Tense atmosphere

Murilo

For two days I had been trying to talk to my cousin about Virginia and could not succeed. The fact is that Aquiles was reserving all his time for his girlfriend and current crush, Lavinia Moura.

And when we were at the company, all sorts of situations were managing to get in the way of our conversation, and I felt reiterated by this.

As if it wasn't enough to drive me crazy that Virginia didn't answer my messages and didn't answer my many calls.

But today I was determined to resolve both situations and nothing would deter me from this decision, and it was with this in mind that I entered Aquiles' office that afternoon.

" I guess you came here determined to have that all-important conversation, am I right? " Aquiles welcomed me with his usual jokes.

" I'm sure you know me well enough to even anticipate my words " I retorted.

Aquiles was sitting in his executive chair and seemed to be typing something on the computer when I arrived and, since I thought it would be important, I asked him to finish what he was doing and then we could talk freely.

He did as I instructed and while Aquiles did his work, I checked my emails, as my secretary was sorting through what needed to be brought to my attention and what she could spare or resolve herself and I needed to respond to some more important ones.

We were both working, Aquiles in his place behind the desk and I in one of the chairs arranged before him, when the door was opened and, to my utter amazement, Lavinia walked in, feeling completely at ease to do so.

" Oh! Hello, guys! " she exclaimed, surprised to see me there, but unapologetic about her untimely entrance into a workplace, and it made me angry.

"Hello, my love!”

Aquiles didn't seem to mind his girlfriend's attitude and even got up from his seat to meet her, hugging and kissing her on the lips, not caring that I was witnessing the scene in his office.

" What a pleasant surprise, " he did, when the two of them had finished their cinematic kiss, showing that he didn't know about Lavinia's visit either.

" I've missed you, love " she returned his words of affection.

I restrained myself so as not to disturb the moment of the lovebirds, but I almost rolled my eyes in boredom because I didn't believe that all this love was real.

And I wasn't just referring to Lavinia, because Aquiles was the kind of guy who met a woman today and already said he was in love, just like what happened with the actress, and as fast as it started, it also ended, and I figured it would be no different in this case. At least this time, I was rooting for that.

But the thing is, I didn't want to have any connection with Lavinia and I couldn't say for sure for what reason.

" What about you, dear? " Lavinia asked, and it took me a while to understand that she was directing that question at me.

" What about me? " I asked, pretending not to understand.

"Oh, dear! You are always so inattentive.”

Lavinia spoke with fluttering eyelashes and charm, as she added faces and mouths to her lines as if she were in a stage scene.

"I'm asking how you are!”

" Everything's fine here " I replied succinctly and didn't return the question either because I didn't want to be exchanging pleasantries when I didn't feel up to it.

" I'm glad that everything is fine with you, Murilo. I am also happy to be with Aquiles, we get along very well, and we have several plans for the future, don't we, sweetheart? " he spoke, visibly intent on making the subject profitable as if I were interested.

" Lots of plans, indeed! " Aquiles jokes.

I looked at them both with displeasure, before my cousin and his "current" girlfriend decided to tell me what these plans were, and they finally parted from each other and Aquiles walked over to his chair and sat down again.

" I'll let you get on with your work " Lavinia eventually said when she noticed the tension in the room.

She walked over to the set of sofas in one of the corners of the room and sat down, looking quite comfortable in her seat.

A feeling of disbelief formed inside me, as I concluded that she intended to just sit there and stay. It was too much for me, as I would not talk to Aquiles while Lavinia watched us, and I decided it was best to wait for another time when my cousin was willing to listen to me carefully and without an audience.

After leaving Aquiles' room, I went back to my room and sat down in my chair, extremely irritated with this new relationship with my cousins.

It was, to say the least, embarrassing to be in the same environment as the two of them, and I wasn't referring to the displays of affection between them. I was referring to the fact that less than a week ago I was fucking Lavinia, and on the same night Aquiles was doing the same thing. If for him, it didn't bother, for me, it did, and mainly because they were dating.

From this episode on, I concluded that I was not as liberal as I imagined I was, at least not in the sense of my own sex life. As it turned out, I was a more restricted man when it came to this subject.

All I wanted, at least for the moment, was to have a stable relationship with the mother of my son and that we could be faithful to each other.

My relationship with Bruna had left me feeling restive, and I had spent a few months not wanting to get involved even sexually with anyone, and now, everything had changed in my mind.

I sent another message to Virginia, even though I knew she would not answer.

Murilo: Stopping by to wish you a great day.

Murilo: I hope all is well with you.

Murilo: When you feel ready, I am here.

It was supposed to be just one message, but I ended up sending three. I just needed her to feel safe and to forget her fixed idea about my financial status being something negative for our future relationship.