Alternative History - Chapter 6 - Cinema

Only a few days followed, yet for Lucia they felt strangely difficult. The worst part was that, in truth, nothing had happened.

Tavo behaved exactly as he always did. He was polite, calm, attentive. He asked how the photo shoot had gone, remembered deadlines, and made sure everything was ready for the next assignments. If anyone had watched them from a distance, they wouldn't have noticed any difference at all.

And that was precisely what was driving her crazy.

Because after everything that had happened in his office, after she'd almost allowed herself to say too much, after that brief moment when she'd felt that he truly understood her... she had expected something.

She didn't know what. Maybe a question. A look that lingered just a little longer. A single gesture that would tell her that their conversation had meant as much to him as it had to her.

For several days, she tried to convince herself that this was exactly what she wanted. That they hadn't agreed on anything. That she had no right to expect anything from him. That whatever existed between them was simply the closeness shared by two people who understood each other well.

But that last explanation was beginning to sound more and more like something she was telling herself just to keep believing it.

Because if it really were nothing more than affection, she wouldn't have felt that unpleasant pang when she saw another woman beside him. She wouldn't have hidden his keys so someone else wouldn't have a reason to be alone with him. She wouldn't have spent weeks returning in her thoughts to that one kiss at the waterfalls, a moment that had long since stopped being just a memory.

Lucia was tired of trying to find meaning in every little thing he did, when no answer seemed willing to reveal itself.

Around noon, before the photo shoot, she was sitting in the agency's reception area, going over the requirements for the next session. She had been trying to concentrate on her work, but for several minutes she'd been staring at the same page without reading a single word.

"Hi."

She looked up. Mattias was leaning against the wall, wearing that calm smile of his that always made everything seem a little easier when he was around.

"Hi."

"Do you have a minute?"

Lucia glanced at the folder in front of her and set it down on the desk.

"I think so."

Mattias walked over and, for a moment, looked as though he was trying to decide how to begin.

"Remember that thriller we were talking about the other day?"

Lucia smiled faintly.

"The one you said was going to be scarier than all the others put together?"

"That's the one." He laughed. "It's playing at the cinema tonight. I thought maybe you'd like to go."

She was silent for a moment, but not because she didn't know what to say. The very thought of going to the movies brought a small smile to her face.

It had been so long since she'd done something completely ordinary. Going out in the evening, watching a movie, laughing with someone for a few hours, and forgetting for a little while about everything that had been happening around her.

Mattias was simply good company. He knew how to make her laugh, he knew how to listen, and he never made her wonder what she was supposed to say or how she was supposed to behave.

She smiled at him.

"You know what?"

Mattias looked at her questioningly.

"I'd love to."

Genuine surprise appeared on his face at once, followed a moment later by delight.

"Really?"

Lucia laughed softly.

"Really."

Only when she saw his reaction did she realize that perhaps she was happier about her decision than she'd expected.

At that very moment, however, she heard footsteps behind Mattias.

"Great. I'll come pick you up on my motorcycle. You're not afraid of them, are you?"

Lucia laughed and shook her head, amused.

"Motorcycles? Of course not."

She didn't notice that Tavo was standing a few steps away, watching the exchange in silence. He saw her smile, and that was the hardest part for him. Not because Lucia was trying to prove anything or deliberately make him jealous—in fact, quite the opposite. She wasn't looking for his reaction. She wasn't checking whether he was watching. She wasn't doing anything to suggest that he was even on her mind at that moment.

She was simply happy about something ordinary. And perhaps that was exactly why the sight affected him so deeply.

Tavo knew Lucia's serious side—the one who came to him with her problems, who looked to him for support, the one whose fears he had gradually come to know. He knew how much she trusted him.

But now he was seeing something else. The lightness with which she could smile when she didn't have to explain anything, hide anything, or fight against anything.

And the thought that someone else could give her a moment like that hurt more than he cared to admit.

Mattias leaned closer and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

"See you later."

"See you."

He turned, and that was when he noticed Tavo standing a few steps away. He smiled at him and gave a polite nod goodbye. Tavo returned the gesture, not allowing a single trace of his feelings to show.

From the outside, it looked completely ordinary. Polite. Nothing more.

Only Tavo knew how much effort it took to remain composed. How difficult it was to watch Lucia's happiness and pretend he hadn't felt that sharp pang when he realized that someone else could bring that smile to her face.

When Mattias left, Lucia stood looking toward the door for another moment.

"Great."

Tavo looked at her. "What?"

She turned to him with a smile. "I haven't been in the cinema in ages."

She said it with genuine happiness. It had been so long since she'd had the chance to do something so ordinary—to go out in the evening, watch a movie, and spend a few hours without thinking about work or the problems that lately seemed to come one after another. The movie. That was all.

With a faint smile, she headed toward the dressing room, passing Tavo on the way.

Then Tavo spoke in his calm voice.

"Yes, that's good. Have a nice evening."

Lucia stopped for a moment. At first, the smile remained on her face.

"Thanks."

She took a few more steps, still smiling faintly as she thought about the movie and how long it had been since she'd had the chance to spend an evening in such an ordinary way.

Only after a moment did she instinctively glance back over her shoulder.

Tavo was still standing in the same place. Calm, composed, as difficult to read as ever. At first glance, he looked as though the conversation meant nothing to him. And yet something in his eyes made her smile slowly fade.

