Adrian knows that Josias was in the driving class. Josias's desolate, weary face betrays that he was terrible once again. "What's wrong, couldn't you keep the engine running for fifteen minutes? You're going to end up ruining the car's engine and the School Driver will charge you for the repair!"
Josias approaches Adrian with slow but intimidating steps. "What else is missing for me to punch you?"
"It's missing the fact that I could sue Silva Constructions for assaulting a simple employee. The Labor Court will love to hear about it."
"We have money to pay any compensation and we have Igor Bento as a lawyer."
"Ah, but there's also my father!" Adrian always touches Josias's wound, "He's going to love knowing that the boy he so admires assaulted his real son."
Josias stops and takes a deep breath. He doesn't want to lose Moacyr's favor.
If Moacyr learns that Josias punched Adrian, he might be furious and decide to report him to the loan shark!<
Josias shakes his head regretfully. His voice came out weak and dismayed: "I can't, Octavio, I can't against this guy." "What's so deterring you from seeking justice?" Octavio insists firmly. "The guy is powerful. That's it when I ran away in 1980. Three years went by and no one did anything, imagine what he must be like now?" Octavio ponders, "Well, his house looks like it's from Europe Garden, and he'll probably be Sunset Village's first resident." Josias has a start and shivers. "We can never let the shameless choose our company!" "And how will we know if we don't even know his name? I've only seen him once or twice myself, I wouldn't recognize him if he appeared in front of me today." Josias heaves a sigh. What a difficult situation! Octavio gets up. "Let's go out, cool off a bit. You need it." Josias looks at him piously. "It's true. I hope he doesn't find me." Octavio chuckles. Sometimes Josias's fear is so irrational that it's funny. ****** Pamela comes home from work
After admiring the landscape, Octavio gives Josias a ride back to his house. Josias is in awe of Octavio's promptness at the steering wheel."Dude, you make everything look so easy...""Maybe because it's easy," Octavio replies, "Wouldn't it be the case that you were out of your mind?"Josias ponders for a few seconds before answering: "Not just the loan shark issue, but there are many things involved with the company. We have five construction sites and this morning Melissa scheduled a meeting with another client for tomorrow.""That's the problem. When you're behind the wheel, you can't let your mind wander with so many distractions. You need to focus." Octavio advises him."I'll try it in the next class.""I'm warning you, buddy: you'll just relax when you resolve this issue with the loan shark. I believe that if everyone in the neighborhood joins forces, we'll get rid of that bad guy.""That's what Mr. Moacyr Barbosa always says."
Josias begins to explain to Officer Mendes why he took so long to report the moneylender: "The matter, Officer, is that I was so terrified that I ran away from Rainbow Garden, hid in Happiness Slum, and spent almost a year wearing only sweatpants. I had just come out of the bath when I heard the invasion and the shots. I never got to see my father, if he was still alive, if he died in the hospital, I didn't even show up at the funeral."The officer shakes his head. "I'm so sorry, young man. But even if you couldn't report this crime, you could have come to us when you were feeling better, not after all this time.""So you mean there's no way out?" Josias opened his eyes wide and his voice faltered."Calm down, it's not like that." The officer at least gives a slight smile to reassure the complainant, "I can even file the police report and take it to my superior, but I'm already saying that, because so much time has passed, it will be very difficult to investigat
Pamela is at the Hospital, waiting in the same room where she was admitted when she had her leg operated on. But she's just sitting on the bed, having memories in her mind."If only I hadn't been run over..." She whines through clenched teeth.Doctor Silvana appears with a white envelope.Pamela quickly gets up: "So, doctor! How do I look? Do I have cancer? How long do I have?"Dr. Silvana suddenly weaves a friendly smile, and warns her in a friendly tone, "You'll live to be ninety if you keep avoiding stress and strong emotions."She holds out the envelope. Pamela takes it abruptly, pulls the leaves out, and flips through them with wide eyes. No, no cancer or sexually transmitted disease! She is free! (yet...)"But doctor, then why did I pass out?""Because of stress. That's why I recommend it: beware of strong emotions. Are you reading novels or watching soaps too much?"Pamela rolls her eyes. "My mother is addicted to soap o
Uélton explains the situation in his good-natured way: "Guys, this is the beauty that stirred my heart. Do you know her, Stacy?""She's my cousin, Natalia Simmer." Stacy proudly responds.But Natalia turns whiter than she already is: "No, Stacy, don't say my name to that smart flirtatious!"Too late, Uélton extends his hand: "A pleasure, Natalia. Uélton Freire."Natalia doesn't shake his hand. "Your hand is all covered in dust.""Bones of the craft," Uélton laughs after repeating the saying.Stacy says goodbye to her boyfriend. "I just came here to introduce you; we're going to the bakery.""See you later, honey," William responds and the two kiss goodbye to each other."Nice to meet you, William," Natalia says goodbye, "Stacy talks a lot about you."The two girls walk away. Uélton is looking distant, distracted, with a very silly face.William snaps his fingers in Uélton'
Later, Josias returns to the office just to hear the news. He barely admits Adrian's presence and goes straight to Romualdo's office."We managed to deal the contract, Josias." Romualdo is not wearing his suit, the long sleeve of his dress shirt has been rolled up to his elbows, and his tie is loose. It seems that Romualdo has been celebrating."And how is the customer?" Josias asks with curiosity."I've never seen a more chic and refined customer." Romualdo whistles, "The rep ended up revealing that the boss wants the house in Europe Garden! It will be our first house built in that upscale neighborhood!"Josias grins, "It will be our passport to Sunset Village.""Octavio is in full swing, creating a floor plan according to the client's requirements. That's how I like to see it!"Romualdo is very happy, and that infects Josias. He leaves the company owner's room and goes to the architect's office.However, Octavio doesn't want to talk
The next day, Melissa is walking with Elisa in the lobby of the Vargas Building. The two see Pamela getting up from one of the straw chairs in the left corner of the lobby.She noisily leaves a magazine left for reading on the coffee table and approaches them with an evil smile.Melissa speeds up her pace and pulls Elisa by her shirt: "Come on, Elisa, we're late!""Is this all scared of me, darling?" Pamela asks in a loud tone, attracting the attention of others around.Elisa retains her arm and Melissa cannot walk to the roulette wheel. "Wait, my friend. Let's peel this asshole."Melissa takes a deep breath and turns to her archenemy: "Pamela, I thought we'd never see each other again.""Correction: I won't see Josias anymore because of my son. But, there's no contract preventing me from seeing you and disturbing you.""And you want to wait for my brother to make such a deal?" Elisa snaps back angrily.Pamela shrugs. "I'm not
Wallace tries to disguise that he is jealous of Pamela and Beto. He clears his throat and avoids the question: "No, Vera, what is this...""So why does the fact that she's gone out bother you so much?" Vera surgically asks, "Are you guys having a problem?"Wallace stares at Vera in disbelief. "She didn't tell you anything?"Of course, Pamela did. Vera remembers the chat at the club.The nightclub they went to was dark and cigarette smoke and other substances made them both look like they were in São Paulo traffic. The song "Don't Go" by Yazoo was really loud and Pamela and Vera practically screamed to hear each other.They were leaning against the bar and the alpha wolf-eyed bartender poured the ladies a cocktail with a roguish grin."He thought I was coming here with your brother, can you believe it?" Pamela reveals in a drunken voice. It was already her seventh cocktail while Vera drank her second."And why would Wallace be i