Episode 1 - Start over

Rosaly opened the door to her little apartment and inspired the freezing morning air. It had snowed the night before, and looking at the outside scenery, she had the impression that the whole world was covered in cotton flakes.

Rosaly had loved winter since she was a child, but since she was born in a tropical country, snow was an almost non-existent item in the place where she lived. She was born in São Paulo, a city in Brazil where there were huge skyscrapers, rain every day and pollution everywhere, due to the large number of cars that circulated around the city. However, despite the large crowd of people who barely had time for a good conversation with their neighbors, São Paulo was an interesting metropolis.

On weekends, there were countless possibilities of entertainment such as theaters, cinemas, restaurants, bars and so many others that could not be counted at your fingertips. Therefore, a city attracted people from all regions of the country, and why not say of the world? Since dates like Carnival and New Year's Eve many foreign tourists, who took advantage of the time to travel to Brazil and get to know the cosmopolitan life that São Paulo had to offer.

Rosaly sighed deeply as she remembered her home, feeling a sharp pain reaching her heart. She had moved to Vancouver, Canada, for a year, leaving all her life and family behind, trying to find there the calm she needed for her heart. She shook her head to put away the memories that mixed with the constant fear that always made her leave home and look at her frightened neighborhood. Could she never have peace? When could she walk the streets without feeling that her whole world was threatened by strange shadows, hidden in every corner of that city?

No, she refused to let the darkness penetrate her soul on this incredible morning. She squeezed her coat closer to her body, wrapped the scarf around her neck, and began to descend the stairs towards the exit of the building. She found the door attendant of the building organizing the garbage of the condominium, and greeted him with a joy that she was far from feeling...:

- Hello\, Mr. Smith. What a magnificent day\, don't you think?

- Good morning\, Miss Rosely. - She had gotten used to the Canadian accent that never pronounced her name with "a" - what a pleasure to see her this morning. We hardly ever met.

- It's true\, my life is crazy. With three jobs I don't have time for anything either.

- Careful\, my daughter. Take the time to have fun. Working so hard is not good for your health.

- But I have fun\, Mr. Smith. My three jobs are fun for me. - It wasn't entirely true\, one of her jobs didn't give her that much pleasure\, but she needed the money\, because life in Vancouver was not cheap at all.

- I'm glad to hear that\, but still\, take some time to have fun with your friends. Good friendships are good for the soul.

- I'll try to take your advice. Have a nice day. -She said goodbye\, leaving for her first job of the day\, where she worked as a language teacher at an influential school in Vancouver called Way Ahead. She had always liked the language\, which she had still learned in Brazil\, but she had never thought that one day she would use it as her live hood.

She arrived at the school and greeted the secretary with her usual smile, then went to the teachers' lounge, which was deserted at that time. She used some coffee from the espresso machine, and sat on a chair near the window leading to the courtyard. As she drank her coffee, she thought about the hours ahead. She checked her watch and realized that her first class was twenty minutes away and sighed discouraged.

She liked to give classes, especially to children, because for them everything was new, and they learned with an impressive speed. The teenagers tested her patience, they seemed to be always with their minds elsewhere. They belonged more to the digital world than to the classes she tried to teach every day. It wasn't easy to get them interested, even if she tried her best, and in the end she ended up exhausted from her frustrated attempts.

In her first week there she had thought about giving up, but they paid well, and she couldn't afford to refuse work, so she ended up staying only for survival, and surviving was one of her specialties, and hiding too, Rosaly thought, feeling a black cloud hovering over her head. She closed her eyes, took three deep breaths, diverting her thoughts from the past that followed her in her worst moments. She got up from her chair, threw the disposable coffee cup in the trash, and headed for the classroom. For the next three hours, she would have to concentrate her energy on the three classes of teenagers she would have that morning, and she already knew that it would be extremely tiring.

When the last class was over, Rosaly gathered her things, organized the room before leaving. Fortunately, it wasn't that hard to teach that day, one of the students asked if they could do a class with music, and Rosaly thought it would be a very interesting activity. Then she asked.

