Days later, Josias appears at Rocha Constructions thinking that everyone has forgotten his triumph on the cover of Maggiezine.
No way. Wherever he goes, people applaud him. During the elevator ride, a girl held out a copy of the magazine asking for an autograph.
Upon entering the company, Carmen greets him effusively, "Good morning, heartthrob! How does it feel to be the Lagoon City sensation? Melissa sure is very proud, huh?"
Josias disguises his nervousness with a silly smile, "In the next issue there will be a prettier guy than me and the readers will forget about me."
"Even if another guy comes out, they'll never forget you, Josias. You don't seem to be aware of the power you have and the attraction you exude." Carmen extends his mail.
Impressed by the secretary's beautiful words, Josias goes to his office.
******
Raymond and Junior have breakfast at his house. The son is eating his cereal with his head down.
"Did something
João Paulo appears at Rocha Constructions, much to Carmen's surprise."João Paulo, what a pleasure to meet you here!" She welcomes him by opening the glass door, "Your stepbrother is in the presidential office.""Wow, how important my brother is!" João Paulo comments good-naturedly, "Am I going to get in the way?""He always says he's available for the family." Carmen leads him to Josias's room, "Before, Seu Romualdo forbade visitors, but Josias lifted the ban.""I promise not to disturb him anyway." João Paulo nods.Carmen opens the door to the presidential room, "Josias, your stepbrother is here."Josias raises his eyebrows, "Cut the 'step,' Carmen. João Paulo is my brother, not in half."Carmen smiles and lets João Paulo in, closing the door afterward. João Paulo approaches his brother looking at the room and enchanting himself with the environment."Will you ever have this sa
Meanwhile, at Rocha Constructions, Josias also reacts with displeasure when João Paulo offers himself to work at the company, obviously as a bricklayer's assistant.Josias gets up and approaches his brother, "John, these are your father's words. Is he the one who is pressuring you not to accept my help, insinuating that you are a bloodsucker?"João Paulo wiggles, "No, those are my words. That's how I feel. I don't want you to think I want to live for nothing and at your expense."Josias chuckles, "I know very well that you will be able to live on your own and support your family, João. Don't be so worried about it. What about your plans to be a journalist?""How can I be a journalist if you clearly hate this profession? I don't mean to offend you." João Paulo gets far away."Hey, we already talked about this." Josias holds up his index finger, "You will succeed in your plans no matter my grumbles. And there are other pub
Caio just told Junior that he didn't go to Pedro's birthday because of Beto's ban. But Junior can't understand, "Well, Rosemary was told something else." "What?" Caio questions him. "That you weren't invited because your father wouldn't let you out." Caio gets indignant, "But that's a lie! I'll talk to my dad as soon as he gets home from work! We'll look for Rosemary around the patio after we have lunch." Caio chews the chicken pate sandwich, but he can't taste it anymore. ****** Raymond is giving Pamela a lift Downtown. He asks with the conversation going on, "Daughter, do you understand what's going on?" Pamela responds with narrowed eyes, "Are you trying to get back together with Mom?" Raymond flashes a passionate smile, "I will never find another woman like your mother, Pam." "You shouldn't limit yourself, Dad. Lagoon City is full of beautiful women, eager to marry you. You still have a certa
In the afternoon, at Cristina's apartment, she is helping Rosemary with her homework. The two are in the living room, kneeling on the rug and coloring drawings.The radio is playing "Dear God" by Midge Ure.Cristina warns her granddaughter, "Honey, the grass should be painted green."Rosemary is crestfallen."Did something happen, honey?"Rosemary replies in a plaintive tone, "I don't know. Everyone is lying to me."Cristina is surprised, "Who's lying to my granddaughter?"Rosemary changes to a tearful tone, "I don't know... I wanted Caio for Pedro's birthday, but Will wouldn't let him come. But Junior told me today that it was Dad who didn't let him come."Cristina is extremely shocked. She kisses her granddaughter's forehead."Let's get on with our homework, granddaughter. I'll talk to your parents later. The sun must be painted yellow."Rosemary had a burgundy pencil in her hand.******Pamela vis
In Cristina's apartment, Rosemary and Pedro are sitting well behaved on the couch watching cartoons. Cristina is sitting in the armchair analyzing the tenants' rents in a notebook. "Good thing, no one is missing a payment." The door opens and Pamela enters, "I'm here, my children!" Rosemary and Pedro continue to stare at the cartoon. Cristina scoffs at her, "That's what you get for lying to your kids, Pam." Pamela approaches her mother, "What is this story? Where and when did I lie?" "You lied at your house, before giving Pedro's birthday party. Do you mean that William didn't let Caio come?" Pamela swallows hard. She motions for the two of them to go to the kitchen. Alone, Pamela explains, "Mom, it was Beto's idea; and I, as a wife, had to support him." Cristina raises an eyebrow, "And since when are you the submissive wife type? You always did what you wanted and didn't give a damn about your husband's orders!
