MOTHER HEART" Otávio returned alone to his camping tent. Luckily, a family had camped near the tent that his father had set up and they came to ask him for matches to light a fire. They asked him if he was camping alone and he told them that he was with his father, but he had fallen off the waterfall three hours ago.”Clara thought that the woman had held back too much, but after telling this part, she fell into a convulsive cry and her body shook so much that Clara got up and hugged her, stood beside her, her own tears falling and she didn't know who she was crying for, the boy who had witnessed the tragic death of his father, the wife who had lost her husband, or the wonderful man who had been Romulo." If they hadn't asked him..." Dahlia tried to continue the story, choking, her eyes red, the pain mirrored in them, but he continued. “They thought he was joking, they couldn't believe that a boy could say that so naturally, a tragedy had happened! Later, the policemen called, thoug

VEGAS Clara didn't go to the big house or to some friend's house in the condominium. For more than an hour she sat alone in Otávio's kitchen, mulling over the unusual and not at all normal afternoon she had spent. Meeting his mother and hearing all about her past, her son's childhood, the death of his father, had really moved her. The house was silent, Otávio in his office. She took her backpack and went to the guest room. What had Megan told her? That in the Paradise condominium there was no such thing as so and so's house, well, she would sleep right there. Last night had been an intense night, she and her friends had had a lot of fun and the sleep of the day had not erased all the tiredness. She was exhausted and after a restorative shower, the ritual of brushing her hair thirty times each strand, running a body cream, putting on her favourite worn sweater, she lay down on the guest room bed with her Kindle open on the book she had been reading for months, a wonderful duology by De

VIP TREATMENT“You look simply... wonderful!” Clara exclaimed, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek, took one of the girl's hands and spun around to get a better look at her.“I knew it was chic here, Megan told me” Lara spoke into her friend's ear, with a conspiratorial smile. “But I had no idea it was so chic! And look at you, you look beautiful too, the uniform looks perfect on your body.”Clara wore a uniform of pants and shirt with the salon's logo printed on the shirt. The uniform was light green, social, and on the pants there was a little purple belt that hung down the side of the body. Even the salon uniform was chic." Well, I'll treat you like a vip, okay? Let's go to room 13.”" And what would this hall 13 be? " Lara accompanied her and waved to everyone as they walked.“It is aimed at clients in hair transition. It's a lucky number, isn't it?”They went to the second floor and Lara was more and more excited about the welcoming environment. An assistant at the reception d

SELF SERVICE" What a pleasant surprise, Dahlia. I'm fine, thank you, and you?”" I'm fine too. Are you going to work? Or are you already working?”" I won't be in today until thirteen o'clock, I was having a quiet breakfast here because I'm having a quiet morning.”" No kidding! Can we have lunch together?”" Sure, of course.”" I'll meet you at Galileo, is that okay?”" Dahlia, I've never been to Galileo…”" Great day to get to know the place, it's really nice there, Clara, I'm sure you'll like it.”Clara had no doubt that she would like to, but the noble restaurant and coffee shop was not in line with her meagre means. She didn't need to know that a cup of coffee at Galileo's was expensive; she could buy two packets and drink them all month long. Seeing that the girl was taking a long time to answer, Dahlia spoke up:" I'm inviting you, Clara, so the bill is on me, okay?”" All right, but may I suggest another place?”" But of course, my dear!”" So let's meet on State Avenue, you

WELCOME, CLARA“ I have to go to work, Meg, and I'm not going to wear myself out with this man.”Clara took the bus to work and even though she told Megan that she wouldn't think about it anymore, she couldn't forget. Taking advantage of the fact that a passenger got off, she sat down on the unoccupied seat and listened to Gerard's audio again, still with the same nonconformity. She called, not for the first time to Dahlia, and like the previous times she had called since Gerard had called, her friend's cell phone went straight to voicemail. Megan, before she left for work, had given him the idea to call his wife and also to send her a message on Instagram. Dahlia didn't answer or reply to the message, and Clara saw that she removed the photos she had posted of the two of them at the restaurant. Very strange.Clara ran the images through her mind of the first time she had seen Dahlia, on a video call. The woman had called her from an office in her home and had gone pale when her husba