WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIAS Chapter Eighteen

WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIAS

Chapter Eighteen

Grace woke up in a good mood that morning. Even the frustration of not being able to open his store the day before had already passed. Yes, it had rained too much... it looked like a deluge, such was the intensity of the waters... from what she had heard, in some regions the damage was great. Fallen trees, some blocking the roads... some flooded areas... well, that was perfectly normal at this time of year. It was spring, the season of flowers... and rain and thunderstorms. Well, the pleasant smell of wet earth, mixed with the smell of grass that existed around the village put her in a good mood. The flowers and trees had dawned with a cheerful air and the birdsong made the morning much more beautiful than usual. Yes, nothing could go wrong that day...

After eating breakfast and giving instructions to her maid about what she would need to do that day, Graça took to the streets, heading towards the tram stop. Everything was working normally, so she could go to the city without any fear. She had some work to finish and others to start. She had a day overdue to catch up. But with the help of her collaborators she knew there would be no problems, they would be able to meet the deadlines...

About two hours after leaving home she finally arrived at her destination... and she became worried as she got closer to the place where her store was located. She crossed the Chá viaduct towards Rua Augusta and each step she took tightened her chest... the signs that the intense rain of the previous day had caused some damage to the city were visible. Okay, she was at the top of the hill, and the damage was at the bottom, but it was always worrying anyway. She finally arrived in front of the store. Her employees were already waiting for her. She opened the store and breathed a sigh of relief...nothing unusual had happened to her establishment. They tried to arrange everything for public service and each one took their place. Grace reviewed the orders, checked the day's deliveries, arranged for the dresses to be delivered packed, and finally sat back in her chair, feeling peaceful again...as peaceful as the moment she'd woken up. A couple of hours after starting their activities, Pedro, the guy who took care of the store's deliveries, arrived with his buggy. He collected all the packages, listened to his mistress's instructions and off he went to the road to fulfill his tasks. Today she wouldn't need to accompany him… there wasn't even one special delivery she needed his intervention on.

Around three o'clock Guilherme showed up at his shop. He was a good-looking guy. Son of one of his clients. And in love with Graça. Whenever he could, he stopped by the store, to talk... and try to get a date with the girl. But Graça had other plans, she wasn't interested in any romantic involvement, neither with Guilherme nor with anyone else. But she received him with courtesy and politeness. She just didn't accept his invitations. Well, the boy thought he should keep investing... after all, the harder the achievement, the more the prize would be worth it, right? What he still hadn't understood was that Graça didn't intend to be anyone's "prize"... marriage was a word that didn't exist in her dictionary... it wasn't her desire to form a family with anyone... it was just fine alone, she said whenever they asked why she hadn't gotten married yet.

After the boy left, she decided to clean up her room and close the office. The clock showed five o'clock, she intended to catch the six-thirty tram... dismissed her maids, closed the shop and off she went, towards Largo do São Bento. It was the last trip of the day for the trams, so the girl had to hurry, at the risk of spending the night in the streets... not in the streets, of course. She always had the option of spending the night at a hotel. Renting a trolley to go home was already more difficult, the drivers didn't like to venture into the outskirts at night, the roads were very dangerous. Therefore, if she missed the last tram of the day, she would have to sleep in a hotel room anyway. But it wasn't a very cheap option...

It was just after eight o'clock when she finally arrived at her house. Cidinha showed signs of concern for her employer's delay. But when she saw her, she tried to welcome her as best she could. Yes, the maid really liked her boss, whom she considered almost a member of her family. And the reciprocal was true. The bond between the two went beyond the employer/employee relationship. They were more than that... they were friends... true friends. So much so that Graça had no qualms about handing her house over to Cidinha. And when I say "deliver your house", I mean that practically everything related to the home was taken care of by the maid, from the monthly purchases, which were made at Seu Belarmino's emporium, close to the tram stop, to small daily expenses, like daily bread and milk. Graça would hand over an amount in the hands of the maid and such was her confidence that she never asked her for an accounting.

Cidinha had worked for Graça practically since she moved to the capital. She followed the girl's whole ordeal with her mother's illness... she was always by her side, supporting her in everything she needed. She was discreet. When Graça received a visit from her clients on the weekend, when the store was closed, she became invisible, but she was always ready, ready to meet any need that her boss had. And when Graça needed a friendly shoulder to talk to, to vent, there she was, always ready to listen and advise, when that was the case...

Yes, they were much more than a boss/employee. They were friends. Of course, this relationship was built gradually, after all, trust is not earned, it is conquered. And Cidinha really gained Graça's trust. When the girl decided to buy the land in Barra Funda... until then she had been living on rent in a house closer to the city... she asked her friend what she thought of the idea, since the The place was well away from the center, almost on the Tietê riverbank. And the floodplain has a serious problem with the rainy season... Cidinha advised her to close the deal and said that, if she had the conditions, she would also buy a piece of land. Graça accepted the advice, and did more... without telling her friend, she bought two lots, one in the name of her maid. As I said, nothing was said to Cidinha. It would be a surprise what she would do to this one on the day the two part ways...