- Do you prefer a particular singer?

- Teacher\, I took the liberty of bringing copies of a very popular singer's song here in Canada. I have the melody on my iPod.

- And who is he?

- His name is Shawn Mendes. Do you know him?

- No\, but since you like him I want to know for sure. - Rosaly felt the atmosphere of the class change. How could she not have thought of that? Music was always a good activity to work in a foreign language. She remembered herself when she was a student\, and how much she loved it when the teacher brought music to her English classes\, and the lively buzz of her students only proved that theory true.

The student who brought the music was called Adrianne, and when she put the music on the school stereo, the whole class was invaded by an extremely pleasant melody. The name of the song was Mercy, and the singer's voice was soft, a little hoarse and sexy. Rosaly didn't know the singer, but she was impressed with the strong lyrics and full of feelings. Her heart identified with each word, and she almost forgot where she was. There was a slight jolt when Adrianne approached her and said:

- Did you like it\, teacher?

- Yes\, this singer is very good. What's his name again?

- Shawn Mendes.

- Shawn Mendes. - Rosaly repeated the name without realizing it.

- Can we use some of his songs in other classes? - Adrianne asked hopefully.

- Of course. Studying with music is always nice.

- Thank you so much\, teacher. -Adrianne said all excited\, making Rosaly happy with herself. She had finally gotten a connection to the class\, and if this Shawn Mendes was a bridge to that\, she would use him in her classes as much as she needed.

Rosaly left school and went to the nearest coffee shop. She wanted to make a snack before going on to her second job that day, as she wouldn't have time for a decent lunch. She entered the cafeteria and ordered a cheese croissant, which she devoured in five minutes with orange juice. Then, it was in towards the juice house called Weekend, where her shift would begin in thirty minutes.

Weekend was on the prime side of Vancouver, and it was the first job Rosaly had gotten when she moved to Canada. A lot of celebrities came along time and time again. This attracted many clients, curious to see how their favorite artists behaved away from the spotlight of fame.

Rosaly thought it was all nonsense, because in her opinion famous artists were people like her, had their problems, their dose of drama in life and she was not impressed by their presence there. She treated them as she would treat any other client, because she didn't think they were different from anyone else just because they had more money or power.

When she was almost there, she stopped in front of an ice skating rink, and admired for a few seconds some people who were skating at that moment. She had always wanted to try, but she had never had enough courage. It was a very difficult activity that required a lot of discipline and balance, and Rosaly didn't know if she had enough skill for it. Maybe one day she'd change her mind about it and if she'd given herself the chance to risk a few falls, she thought it would be fun.

As soon as she stepped on the door of the Weekend, Lexie, one of the girls who worked with her, came toward her smiling and said:

- Good afternoon\, Rosely. John asked me to tell you to go to his office as soon as he arrived. -

- Thank you\, Lexie. I'll talk to him right away.

John was the general manager of Weekend, and since Rosaly had started working there, he had shown some interest in her. He had never openly asked her out, but he was always around, paying special attention to her, but Rosaly pretended not to notice. The other waitresses encouraged her to accept his attention, not believing that she was ditched a man like that.

- Girl\, how can you not fall in love with this Greek god?. - Lexie said distraught\, for John was an extremely handsome man. He was in his thirties\, tall\, dark\, and had incredible green eyes and fleshy lips that when they opened in a smile made him even more charming. His arms were muscular\, denounced by the informal short-sleeved t-shirts he always wore\, suggesting that the rest of his body should follow the same constitution. He was the kind of person who exercised every morning at the gym and ran in the park\, and on weekends he played tennis. Rosaly knew all this because she got tired of hearing the girls at her job talking about her boss while they were eating\, it seemed like they were keeping up to date about all the things he did\, and then they told her to see if Rosaly realized what she was missing. What they didn't understand was that she wasn't interested in any kind of love relationship\, she'd had enough in the past\, now she just wanted peace and quiet in her life.