Suddenly, she saw the scene differently. Not as it had looked from her side—a simple invitation to the movie and a pleasant way to spend an evening—but as it might have looked to him.

Mattias leaning in to kiss her cheek. Her smiling at him and agreeing without hesitation to go out together. And Tavo standing nearby, trying to remain composed, even though perhaps it wasn't nearly as easy for him as he wanted it to seem.

The thought immediately brought back the memory of Cecylia. Only a few days earlier, Lucia had been the one standing on the other side of a similar situation, watching another woman beside Tavo and trying to understand why the mere sight of her had stirred so many emotions.

Back then, she'd thought the problem was Cecylia. Now, for the first time, she wondered if perhaps it was something far more complicated.

She didn't stop, though. She looked away and continued toward the dressing room before she could allow herself to think about turning back and saying something.

She knew that taking that step would mean facing the questions she'd been running from for weeks. Why his reaction mattered so much to her. Why seeing another woman beside him could hurt her. And why an ordinary evening at the cinema suddenly no longer seemed as simple as it had only a few minutes earlier.

Because that was exactly what she had wanted. Something ordinary. A movie, a conversation, a few hours spent with someone who didn't make her analyze every word and every glance. And yet, the moment she'd seen Tavo standing there, that simplicity had somehow disappeared.

Herrera watched her for another moment, even though he knew he shouldn't. Lucia had already disappeared through the door leading to the dressing room, and yet his eyes remained fixed on the place where she'd been standing only moments before.

He shouldn't have been reacting this way.

He had been telling himself that for days, ever since he'd first seen something in her eyes that he had never been certain of before. That brief moment when she'd stopped defending herself and allowed her emotions to say more than her words ever could.

He had finally received the answer he'd been searching for so long, and yet instead of feeling relieved, he felt even more cautious. He knew Lucia trusted him. He knew he was important to her.

He saw it in the way she sought out his presence, in the conversations that stretched long after working hours, in how easily she seemed to let down every wall around him.

But they had never had that one simple moment that could change everything. There had been no invitation for just the two of them, no evening that from the outside might have looked like a date, no gesture that would allow them to stop pretending that what existed between them was only friendship.

And now he was watching Lucia agree to go out with another man. Not to prove anything to him or to make him jealous. Simply because she wanted to go to the movie.

And perhaps that was the hardest part. Mattias hadn't done anything wrong. He was calm, pleasant, and clearly interested in Lucia in a way she deserved to be appreciated.

Tavo had no reason not to like him. And yet seeing that genuine smile on her face stirred something in him that he didn't want to admit even to himself.

Jealousy.

All his life, he'd never had to wonder whether someone would choose him. He knew who he was and what he was worth. With Lucia, none of that certainty seemed to matter.

She wasn't trying to win him over. She didn't seek his attention. Sometimes, quite the opposite—she ran away before he could even get close to her. And yet one smile from her was enough to completely unsettle him.

He should have been happy that Lucia was beginning to live her own life. He had never made her any promises. He had never had the right to expect her to wait.

Then why was it so difficult to watch that smile belong to someone else?

---------------------

Mattias was waiting in the living room, leaning comfortably against the back of the armchair. On the table in front of him lay two motorcycle helmets. One white, the other red, clearly chosen especially for her.

When he heard footsteps, he turned his head.

Lucia walked into the room with a faint smile, but after only a few seconds he noticed that something was wrong. She no longer looked the way she had earlier, when she'd enthusiastically agreed to go to the movie. Now there was something uncertain about her, as though she wasn't even sure she should be there.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," she said as she approached. Her eyes settled on the helmets on the table. "I see you really did come on your motorcycle."

Mattias smiled faintly.

"Yes. But you're not afraid, are you?"

Lucia raised her eyebrows, pretending to be confident.

"Of course not. I'm not afraid of anything."

She smiled for another moment, but then lowered her eyes. She knew she couldn't keep pretending.

"You know, Mattias... maybe we should do this another day?" she said carefully. "I've had a headache all afternoon."

The young man fell silent for a moment. The change in his expression was almost imperceptible. He wasn't angry. More disappointed than anything.

"Do you really have a headache?" he asked with a hint of irony.

Lucia looked at him in surprise. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

Mattias sighed quietly and reached for his helmet.

"Because that's probably the oldest excuse in the book when someone doesn't want to go out with you."

The words made Lucia feel a pang of guilt. "Mattias..."

"Just tell me if you don't want to go," he added more gently. "I'd rather hear the truth than sit here wondering whether you're actually feeling sick."

Lucia didn't answer immediately.

This was exactly what she'd wanted to avoid. She didn't want to hurt him. Mattias had done nothing wrong. He was kind, patient, and always made her feel comfortable in his company.

It wasn't about him.

What was supposed to be an ordinary evening at the cinema had suddenly begun to look completely different. Only a few hours earlier, she'd been looking forward to the film, the conversation, and a few hours away from everything. Now, hearing the disappointment in his voice, she realized that Mattias had understood the evening differently.

For him, this wasn't just a trip to the cinema. It was a step toward something more.

"Well... all right," she said quietly, unable to come up with a better explanation.

Mattias studied her in silence.

"You know, I still can't bring myself to be angry with you. I just wasn't expecting this."

He set the helmet back on the table.

"I canceled all my plans for tonight. I even got you a spare helmet."

He picked up the red helmet and held it out to her with a faint smile. "Look. Do you like it?"

