When she arrived at Ethan's apartment, Rafaela called to let him know she was there."I'm not ready yet, come up immediately," he said."No, thank you, I’ll wait for you in the car," she replied."That wasn’t a request," he said before hanging up on her."Ugh, I really hate this man!" she exclaimed nervously, hitting the steering wheel."What happened?" Kate asked, concerned."He rushed me, and he’s not even ready yet, and now he’s telling me to go up.""If I had known, I wouldn’t have come with you," she grumbled."Friend, wait for me here, I’ll be right back."Rafaela got out of the car, heading towards the elevator, pressing the button for the floor where Ethan lived. She was nervous; she didn’t know what he wanted, and after what happened yesterday, everything had become strange. She looked at herself in the elevator mirror, adjusting her white button-up shirt in the front, and ran her hand through her hair, pulling it out from behind her ear. She thought about the possibility of r
"I'm sorry!" she apologized, quickly closing the door.Realizing the mistake she had just made, she ran back to the living room, with her hand on her throat to keep her heart from leaping out of her mouth. Only a few minutes had passed when Ethan appeared, dressed like a true executive."What were you looking for?" he asked calmly."The kitchen," Rafa replied."Oh, right, I forgot to show you."He walked toward a wall decorated with wooden slats and touched it. The wall started to move, revealing a door, and behind it, the kitchen appeared, now connected to the living room."I would never have guessed," she said sheepishly."The upper cabinets have everything you’ll need. I’ll start the meeting in 10 minutes," he said, sitting down on the sofa and opening the laptop that was on the coffee table.She began rummaging through the kitchen, looking for everything she needed to make coffee. Even trying to control herself, there were moments when she couldn’t help but glance at him."Why do y
And once again, there was Ethan, wanting to remind her of what she wanted to forget. "I shouldn’t have called you," he began. "Indeed, I won't disagree with you on that," she said, showing her discontent with the previous night. "I recognize it was a mistake, alright? If I do it again, you don’t need to come to get me." "But what if you threaten me?" "Don’t take what I say when I’m drunk to heart; what matters are my words when I'm like this, talking sober, face to face with you." "Fine, I'll remember that. I hope you remember what you just said as well. I care a lot about my job, and I can’t afford to lose it for any reason." "Are you that afraid of being fired?" "Of course I am; things are complicated for an immigrant," she lied, never revealing the true reason. "Don't worry about that. As I said, please ignore what I say when I’m drunk. I’m a man of my word, Rafaela. If I say or promise something, you can be sure I’ll keep it," he looked at her intently. "I don’t
“Of course, nothing is happening; don’t be paranoid," he replied."I'm not paranoid. I just think you both seem pretty close.""She’s my secretary; it’s normal that we’re close.""But isn't it strange that you two came to work in the same car, don’t you think?""You know she kept my car last night.""Even so… First last night, and now this. Why did you two arrive at this time?""I had a last-minute teleconference, so I did it at home.""And she was there with you?""Yes, she came to pick me up and ended up waiting for me.""Were you alone in your apartment?""Are you going to start again?" he sighed impatiently."I don’t like the idea of seeing you alone with another woman, whether she’s an employee or anyone else.""All right, Eva, now you can go.""What do you mean? I waited for you for quite a while, and you’re dismissing me like this?""I told you since yesterday that I’m full of work; I can’t give you attention right now.""Don’t you care about how I feel? Don’t you think I feel l
It was Friday morning when Ethan arrived at the office with a serious expression. From the start, Rafa noticed that something wasn’t right, but she continued working as usual, knowing his problems were none of her business. As always, she went to the café next to the company and ordered the boss’s coffee. Knowing he didn’t have a housekeeper, she started buying something for Ethan to eat along with the coffee. Not that he’d asked for anything, but since she’d done it the first time and he seemed to like it, she kept it up. There was nothing wrong with earning points with the boss.Entering the office after knocking on the door, she served him coffee and was about to leave, but Ethan intercepted her."Rafaela," he said."Yes, sir?""What are my commitments for this afternoon?" he asked."This afternoon, there’s nothing major. You just need to sign two reports that have already been reviewed by the legal team.""Damn! There’s nothing important that needs to be done or expedited?" he aske
"I was glad to see you again. Could we meet this weekend? I need your help."When she read the last sentence, she became curious. Why did Tácio Duarte need her? Without thinking twice, she decided to reply, asking what he needed. It didn’t take even a minute, and he called her back. She promptly answered."Hi, Rafa, sorry to bother you. You must be busy, right?" Tácio asked on the other end of the line."No, no problem. Actually, I was just packing my things. I’m heading home.""Are you going home at this hour? Do you have lunch there?""No, I eat near the company, but I won’t be working this afternoon, so I’m going home early.""Did something happen?""No. My boss just let me off early.""It’s nice you have a good boss," he said. "Since you’re free this afternoon, would you like to have lunch with me now?"The invitation caught her by surprise; she never imagined he would call at that time, much less invite her to eat."I don’t think it’s a good idea," she said. All she wanted was to
In the car, Rafa felt strange, sitting next to Tácio. It had been so long since they’d last spoken that she couldn’t bring herself to say a word. "Sorry for taking so long," Tácio said, breaking the awkward silence lodged between them. "You didn’t take long," she replied. "How could I not? You barely left work, and there was already a guy hitting on you." His comment brought a faint smile to her lips. "He wasn’t hitting on me. That’s my boss." "Really?" He glanced at her for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the traffic. "I thought he was some jerk bothering you. I almost got out of the car to confront him." There was something in his tone. Even though years had passed, Tácio didn’t seem affected by the distance between them. He felt like the same person as always, with the same familiar closeness. "Good thing you didn’t do that. I wouldn’t like it if you offended my boss," she smiled, joking. "Don’t tell me you’d take his side, Rafa. I was your boss
"Are you sure that's all?" he asked, concerned."Of course, you don't need to worry about me," she replied quickly."Don't ask me that; you know I worry about everyone.""That's really your way," she confirmed."I was very worried when you decided to leave the office. And I blamed myself for knowing it was because of me.""It wasn't your fault," she replied. "I did it for myself. Living here has always been one of my dreams, and now I'm making it come true.""Are you happy here, Rafaela?""Yes, I am. I have a good job, a comfortable home, and a friend who's like a sister. Things couldn't be better.""Are you dating anyone?" he asked with a hint of expectation."Not yet… but I'm really enjoying my life."That answer wasn't entirely sincere, but she also couldn't tell him she felt like a failure in love because every time she met someone, she ended up comparing them to him.Only Ethan had exceeded her expectations; only Ethan would be a worthy candidate to make her forget him. But Ethan