- Lexie\, I know that John is a great person. He always treats us with consideration and respect\, and working here has been a very good experience. But he's our boss\, and right now that's all he means to me.

- I don't understand you\, Rosely. Any girl would give an arm or a leg to have such a man in their lives\, and you just don't want him. Did you take a vow of chastity or something\, or did you leave a forbidden love in Brazil that you don't want to tell us about?- a shadow passed through Rosaly's eyes\, but she tried to disguise her discomfort.

- It has no romance at all. Stop making up stories. I'm just not ready for it right now. Maybe one day I'll change my mind? -but she knew she was lying. She never wanted to get romantically involved with anyone again. She had open wounds that hadn't healed yet\, and she doubted. a lot that one day would get rid of them. She was definitely dead to love\, she always said to herself.

- I hope this doesn't happen too late\, because as you know\, life goes on \, and I don't think John is the kind of man who waits forever. On hearing that comment\, Rosaly just smiled\, realizing that Lexie and the other girls who worked with her thought that a woman would only be happy if she had a man next door. But she had to confess that she had also thought that way one day\, and her passions took her to a dark side of love that left her with deep\, painful scars\, and so she wanted nothing in her life to have to do with a loving relationship between a man and a woman.

She pushed those thoughts away as soon as he found himself in front of the door of his boss's office. He knocked lightly and heard John's deep, firm, grave voice send her in. As soon as he saw her his eyes sparkled and he said:

- Good afternoon\, Rosaly.

- Good afternoon\, John. Do you want to see me?- Rosaly never felt comfortable using her boss's first name when she had to talk to him for some reason\, because it gave the impression of an intimacy she didn't think was right\, but that was one of his demands when she started working there. John hated it when someone called him Mr. Kent because it made him feel 100 years old\, so he asked all his employees to call him by his first name.

- Yes. - he answered.

-I did something wrong? - she asked with concern, not imagining anything else as a reason to be there in his office.

- Of course not\, Rosely. I've only been getting compliments about your work. At the moment you are our best waitress\, always attentive to customers and efficient in service.

- Thank you. - she answered without continuing to understand why she was there.

- I wanted to know if everything was okay with you. I've noticed that at times you seem exhausted and tense. Is there something going on that I should know about? Rosaly felt her heart squeeze. How did he notice? Ever since she came to work at Weekend\, she'd been careful to keep her personal life away from the professional\, because she didn't want anyone to know why she'd moved so far from home\, but it seemed she hadn't been able to disguise her dark mood so well. It was either that or John had been watching her more than she would have liked.

- No\, there's no problem. It's just that besides this one\, I have two other jobs\, as you know\, and it's not always easy for me to reconcile all three. - She said\, hoping that he would believe it.

- If you want\, I can help you. You know you can trust me. -John looked at her more intensely\, and Rosaly felt her stomach shrink inside. She remembered another look like that\, and almost ran out of the office\, but she controlled herself in time to respond to the comment he had made.

- Thanks\, John\, but it's okay\, don't worry. I'll try to make sure my tiredness doesn't interfere with my performance here.

- Don't get me wrong\, Rosaly. I wasn't criticizing you. I was just worried about you.

- I understood John\, and I appreciate your concern. But I think I should get back to work now\, because Weekend is really busy today and I need to help the other girls with their requests.

- Sure. You're dismissed. Anything else come talk to me. - John smiled at her and Rosaly smiled back politely.

- Thank you. - She left the office closing the door behind her\, slowly letting go of the breath she had held the moment John started talking to her. her. She had noticed his interest and it made her uncomfortable. In reality she felt this way every time a man showed that he wanted more than friendship with her\, and this had lasted a year\, exactly since she had put an end to the nightmare she was living in Brazil\, and had traveled to Canada to try to paste the pieces of her broken heart\, and start a new life. Would she ever be happy again?