Lucia couldn't help smiling. "Yes. I like red." She looked at him, then at the helmet. "Is that for me?"

"Yes." Mattias shrugged. "I thought it might make you feel safer."

He looked at her with unmistakable hope. "Maybe you'll change your mind?"

Lucia stared at the red helmet in his hands and felt it becoming harder and harder to say no.

She understood that it wasn't really about the evening itself. She wanted to see the movie. She wanted to laugh. She wanted, even for a few hours, to stop thinking about everything that had been weighing on her lately.

Now she could see how much effort Mattias had put into it. He'd canceled his plans, made time for her, even thought about getting her a helmet so she'd feel more comfortable. He hadn't treated this as some casual outing. He had genuinely been looking forward to the evening.

And that was precisely why she didn't want to hurt him. She was only afraid that, for Mattias, tonight would be the beginning of something she couldn't promise him.

A little more warmth appeared in his eyes. "You know... all of this is a little new for me."

Lucia looked at him questioningly.

"For example, I was talking to my mechanic today and told him I had a date tonight, so I couldn't stay at the shop."

Lucia stopped at one word.

A date.

She looked at him with slight embarrassment, suddenly realizing that perhaps they'd understood the situation differently from the very beginning. To her, it was a movie and some time spent together. To him, apparently, it had a name.

"Yes, but we're not going on a date."

Mattias raised an eyebrow. "Then what would you call it?"

Lucia opened her mouth, but no answer came immediately. It wasn't that she couldn't go to the cinema with another man. Enough time had passed since Federico, and she had every right to move on with her life.

The problem was something else entirely. For the first time since that chapter of her life, someone was trying to get close to her in such a simple, ordinary way—and Lucia suddenly realized that she hadn't left room in her life for anyone except Tavo.

She desperately searched for an explanation that would hurt Mattias as little as possible.

She could say she wasn't feeling well. She could continue pretending that it was only a matter of being tired or not being in the mood.

But then she would be allowing him to believe in something she wasn't even sure she could ever give him. And he deserved honesty.

"You know, Mattias..." She hesitated, her voice softening. "I'm sorry, but I'm in love with someone else."

After those words, a silence fell that lasted only a few seconds, yet to Lucia it seemed much longer.

She hadn't expected herself to say those words. Not like that, so simply, without even thinking. For the past few weeks, she'd tried to call what she felt by other names—attachment, gratitude, closeness, trust. Anything but that one word, the one that changed the meaning of everything.

She loved someone.

Until now, it had been enough that she never said it aloud, even to herself. But now she could no longer pretend it was merely another possibility or a passing infatuation. She had heard the words leave her own mouth, and suddenly they sounded more real than anything she'd tried to convince herself of over the past few weeks.

For a moment, Mattias looked as though he wanted to say something, but in the end he simply exhaled and smiled faintly. It wasn't the answer he'd been hoping for. But he couldn't blame her. Lucia had just done something difficult—she had told him the truth.

He still wanted to spend the evening with her. Not because he hoped she might change her mind, but simply because he enjoyed her company. So instead of dragging out the difficult conversation, he decided to ease the tension with a joke.

"That doesn't change anything," he said calmly. "I'm only asking you to go to the movie with me. I'm not asking you to marry me."

Lucia looked at him, and for the first time since she'd walked in, she truly relaxed. A laugh escaped her. "Okay."

Mattias smiled at her reaction. "See? It's not that complicated. We'll just go watch a movie."

This time, Lucia smiled for real. She reached for the red helmet and turned it over in her hands, trying to figure out how she was supposed to put it on.

"How does this work?"

Mattias chuckled softly and stepped closer.

"Wait. I'll help you."

He adjusted the strap beneath her chin, explaining how to fasten the helmet properly. Lucia listened with a smile, grateful that he didn't ask any more questions and had allowed the conversation to return to something ordinary.

And yet, somewhere deep inside her, the words she'd spoken only moments earlier were still echoing. For the first time, she no longer tried to give them another meaning or replace them with some safer explanation.

She knew who they belonged to.

To Tavo.

-------------------------

The glow from the screen was the only light cutting through the darkness of the cinema. For the first few minutes, Lucia genuinely tried to concentrate on the movie. She wanted to simply let herself enjoy the evening. A few ordinary hours during which she wouldn't have to analyze every look from Tavo, every word, or every feeling she still couldn't quite understand.

For a while, she even managed it.

Until the movie stopped being just a movie.

The violent scenes appeared without warning. Screams, brutality, fear on the characters' faces—it all reached her with a force she hadn't expected. With every passing minute, it became harder to remember that she was sitting in a dark cinema and that what she was watching was only a story created for the screen.

Her body reacted before her mind could. Her breathing grew shallow, her fingers tightened around the armrest, and her heart began to race, even though there was no real danger.

She tried to focus on what surrounded her. The sounds coming from the speakers. The cool air of the cinema. The awareness that she was here, now, and that what had happened had taken place many years ago.

But some memories didn't disappear simply because a person had learned how to live with them. For a brief moment, an image she had spent years trying not to remember flashed before her eyes.

The street.

People screaming.

Her father's face—the face she hadn't been old enough to understand as a child, but had remembered forever.

She closed her eyes, trying to push the memory away. She didn't want to return to the day that had taken her sense of safety before she had even understood what safety was.

Mattias noticed the change almost immediately. For a moment, he simply watched her, as though wondering whether he should do something. He didn't want to embarrass her or make her feel even more uncomfortable.