In the Rocha penthouse, Melissa is talking to Dora and Carlos about William and Caio's problem. Dora comments, "I figured this would cause trouble. When Caio has his birthday, we won't be inviting these pesky peeps." Melissa wiggles, "On the contrary, Mom. I'm seriously considering inviting them in just to rub it in their faces how wrong they are to extend the feud to the kids." Carlos warns his daughter-in-law, "Kids don't know how to hate, Dora." Dora is intrigued, "So are you going to invite Pamela, Beto, and everyone from the Chaves family to Caio's birthday?" Melissa grins mischievously, "Why not? I'd love to leave this bunch with a guilty conscience. Never again will they use their kids to hurt us." Carlos also warns Melissa, "You have to be careful, my granddaughter. Children cannot be affected by the animosity that reigns." Melissa replies, "If they don't want to stay, at least bring the kids. As much as we hate the adu
Following day. Adrian walks through the hospital corridors until he enters the room where Moacyr is. He is awake being cared for by a very attractive female nurse."Here it is, Seu Moacyr, breakfast: jelly and bread with hazelnut butter spread on it. Can you drink the coffee? I don't want the cup to run and the coffee to burn you."Adrian gets jealous of his own father, thinking he's the one flirting with the nurse, "'Seu' Moacyr? Isn't he Mr. Barbosa?"Moacyr and the nurse notice the annoying son's presence.Moacyr pleads in a funereal tone, "Leave us alone, nurse."The nurse leaves, glaring at Adrian.Adrian says as he approaches, "Looks like I've stopped some flirting."Moacyr scolds him, "Stop being a pervert. All you think about is 'that'. The good, kind nurse was serving me breakfast.""For that, you have a son. Only ONE son."Adrian fits the portable table into the hospital bed and calibrates the bed so Moacyr can
In Teodoro's building, as usual, the radio is playing "My Romance" by Carly Simon and the office landline is also ringing.Cristina is organizing the mural by pinning an unobtrusive warning: 'Please, neighbors, don't disturb each other with the radio at full volume in the wee hours of the night!'Cristina hears the phone ring and runs to the office.She answers promptly, "Hello?"In one of the hospital's phone booths, Adrian is grumpy, "Hello, Mrs. Chaves? I want to be brief so I don't get ear cancer."Cristina reacts furiously. She doesn't have all day for nonsense, "Who the hell's talking?"Adrian feels entitled to be snobbish, "I suggest you show respect! This is your boyfriend's son, the only one."Cristina rolls her eyes. Adrian, as seen, will be forever competing with Josias."I know you're an only child. What happened, any message from Moacyr?""He had an accident yesterday and asked me to let you know." Adrian cl
Josias visits the Rocha Hotel since he didn’t have a day off for the staff. In the management room, Eugenio gathered David, Benjamin, and Sybil. “Why is that mere cook present at this meeting?” David asked disparagingly. “Because that’s how our boss ordered it,” Eugenio replied dryly. “I didn’t say anything and didn’t call this meeting, so if you’ll excuse me...” Benjamin and Sybil were horrified to see David leaving the meeting just like that. However, when he opened the door, David came face to face with his father. “David, where do you think you’re going?” “DAD!” David exclaimed, extremely surprised. “I didn’t know you were coming!” “Didn’t Eugenio tell you I was coming?” Josias asked with a scowl. David understood who the ‘boss’ was. Benjamin and Sybil felt vindicated. Josias sat down at the desk, taking Eugenio’s seat, while the manager remained humbly standing. “Very well,” Josias began the meeting in a formal tone, “I’m here just to make things crystal clear. First
