Family visit

Murilo

I thought about texting Virginia as soon as I opened my eyes the day after we met at the club, but I controlled myself.

It was pretty clear that she was upset to find me in the condition that it had happened, and even though I knew how wrong it was, I was sorry for having sex with Lavinia.

Now, however, there was no point in dwelling on what had happened and all that remained was for me to try to find a way for Virginia to forget, or at least, to forgive, what she had ended up seeing in the nightclub.

We were not together, at least not yet, something I thought I would correct as soon as possible, and she needed to consider that.

With those thoughts running through me, I went to my grandmother's house, as I did every Sunday. Maybe spending the day with my family would be good for me, and maybe I could even wait until tomorrow to try to talk to Virginia.

" We have been waiting for you, Murilo " My cousin pointed out.

I realized that they must have just sat down at the breakfast table, because everything still looked untouched, despite the great variety of food available.

" Busy night, dear? " Dona Dinorá asked.

She was frowning, probably because she suspected that I had gone out the night before and this was Grandma's way of knowing if I had arrived in the morning, after a night of partying.

" Aquiles isn't here yet? " I asked, without answering her question directly.

" Now I could understand why they were both late " Artemis said, and I was sure she understood "Did you go out with Aquiles last night?”

" I was with him at Arthur's nightclub opening," I told her, already sitting down on one of the chairs next to Grandma, who was at the head of the table, as usual, " I'm starving.”

I changed the subject, in a disguised manner, taking the opportunity to put a boiled egg on my plate, with some toast.

" I can tell, " Artemis spoke with irony.

"But this is good. It's been a long time since I've seen you in this mood at breakfast. I'm glad you're back to having fun; you were too focused only on work, and that's not good for your health.”

I preferred not to contradict Grandma because she insisted on having the last word on all matters, and it was no use me saying that I was feeling great, at least as far as my health was concerned.

I also didn't want her to get into unpleasant subjects, such as my love life, and more precisely, Bruna's betrayal.

"I will go for some routine examinations during the week. You should not worry, Grandma.”

"Good, then. That way I'll worry less.”

"Do you know who the woman Aquiles will bring to introduce us to?" Artemis asked suddenly.

I was putting my coffee cup to my mouth at that very moment and stopped halfway to finish the action.

" Will he bring a woman here? " I asked, incredulity stamped in my sentence.

" We don't know, " Grandma answered. "Aquiles called to apologize for not joining us for coffee but assured us that he would not miss lunch and would bring someone to introduce us.”

" If you were with him yesterday, you must know who the mystery woman is.”

" I have a slight suspicion. But I prefer not to raise any expectations.”

" Why would we have expectations, Murilo? " Grandma asked, astutely. "Am I to understand that we already know her?”

"In a way, yes.”

I finished my meal with some difficulty, just thinking about the possibility that Aquiles might be with Lavinia and that I was thinking about introducing her to our family when less than twelve hours ago, I was having sex with her in a hallway for any observant eye to see.

Many people who frequented nightclubs did not care about anything else around them, other than their entertainment. They drank, danced, and didn't watch what people were doing around them.

But there were always those who were bored, and for some reason were not having fun, even though they had come to the place looking for just that.

These people were paying attention to everything, and surely some of them paid attention to what we were doing and could even be acquaintances.

It would be very strange if Aquiles assumed any kind of relationship with Lavinia right after what happened between us.

But if he wasn't uncomfortable, I would be if it happened, but I would try to stay out of his decisions, just as he avoided doing the same to me.

My grandmother and Artemis still tried to get me to say what they deduced I knew, but I changed the subject and talked about something that always took their focus off everything else.

" I missed you guys so much, " I said, holding Grandma's hand.

Although I brought it up because I wanted to change the subject, it was the truth.

" You should come here more often, Murilo " Artemis took advantage of the hook and said what she loved to repeat "You and Aquiles are always so absent, even though you are in the same city as us.”

"You shouldn't listen to your cousin's words. I know that my grandchildren are businessmen and are always very busy in their daily lives.”

" You, as always, defending the two big boys " Artemis spoke, already rising from the table.

I followed her gesture and went to the chair where my grandmother was sitting, helping her up and walking beside her, something I insisted on doing every time I was near her, even when she insisted on saying that this was not necessary because she was perfectly capable of walking unaided.

"I'm going to agree with my cousin because I've been thinking about it and I've concluded that I'm working too much, I need to slow down, or I won't even make it to my fifties.”

"But darling, you are now in your thirties. You are still very young.”

We walked to the back porch, where we used to spend our mornings because Grandma didn't like to stay by the pool, especially at that time of the year, due to the strong heat it used to get in the São Paulo summer.

"I know you don't want to pressure us to come here all the time, Grandma. But from now on, I promise that I will be more present.”