Finally, he carefully placed his hand over hers. The gesture was simple and gentle. There was no attempt to take advantage of the moment of closeness, no expectation that Lucia should respond with anything more. It was simply a quiet reminder that someone sitting beside her had noticed her fear.

She looked down at their hands and, for a moment, allowed herself to stop fighting. She didn't have to pretend that nothing had happened. She didn't have to immediately retreat behind her usual guardedness. For a few seconds, she wasn't alone with the memory.

When the movie ended, they left the cinema in silence. The cool night air hit their faces, and the ordinary bustle of the street seemed almost unreal after two hours spent in the darkness.

Mattias suggested they have coffee at a small café nearby. Lucia agreed because she wasn't ready to go home yet.

They sat at a table by the window. For a while, neither of them spoke. Mattias stirred his coffee even though the sugar had dissolved long ago. Eventually, he looked at her carefully.

"Feeling better?"

Lucia looked up. "Yes. I'm sorry. I'm just being stupid. That was a horrible movie."

Mattias shook his head. "You're not stupid. You just... I think you took it harder than most people would."

She smiled faintly. "It's only a movie."

"I know. But I saw how you reacted."

Lucia lowered her eyes to her cup. "I don't like violence. I didn't like all that screaming..." she said quietly. "I don't know what happened to me."

Mattias was silent for a moment.

"Lucia..."

There was something cautious in his voice. He wasn't pushing her, but he wanted to understand.

She knew, however, that if she started pretending nothing had happened, it would simply become another thing she buried deep inside herself. "When I was little... I saw my father die."

Mattias froze. He hadn't expected that. "Lucia..."

"It was a long time ago," she added quickly, as though she wanted to lessen the weight of her words immediately. "But sometimes certain things come back."

For a moment, he looked at her with unmistakable sadness.

"If I'd known..."

"You didn't know," she interrupted gently. "You couldn't have known."

And that was what was different about him.

Mattias didn't try to find the perfect words or pretend he understood everything she'd been through. He didn't make promises he couldn't keep. He simply stayed beside her and let her be herself.

Maybe that was why she felt so comfortable around him. With Mattias, she didn't have to analyze anything. She never had to wonder what he really meant when he said something. She didn't have to read his eyes or search for hidden meanings between one sentence and the next. With him, everything seemed simpler.

Maybe that was precisely why it was so difficult to accept that simplicity wasn't always the same thing as love.

She appreciated his kindness. She was grateful that he knew how to simply be there when she needed someone. It was just that her heart had chosen someone else a long time ago.

Mattias leaned back in his chair. "You know... I think you're different from most people I know."

Lucia gave him a faint smile. "I've been told that before."

"And?"

She looked out the window. 

"And it didn't always end well. I stopped believing in fairy tales."

The words stayed with her longer than she expected. Not because they were entirely true. Lucia knew she hadn't lost the ability to trust people.

There were people she trusted. One person in particular. The thought of Tavo came to her instantly, before she could stop it.

That was what made everything so complicated. She could trust him. The difficult part wasn't whether she could believe him. It was what she was supposed to do with a feeling she could no longer ignore.

"I trust some people," she said quietly.

Mattias looked at her carefully, but he didn't ask who. Perhaps he sensed that there was more behind those words. Or perhaps he simply understood that not every answer had to be forced.

After a moment, he set his cup down. "Lucia... there's something I'd like to tell you."

She braced herself for another confession, but what he said was different from what she'd expected.

"I want to be your friend."

She looked at him in surprise.

"I want you to trust me. I'm not like the others," Mattias continued. "I'm different. If you don't want to, we don't have to go to the cinema or ride a motorcycle anymore. We can just go for a walk sometimes. Talk. I'd really like that."

Lucia was silent for a moment, simply looking at him. That was what made it so difficult to answer.

Mattias wasn't doing anything she needed to defend herself against. He wasn't trying to pressure her into anything. He wasn't asking for declarations or promises. He simply wanted to be close to her, and that was precisely why he deserved the truth.

After what had happened with Federico, she'd learned to be more careful about what she revealed about herself. Not because she'd stopped trusting people, but because she now knew how much it could cost to give someone access to the part of herself she didn't show to just anyone.

But this time, that wasn't the only problem. Mattias could have been the kindest, most patient man in the world, and she still couldn't give him what he might be hoping for.

Because her heart had already found its home. And Mattias deserved exactly that—the truth. Not excuses. Not false hope she could never fulfill.

"Mattias..." she finally said quietly. "A few months ago, I broke up with someone."

"But that wasn't me!" he blurted out nervously, then quickly apologized.

She didn't want to go into details. She didn't want to tell him everything that had happened between her and Federico or revisit a story that still carried too much emotion.

"And I think that's why I'm more careful about letting people get close to me."

She hesitated, because it was true, but it wasn't the whole truth. There was something more important.

"But that's not the only reason."

Mattias looked at her attentively.

Lucia felt as though she were facing the same choice all over again. She could say less and let him believe that patience would be enough, that perhaps one day things might change. But she didn't want to do that. Not to him.

"I really do love someone else, Mattias."

The words came out calmly, although she could still feel their weight inside her.

This time, she wasn't talking about attraction, fascination, or affection. She was talking about a feeling that existed regardless of whether she was ready to accept it or afraid of it.

Mattias was silent for a moment. A flicker of disappointment crossed his face before he could hide it, but he quickly replaced it with a calm smile.

