Episode 3- First meeting

ROSALY

Rosaly checked the clock again, and sighed to see it was time to go to work. She left her breakfast untouched on the kitchen sink, picked up the bag she had left on the living room couch the night before, and left the house.

The cold air hit her in full, making her tremble. She closed her eyes for a moment wishing she didn't have to work that day, but she knew she couldn't skip that. She hadn't slept well in days, accumulating so much tension over several days, that on that Saturday she ended up waking up grumpy and exhausted.

Since her mother had warned her about Caio, her night terrors had begun again. She had nightmares, woke up startled with her heart jumping and her face bathed in tears, she could no longer go back to sleep and spent the rest of the night sitting on the sofa in the room, embracing her own knees.

She did not want to think about Caio, but her mind betrayed her, and the image of his face appeared in her head without her wanting it. But this memory was not caused by the love she had once felt for him, but by the force of fear that now surrounded her life, and had settled in her heart for so long that she no longer knew if she would ever be able to free herself from the bonds imposed by her past.

Rosaly felt the tears cloud her vision, and shook her head to push them away as she walked to the bus stop. She had stopped taking her morning walks to work in those days, as she was afraid of what she would find on the way. Anyone would say she was exaggerating if she didn't know the horror she carried inside her. She looked at the people who were passing by her, and wondered if Caio was hiding among them, observing her secretly. Such a thought made her panic, but Rosaly tried to calm herself down by saying to herself, "Don't be paranoid, he doesn't know you're here, at least not yet.

The bus arrived and Rosaly sighed relieved, passed all the benches, going to sit on the last one, in an attempt to go unnoticed. As the bus made its usual way, passing through streets, avenues and entire neighborhoods, she thought about the events of last week.

Her language school classes had improved considerably, thanks to Mr. Mendes, as she started calling her students' favorite singer. They carried out several activities using his music, making the students, especially the girls, more interested in the classes, because they still had the look of a teenager in love with their idol. Rosaly remembered herself at that same age, and she remembered that she was also like that. How many times had she saved up to the last coin of the allowance, just to buy the ticket for the show of her favorite artist?

Despite all her concern about what was yet to come, the classes were fun, and although she wasn't as focused as she should have been, Rosaly realized with satisfaction that she had made some progress with the class. She even got from Adrianne gave a CD recorded with the best songs of Mr. Mendes, that she played every night on the stereo in her apartment, and the student also showed her a picture of him, but she had not paid much attention, because she had other things in mind at that time. Rosaly even liked the style, but the singer himself intrigued her, because the voice that sang about broken hearts, overwhelming passions and goodbyes seemed too young to know the meaning of such feelings, but she could not say anything about it, because she herself was only twenty years old and for all that had happened, seemed to have lived a lifetime.

Rosaly saw the bus make a turn to the right, and the next stop would be hers. She rang the bell of the bus, and got off it, straighten her wool hat that protected her head from the cold breeze that blew at that moment. When she was two meters from the Weekend, she noticed a boy leaning against a pole, wearing a black hooded blouse that looked directly at her. Her heart froze and Rosaly rushed her steps, fearing that he would follow her. She arrived at the entrance to her work and looked back, she saw that the boy had disappeared and she breathed a sigh of relief, trying to straighten the red scarf around her neck.

Since a year ago he had been living this way, running away, hiding from everything and everyone. Rarely did she leave home, and the few friends she had made were limited to the girls who worked with her. Differently, in Brazil, she had a very busy social life, had thousands of friends, and for being so popular, Rosaly received invitations to parties almost every weekend. But, all this was over when she had met Caio and her world so well structured had begun to collapse unexpectedly.

Thinking about the past made her depressed, so she tried to keep such thoughts away, because she would have a full day at the Weekend, and would still have to prepare for her presentation at night.

She entered the cafeteria and headed for the locker room. She was still restless, but she disguised her nervousness as best as she could, because she didn't want them to notice her real state of mind and start speculating about her private life. She got dressed quickly, and looked in the mirror, observing small dark spots under her eyes, denouncing her sleepless nights. She put on more makeup than she used to, trying to hide them, then she held back her hair and went to her work area. On the way, he met John who came from his office with his hands full of books and invoices. When he saw her he smiled relieved to see that she had arrived, soothing the lines of concern on his forehead.

- How nice of you to arrive! Lexie is sick and could not come today. We're full of clients\, and requests. I don't know what happened\, but it seems that all the celebrities decided to come Weekend today\, that leaves us with a lot of work to do. Do you think you can handle it? - he smiled at her.

- I'll do the best I can. - she said without smiling.