She still thought about it when she arrived at the employees' dressing room. She wore the elegant navy blue uniform that all waitresses were obliged to wear, tied her long brown hair in a pretty hairdo, and put her badge attached to the top of the uniform, retouched the light makeup he wore and headed for the cafeteria.

- So? What did he want?- Lexie came to ask her as soon as she saw her.

- Nothing important\, just things about the job\," Rosaly replied\, noting the disappointment marking the expression on her friend's face.

- That's it?-Lexie had asked;

- That's it. Stop inventing romance where it doesn't exist\, Lexie. Let's get to work\, because it's crowded here today. - Rosaly responded by ending the conversation.

For the next few hours, she was relieved to be so overwhelmed with work that Lexie no longer had time to torment her with that story. She served countless tables, just stopping by to make a snack right there in the cafeteria. As she ate standing at the cashier's counter, she watched a boy sitting alone at a corner table in the juice house. He wore sunglasses that hid his eyes, a baseball cap, pants, and brand-name black jacket that should be worth a fortune, denouncing his economic condition. The position in which he was sitting showed that he seemed relaxed, since one arm rested indifferently on the table, and the other was on the chair next door. He had a phone in his ears connected to a cell phone that was in his hands, and the music he played seemed to please him, because he set the pace with his feet that were worn by Italian leather shoes.

Rosaly usually felt restless when new or strange people showed up at the Weekend, but the image of that lonely boy sitting there only caused her curiosity. He turned to Kathy who was working at the cashier that afternoon and asked:

- Who is he? -Kathy looked in the direction that Rosaly was discreetly pointing and answered:

- To tell you the truth\, I don't know. I've seen him sitting at this very table many times\, but I've never found out who he is.

- Does he always come here by himself?- Rosaly tried to remember if she'd ever seen him there before\, but she couldn't.

- Yes\, he always orders the same thing\, a hamburger with pineapple juice. Then he sits in the same position for hours\, gets up\, pays the bill with a master credit card and leaves.

- How strange. - Rosaly said to herself. He was supposed to be a businessman or an actor\, or maybe a singer from a rising pop band\, because the clothes and shoes he wore suggested that he had a lot of money. What made her more intrigued was that he always came there unaccompanied\, because most tycoons or rock stars who appeared there\, always had a glamorous woman next door\, and that boy seemed to be feeling comfortable without any socialite in his company.

Rosaly wanted to get closer to see him more closely, to make sure she didn't actually know him, but she knew she couldn't do that, because there was a rule that all employees should follow to the letter in Weekend. No one would go near a celebrity if they didn't ask to be there. of an attendant or waitress, and if they disobeyed, they'd be out in the same minute.

Rosaly looked at her watch and saw that her break was over, so she went back to work and no longer thought of the stranger who had aroused her curiosity. At five o'clock sharp she finished her work there, but that would continue in her third job of the day. She enjoyed it because it was about dancing, something she had loved to do since she was a child.

She was a belly dancing teacher at an academy across town, and had classes every day from 6:30 in the afternoon to 8:30 in the evening. Rosaly had been interested in that dance when she was twelve years old, and her mother had put her in class because she realized that she no longer wanted to go to ballet and jazz classes that she practiced from an early age, and how important she thought it was for her daughter to learn some kind of dance, she had immediately enrolled her, and Rosaly had identified herself so much with the winding and sensual movements that in a short time she was dancing perfectly. It was fortunate to find an academy there in Canada that taught this dance, and when Rosaly began to attend it, her precise and graceful movements caught the attention of the teacher and also owner of the academy, who had invited her to teach classes every day at night.

Rosaly loved her work there because dancing was a pleasure, and she was able to disconnect from everything and concentrate only on the music she heard and the movements she was supposed to perform. Whenever she went home, she felt calm and relaxed, so for her that was the best part of her day.

