The Entrepreneur and the Passionate

Lorena is a strong, independent woman. She works as an entrepreneur in the confectionery sector in the city of Conde - Paraíba.

The mother of a six-year-old daughter called Aurora, Lorena stands out in her work environment, doing everything to perfection and always receiving praise from her boss - Mr. Reinaldo.

She lives in her own house in the Jardim Recreio neighborhood on Rua Agripino de Lima with only her daughter. Her ex-husband - Dimitri - was a good spouse to her, but differences separated them and he now lives with another family - but has no other children.

Lorena has brown skin, medium brown wavy hair and brown eyes. Her daughter looks like her, but her hair is curly - like her father's gene.

Lorena: Daughter, let's go because Mom has to go to work.

Aurora: I'm going, Mom, I just need my sneakers.

Aurora goes to school in the morning at Ilza Ribeiro State School from 7.30am to 11.30am. In the afternoon she goes to swimming class from 1pm to 3pm. Lorena picks Aurora up from school during her work break - but only to take her daughter to swimming and picks her up at 3.30pm - when she is released again.

After that, Aurora stays at work with her mother - sometimes helping her by delivering empty boxes to her.

That morning, Lorena and Aurora walked ten minutes to the school and, after dropping her off at the school gate, she said to her daughter:

Lorena: good class my child. Take care and respect your teacher.

Aurora: OK, Mom. I love you - she hugs her - will you pick me up so I can go swimming?

Lorena: Yes, but if I can't get there in time, I'll ask Luana's mother to take you with your little friend.

Aurora: Okay, Mom.

Lorena leaves her daughter - as the child enters the classroom - and walks back to her job at Confeitaria Conde das Flores.

Lorena is wearing her work uniform and walks calmly - since her job is seven minutes away from the school where her little one goes to school.

On the other side of the neighborhood in Cicerolandia lives Victor, a light-skinned young man with a medium build and straight hair. He works in the same bakery as Lorena, but in a higher-level area - he is in charge of making the more sophisticated cakes and pastries and Lorena is in charge of making the smaller pastries and packaging them for orders.

The place is large, with three floors and each function is on a different floor. Lorena works with Victor, but he gets paid more - R$800 a month - for his more complex role. However, he always tries to single out Lorena to show her his hidden feelings for her - who doesn't even suspect his intentions.

They exchange a few words throughout the working day, but there is no friendship between them - at least not yet.

Victor was already at the company when he spotted Lorena. He picks up a cup of coffee and hands it to her:

Victor: Good morning Lorena.

Lorena: good morning Victor - she gives him a little smile, making his heart race - um, is that coffee?

Victor: yes, I've prepared it for you.

Lorena: thank you Victor - she widens her smile and takes the cup from his hand - has our boss arrived yet?

Victor: Not yet. He usually shows up after eight. Come on, we have several orders for this morning.

Lorena puts on her hat and gloves and starts another day's work. Feeling at ease, Lorena starts preparing the dough for the brigadeiro, coconut, pineapple and the best-seller - ninho with Nutella.

After removing the dough from the pan, Lorena separates everything and wraps it in plastic wrap to let it cool naturally outside the fridge.

While she's not ready to roll them out, she takes the opportunity to pack the sweets she had prepared the previous afternoon to be placed in the order box.

In the first box, she adds traditional brigadeiros with a few coconut pieces; in the second box, she puts some ninho-flavored ones and in the third, interspersed flavors - because some customers like variety.

The sweets she puts in the box are taken to the smaller stores and put in the windows for sale. Her dream is to be able to work directly with cakes - making and baking them - and to do this she takes a course every Saturday from 10am to 4pm. Her daughter stays with a nanny while she attends the course, but Lorena knows that every effort will be worth it and in that work environment, she is treated the same as everyone else - highly respected and always encouraged to improve her level of performance.

When it's time for Aurora to leave school, Mr. Reginaldo sends her a message:

"Mr. Reginaldo: you can pick up your daughter. I know you have to take her to swimming and I also know that you've certainly finished your morning homework. Remember that lunchtime is only for one hour - 11:24."

"Lorena: thanks boss, I won't be late and yes, I've already finished my work for the morning - 11.24."

Lorena takes off her hat and leaves the office to pick up her daughter from school. The girl was sitting in the corridor of the institution and when she heard her name announced by the inspector, she immediately ran towards her mother:

Aurora: MOM! - she exclaims excitedly - you really came to pick me up.

Lorena: I got an early lunch. Come on, I'll take you to lunch and then we'll go swimming. I'll have to drop you off early, but I'll pick you up at 3:30.

Aurora: OK, Mom. I'm hungry.

Lorena: OK, let's go.

................

Lorena's working day was about to end and Aurora was already with her mother, when Mr. Reginaldo called Lorena into his office for a chat.

Mr. Reginaldo: I have a proposal to make to you.

Lorena: What is it about, Mr. Reginaldo?