Anticipation

Anticipation
Júlia

I’d been invited to be Angel’s maid of honor, and Cecília decided to organize a girls’ afternoon at our apartment on a Sunday, sort of an early bachelorette get-together. The wedding was getting closer, and I agreed that we needed that moment to relax. I promised myself I would try, at least for a few hours, to forget the problems surrounding me and just enjoy my friends’ company.

Angel arrived a little late, but the happiness radiating from her face explained why. She glowed with that kind of joy that overflows, the kind that’s contagious. The wedding would be simple, just family and close friends. Angel never wanted to flaunt a socialite-filled event or have her name in gossip columns. After everything she’d been through, all she wanted was to celebrate love and start over.

We had become very close in the past few months, and she kept insisting on helping me in every possible way. I, on the other hand, refused most of it, trying to preserve my independence, though I knew her friendship was genuine.
Angel and Cecília had met only a few days earlier, but they clicked instantly, which made me happy.

“Sorry I’m late,” Angel said, tossing her purse on the couch. “I took way too long in the shower.”
“I know exactly how that is,” Cecília replied with a mischievous smile. “Especially when your boyfriend decides to ‘help’ you wash your hair.”

They both laughed together, conspiratorially.
“You two are perverts!” I protested, laughing as well.
“Sorry, Júlia,” Cecília said, still giggling. “We shouldn’t talk about that kind of thing around you… after all, you’ve been sex-free for two years.”
“Are you making fun of me?” I asked, pretending to be offended.
“Júlia’s single because she wants to be,” Angel said. “Henrique is completely in love with her.”

I playfully smacked her arm, earning another round of laughter from both.
The afternoon went on lightly, full of teasing and jokes about my “romantic drought.”
They had no idea that just two weeks earlier, I’d given in to an impulse and spent the night with a stranger in Brotas — a moment I preferred to keep secret, almost as if it had never happened.

We watched a movie, ordered pizza, and for a few hours, I actually managed to relax. I forgot that I’d been unemployed for almost two months and that my severance pay was already running out.

Then Angel picked up her phone to check social media, and suddenly, her expression changed.
“Did you guys see the news about Senator Guimarães?” she asked, serious now.
Cecília and I shook our heads.
“He’s the father of Alícia, a girl I can’t stand,” Angel explained. “But honestly, I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes right now. The media can be brutal.”
“I can imagine,” Cecília agreed. “I’ve never been in the spotlight, but it must be a nightmare.”
“I bet Ricardo’s trying to support her,” Angel said. “He’s always been in love with her. Lucas told me.”

“Ricardo… Henrique’s cousin, right?” I asked, curious for reasons I couldn’t explain.
“That’s him,” she confirmed. “Actually, he’s going to be Lucas’s best man. You’ll meet him at the wedding.”

I tried to hide it, but the thought of meeting the famous Ricardo Alcântara stirred something inside me. Angel talked about him often — how reserved, serious, and intelligent he was. A man who avoided the spotlight.
Without realizing it, I began to picture him. And for some reason, my heart beat a little faster.

When Angel left, the apartment fell into an uncomfortable silence. Cecília and I stayed quiet for a few minutes until she approached me, looking hesitant.
By the way she looked at me, I knew she had something delicate to say.

“I need to tell you something before the news gets out,” she began. “I’m sure you’d be hurt if you heard it from someone else.”
I tensed. I already had a feeling about what she was about to say.
“Jaime proposed to me,” she revealed, smiling. “And I said yes. But don’t worry, we’re not getting married anytime soon.”

I stood from the couch, feeling a strange mix of happiness and discomfort.
“Cecília, you can’t postpone your plans because of me,” I said, meeting her eyes.
“That’s not it.” She stood too. “I just want to enjoy this phase, take things slow. But even after I’m married, you know you’ll never be alone.”
“You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Of course I do! You’re my best friend, Júlia.”

Her sincerity touched me deeply, but at the same time, it made me feel guilty.
Cecília had always been there for me — when I lost my job, when I came back from Brotas heartbroken, when I thought I was completely alone in the world. And now, she was about to delay her own happiness just to make sure I wasn’t left behind.

I sat back down and took a deep breath.
“I’m happy for you, truly,” I said with a small smile. “Just promise me you won’t stop living your life because of me.”
She nodded, her eyes glistening. And in that moment, I realized just how much we meant to each other.