The silence in the office was broken only by the sound of Bianca's heels against the marble floor. Each step she took made Henrique clench his fists even tighter, trying to contain the whirlwind that she inevitably brought with her.
"I..." Bianca sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't know if you'd see me. Actually, I didn't even know if I should be here. But... I needed to."
He didn't answer immediately. His gaze was hard, suspicious. His whole body was tense.
"You shouldn't be," he replied, dryly. "After everything... it doesn't make sense for you to show up here. Not anymore."
She bit her lower lip, feigning nervousness. In fact, every movement was calculated.
"I know I hurt you, Henrique. And I won't pretend I didn't make mistakes. But..." she lowered her eyes, as if she were vulnerable "...I suffered too. I regret it so much..."
He got up, walked to the window, looking at the city outside. For a few seconds, his silence was heavier than any words.
"You left me... without looking back." His voice was low, bitter. "You disappeared. Just like that. Years... Bianca."
She took a deep breath, walking slowly towards him.
"I was young... scared... and stupid. I thought I needed things that... in the end, never made me happy." She touched his arm, which stiffened. "And... all this time, you know who never left my head? You."
Henrique closed his eyes. The truth is, as much as he tried to deny it, her name always inhabited somewhere inside him. A name he never managed to erase completely, even after getting married... even after trying to build a life with someone else.
"Why now, Bianca?" He asked, slowly turning to face her. "Why after so long?"
She took a deep breath, tears forming in her eyes. False, but convincing.
"Because..." her voice faltered "...I found out that... I lost you once... and I couldn't bear to lose you again."
Henrique clenched his jaw. He felt torn. Part of him wanted to throw her out of there. But the other part... the weaker one, perhaps... still belonged to her.
"I'm married, Bianca," he declared, in a desperate attempt to remind himself of reality.
She nodded, lowering her head.
"I know... and I won't lie... it hurts me. But I didn't come here to cause problems, Henrique. I came because... I needed to see you. And... if there's still any chance, I... I want to try."
Silence settled in again, heavy, suffocating. Henrique didn't answer. He simply stood there, looking at her as if he were seeing a ghost from the past that he never managed to exorcise.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Alice arrived at the clinic for her ultrasound. She walked alone, holding her bag against her chest as if that could protect her from the emptiness she felt.
She sat in the waiting room, looking around and observing couples smiling, holding hands, sharing expectations. She was the only one alone there.
Why is it always like this with me? she thought, fighting back tears.
The cell phone vibrated. A name on the screen: Henrique.
For a second, her heart raced. Who knows, maybe this time he would ask how she was doing. Who knows...
She slid her finger, anxiously, but what she found was just a short, cold, almost automatic message.
"I won't be able to make it. Let me know if everything goes well."
Alice's hands trembled. She squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, and forced a weak smile, trying to convince herself that it didn't hurt. But it did. As it always did.
She held her belly, swallowed her cry, and whispered softly:
"It's okay... You have me, my love. And I... I have you."
And, for the first time, a silent voice inside her began to shout:
You don't deserve to live like this. Not anymore.
Henrique ran his hands over his face, walking back and forth in the office, trying to organize his own thoughts. He was always rational, always focused. But Bianca... Bianca was his weakness. Always had been.
"You can't just show up like this, Bianca," he said, more to himself than to her. "My life... my life moved on."
Bianca approached, lightly touching his arm, with that look she knew how to use like no one else - a mixture of regret and desire.
"Did it really move on, Henrique?" Her voice was low, soft, almost a venomous whisper. "You look me in the eyes and tell me, with all certainty, that you forgot me? That you never thought about me... not even once?"
He squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath, fighting against the weight of memories.
"That doesn't matter anymore," he replied, looking away. "You made your choice, Bianca. And I... I got married."
She nodded, crossing her arms, pretending to accept. But her smirk betrayed that this game was far from over.
"Of course. With... what's her name again? Alice?" she said with false sweetness, as if the name had a bitter taste in her mouth. "Your... wife."
Henrique didn't answer. He just clenched his jaw, maintaining his rigid posture.
"And tell me, Henrique..." Bianca took another step, now very close, so close that he could smell the perfume that once drove him crazy "...do you love her?"
The silence that followed was more revealing than any words.
Henrique didn't answer. Because, deep down, he knew he didn't. Never loved her. Never even really tried. He married out of responsibility, out of honor, out of a sense of duty... but not out of love.
Bianca smiled, satisfied.
"I figured..." she whispered, before picking up her bag and walking to the door. "I didn't come here to force you to do anything, Henrique. I just wanted you to know... that I'm back. And, if you want... I can still be yours."
Before leaving, she cast one last look, full of ulterior motives.
"Think about it."
When the door closed, Henrique fell into the chair, running his hands over his face, suffocated by a whirlwind that he had been pretending didn't exist for years.
Hours later, Alice returned from the clinic. She walked through the empty apartment, holding the envelope with the ultrasound images. Her eyes were swollen from holding back tears, but the forced smile didn't leave her face.
She put the images on the coffee table, looking at them as if searching for a strength she didn't know she had.
She picked up her cell phone, hesitated... and, against her own will, typed:
"Everything's fine. The baby is fine."
The message was sent, but no response came.
She sighed, lay down on the sofa, and pressed a pillow against her chest, trying to suffocate the emptiness, the pain, the weariness.
How long am I going to live like this? How long am I going to settle for crumbs? she thought, as a lone tear rolled down.
Little did she know that, at that very moment, Henrique's heart was torn between the past he never overcame... and the present he never valued.
The clock read almost eight at night when Alice heard the door open. The sound of the keys, his footsteps. For a second, her heart raced. She wanted to believe that he would ask about the exam. That, at least this time, he would look at her differently.
"Hi," she said, forcing a smile.
Henrique left the keys on the counter, took off his coat, and replied without even looking at her:
"Hi."
She swallowed hard.
"I... I brought the ultrasound images. If you want... I can show you."
He didn't even stop what he was doing. He took off his watch, loosened his tie, walking to the bar to pour a shot of whiskey.
"Later. Not now." His voice was dry, distant.
The silence that followed was so deafening that it seemed to scream inside Alice's head.
She closed her eyes, squeezing her hands tightly over her legs so she wouldn't collapse right there.
At that moment, without her knowing, Henrique was holding the glass of whiskey so tightly that his knuckles turned white. But it wasn't because of the baby. It wasn't because of her.
It was because of one thing that hadn't left his mind all afternoon:
Bianca is back.
And, although he didn't want to admit it... part of him knew that, from then on, nothing would be the same.
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