- Is everything all right with you? - John asked her.

- Yes\, why?

- You seem nervous.

- It's your impression. I'm fine\, don't worry. - she ended the conversation and went to the cafeteria. As soon as she came in\, Sarah\, one of the waitresses\, came to meet her almost running.

- Hi\, Rosely. I'm glad you're here. I was almost going crazy with so many requests.

-Take easy, Sarah. I'll help you. – Rosaly smiled at the girl, who seemed lost in the middle of so many famous faces.

She worked for about half an hour when Joseph, the boy who took the orders, told her the number of the next table to be served.

- Table five.

- I'm going there. - Rosely took her notebook and went towards the table he had told her. As she was approaching\, she saw who the client was and raised a surprised eyebrow. There was Dr. Mystery\, wearing the same sunglasses and baseball cap as the other day. Rosaly had nicknamed him that because no one had known who he was\, so it had become almost a private joke that she only shared with herself.

She came close to the table, feeling strangely nervous, she picked up her pen and said without looking at him:

- What would you like to order? – she knew intuitively what he would order \, even before he said it.

- Hamburger and pineapple juice. - his voice was firm\, a little hoarse and very pleasant to hear\, and the way he did it had a curious effect on Rosaly. Her heart jumped\, as if she had been moved by those five words that came out of his mouth. "Stop it\, Rosaly\, he's just a customer like any other\," she said to herself. She was on her way out to get the order when she heard him grumbling something. She lifted her eyes from her notepad\, looked at him and almost had a fright. The boy looked like he was staring at her behind his sunglasses\, but she couldn't be sure\, since she couldn't see through that mirror glass.

- Can I get you anything else?

- No\, that's enough. - She had the same feeling again\, so she tried to get out of there before she made a fool of herself. The she returned with the food and drink he had ordered. She put everything on the table carefully\, but when she turned around to go out\, she tripped at the foot of the table and would have fallen if strong hands had not held her wrist\, preventing her from standing on the floor. Because of the quick movement he had made while holding her\, Dr. Mystery pulled her up against his chest\, letting his right hand rest on her waist\, keeping her firmly attached to his body. Rosaly was so surprised by the gesture that for a moment she found nothing to say. But she soon recovered\, and said in his arms:

- Thank you.

- For nothing. - and then he smiled softly\, as if he was having fun with the situation\, making Rosaly feel a sudden heat spread across his spine.

- I think you can let me go now. - She said when she saw that he didn't seem to intend to let her go.

- I'm sorry. - he said simply\, releasing her immediately.

Rosaly turned and walked towards another client who signaled to her, but all the time she felt like she was being watched, and every time she did, there was Dr. Mystery staring at her from behind those annoying glasses. At five o'clock her shift ended and before she went to the locker room, she looked at table five, but Dr. Mystery was no longer there, leaving her disappointed.

- What was that about table five? - Anna\, the cashier at the diner asked him.

- Nothing much happened. - Rosaly tried to talk her way out of it.

- But a lot happened to me. - Anna gave her a naughty little smile.

- It was just an accident\, Anna\, don't exaggerate.

- Girl\, you're really lucky. He's hot.

- You can't tell behind those sunglasses.

- So\, I guess you didn't look right\, I'd do anything to kiss that mouth. - Anna said malicious.

- Anna\, you are a bad girl. Does your fiancé know about your fetish for strangers in sunglasses?

- That's something I never tell him\, honey\, because I know he must have his too. - Rosaly laughed at her friend's comment\, relaxing completely. It was the first real smile she gave that day\, relieving her tension.

- Well\, I have to go now or I'll be late for my appointment.

- . See you on Monday.

- See you\, Anna.

Rosely dressed as fast as she could. She needed to get to the studio in forty minutes, take a shower, and meet with the girls who would dance with her that night. The businessperson who had hired them would send them a car to pick them up and take them to the event, because the place where the dinner would take place was a little far from downtown and for Rosaly, it was a relief not to have to worry about how to get to a place she barely knew.

By 7:30, all the girls had arrived and were looking forward to the presentation. It was the first time they had participated in something so important and wanted it to be perfect. The chauffeur-driven car arrived on time, and Rosaly and the other girls were surprised that not just any vehicle was sent to them, but a limousine with all the comfort they could expect from such a car, proving that the event they were going to was far more important than they had thought at first.

While settling inside that huge car, Rosaly could only think about how much it meant to her, because the dance was always her passport to freedom, leaving her so happy that she forgot everything bad that existed outside, and this nobody could take from her that night.

hello, guys. i hope you like this chapter. I'm waiting for the comments. Kisses, Rosana.

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