"That man is lucky."

Lucia gave him a faint smile. She didn't know what the future would bring, or whether she would ever find the courage to tell Tavo what she had told Mattias that night.

But she knew one thing. If her heart belonged to him, she had no right to let someone else wait for a love she would never be able to return.

-----------------

The evening was supposed to turn out very differently.

A few hours earlier, when Lucia and Mattias had left for the cinema, Tavo had planned to go through some documents concerning the next campaign and head home much earlier. Those plans were interrupted by a call from the police station.

Marie Azul, the youngest model at the agency, had decided to prove to her friends that she was old enough to take care of herself. She had slipped out of the house and gone to a nightclub that admitted adults only, and a police check had quickly revealed that she wasn't even sixteen yet. Since the agency was officially responsible for her, both Tavo and Kuka had to report to the police station immediately.

The drive home was tense. Kuka made no attempt to hide her anger for most of the way, and the moment they arrived home, she let it all out. Tavo allowed her to say everything she felt needed saying, but when he saw that Marie was already close to tears, he gently stepped in and brought the outburst to an end.

Later, he sat down with the girl in the living room and talked to her calmly. He told her about some of his own stupid decisions as a teenager, about sneaking cigarettes from his father and his ridiculous attempts to lower his voice during phone calls just so he would sound older. Only after the emotions had settled a little did he make her understand that what she'd done that night could have had consequences far more serious than a few frightening hours at the police station. In the fashion world, a reputation took a long time to build, and only one thoughtless mistake could destroy it.

Marie apologized sincerely. She didn't make excuses or try to blame her friends. She was frightened and embarrassed, and Tavo decided that the night she'd spent at the police station had been lesson enough.

When the girl went to her room, Kuka came back from the kitchen and looked at him in disbelief.

"And that's it? I thought the whole house was going to hear you yelling."

Tavo smiled faintly.

"I think she's had enough of a scare tonight. She understood what she did."

Kuka sighed and shook her head.

"I made coffee. Want some?"

"It's late. I should probably go. I can see you're tired too."

Kuka sighed in resignation. 

"If you say so..."

For a moment, Tavo genuinely intended to refuse. It was late, he was exhausted after the long day, and the evening had turned out to be much longer than he'd planned. But after a moment, he smiled to himself. Kuka wouldn't let him leave without a cup of hot coffee anyway. There was something comforting about that kind of ordinary routine. With her, he didn't have to think about what to say or how he was supposed to behave. After all the complicated conversations of the past few weeks, that simplicity felt almost like a relief.

"Two teaspoons of sugar, please."

"What kind of man are you..."

She laughed too, and instinctively gave him a light tap on the chest. The gesture was so natural that neither of them even seemed to notice it. When she placed her other hand on the back of his neck a moment later, Tavo instinctively slipped an arm lightly around her shoulder.

That was exactly when the front door opened.

Tavo instinctively stepped away from Kuka and turned toward the voices. Kuka, however, didn't immediately remove her hand from his chest, as though it took her a second to realize that someone had seen them.

Lucia appeared in the doorway first. She was still smiling, apparently in the middle of some amusing conversation with Mattias, who stood beside her looking equally relaxed. The moment lasted only a second. As her gaze moved farther into the room and settled on Tavo and Kuka, the smile slowly faded from her face.

There was no sudden reaction, no scene that anyone could have noticed. It was only a subtle change—a shadow that flickered across her eyes before she managed to hide it.

To Tavo, the situation was completely ordinary. Kuka had been one of the few people he'd never needed to watch himself around. They had years of work, arguments, jokes, and problems they'd overcome together behind them.

It never even occurred to him that anyone might see something more in the gesture.

Kuka was the first to realize it. Only then did she notice that her hand was still resting against his chest. She pulled it away immediately and took a step back, slightly embarrassed by her own absentmindedness.

Lucia immediately realized that her reaction had been too obvious. For a fraction of a second, she'd allowed something to show on her face before she could hide it.

She knew she had no right to react that way. Tavo and Kuka had known each other for years. They were business partners, friends, people who had been through more together than most could imagine.

She understood all of that.

And yet seeing them so close together had affected her far more than she'd expected. Perhaps because only a few hours earlier, for the first time, she'd allowed herself to put a name to the feeling she'd spent so long avoiding. Now that she knew what she felt, she could no longer pretend that she didn't care.

Lucia quickly composed herself. She didn't want anyone to notice that brief moment of vulnerability—especially not Tavo.

"Good evening," she said at last with a faint smile, regaining control of her voice.

Tavo watched her carefully.

He was getting to know her better all the time. He already knew that Lucia could hide her emotions, but she never did it perfectly. There was always some small detail that gave her away—a glance turned away too quickly, a shorter-than-usual answer, a smile that appeared more out of politeness than genuine happiness.

This time, too, he noticed something.

He just didn't know whether her reaction had been because of him, because she'd seen Kuka, or simply because she was tired after the evening.

For a moment, he wanted to walk over and ask if everything was all right, but he stopped himself. He didn't want to put her in a position where she'd have to explain her emotions in front of other people. Lucia would decide for herself when she was ready to tell him something.

"Good evening," he replied.

His gaze shifted to Mattias, and only then did he realize that Lucia hadn't come back alone. For a moment, he felt something he couldn't quite put into words. It wasn't anger or jealousy. More like a strange little pang he didn't want to examine too closely.

