CHAPTER 5

After nine years together, things between Nikko and I had reached an awkward point. He was a man who loved his freedom and made arbitrary decisions without consulting anyone about what would do next. Therein lay our arguments.

His father was a lawyer for a small firm in Viana and before his oldest son graduated, he managed to get him on the payroll. Work, occupation, and our schedules, plus the condition of living in different districts, made him accustomed to not including me in almost any of his plans. However, we were still dating, because the little time together was good.  

Nikko's cousin Catalina, who owned a shoe store in Castelo, would occasionally receive us there. She was one of the cousins I got along best with, we hit it off, and she even knew my friend Sandra, and we used to meet in Braga when Cata traveled.

Two days after her son's birthday, Nikko and I went into her store with the idea of saying hello and seeing her new merchandise. I love shoes, and Cata was selling amazing styles, plus she gave me credit.

Upon entering, it wasn't the new shoes that triggered my anxiety. Behind the counter was a beautiful girl, tall, very thin, and with hair full of highlights, whom I had never met before. Her name was Belinda, she was one of the owner's best friends, and I learned that in her spare time as a secretary in a medical office near Saravia's villa, she earned extra money working with Catalina in the shoe store.

The woman was the one who attended to us in the owner's absence. Nikko introduced her to me as someone he had known for a long time, and I realized that there was a lot of camaraderie between the two of them.

They engaged in a very pleasant and long conversation. I was used to Nikko's reserve, not wanting to include me more than necessary in some examples like that, so I opted to walk away little by little until I found myself wandering around the shopping mall.

I kept getting lost among shoes of all sizes until I reached the ladies' shoes.

The place was decorated in a very special way. The shelf of women's booties reached a wall made of shoe boxes located on my right side. They were arranged to create a decorative wall to cover part of the storage area and save space. I loved looking at the boxes; they were painted in different colors and had some posters pasted with images of local mountains, beaches, and landscapes of our country, showing one or another model wearing the brands that were sold there.

From there, I saw Nikko and that Belinda was still talking, and apparently, she had said something very funny because he was laughing his head off.

I sighed and kept looking around to shake off that oblivious feeling when, as I looked down, I noticed some men's shoes swaying a bit and sticking out of the warehouse hidden by the boxes.

The person wearing those sneakers had his ankles crossed, practically lying on the floor.

I peeked around until I discovered a baggy light-colored jean, then a black T-shirt and I found his face.

Bang! My stomach turned over.

I froze for a brief moment but decided to react quickly.

"Hey," I said, faking a smile. 

Maël pulled a pair of headphones out of his ears and raised his head to look at me.

"Hey," he replied almost reluctantly.

My lips parted.

«Did he wave back? Wow...»

"How are you? What are you doing there?" I exhaled with a lazy laugh.

He sighed in annoyance. I tried not to raise my eyebrows at the gesture.

"I work here." He shrugged.  

«Ah, I didn't know that...»

I nodded. I looked at him for a second and wondered what he was doing hiding behind those boxes listening to music on his iPod. I burst out laughing, he didn't look like the employee of the month.

"Oh my God! Too many people in the center, I was crazy to get there," Catalina exclaimed, entering the store like a storm. "Hey! Good morning, girl," she greeted me with a hug as I walked away from Maël and approached Nikko.

As she turned to her cousin, she suddenly became serious and looked between the sales clerk and my boyfriend.

"Hi, Nikko."

"Hi, Cata," he replied in kind, teasing a little.

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What's up?" I asked, with a crooked smile.  

"She is annoyed with me because supposedly I always come to entertain her employees," my boyfriend answered.

"First Maël and now Belinda. Every time Nikko comes, they start talking about a thousand things and he doesn't let them work."

My boyfriend and Belinda burst out laughing. I smiled like a clown. The thought of Belinda and Nikko talking animatedly awakened that analysis of always having something new to learn about my couple and always from the mouths of others. I guess in the end I would never get used to such secrecy. I preferred to call Cata's attention so that she could tell me the prices of some boots I liked and let them continue updating. I didn't want Belinda to wait on me, let alone Maël.

I tried on my footwear in front of the low mirror anchored to one of the back walls. Maël stood up stiffly when he saw his boss coming and I laughed at the situation.

I pulled up my jeans, to zipper up my future black high-heeled boots so I could get a better look at how they fit.

"Spectacular!" Cata said. Saleswoman, at last. Although she wasn't escaping from reality, the boots were a real luxury. "They look divine on you. What do you think, Maël?"

I looked at him. He looked at my feet, then at nothing.

"Yes, they look good on you," was all he said.

I tilted my mouth avoiding not to express what I felt: my feet burning when he left his eyes there for more than two seconds.

I was fascinated by the shoes and instead of using credit, I paid for them all at once. I didn't want to get into debt in front of the skinny girl who entertained my boyfriend.

"Maël, please attend to Delu," Catalina demanded and I sighed. Then she went to the front door. "Belinda, I'm going home for a moment, okay?" She looked between her and Nikko.

The girl nodded and the owner left the place.

Maël stepped forward and as I followed him, I stared at him from head to toe.

I bit my lips... How hot was that guy, by God! The way the flannel fit him, the jeans...

When we got to the counter, he put the shoes in a box and put them in a bag with the store's logo on it. I paid quickly, all our movements automated, and cleared my throat to let Nikko know I was ready to go. His delay in saying goodbye to the skinny girl made me sweat.

"So I'll meet you there?" she asked as if I wasn't there.

"Of course! I'll be with Mom and a cousin at the mall, but I think we can help you."

That's when I caught Belinda's face.

We left, finally, but once we were settled in Nikko's room, I couldn't hold it in.

"Which mall are you going to?" I asked him, and he looked up with a live-dumb look on his face. I saw him reminisce.

"Ah... That's in Braga. I'm going with Harry and Mom to the center in a few days."

"And Belinda is going with you?"

Nikko raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. What's up with that?"

I looked at my silhouette in the mirror as I tried on my boots.

I pursed my lips and shrugged.

"Nothing."

I decided to concentrate on my brand new shoes, on my appearance, on my now long, straight, black hair, forgetting about Nikko with Belinda, Maël, and his tight ass, and let my boyfriend convince me to stay a few more days at his place.