STYLISH"Let's sit over there," Cloe pointed to a small park farther away, in the front block where she knew the cameras couldn't catch them. She knew well the range of the cameras in the block and didn't want anyone at the office to see them talking.She felt heavy-hearted and had a bitter taste in her mouth, a sense that something was going to happen, that Shay would say something that would hurt her deeply.She walked, and the girl followed closely.They sat on a bench in the square. Shay crossed one leg over the other, and before she could say anything, Cloe asked her:"Why are you dressed like that?""Like what? Like you used to dress before looking like this freak show?"She started hitting hard. Cloe felt the blow and saw that it wasn't her imagination that the girl was dressed like her, imitating her."I don't look like a freak show.""No? Do you seriously not think you've looked like a freak show for years? Don't you look in the mirror, girl?""Why do you pursue me, why have
REPREHENSION.Cloe slept like a tranquilizer that Milla put in her mouth, even though it was weak and low-dose, it worked to relax her a bit. The past stressful situation also contributed, or else Milla wouldn't have let her go after Shay.Milla was boiling with anger. They had known Shay for over a decade and she knew that Shay did it on purpose and out of pure malice. It had been the same with Miranda.Miranda had moved to the neighborhood six years ago and Shay had chased her until the girl gave up and left. Shay picked on her, calling her stuck-up and snobbish just because the girl wasn't born and raised there. She had problems with that, she was territorial and didn't accept anyone entering the neighborhood or getting close to someone important there. Like Cloe. Shay couldn't accept that Cloe had caught Túlio's interest.Miranda had approached Gaspar and even though she had never noticed him before he became interested in Miranda, Shay couldn't accept it and tormented the girl to
ENOUGH!Cloe left Milla's house and wanted to avoid being alone. She didn't feel strong enough to be by herself. What she had told her friend was true and what she really felt, but she didn't want to hurt her. She shouldn't have complained and cried to Milla, but she was so out of her mind when she found out that Shay and Tulio had slept together that she lost track of her pain. She should have avoided crying and opening up to her friend, knowing that Milla was so hot-tempered and her pain made her open up when she saw her. She thought she might have done it unconsciously. Perhaps because deep down she wanted her to take out her anger on Shay, maybe deep down in her mind, she really wanted that to happen and thinking that made her even worse. She had never been vengeful and didn't want to become one now. But she really thought that Tulio owed her an explanation. It was he who owed her loyalty, she had always been loyal to him and hoped he would be with her."My dear, you don't look we
CHECK IT OUT!Sopapo dropped Gringo off at Cloe's house and left to help Túlio. Neither Sopapo nor the other men in the car heard Gringo's scream when he entered Cloe's house and saw her cutting her wrist. They sped away in the car to the conflict with their boss, leaving Gringo in despair. How would he save her on foot?"Cloe, my love, what have you done?!" He shouted and fell to his knees beside her, the crimson blood staining his pants. He picked her up and she seemed weightless. She was already in shock, blood flowing fast from her wrist, and he held her wrist trying to apply pressure and stop the bleeding, but it didn't seem enough. It was the first time Gringo touched her like this. She was cradled and unconscious against his chest. He felt guilty for feeling what he was feeling, he had loved her from the beginning, he respected her and Túlio. He loved them, but he was at his limit. He never thought about confessing to her, nor did he know if he ever would with her, Túlio, his b
DESERVINGNESS"My God, thank you, doctor!" Gringo hugged the man tightly and lifted him off the ground in the embrace."Please listen," the doctor asked him to step back onto the ground after the overwhelming hug. "Cloe lost a lot of blood...""I brought her as fast as I could, doctor. I had no car, no motorcycle at the moment and she was unconscious!""I understand, and thanks to you, she's alive! If she had taken five more minutes to get here, we wouldn't have been able to do anything else. But she still lost a lot of blood.""But I already told you, you can take as much as you need from me, and if it's still not enough, I'll bring the whole community to donate blood. We can make a line here at the door...""Please listen!" the doctor interrupted him again. "We're keeping her in a coma for now until she fully recovers. That's what I wanted to tell you.""So I can't see her then?" Gringo looked at the doctor helpless."I don't think you want to risk her getting an infection, which co
WILL YOU FORGIVE ME?Gringo knew him well, knew that his blood was boiling in his veins and that he wanted to kill him right there. He didn't do it because of the truths he had thrown in his face, and he didn't regret anything he had said. It was true, and he was tired of seeing Cloe suffer for these four years. Watching her bleed out had exhausted his patience. Helping her had pushed him to his limit. He was still in shock from everything he had gone through in the last few hours and he unleashed all of his accumulated anger at once. It hadn't been easy seeing the sadness in her eyes all these years. Seeing how the boss had been treating her lately. He knew Túlio loved her and was completely screwed up and confused, but he was too, so screw him. Túlio could make his life a living hell, of course, he was aware of that. He was also aware that if he killed him in less than five minutes, he would be dead too. And it wasn't even why he wasn't doing it. Túlio had been his best friend for o
HOSPITAL DISCHARGE.The attentive nurse who allowed him to see his girlfriend and let him stay for more than five minutes fetched him so he could leave and he accepted, being escorted by her to the ICU door. She then closed the door and came over to Cloe's bed."So you're awake, you little devil?" she said and Cloe opened her eyes to her. "I don't know why he was apologizing or what he did to you, but he seemed really sorry, didn't he?"Cloe didn't respond, just looked at her."It's none of my business, really, but if a man like that said something to me, oh, he could have whatever he wanted from me," the woman sighed and put a hand on her chest dramatically, smiling at the girl who had just woken up after almost twenty-four hours in a coma. "Welcome back, Cloe. I'll call the doctor to see you."The doctor came and was thrilled to see her awake. He examined her, explained what had happened, and told her she was officially out of danger. A psychiatrist came minutes later and spoke to h
REVENGE AND BLOODSHEDChloe's scream must have been heard throughout the neighborhood, and Tulio was quick as always. Within seconds, he was on the stairs, with a perfect and precise aim, and the shot he fired hit the hooded man right in the middle of the forehead.Chloe had stood up from the step and was almost knocked down by Gringo in his haste to pass.The sight he saw of Milla lying at an abnormal angle instantly turned him green and shocked.Chloe only noticed that she was still screaming when Tulio slapped her hard, bringing her back to reality."It's okay, love," he kept repeating, hugging her and trying to cover up the lifeless body of her best friend so she wouldn't see it. Chloe felt his tremble.Tulio took her slowly to the car parked at the door, and she looked back before getting into the car and saw Gringo with Milla in his arms sobbing. The girl's head was hanging in his arms, and he looked up at the sky in despair.Chloe's teeth were chattering loudly. Tulio was about