Written in the Stars

CHAPTER 10

Bruno arrives at the closed store where his friends have already put the bicycles outside. He stores the bikes and takes the helmets to the locker. He puts away his helmet and then takes the one used by Helena, caressing it carefully as his mind wanders through the day's memories. Bruno focuses mainly on the moments when she smiles at him or looked at him, enigmatic. He smiled, recalling how happy Helena was on Corumbê Beach. "Glad we'll see each other tomorrow, Helena," Bruno thinks, putting away the helmet. Just thinking about the next day makes him anxious, leaving butterflies in his stomach as he counts the minutes to see the young woman with blonde hair once again. He arrives home, and his parents are already in their room, which is better for Bruno, who also goes to his own room. He takes a shower and then lies down, falling asleep while thinking about Helena.

The next day, Bruno gets up before his father, who is surprised by his son's enthusiasm as he has already prepared breakfast for Nilton and Loreta, who are already enjoying the abundant table.

"Who are you, and what did you do with my son?" Nilton asks, surprised.

"Nothing. I just wanted to do something different today," Bruno replies, evasive. He smiles at his father and then kisses him on the cheek, saying, "I'm off!"

Nilton watches his son run out of the house and then turns to his wife, who is savoring a tangerine. Loreta smiles at her husband and says, "Your son."

***

In the store, the guys also find it strange because they arrive, and Bruno has already put the bikes outside and is organizing the equipment. The guys look at him, curious to know what happened between him and Helena for Bruno to be whistling. The brown-haired guy finishes putting the new equipment in its place, ignoring the puppy-dog eyes of his friends. Gabriel, the most curious, can't resist and approaches Bruno, asking, "So, how was it yesterday?"

"Yesterday? It was normal," Bruno replies, moving around the store.

"Normal?" Lucas repeats, surprised by Bruno's evasive answer. "Dude, you're whistling so loudly you can hear it from the corner."

"Really? Sorry, I'll lower the volume," Bruno says, startling his friends even more.

"Are you okay, man?" Jonathan asks, concerned. "What happened yesterday?"

"What do you mean? Nothing happened yesterday," Bruno says with a silly smile on his face.

"Nothing, I see. It's written all over your face that something happened yesterday," Gabriel argues, pointing to Bruno's smile.

"It's serious... I took Helena to Corumbê..."

"Corumbê!" the friends repeat, excited.

"Then I took her to Maria Izabel's place, and we had some drinks."

" Ahhhh..." the friends exclaim.

"I took her home, and that was it," Bruno concludes, receiving surprised looks. "What's up, guys?"

"It's not possible that nothing happened... nothing at all," Lucas says, unconvinced. "Helena is beautiful. She might be even more beautiful than Suzana, and you didn't make a move?"

"Lucas, I won't take every client to bed," Bruno explains, holding his friend's shoulder.

"Except you've already taken every client to bed, except Helena."

"Give him a break," Gabriel says to Lucas. "Yesterday was just the first day, and as far as I know, he still has seven days."

"By the way, Gabriel. Do you know who Helena is?" Bruno asks his friend.

"I have no idea," Gabriel replies.

"She's the fiancée from the email," Bruno reveals.

"No way!" Gabriel exclaims, surprised. "Dude, I'm sorry..."

"No, it's okay," Bruno says. "The only problem is that now I have to make her fall in love with Parati."

"Just with Parati, or with you too?" Jonathan asks.

"With Parati, for now," Bruno replies, enigmatic.