A Wounded Heart

a

b?" Larissa asked while we w

t," I sai

r you," she repl

bakery barely covers your course expenses," my mother said,

d just look at each other, communicating silently, because despite bein

l on clothes and parties, don't you, Melinda?" Grandma said, which led t

with Grandma receiving only a small pension, things were very tight at home, and Grandma ended up blaming Mom

of them arguing in the living room because the truth is, they always made up, and whenever I took a si

ad already learned how to avoid problems

she asked when we got to our room. "Are the Alcântara

fanning myself theat

me feel embarrassed. Larissa was very happy for me, and we made several plans with my first paycheck. We could breathe a bit easier now that the

I woke up with a wonderful feeling, and instead of being sad that it was just a dream, I felt happy because only in dreams could I be besi

uring my day and thus having a bit of the person who was keeping me up at night. He became the central point of my

ervous, and I always ended up fumbling somehow. I even considered that he might be interested in me too, but rationality

ck of time while searching for them. At the end of the workday, Bárbara came to the room to ask if I intended to stay much longer, as she was leaving since i

on in meetings with investors. I spent a lot of time looking for those documents and realized

I wasn't used to. I was inside the elevator when Nicolas asked me to hold the doors open. I was startled by his v

for you to be heading home, isn't

’t realize how late it had gotten,” I expl

ust worried about you having to go ac

he had to care about the physical safety of everyone who worked for him. I was silly to even suppose, for a fleeting

e other side of the

ortation, and that takes a lot of time

and I made a move to leave when he ge

I’ll drive you home,” he

top in my neighborhood, which meant I would have to walk a lot to get there. With Nicolas, I would be going by car, arriving quickly, and he would drop me at my door. I believed I could

ogether we went to the garage, stopping beside his car, an expensive im

?” he asked, sounding

in. Little did he know that I was feeling many things at th

be afraid of you,” I repl

into the driver's seat, starting

looking quite satisfied with my response. “W

thought that someone as well-traveled and wealthy as Nicolas wouldn't have anything to discuss with someone like me. E

bag to find my phone, intending to put on my headphones, which would be a perfe

when he stopped me with a hand ges

g displeased with my action. “Is my company that unpleasant?” When he asked tha

rphones back into my bag, now feeling embarrassed tha

prefer to drive without distractions,” I apologiz