In Elza’s office in Hotel Rocha, she is working on the computer when she receives a call from her husband on her cell phone. She continues to type intently.“Wait just a little longer, my dear...”The cell phone keeps ringing. Elza finishes typing what she wants and hurriedly answers her cell phone, “Hello, Vernon?”Vernon narrows his eyes in his office, “Honey, for a moment, I thought you didn’t want to answer me!”“It’s not that I didn’t want to, I couldn’t.” Elza smiles, “I was in a very important section.”“OK, I believe.” Vernon calms down, “Are you ready for good news?”“Yes, tell me!” Elza gets excited.“Helen came here and João Paulo told me that you fired her. Did that really happen?”Elza drops her smile, “Oh, the shameless woman showed up to complain? Yes, honey, I said I would take care of her.”“‘Taking care of her’ wasn’t what I understood as ‘firing her,’ darling.” Vernon chuckles, “But that’s okay. The important thing is that she came here to LCN to talk to our son and
It’s Josias’s turn to go to Café Montanha for a snack after the meeting with Vasconcelos Fabrics shareholders. The place is busier and he looks for an empty table. Some patrons recognize him and greet him respectfully. Josias nods and smiles at them, always kind and charismatic.As he sits down, he observes Isabel and Flávia talking in a reserved posture.“Oh, it looks like the ladies are sharing some hot gossip.” Josias chuckles.His cell phone rings and he answers it, “Hello, Dad?”“Hello, son, it’s good to hear your voice. How was the meeting?” Vernon leans back in his chair as if he owned LCN.“The meeting was wonderful. We also had a profit of 15% at Vasconcelos Fabrics and set goals for 2005.” Josias beams.“Wow, God and Everaldo are giving you a helping hand, huh? None of your companies reported losses!” Vernon exclaims, “Will LCN also have some extra money? That way they can give me a pay raise.”Josias laughs, “Dad, did you call me for anything other than making jokes?”“Yes,
Flávia visits Pizzeria Campos. She finds William sweeping the floor with better skill than before. Moving his arms even flexes his biceps.Flávia stands at the entrance and begins to remember everything she felt for William in the 80s, but which she had to repress for two reasons: William was engaged to Stacy Moreira and she had become pregnant by Uélton.But now, things are different...Even William has changed. Because of his limitations, he no longer exercises like he used to and has become out of shape. Even so, Flávia couldn’t stop admiring him...His beautiful face is still there...“Will?”William turns around and sees Flávia, “Cousin! How are you? Hey, it’s your first time coming here.”“Yes, it’s the first time I’ve been here after many years...” Flávia looks around.“I understand why.” William is embarrassed, “You didn’t come because I fought with your husband the same night his house exploded... and then, with the firefighters putting out the fire, I uttered a curse in the
In Vernon’s apartment, Sandra doesn’t seem to understand that João Paulo and Helen are getting married.“Daughter, which part of the announcement didn’t you understand?”“Are you and Helen getting married?” Sandra asks innocently.“Yes.” João Paulo smiles like a Japanese person, “Helen will be your mother. Do you want to have a mother?”“Yes, I want Helen to be my mother.” Sandra smiles and nods.“Then it will be possible.” João Paulo caresses her head.“But why doesn’t she sleep with you like grandpa and grandma sleep together?”Elza does ‘PFFF’ and spits out a sip of coffee. Vernon choked on the cookies he was chewing.Before João Paulo teaches his daughter about sex, Elza’s cell phone rings a scandalous ringtone.After relieving herself, Elza answers, “Hello, Jane?... Calm down, I can’t hear you!”On the other side, Jane is on the verge of a panic attack. She is at the Rocha Hotel, among guests screaming and shouting in terror. A fire department vehicle is approaching, sounding its
Flávia and Beto go to the General Hospital. There is a frenzy of doctors and nurses to take care of the people brought from the hotel.Dr. Braggart recognizes Beto and gestures to him, “Please, Mr. Reis, we’re very busy and we still have no information. Everyone is being properly attended to.”“My friend is the sister of the cook Ben Teixeira.” Beto points to Flávia.“He is being treated, but it’s too early to say anything.” Dr. Braggart looks at Flávia with pity.He cannot say yet whether Benjamin will live or die. At least, he has already been attended to.“I understand, doctor. I’ll wait.” Flávia turns to Beto, “I need to make some calls to the orphanage.”“OK, I’ll wait here, friend. Or better yet, let’s wait in the lounge.”“I’ll look for you there.” Dr. Braggart promises and quickly walks away. The paramedics brought in that young cook that Melissa saw, unconscious.“This young man’s bleeding hasn’t stopped, Dr. Braggart!” One of the paramedics screams.“Take him to the ICU imme
At General Hospital, Pedro enters the lounge and finds Beto waiting on the sofa, holding his right arm.“Dad, I’m glad I arrived on time. You forgot to take the pill.”“Hi, son!” Beto notices that Pedro has a plastic glass of water, “Thank you, I had forgotten. Your stepmother doesn’t neglect me, huh?”“Never. She doesn’t want to be a widow, and you have to take good care of Maycon.” Pedro sits next to him, “So, how are things?”“Benjamin is unconscious, but he was attended to. Maybe he’ll wake up at any moment.” Beto states hopefully.“And Mrs. Freire?” Pedro asks cautiously, “She already had a bad experience.”“She is calm, calling the orphanage supervisor.” Beto swallows the pill and drinks the water.Flávia enters, more calmly, “Today there was an intern who was going to start working at Café Montanha. I needed to check if he went. Oh, so much going on...”“Any information, Flávia?” Beto asks worryingly.“No, let’s keep waiting.” Flávia sits on the same sofa.The three remain sile
Caroline leaves the hospital lounge to ‘get some air’. She hasn’t been able to hide it for long...Beto and Pedro go out next to ask what’s going on.“Carol... What happened in there?” Beto asks cautiously.“You were making faces and feeling uncomfortable with Sofia’s presence.” Pedro states, “The news that got around at my grandfather’s building is that you two made up.”“I can’t disguise it, huh?” Caroline smiles wryly, “Didn’t Reuben tell you?”“Reuben doesn’t always let the gossip slip,” Pedro states with a smile.Caroline laughs, and then responds, “Reuben came up with the idea of me pretending to be Sofia’s friend so that my father would agree to marry Reuben. It was an imposition that my Dad gave.”Beto is startled, “And why would your father do something like that? How bizarre!”“According to my father, he wants to ensure peace and tranquility within the family.” Caroline sighs, “Apparently, if Sofia marries my brother, they’ll live at Rocha Mansion.”“Your mansion has lots of
Total silence among those present in the lounge.Flávia buried her hands in her chest, her eyes watering, imagining what she would say to her father. She had just ended the call by saying that Benjamin was out of danger!Dr. Braggart closes the door and faces Josias, “I’m glad the hotel owner is here. Can you identify the deceased?”Everyone has a bump.“Wait, isn’t that Ben Teixeira?” Josias narrows his eyes.“The young man entered without documents, just with a dolman like the other cooks.” Dr. Braggart is confused, “He was the last one to enter.”Beto smiles in relief, “Guys, it’s not Ben! I saw him come in.”Melissa remembers the cook. The ambulance was almost leaving when the paramedics appeared near it, carrying the young man on a stretcher. She thought the boy was already dead at that time...“Wait, why did it take them so long to get this cook here?” Melissa finds this strange, “I remember him too. Ben and the others had already been removed.”“Let’s do the identification. Mom
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