Lucia had every right to see whoever she wanted. He himself had once told her that the most important thing was for her to be happy. 

So why did seeing her standing beside another man leave him with a sense of emptiness he hadn't expected at all?

He quickly pushed the thought aside. He had no right to feel that way—not after he'd spent so long pretending that nothing between them had changed.

"Hi. It's good to see you." Mattias smiled and nodded toward Kuka and Tavo. Then he kissed Lucia lightly on the cheek and took the helmet from her.

"I'm going to head out. Thanks for the evening. See you."

Mattias said goodbye to everyone, and a moment later the front door closed behind him.

Lucia remained in the living room for another moment, acutely aware of Tavo's presence but unable to find a single word that wouldn't reveal too much.

"Good night," she said quietly, before the silence between them could become too revealing.

And before he had a chance to answer, she turned and walked to her room.

-------------

Lucia lay down on the bed fully dressed, staring at the ceiling for a while. Her body was tired, but sleep didn't come right away. It wasn't the conversation she missed, or the movie, or even the quiet evening with someone who had allowed her, for a few hours, to experience the ordinary life she had been longing for so much. Mattias was a good man. He knew how to make her feel safe. But it wasn't his presence she was searching for now, alone in the darkness of her room.

Eventually, she sat up and opened the drawer of her nightstand.

Their photograph was inside. The two of them together, holding each other, happy. And yet she kept it there like a hidden treasure. She took it out slowly, almost afraid that the simple touch of her fingers might somehow change something.

For a while, she simply looked at it. At his face, which she knew so well and yet somehow still managed to discover anew. At the look in his eyes, where she sometimes saw more than he himself was willing to say. At herself beside him, a little too close, as though for one brief moment the world had allowed them to exist in the same place without complications.

She traced her fingers gently along the edge of the photograph, almost instinctively, as though she wanted to memorize that fragment of reality.

Then, just as carefully, she pressed it to her lips. It wasn't a dramatic gesture or a deliberate one. It was quiet and private, like something that didn't need to be explained to anyone.

She slipped the photograph back into the drawer and closed it slowly—too slowly, as though she were trying to postpone the moment when she would have to return to reality.

She lay back down, and almost instinctively, her fingers found the pendant.

The metal was cool against her skin, but the familiar gesture brought her an unexpected sense of calm. As though through that small object she could hold on, for just a moment, to something she could never truly hold on to.

Maybe for Tavo, all of this still meant something different. Maybe what had become a feeling she could no longer hide was, to him, still nothing more than closeness, concern, and the bond they had built over the past few months. Or perhaps he was afraid of the same thing she was afraid of—that saying it aloud would change everything.

The difference was that she could no longer run from what she felt.

She didn't know where it would lead them, or whether Tavo would ever be ready to tell her that he felt the same. Whether he would allow himself to admit that there had been something more between them for a long time—something beyond friendship, concern, and affection.

But for the first time in a long while, she wasn't trying to run from her own heart.

She loved him.

She didn't have answers to all her questions yet. She didn't know what tomorrow would bring, or whether they would ever find the courage to cross the boundary that had existed between them for so long. But this time, she no longer felt the need to run from it.

---------------

The morning at Tavo's office was quieter than usual. Warm sunlight streamed in through the open window, while the muted hum of the city outside mingled with the sound of turning pages and the soft scratch of a pen moving across paper.

Tavo sat behind his desk, leaning over a stack of documents. For several minutes, he'd been trying to concentrate on the figures and signatures, but his thoughts kept drifting back to the previous evening.

To the moment he'd seen her standing in the doorway.

He couldn't explain why the sight of Lucia beside Mattias had left him with such a strange sense of unease. Everything was exactly as it should have been. Lucia was happy. She had every right to meet someone who could help her forget about all the problems in her life.

And yet some part of him rebelled against that peaceful picture.

He didn't want to analyze it. Especially because she seemed different too. As though something inside her had changed, although he couldn't quite say what.

Lucia sat across from him, unusually serious, turning her sunglasses over and over in her hands. Normally, she couldn't sit still for long when something was troubling her or when too many thoughts were racing through her mind.

Tavo knew that gesture by now. He knew the sunglasses had nothing to do with the sun. They were simply something to keep her hands busy.

"So, what did you think of the movie last night?" he finally asked, setting his pen aside.

Lucia looked at him and grimaced. For a moment, the mere memory of the previous evening was enough to bring that unpleasant feeling rushing back. The movie itself hadn't been the worst part. It was the fact that, for a few moments, she'd felt the way she had as a child, before she'd understood why the world had suddenly stopped feeling safe.

"Don't even remind me."

Tavo noticed the change in her expression, although he didn't know exactly what had caused it. He didn't want to ask. He had already learned that Lucia didn't like people trying to open doors she wasn't ready to unlock herself.

"I'm sorry," he said immediately.

He didn't want to pressure her. Not because he wasn't curious about what lay behind her silence. Quite the opposite—increasingly, he had the feeling that there were entire conversations between them that they'd never spoken aloud. But he also knew that Lucia needed time. The trust she was beginning to give him was too precious to risk by trying to rush it.

Instead, he returned to the documents, as though changing the subject were the most natural thing in the world.

"I asked you to come in because there's a coffee commercial coming up. We need to do a few test shots. I don't know if the clothes are ready yet, but the whole thing is going to have a tropical feel."

Lucia nodded, although for a moment she continued looking at him thoughtfully. Then she stopped turning her sunglasses over in her hands.