She took the bus to get there, because the gym was far from Weekend and walking there would be extremely exhausting. She arrived at the gym after thirty minutes, wore the clothes she wore to teach and found her students waiting for her in the studio. They were rehearsing a new choreography, because they would make a presentation next weekend at a dinner for executives, who hired the academy to entertain the guests. Rosaly had accepted the invitation because in addition to receiving extra money, it would give more notoriety to the academy, and this was always welcomed. After going through the same steps several times, the class was over and Rosaly was finally able to go home.

Normally she would go to her apartment walking, because the gym was only three blocks from where she lived, but that night she decided to take a taxi because she was feeling strangely threatened, and didn't know exactly why. During the journey in the car, she went through all the events of the day, while watching the lights of the city that passed by her at an incredible speed. She went down in front of the set of apartments where she lived, passed by the gate greeting the night watchman and went to her apartment. She opened the door and threw herself on the sofa, exhausted. What a day !She had worked so hard that she knew she would faint in bed as soon as he fell into it, because his body was sore and sensitive to the excess of activities she had done throughout the day. Working in three jobs almost every day exhausted all his strength, but he knew she would have to continue if he wanted to maintain the life she had in Canada.

The phone rang and Rosaly got up in a jolt. Who could have been calling her at that time of night? Scared, she thought she wouldn't answer, but then she changed her mind thinking that maybe it was something important.

- Hello? - said with a dry mouth and a racing heart.

- Rosaly\, where were you until this time of night?-your mother's voice made you breathe in relief. There was a time difference\, and his mother always consulted him before calling her\, knowing exactly what time it would be in Canada.

- I was at work\, Mom. - Rosaly answered.

- Until now? - her mother asked incredulously.

- You know I have three jobs. - Rosaly explained patiently.

- Why haven't you called? I haven't heard from you in weeks. I was worried about you. - Rosaly felt a pinch of guilt for neglecting to call her mother\, because when she had traveled\, she had promised to call all her friends weeks. At first she had kept to the schedule\, but then her life had been so busy that the phone calls were spaced out.

- I'm sorry\, Mom\, but I've been very busy.

¬ When are you coming home? It's been a year, Rosaly. Don't you think that's enough?

- Mom\, you know I can't. - she hated hearing Mom's crying voice on the phone\, she didn't want to hurt her\, but I had no choice.

- I want to tell you something. Gaius looked for Danielle the other day. - Rosaly felt the floor open like she was going to swallow it when she heard the name of her ex-boyfriend.

- What did he want?- she asked nervously.

- He wanted to know where you were. Danielle said he grabbed her arm\, shook her\, tried to take the information from her by force\, and only stopped when she threatened to call the police.

- My God\, poor Daniele. I didn't want to involve her in this. - Rosaly was sorry. Daniele was her best friend and hadn't seen her since she came to Canada. One more thing that Caio had taken from her.

- Don't worry. She didn't say anything to him. But she asked me to warn you that he said he won't give up and will look for her until the end of the world. Why don't you come home\, Rosaly:? Here at least we can protect you. I can't stand the thought of you being in a foreign country\, away from your family putting your life at risk.

- Don't worry\, Mom. He won't find me here. - She said it more to reassure her mother than to really believe her own words. She knew that Caio could find her there\, because he had the means. She would have to redouble her care from then on.

- Do as you wish\, but be careful. - Her mother told her resigned when she realized that Rosaly wouldn't change her mind.

- . Don't worry\, I'm safe here.

- I love you daughter.

- I love you too. - Rosaly said\, hanging up the phone.

Her mother's words affected her more than she wanted to admit, but under no circumstances would she return to Brazil. Even with that imminent threat on her head, Rosaly felt she should stay where she was, because in Vancouver few people knew her, and even if Caio thought of looking for her in Canada, he would have a huge job to find her, and at least in that, she knew she had an advantage.

She went to the window, and observed the city outside, suggesting a calm that she couldn't feel in her heart. When would she stop running? Looking at the darkness she did not find the answer.

.

Hello, guys. I'm posting another story about Shawn Mendes. I count on you to tell me what you thought about it. Kisses, Rosana.

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