Melissa and Mary visit the Mountain Café.“A guava juice for me, Mr. Mountain!” Mary requested, smiling sweetly.“Of course, my princess!” Rodrigo replied, thinking Mary was very adorable. “Neil will make a delicious cup for you.”“Thank you. But the princess is Carol,” Mary responded, striking a serious pose.Melissa and Rodrigo laughed heartily. Mary is something else...“Rod, how has it been managing the café in your father’s absence?” Melissa asked seriously.Rodrigo served a baked chicken pastry with ketchup to Mary. “I'm getting by, Melissa. Josias was here earlier, more concerned about my loss than his own, as always. Isn’t he supposed to be resting?”Melissa nodded. “My husband is like that: he only relaxes when all of us are relaxed.”“An impossible mission because of certain people.”Neilton approached with the glass. “Who ordered a guava juice?”“I DID!” Mary grabbed the glass and went to a table.Melissa leaned forward, “Neil, Rod, how are Daryl and Diane? Behaving?”“Cont
At João Paulo’s house, he and Josias were about to have a significant conversation.“Walter, do you want to go with your mom to the kitchen?” João Paulo asked, looking at Helen. “I think she made some walnut cake.”“It was carrot cake,” Sandra replied, already getting up from the couch.“You got it.” Helen appeared and picked up Walter in her arms. “Let’s let Dad and Uncle Josias talk.”“Bye, Uncle!” Walter waved goodbye to Josias.“Bye-bye, I want a piece later!” Josias chuckled.Once alone with João Paulo, Josias became serious. “Don’t let anything or anyone ruin this family scenario, little brother.”“I’m fine. No one wants to ruin anything,” João Paulo replied casually.“Well, I hope David hasn’t caused you any trouble.”“He probably doesn’t even know I exist, man.” João Paulo shrugged.“But I stopped by Café Montanha and found out that the Vasquez family has replaced the Mountain family as the ‘annoying people.’”João Paulo sighed in disappointment. “Yeah. They—”The doorbell ran
Josias visits Café Montanha for a coffee and finds Rodrigo there. “Rod, how have you been?” Rodrigo is taken aback. “How am I? You’re the one who suffered a horrific loss recently!” “But you also lost your father. We’re in the same situation,” Josias explained as he sat down on a stool. “I’m okay, Josias. Life has a way of cheering me up. For example, I’m back at the diner after Thierry decided to take his place at the supermarket.” Rodrigo smiled. “What about the photography studio?” Josias smiled back. “It’s still going to operate, and Thierry will make periodic visits. But he’s going to appoint one of the staff to manage the studio.” Rodrigo served a pizza pastry to Josias. “Thank you. Well, I hope everything is alright between you two. I need to visit Rosemary and meet Jean Luc — is that the name of the baby?” “Yes, the name of the supermarket heir. Meanwhile, Frank will be here or somewhere else.” Josias interjected, “If Frank wants to work at Rocha Constructions, count
At the Rocha Mansion, Josias receives a visit from Benjamin. “How have you been, Ben? Any news about your parents?” The two embrace. “Actually, that’s what I want to talk about.” Benjamin scratches the back of his neck. The embrace breaks. “Let’s go to my office.” The two gentlemen enter Josias’s imposing office. “Any problems with Adolfo?” Josias asks, becoming serious. “Not yet, but I hope not to have any,” Benjamin replies with some sadness. “You know, Josias, what happened with your father made me think about my family, about how important it is for all of us to be together in the final moments.” “That’s true. João Paulo can tell you that better than I can.” “I think you can say it too. Vernon was the father you never had.” Benjamin clears his throat. “So, I’ve been looking into some hotels and realized there’s a demand at the Rocha Hotel in Victoria.” Josias looks at Benjamin, understanding where he’s going with this. “You want to go to Victoria to be close to your pare
