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I dry the sweat on my face with the towel and then bring the water bottle to my lips. Damn! Whoever said going to the gym was a good idea was very, very wrong. Fuck!
Sitting in the abductor machine, my heart pounding in my chest, I pull the air through my nose and let it out through my mouth, trying to normalize my breathing.
The gym buzzes with its usual routine, even though it can’t be said to be exactly full. After all, at eight hundred and ninety reais a month, it is not as if there will be a line at the door.
I laugh alone thinking about how my life has changed.Four months ago, paying all that money in a gym tuition was not only unthinkable, it was laughable.
“Well done, Antonella. I like to see the consistency!” Carlos, the gym personal trainer compliments, approaching me, and I smile. “At this rate, the butt on the back of the head project will take off in a few months! Not that you really need it! And with a smile like that...” he puts his hands to his chest, as if he had been hit right in the heart.
The words are said in jest, but I’m perfectly able to tell when someone is flirting with me and that’s exactly what he’s doing.
In a reflex, I look at my left hand with the intention of confirming the presence of my ring.It’s only when I hit my eyes on it that I realize what I’ve just done.Fuck!
I got hit on and my first reaction was to look for my wedding ring.A marriage of convenience.But not a fake wedding... Marcos’ voice whispers in my ear.
“Right?” Carlos laughs shortly after the question and I realize that as I spaced out the man with dark hair and an easy smile kept talking to me.
“Sorry, Carlos. I got distracted. What were you saying?”
“Ouch!” His hands are still on his chest and he grimaces in pain. “I can’t take it. I can’t hold your attention for five minutes?” I smile politely.
“Oh, it’s not your fault.I just remembered something my husband told me.” The posture of the man changes immediately.After the comment, he says two more sentences and says goodbye before turning his back and paying attention to some other girl.
As he walks away, I bring the bottle to my mouth wondering when I decided that this thing with Marcos would be exclusive, because I really don’t remember that moment, however, here I am, turning down a potential fuck buddy without even thinking.I shake my head, scolding myself.Antonella, Antonella. I hope you know what you’re doing.
Spoiler alert.I have no idea.
“Mr. Valente?” the voice of my secretary sounds through the speakerphone of the desk phone in my office, diverting part of my attention from the petition I wrote.
“Yes, Bruna,” I answer still with my eyes fixed on the computer screen.
“You have a visitor who is not on your agenda.”
“Please, Bruna, let they that I am not available and ask to schedule a meeting as soon as the agenda allows,” I advise without even bothering to ask who it is. I want to get home early and an unscheduled meeting is sure to make that impossible.My secretary clears her throat, making it clear that she is still on the line, however, she spends the next few seconds in silence. “Bruna?”
“Huh, Mr. Valente. The visitor in question is the Honorable Judge Machado.” I immediately stop the superficial reading I had been doing of the document already typed and, without having control over myself, I frown.
“Sorry, who?” I lean back in my chair, refusing to believe I understood it right.No, he wouldn’t be able to, would he?
“Judge Mauro Machado.Should I tell him to schedule a meeting?”
Holy shit! Antonella’s father.I rub my hands on my face and let them slide through my hair.I let out a deep exhale and before I can think about it, I’m already standing suddenly too restless to sit still.Fuck!
“Do we have any cases in his sphere, Bruna?” I ask, imagining that before calling me she checked the information.
“As far as I can tell in twenty minutes, no.”
“And he told you what he came for?”
“Personal business, Mr. Valente”
“Damn! All right, Bruna. You can let him in.”
I turn around my own desk and lean on it, positioning myself facing the door.I stick my hands in my pockets, worried about using them to assault a federal judge depending on what he dares to tell me, and take a deep breath in an attempt to prepare myself to stand before the son of a bitch.
At the wedding, I didn’t have a chance to deal with him.During the few minutes we were face to face, I still had no idea what was going on and, if at that time, understanding what Antonella had been through made me hate the man, now, I don’t have exactly a definition for the size of the disgust that his figure causes me.
The stupidity of her parents made her lose so many things.The opportunity to graduate, or, as we talked about a few nights ago, learn to drive.Years relying on a friend’s kindness to survive.Months of needing to bust her ass, working and studying at the same time, blaming herself for barely seeing Isabella when she never should have had to go through it.Not if her parents had been what you expect parents to be.