For a moment, she wondered whether she really wanted to hear the answer. Whether asking about Kuka came from simple curiosity, or from that part of her that was still looking for reassurance that what she'd seen the night before didn't mean what she'd briefly been afraid it meant.

She knew she should trust Tavo.

She also knew that was exactly what frightened her most—how much his words and actions had begun to matter to her.

"And you?" she asked.

Tavo looked up. "Me?"

"Did you have a good time with Kuka last night?"

She said it lightly, with what sounded like complete innocence. But Tavo knew her well enough by now to hear the slight change in her voice, a note she probably wasn't even aware of herself.

For a moment, he simply looked at her. Then a warm, slightly amused smile appeared on his lips.

Lucia knew that smile. She'd seen it on him many times before. She knew when it was simply a reaction to something amusing—and when it appeared only because he was looking at her.

And although she tried not to notice, it was becoming harder and harder to pretend that it didn't matter. She knew that smile had nothing to do with the previous evening. It was a reaction to her.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Tavo..."

His smile widened. He couldn't quite stop himself. There was something extraordinary about the way Lucia tried to hide her emotions even though her eyes revealed far more than her words ever could.

Not long ago, he'd thought of her primarily as a girl he needed to protect. Now, more and more often, he found himself realizing that it was no longer just about protecting her.

He wanted to know what she was thinking. He wanted to see her smile. He wanted to be the first person she turned to whenever something truly mattered to her.

"You don't know what happened with Marie Azul, do you?"

Lucia frowned and shook her head.

"No."

Tavo set the documents aside and leaned back more comfortably in his chair.

"The police called. It turned out Marie had slipped out of the house and gone to a nightclub. Since we're officially responsible for her, Kuka and I had to go down to the station."

Lucia immediately grew serious, a faint flush of embarrassment warming her cheeks. For a moment, she'd allowed her imagination to suggest something that had nothing to do with reality. Kuka was important to Tavo, but not in the way her own heart had tried to convince her.

"Oh..."

"Fortunately, nothing happened. At first she was more frightened than sorry, but we talked afterward. I hope she understood that some things can have much more serious consequences than she realizes."

He shook his head with a faintly amused smile.

"Although I have to admit, Kuka had considerably more energy... and more decibels... to make that point than I did."

Lucia listened carefully. She knew Tavo could be strict when a situation demanded it, but more often than not, he chose conversation over anger. Perhaps that was why the girls trusted him so much. Not because he never lost his temper, but because even when he did, he could still see the person standing in front of him rather than just the mistake they'd made.

For a moment, she was silent, playing with her sunglasses. Not long ago, she would have been angry with herself for asking about Kuka at all. For allowing that jealousy she didn't want to acknowledge to herself to surface for even a moment.

Now, though, looking at him, she could see more clearly that his smile had nothing to do with the previous evening. It was meant for her.

Tavo noticed the expression on her face. The same one he'd seen so many times before—whenever she tried to hide an emotion before it had a chance to show.

And that was what always disarmed him about her.  Lucia could be strong, independent, and stubborn, but sometimes all it took was a single moment, a single look, to reveal the other side of her—the one she showed almost no one.

"Anyway..." he said after a moment, looking at her with tenderness. "You're really beautiful when you get like this..."

Lucia stiffened immediately. Not because his words had hurt her. Quite the opposite. That was precisely what made them dangerous.

Tavo had an extraordinary way of noticing the things she tried hardest to hide, even from herself. And she wasn't ready for someone to read so easily what was happening inside her heart.

"Like what?" she interrupted.

She shook her head slightly, as though she wanted to stop not only his words, but her own thoughts as well.

"Don't tell me. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear anything."

Tavo raised an eyebrow. For a moment, he felt a pang of disappointment. Not because she'd rejected his compliment, but because once again he saw how quickly Lucia built a wall around herself whenever something came too close.

Just moments earlier, she'd allowed herself to simply be herself. Now she was immediately trying to run from anything that might have been noticed.

His expression grew serious.

"Why?"

Lucia looked away.

For a moment, she seemed as though she wanted to say something, but was fighting with herself over whether she should. She didn't want to admit that his words had struck exactly where it hurt most. That around him, it was becoming harder and harder to pretend that everything was fine.

It was easier to talk about other people's problems than to let someone see her own.

"Something strange is going on with my mother," she said at last, her voice quieter. "She's changed so much. She acts as if she wants to tell me something, but doesn't have the courage. I've called her, but she won't answer."

Tavo's smile disappeared immediately.

He knew how much Lucia's mother meant to her, even if the two of them didn't always see eye to eye. He recognized that look by now. It appeared whenever Lucia tried to convince everyone around her that she could handle everything on her own.

And increasingly, he had the feeling that beneath all that confidence was someone who sometimes simply wanted somebody to stay beside her.

"Maybe we could postpone the shoot a little," he suggested calmly.

Lucia shook her head and stood up. For a moment, she wondered whether she was making too much of it. Maybe she really was looking for trouble where there was none. Maybe her mother was simply going through a difficult time and she was worrying too much.

But her instincts told her otherwise. And more than anything, she didn't want to retreat again simply because something was difficult.

"No. I'll still do the shoot."

Tavo stood as well. He didn't want to stop her or make the decision for her. But he didn't want her to have to deal with it alone, either.

"Then I'll drive you there afterwards. We'll see if we can get the truth out of her together. What do you say?"

