Chapter 84 João Pedro is here
Katherine didn't mind the momentary loneliness and followed Jessica to the classroom. Rosana and Nísia took a little longer, held up by a conversation with the teacher about Nísia's upcoming chemistry competition. Being the last to leave, they came face to face with an imposing figure hurrying down the hallway.
João Pedro, accompanied by his assistant, walked with determined steps and a stern expression. Rosana and Nísia stopped abruptly, exchanging looks of pure confusion.
“Nísia, shouldn't Octavio's mother be present at his meeting?” asked Rosana, feeling a bad premonition.
Upon reaching the door, João Pedro was surrounded by school leaders who greeted him with reverence. “Mr. Arbex, why are you here?”
“Is the meeting over?” he asked, ignoring the formalities.
“The Grand Assembly is, but the students are going to their classrooms now. Your brother's classroom is on the third floor...” explained a principal.
“Where is classroom 18?” interrupted João Pedro, indifferent.
The leader was confused, wondering if Octavio had been transferred, but he readily agreed to guide him. As João Pedro hurried toward the building, his assistant followed him, wiping sweat from his forehead. Who would believe that the president of a financial group would drop a billion-dollar deal to rush to a school after a simple text message?
Behind them, Nísia turned pale. Her worst fears were being confirmed.
“It looks like João Pedro is really interested in her,” Rosana pondered, gloomily. “No wonder her father wants her to return to the Collins' house soon.”
“She's not stupid,” sighed Nísia bitterly. “She knows it's better to stick with the Arbexes.”
In room 18, there were still ten minutes to go before the official start of the class meeting. Jessica asked Gabriel to sit next to Katherine while she looked for a piece of bread in her bag, since she hadn't had breakfast.
Gabriel looked around the room with envious nostalgia. He leaned over to Katherine and said, “Boss, I envy you guys. Back in my day, I didn't value my studies. Now I realize it was the best phase of my life.”
Katherine gave him a bored look. “If you miss it so much, how about finishing my courses? Or maybe a second degree?”
Gabriel smiled. “If I could, I really would...”
He stopped mid-sentence. Turning his head, he saw the incredibly handsome man standing at the back door, watching the scene with cold eyes.
“Boss... João Pedro is here.”
Katherine didn't move. She continued leafing through her comic book and replied with a casual “uh-huh,” indicating that she had noticed his presence long before.
“Boss, he's coming in,” Gabriel whispered, feeling the temperature in the room drop. “He looks furious... like he wants to hit me.”
Would João Pedro kick Gabriel out of Katherine's seat in front of everyone?
Gabriel, sensing the imminent danger, jumped up and moved away from Katherine, taking refuge next to Jessica so quickly that he ended up bumping into her. Jessica, furious at the jolt, almost pinched him to death right there.
João Pedro watched the girl, who remained seated in absolute silence, reading her magazine next to a now empty chair. After casting one last icy glance at the place where Gabriel was hiding, he pulled out the chair and sat down.
“I was in a meeting. I didn't see my grandfather's message in time,” he explained, his voice light and clear.
The assistant, standing at the door, raised his eyebrows in shock. Was the great João Pedro... justifying himself? This was a historic event that deserved to be recorded. He looked at Katherine, expecting to see a reaction of surprise or joy, but his expectations were frustrated. Not only was she unmoved, she barely gave him a casual “Hmm,” without even looking up from the pages she was leafing through.
It's karma, thought the assistant, covering his lips to hide a chuckle of satisfaction at seeing his boss ignored so naturally.
The class reunion officially began, and the assistant was sent out into the hallway with a mission: to buy food. Lots of food. It wasn't hard to guess who those treats were for.
On the podium, Marta began her speech following the usual protocol, but her voice faltered and became shaky as soon as her eyes fell on João Pedro. Who told me that Katherine's parents wouldn't be coming? she thought, trying to regain her composure to continue.
While the teacher was speaking, João Pedro examined Katherine's desk. The books and tests were organized with impeccable care, looking as if they had just come from the bookstore. However, unlike the other students, whose desks were overflowing with study materials, hers was crammed with comic books.
Suddenly, he noticed a familiar title among the magazines. His expression softened.
“Do you like reading this kind of story?” he asked in a low voice.
“Hmm,” she replied, without looking up.
Unexpectedly, João reached out and pointed to a detail in the comic book. His deep voice came close to her ear: “This one is...”
Before he could finish his sentence, Katherine acted. She pinched his finger hard, giving him a look laden with a lethal promise. If he dared to reveal that secret in front of everyone, she would not hesitate to break one of his fingers right there and then.
Will João Pedro respect the secret of the “Primordial Master” of comics or will he continue to provoke her?
João Pedro was not intimidated by Katherine's lethal gaze. With a fluid movement, he captured her hand, enveloping it with a firm warmth that awakened unknown and irritating emotions in her. Katherine remained impassive; instead of pulling away, she used the technique she had mastered, pressing a pressure point on his palm with seventy percent of her strength.
The man, however, accepted the “torture” with serenity, reversing the situation to trap her again in his palm. The tactile game reminded Katherine, for a brief second, of a daring figure who had crossed her path one summer six years ago. Uncomfortable with the memory, she closed her eyes and forced her hand away, but he did not let go until Marta gave the next warning.
Beside them, Gabriel watched everything through Jessica's mirror reflection. “Such creativity in holding hands,” he whispered, before Jessica pinched him to shut him up.