, unemployed man in Brazil.

But here, in front of the most important person in the company, the treatment was no different. On the contrary, it was even more pleasant and attentive. It was even strange to think of Mr. Caique like that, since he wasn't even old; I'd say he was 35 at most. He was concerned when I mentioned being the man of the house, and his kindness in including my sister in a program just for employees' children was incredible. I didn't know what the work would be like; I mean, I knew, I just didn't know their level of demand, but I was already sure that his education and humanity toward me were worth anything.

The initial fear had even disappeared; Caique made me comfortable. When he said the job was mine, I felt my heart almost leap out of my chest, such was the force with which it beat. Our house was saved, and we wouldn't have to live on the streets.

I couldn't count on my stepfather. My father was an only child, my grandparents deceased on both sides, and my mother only had one sister and didn't get along with her. Aunt Tania was a human being who only knew how to make other people's lives hell. If we couldn't honor the rent, we'd be out on the streets.

But certainly the biggest surprise for me that day was discovering that my future boss was physically disabled. I almost didn't believe it when I saw him in that chair, which at first was disguised by his blazer that was on the backrest, so I thought he was just sitting in any chair. I felt a pang in my chest.

When I stood up, after shaking his hand and after he finished speaking the last instructions, I felt an absurd and inexplicable urge to apologize to him. I was surprisingly touched by his condition.

Another man, also in the room, whose name was Saulo, accompanied me to the door with exemplary politeness.

Now, I was here, hands shaking, unable to believe that I had gotten a job in such a beautiful place. And I only came back to reality when Mrs. Flavia stopped in front of me.

"Everything okay, Fernando?"

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry. I'm fine! The job is mine," I said and smiled, being reciprocated by her.

"I'm very happy to hear that. Let me give you the final coordinates."

Flavia gave me everything I needed to know. She talked about the uniforms I would receive and that they even provided the shoes. She talked about my badge to access the building, the area that functioned as a cafeteria for employees, and my salary. That part made me smile even more. My hours would be from eight in the morning to six in the evening, Monday through Friday. I would only find out which sector I would be responsible for four days from now when I arrived for work. I was happy about that; I wouldn't have to walk through all of them cleaning.

I was watching Flavia fill out a paper with the address of the place where I should have my medical exam when I asked her a question.

"Mr. Caique was very nice to me. Has he been the CEO here for a long time?" Flavia looked at me and smiled.

"He's a sweetheart. And yes, he has. Mr. Caique has been president of this company since his father passed away in 2013. There has never been another CEO besides him, I mean, only the vice president who took over when he had an accident in 2014."

My heart raced so much that I needed to catch my breath. So it was him, Mr. Caique was the CEO I had heard so much about on the internet, who had suffered the same accident as my father. My father's truck had left him in a wheelchair. My mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"Fernando?"

"Oh, hi, I'm sorry! I got distracted."

"Here's the address of the office. We'll see you on the scheduled day."

I left the company feeling out of it. I didn't know what to think about all this, about the lie to my mother, and what Mr. Caique would think if he found out who I was. Even happy to have gotten the job and the solution to our problems, my heart was heavy with everything. The image of him in that chair wouldn't leave my mind. And as strange as it seemed, I felt guilty about it.