For a moment, Lucia stared at him in surprise. Not because of the offer itself. Because of one word. It had sounded so natural, as though it had always been the obvious thing to do.

Together.

Such a simple word, and yet for months she'd been afraid even to imagine that it might exist between them.

Then, for the first time in several minutes, she smiled faintly.

"Maybe."

She picked up her sunglasses again, but this time the movement was calmer. After a moment, she looked at him from beneath her lashes. She had seen the same caution in him that she recognized in herself—the way they both pretended everything was fine when it wasn't.

Something in Tavo's expression the night before had told her that she hadn't been the only one who'd felt that pang at the sight of someone beside someone else.

"You know... I didn't really have a good time last night."

Tavo felt relief much sooner than he would have liked to admit. The tension he'd been carrying since the previous evening—without even realizing it—suddenly loosened. 

His face betrayed him before his words did. His shoulders relaxed slightly, and a smile he no longer bothered to hide appeared on his lips.

Only then did he realize how badly he'd needed to hear that the evening hadn't meant anything special to her.

"You didn't?"

"I almost ran out of the cinema."

He tried to keep a straight face, but Lucia noticed the change in his eyes. It was only a brief easing of tension, barely perceptible—a small flash of relief. But she knew him too well to miss it.

Tavo could hide many things from the world. Yet around her, more and more often, it was the little things that gave him away—exactly as her own little gestures were beginning to give her away.

"Am I the only one who feels like you're happy about this?"

Tavo looked at her with mock indignation.

"Lucia? How could I?"

She wasn't fooled. For a second, she stared at him with a perfectly serious expression before bursting into laughter.

"Oh, Tavo!"

She reached for the calendar lying on the desk and lightly smacked him on the arm with it.

Tavo instinctively raised his hands in surrender, but at the same time he started laughing too.

And for a moment, everything was easy again, just as it had been back when neither of them had stopped to wonder where friendship ended and something more began. Except that now they both knew the line had disappeared a long time ago. Because although they were still afraid to take the next step, they both knew one thing now:

They were already standing on the same side.

----------

Lucia went to see her mother late that afternoon, when the light had already softened and faded, as though the day itself were slowly losing its certainty. The road to Rosa's house was almost painfully familiar—the same intersections, the same trees, the same rhythm of the city that had once seemed reassuring and stable, but now felt merely repetitive.

Rosa opened the door almost immediately. For a fraction of a second, she looked exactly as she always had—warm, familiar, safe. But as Lucia stepped inside, she noticed something else: the tension held in her mother's shoulders, in the way she kept clenching her hands and then immediately relaxing them, as though she couldn't quite find a place to put them.

"Come in, my princess," Rosa said too quickly, as though she were afraid that if she hesitated, she would lose the courage to say what she had to say.

The living room smelled of tea. The silence between them wasn't an ordinary silence—it was thick and restless, as though something was trying to break through it but hadn't yet found the courage.

They sat across from each other. For a while, they talked about small things. Lucia's work, Rosa's shopping, the everyday details that usually filled their conversations without carrying much weight.

But Rosa wasn't herself.

Lucia could see it in every gesture—in the way her mother's eyes darted away too quickly, in the way her breathing occasionally seemed to stop for a second too long.

Finally, Rosa gripped her teacup so tightly that her fingers turned white.

"Lucia..." she began, then stopped.

She tried again. "I have to tell you something."

The silence immediately grew heavier. Lucia lifted her eyes.

"Mom?"

Rosa shook her head, as though fighting an inner battle.

"I've kept this hidden for too long," she whispered. "I've pretended for too long that it didn't exist."

Her gaze shifted away.

"And I know that when you find out... you may hate me."

Lucia stiffened. "What are you talking about?"

Rosa drew in a sharp breath, but it didn't calm her. If anything, it seemed as though something inside her was breaking with every word she tried to force out.

"I... you have to let me finish," she said quickly. "Don't interrupt me, all right? I just... I have to tell you this at last. I've always loved you. Remember that. Always. Even if..."

She fell silent for too long.

"Even if what?" Lucia's voice sharpened, though a growing sense of unease tightened inside her.

Rosa shook her head.

"It's not that simple. It never was. I just... I wanted to protect you. And maybe I did it the wrong way. Maybe I did everything wrong."

Lucia felt her throat tighten.

"Mom, just tell me what this is about."

Rosa opened her mouth, but for a moment no sound came out. Her hand trembled against her knee, as though searching for something to hold on to. Her gaze began to lose focus, becoming distant and unfixed.

"Lucia... I have to tell you the truth about..."

She broke off halfway through the sentence.

Her expression suddenly changed—not with emotion, not with sadness, but with something abrupt and unfamiliar. As though her body had suddenly stopped obeying her mind.

"Mom?" Lucia sprang to her feet. "Mom, what's happening?"

Rosa tried to speak, but no words came.

Her right hand slipped limply from her lap. Her eyes drifted to the side, unfocused and uneven, as though the world had suddenly stopped making sense.

"No..." Lucia whispered, already beside her.

She grabbed her mother's arm.

"Mom, look at me. Look at me!"

Rosa didn't answer. Her body sagged heavily against the sofa, and the air in the room seemed to thicken instantly, becoming unreal.

Lucia reached for the phone with trembling fingers, but before she could dial for an ambulance, she already knew that everything else had ceased to matter.

Chapter 7 - Stroke and Hospital

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