Guillermo

Olívia
"Are we not going by car?"

"No, I prefer the helicopter. We’ve already had more than enough today without having to deal with traffic."

"Okay."

Now that the initial shock has passed, I’m slowly able to think clearly. Everything happened so fast that I didn’t even have time to process it. One moment I was walking to meet Guillermo, the next, one of the security guards — whom I used to greet every morning at the start of work — grabbed my arm, saying I couldn’t leave.

It didn’t take long for people to stop what they were doing and watch me. I’ve never felt so embarrassed in my life.

I’ve never had a problem being poor. I never dreamed of wearing expensive clothes, and even when I lived in that tiny room, I wasn’t ashamed. But the moment I was publicly accused of being a thief, I thought I was going to faint.

I think the whole commotion didn’t last more than fifteen minutes, because as soon as they took me to the security room, Joaquín arrived, followed quickly by Guillermo. To me, however, it felt like a lifetime.

We went up to the roof of the building, and my heart is racing now. I’ve never ridden anything that flies. In fact, the only transport I’ve ever used besides a car was a boat. My mother gave me, for my sixteenth birthday — the last one she was healthy for — a trip from Long Wharf to see the whales. It was the most thrilling thing I had ever done, but now I have new memories to collect.

A session of celebration brigadeiro will surely be among them. The most special memory, however, will be the night we slept in the presidential suite. That night I felt like Cinderella, not just because of the luxury, but for everything that happened. Since then, Guillermo hasn’t done anything to bring me back to reality. It’s like one dream flows into the next.

When I’m with him, just the two of us and Nina at his house, our life together seems possible. There are no differences. I feel like everything is right. There’s no gap between our financial conditions or who we are in society.

But what happened today made me plummet into free fall. Guillermo went out with Joaquín to speak with the lawyer, and then the three returned to instruct me on what to say or not to the police. Half an hour later, the detectives took my statement right there. I didn’t go down to the lobby or anywhere else again. Guillermo wouldn’t allow it.

After everyone left, he said we would make a joint statement to the press tomorrow, whatever that means. Melissa sent a message to check if I was okay and said I didn’t need to sleep at the hotel tonight, that I could go to her house. I didn’t know what to respond, staring at my phone, thinking. He noticed and asked what was wrong.

When I showed him the phone, he shook his head.

"You’re staying with me."

I should have rebelled against his authoritarianism, but I’m not a liar. He’s the one I want to be with. With him, Nina, and no one else. So even knowing it’s foolish to cling to the two of them, I replied, thanking her, but saying it wasn’t necessary.

When the pilot engaged the first controls to take off, Guillermo fastened my seatbelt but remained silent since then.

I watch the profile of the man whose name I have no idea what to call, but who has definitely become part of my life and holds a piece of my heart. His square jaw is tense, and there’s a shadow of stubble. He seems tense but not distant. His hand holds mine, our fingers intertwined, and though I shouldn’t like the feeling, I can’t deny it’s a good kind of prison.

As if sensing I’m watching him, he turns his face, catching me in the act.

"What are you thinking?"

"I have a whole alphabet of thoughts running through my head right now."

"Talk to me."

"Am I going to lose my job?"

"No."

It’s my turn to look outside. The city is tiny now, lights shining like an upside-down starry sky.

"If that’s the case, I mean, if my job is safe, I’d like to move out of the hotel. It doesn’t make sense to stay there anymore. I can rent a simple apartment."

I expect him to try to dissuade me, but to my surprise, he says:

"I have an apartment. It’s free at the moment."

"I can’t afford a property at your level. Actually, I was thinking of a studio."

"We can talk about that tomorrow. For now, you’ll stay with me."

Suddenly, I remember something Joaquín said. I was so dazed that it only now comes back to me.

"Your brother told everyone we’re together… huh… he called me your sister-in-law in front of the staff."

Now that the memory of the scene returns, I feel my face heat up and my heart race.

"Oh my God! The entire hotel knows about us now."

"So what?"

"Isn’t it obvious?"

"Olívia, we’re free."

"But I’m your employee. We can’t be possible in the real world."

The tension on his face remains.

"I disagree. To me, we’re very possible."

"How did Joaquín find out?" I dodge the statement.

"Maybe by seeing you at my house in the morning, since I’ve never let a woman sleep there after Nina was born, except for the nannies. Or when I took you to lunch with my family."

"Are we really that obvious?"

For the first time since the hellish night began, he smiles.

"I know I’m very obvious about us. I want you."

My heart, already racing wildly, accelerates even more.

"Does that mean we’re… huh… dating?"

Instead of answering, he kisses me, stealing all the air from my lungs.

Yeah, I think we still have a few more chapters in the Cinderella story.



When we arrive at the apartment, to my surprise, Mrs. Isabel is waiting for us with Nina in her arms.

The nervousness that had started to fade comes back full force, but before I have time to die of embarrassment, she hands Nina to her son and hugs me.

I’m so shocked at first that I can hardly breathe. It was the last thing I would have expected, given the way she treated me at that lunch.

After a few seconds, when I realize she has no intention of letting me go anytime soon, I finally relax.

Then, trapped in the arms of the older woman, I allow myself to admit how much I’ve missed my mother. Whenever the longing hits, I push it to the back of my mind because I know I need to be strong, but now I can’t hold back anymore.

The crying that had stopped returns unplanned, and the more she strokes my hair and tells me everything will be alright, the more the tears flow.

"Come with me. I’ll make some tea for the two of us."

Only then do I realize that Guillermo has left us.



She asked me to tell what had happened, even though I knew Joaquín had said something.

I reveal what I remember, just as I did with his son, and the same displeasure I noticed on Guillermo’s face appears on the matriarch’s.

"This is unacceptable," she says, indignant. "Did they say who is behind this setup?"

"We don’t have proof yet, but I’m almost certain it was Kathleen. Only she could get three employees to agree to participate in something so vile," Guillermo replies.

I hadn’t noticed he had come back. He comes up behind me and hugs me.

I catch that same unreadable look on Mrs. Isabel’s face, but this time it lasts only a few seconds before she recovers.

"What will you do?"

"It doesn’t surprise me that Kathleen is involved. In fact, she was the first person I thought of from the start," I confess.

"Kathleen will be placed on paid leave until we can prove the truth. Once everything is clarified, Joaquín will work with the lawyers to punish those responsible."

"Excellent. The important thing is to clear Olívia’s name."