Episode 4

Chapter 4

Adrian was not one of those men who made emotional efforts. He didn't know how. And much less with Thalia. However, that morning, while he was serving himself coffee in the kitchen and watching her carefully prepare Amelia's lunchbox, something stirred in his chest. Maybe it was the way he spoke to his daughter, softly, as if all the love he never received was there, concentrated in those small gestures.

"Do you want me to take you?" Adrian asked, leaning on the marble island.

Thalia looked up, surprised. "Where?"

"To kindergarten. I can pick you up later if you want. Like… friends," he said awkwardly, as if the word weighed on his tongue.

She watched him for a few seconds.

"Thank you, but I want to walk with Amelia. She likes to see the butterflies in the park," she replied softly, without harshness.

Adrian nodded. He didn't insist. He just looked at her for another second and left without saying anything. But it was a step. A small one. One that Thalia did not expect.

The road to the kindergarten was covered with dry leaves, crunching under Amelia's small feet, who jumped and laughed, with her pink lunchbox hanging from her arm.

"Are you going to stay today, Thalia?" she asked, looking at her with her huge eyes.

"For a little while, do you want me to?"

"Yes!" she shouted, hugging her tightly.

The kindergarten was lively. Voices, laughter, games. The colors of the drawings glued to the walls and the smell of playdough created a magical atmosphere. As Amelia took off her coat, a girl approached her, curious.

"Is she your mom?" she asked with the naturalness of children.

Amelia was silent, looked at Thalia, and then looked down. It seemed that something in her little head was doing calculations impossible to understand.

"No…" she whispered at last. "But I wish she was."

Thalia felt something break inside her. She crouched in front of her, caressed her, and smiled.

"I'm her friend. But I'm always going to be here, okay?"

Amelia nodded and ran to her class, with a shy smile. And Thalia stayed there, with a heavy heart.

She didn't expect to run into anyone when leaving the kindergarten. Much less Joshua.

"Thalia…" the male voice made her turn around.

Time had passed. But his eyes were the same: dark, sweet.

"Joshua… wow," she said, smiling. "Is that you?"

"In the flesh," he replied, approaching with that calm confidence he had always had. "You look… beautiful."

Thalia laughed, somewhat uncomfortable. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a substitute teacher. Today I came to teach a class at the elementary school, but I come often. And you?"

"Taking care of someone's daughter. It's a long story…"

"Wow! I haven't seen you since we finished high school. Where did you get to?"

"Around…" Thalia replied, shrugging. She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't know where to start either.

"I looked for you a couple of times," he said, looking at her with some affection. "Your networks disappeared. Nobody knew anything. I… thought you had gone forever."

Thalia looked down. It weighed on her a little to know that someone had looked for her, that maybe she could have had a support network. But she also knew that, at the time, her life had been a whirlwind.

"Sometimes, leaving is the only option," she murmured.

"Are you okay now?"

She thought about it for a moment. "I guess so."

Joshua smiled sadly. "I'm still good at listening, you know? And I don't need you to tell me everything. Just know that you can."

Thalia looked at him, and for a second, she felt seen in a different way. Not as the broken girl, nor as a nuisance. Just… as Thalia.

"Thank you, Joshua. Really."

"Can I buy you a coffee? Not now, I'm really in a hurry, but… another day. I promise it won't be awkward."

Thalia was going to say no, that it wasn't a good idea, but she found herself nodding.

"Sounds good."

Joshua smiled at her, that crooked smile she remembered from math class, when he would pass her silly notes to distract her from boredom. The same one that, in another time, almost managed to make her fall in love.

When she got home, Adrian was in the kitchen, without a suit, wearing a white shirt and his hair tousled. He looked at her without saying anything at first, until he noticed something in her expression.

"Are you okay?"

Thalia glanced at him. "Yes. Why?"

"You seem… different. Did something happen to you?"

She put the keys on the counter and replied calmly:

"I ran into an old friend."

Adrian's jaw tightened. He said nothing. He just nodded and turned his gaze back to his coffee.

Later, Thalia was arranging some cups when she heard him enter the kitchen. Adrian came with his cell phone in one hand and a slightly raised eyebrow, as if he was deciding how to start the conversation.

"My mother and sister will come this afternoon," he said, leaving the cell phone on the bar. "It will be a small family gathering. My father will also be there. Nothing out of this world… but I wanted you to know."

She looked at him over her shoulder, nodding.

"Do I have to be there?"

"Not necessarily," Adrian replied, crossing his arms. "But if you want to stop by and say hello, it wouldn't be bad. They already know about you."

Thalia felt a slight chill. Knowing about her did not mean accepting her. And even less in that type of environment.

"I'll see how I feel," she said simply, looking down.

Adrian did not insist. He walked towards the coffee maker, poured two cups, and offered her one. Thalia accepted it with some surprise. He didn't usually do that.

"I've been thinking," he murmured after a sip. "Maybe you should consider doing something else. I don't know… some course, something extracurricular. Study something you like. You don't have to stay home all the time if you don't want to."

Thalia laughed, but it was a bitter laugh, with no trace of joy.

"And what am I supposed to like to do?" she asked, without sarcasm, only with raw vulnerability. "The only thing I'm good for is cleaning. It was the only thing I learned to do well."

Adrian looked at her, serious. He put the cup on the counter, slowly.

"Don't say that."

"Why not? It's the truth," she continued, shrugging. "I was never taught anything else. They didn't let me study much because 'I was going to end up marrying a rich old man who would get us out of poverty', my mother's words, not mine. That's what she told me when I was eight years old, and now that she married the rich man, I stopped being useful. So I learned to iron, to serve, to scrub the floor. To be quiet. To not be noticed. For nothing."

There was silence. One that weighed.

"I notice you," Adrian said suddenly, in a low voice.

Thalia looked up. Their eyes met, for the first time, there was no tension between them.

"And if you want to learn something new," he added, "whatever it is, we can find a way. You don't have to keep believing everything they made you believe."

Thalia blinked. She didn't know what to say. She was not used to someone offering her a door instead of a padlock.

"Thank you," she said at last.

Adrian nodded. But before leaving, he looked at her one last time.

"And put on something nice for the meeting, if you decide to come. Not for them," he clarified. "For you."

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