Someone rings the doorbell at João Paulo’s house. The homeowner goes to answer after taking a shower and putting on clean clothes. But when he opened the door, João Paulo felt like slamming it in the visitor’s face. “Don’t be rude!” Erasmo exclaimed. “What do you want, you old bore?” João Paulo shot back. Erasmo barged into João Paulo’s foyer. “The mourning is over. Let’s pick up where we left off.” “Are you crazy? Who decides how long mourning lasts? We just got back from the trip!” “Not exactly, it’s been a day. Life goes on, my friend!” Erasmo replied mockingly. João Paulo remained serious. “But I don’t want to continue living this way, where fights and intrigues are the order of the day. Mr. Vasquez, you have a business to run, and I have a family to raise.” “But you found time to slap my son-in-law when he was here defending his family, didn’t you?” “Alan was extremely rude, but that was some time ago.” João Paulo frowned. “I don’t feel the same anger as before.” “So a
At the Vasquez Mansion, Alan could hardly believe that the people were thinking about more intrigues and disputes. “Guys, don’t you understand that I even forgot the reason I slapped Uncle João Paulo?” “Ridiculous!” Erasmo gestured. “You just maintained respect because it was a difficult occasion. But now, the mourning is OVER!” “Do you think João Paulo will rest, dear?” Sofia asked, sitting next to him. Alan shook his head. “If Uncle João Paulo doesn’t want to rest, then he is truly despicable. But my dad is back in town. He wouldn’t dare to do that.” The news should have been uplifting, but the members of the Vasquez family merely exchanged silent glances. With Josias present, it’s quite likely that he will put a stop to their fighting. Alan turned to Olivia. “In the meantime, we should celebrate the recovery of my dear mother-in-law!” Olivia and Sofia smiled awkwardly because of the secret they were keeping. “That’s right, let’s celebrate life!” Erasmo wrapped his arm arou
Josias Rocha and his family returned to Lagoon City. Those who were waiting for them stayed in the mansion and greeted them cheerfully in the foyer. “WELCOME BACK!” Melissa, crying, embraced her parents, William, and the twins fervently. Josias greeted them with a light smile. “Where’s João Paulo?” William asked. “He went straight to his house. His kids needed to rest from the trip.” Melissa wiped her tears with her fingers. “Alan went straight to his mansion. Especially now that his mother-in-law has woken up from the coma.” “That was a scare; I thought we’d have two funerals,” Simeon commented. Everyone headed to the living room. “Is Paris very beautiful, Mom?” Mary asked. “Yes, sweetheart, it’s stunning. We’ll go shopping together another time, okay?” “Do you have pictures?” Ignacio asked anxiously. “Yes, son, we took some pictures.” Melissa sat on the couch, pulling out a package from her bag. Josias sat in the armchair, taking a deep breath. William approached him.
At Café Montanha, Daryl walks in for a coffee and finds Rodrigo at the counter while Neilton serves the others. “Hey, are we back to the old tradition?” “Don’t be a clown, man.” Rodrigo laughs. “Yes, Thierry is at the supermarket, as we agreed.” “Hi, Neil. Can you make me a cappuccino while I enjoy a natural sandwich?” Daryl places his order. “Sure thing, Mr. Mountain.” Neilton heads to the back. Daryl sits on the stool. “So, how do you feel after getting back to your element?” “I don’t regret at all helping my dear wife at the supermarket, Daryl,” Rodrigo admitted while preparing the natural sandwich. “I’m not talking about regrets.” Daryl joked. “But it’s undeniable that after Uncle Francisco’s passing, you prefer to stay here, carrying on the legacy he left.” “Just like Crystal Blue.” Rodrigo smiled. “Hey, I’m aware that you’re looking to open another restaurant in Sunset Village. Do you think you can manage it? How’s the prospecting going?” Daryl picks up the sandwich but