THE CRYSTAL CUP - Chapter Thirty Four

 THE CRYSTAL CUP

Chapter Thirty Four

 

- I hate it when I feel my ear burn...

It was Cecilia, talking to a colleague from the store...

-Girl ... but her ear is red ....

- I know... and I felt her burning, as if I had put an ember on her...

- Are they talking good or bad about you?

- I don't know... I hope so...

A customer entered the store, and the two tried to separate, as they were now competitors... Cecília quickly approached the customer and started showing him the goods that could arouse his interest... she got lucky. She made a sale with a reasonable amount. As she hadn't had lunch yet, she decided to go out for something to eat. She was accompanied by Suzana, the colleague she was talking to before the sale.

- Where are you from, Cecilia?

- Why?

- Well, from here I know you're not...

- Yeah... I'm really not...

- So... where did you come from?

- I don't think that matters to you...

- And why not?

- Because that's my thing... private.

- Wow... it's not here anymore who asked...

Cecília looked seriously at Suzana. She didn't want to be harsh, but she didn't accept people speculating about her personal life. She was always secretive about her life and wouldn't allow even her family to ask her anything...

When she finished her shift, Cecília returned to her home. She was already used to her new home. It was just a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, but as she lived she just didn't need anything bigger than that. And it was easier to keep clean, since only she inhabited the place. She didn't have visitors... she tried to be as anti-social as possible. Friendly, but keeping the distance between her and people. At first, everyone found that girl so reserved to be strange, but in the end they ended up getting used to her way, because she never refused to help anyone... but she was a sphinx, in terms of her personal life.

It was already close to six o'clock in the afternoon. Cecília decided to go to the evening mass... the Nossa Senhora do Rosário Church was not far from where she lived, on Rua Itacoara. She walked up the street, heading towards the church, and as she walked, she began to think of her family, so far away from her at the moment. Even the boring and impertinent Estela Cecília was missing. What distance doesn't do with our feelings, right? When she was around her family, there were times when she wanted to disappear as far away as possible, simply because she couldn't accept where everyone else stood when it came to how she viewed life. How many times had she argued, and ugly with her little sister simply because she didn't accept her point of view on some subject... and now, she kept thinking about the little girl who played beside her, while the two grew up... and her mother? My God, how she missed hearing the scolding of the family matriarch... I mean... now she missed hearing Dona Janete's voice! When they were all together, how many times did she not want to go as far away as possible, just to stop listening to the religious demands that she made... in a way her marriage was due to the fault and work of Dona Janete. Yes, she didn't like the young man, but when she thought the courtship was a little... too long... the lady began to pressure the two to make their engagement official, as was expected of every good Christian... yes, somehow Janete pushed one into the other's arms. And look, until a few days before the wedding, Ricardo hadn't taken her to meet his mother. Cecilia only went to meet Dona Olga about three days before the wedding. Cecilia took an immediate liking to the lady. And she couldn't understand why Ricardo hadn't introduced them sooner. After all, they dated for a reasonable time, until they decided to exchange rings. She missed her father for the stories he told. Although born in the countryside, Seu Mario spent his adolescence in the city of São Paulo. Alone, with only the blessing of his parents, Mario threw himself into the world and did it practically alone... he didn't know anyone in the Capital, but his mission was to take some money to help his family... and he faced the challenge, without ever losing its origins. So much so that what Cecilia and her sisters liked the most when they heard the stories told by Mario was the richness of their details. And the funniest thing was that he swore to the girls that everything he told had really happened... Helena was, without a doubt, someone who lived forever in his heart. A companion at all times, whenever she needed it, there was Helena, with her hand outstretched, to support her in whatever she needed... it's true that the last time they saw each other Helena was kind of down, but Cecilia I was too. And with these thoughts, with the longing for her loved ones squeezing her heart, she finally entered the church.He crossed himself, as is customary, and along with his memories he walked through the nave, until he stopped at one of the still empty benches, where he knelt down and began to pray. Soon the priest entered the room, went to the altar and, together with his assistants, began to profess the office of that night.

When the mass finally ended, after the final blessings given by the priest, Cecilia took to the streets. She wasn't in the mood to go straight home... that day her isolation from her family was weighing more than the other days. The longing for her parents' home was hurting her insides, and she didn't know how to act. She could go visit them on her break, but she knew that wouldn't assuage her desire to return to their side...in fact, it would only increase it. Yes, Cecilia wasn't so sure about wanting to continue living so far away from her family. And she couldn't understand that... after all, she was always so forward... she always liked new challenges... and yet, now... thoughtful, she decided to sit down on one of the benches in the garden in in front of the church. She needed to meditate a little. Hell, did the day's homily have to be all about bringing families together? If it was a divine message for her, the Almighty was tugging on her ear for having strayed so far from her origins... well, the ear burned during the day, didn't it? Suddenly it was. She was tempted to call Helena...but she overpowered the urge to hear the dear voice, at least for that night. She had a lot on her mind and nothing better than doing just that…thinking about what to do with her life. Her fear of returning to São Paulo was to run into her ex-husband. She didn't wish him anything bad, but she didn't want to see him even painted in gold, as they say. The experience she had during her married life was not the best. She hoped to have a life together, if not the same, at least similar to that of her parents... but unfortunately for her, life together with Ricardo was more like hell on earth. As long as she managed to follow the boat, even in fits and starts, she kept going. But when she discovered the betrayal of the one who was supposed to be faithful to her for life... but, hell... why did all this have to come to her mind today? Definitely, she needed to forget about all that. Or she would start having nightmares, just like Helena...