CEO's Last Hope

Chapter One

Marcos

I've always been a private kind of guy. At school, I was the famous "nerd" type, the very pejorative use of the word. The kid who wore glasses, read comics during lunch time and, during classes, really paid attention to the teachers' explanations. As a teenager, I was the kind of guy who preferred going invisible in places without drawing any attention to myself. However, despite all this, I confess that being in the spotlight no longer bothered me. I never had any claim to being a celebrity, but my work ended up leading me to it.

That singular afternoon, I was speaking to a huge audience of journalists, partners, entrepreneurs and guests, officially marking the launch of the new version of my most successful app, Connection. A social network with an interactive format of short videos. Initially, the target audience were teenagers, focused on their small groups of friends. But over time it became popular, the app became the darling of celebrities, brands began to show interest in sponsoring content, created a new niche of digital influencers, and... now, five years after the creation of the first version, my name was constantly on the lists of the richest people in the country – and in some of the world as well.

But it was funny how corporate portals and magazines weren't the only ones publishing stories about me. In a very curious way, the nerdy kid of high school today won unusual titles like 'sensual CEO' and other things in that style.

The thirteen-year-old Marcos would probably find it amusing if anyone told him that this would ever happen. Well... nothing like maturity.

As it was the case, at the end of the lecture I took some time to greet journalists and answer questions about the new version of the app, alternating between questions that I would deem stupid and completely irrelevant to the situation.

"And your heart, does it already have a new owner?"

I forced a slight smile, I was not one of grander displays of enthusiasm, at least not with strangers, although such a question was not pleasant to me, nor even coherent about any humanitarian logic. It had been three years since I had lost my wife, victim of a terrible disease. Well... but 'humanity' was a difficult concept to be expected by gossip reporters.

"Any more questions about the release?" I asked, trying to regain focus to what mattered the most.

A journalist in the back of the room raised his hand.

"You were seen a few days ago in a restaurant next to a mysterious brunette. Are you two in a serious relationship?"

I scoffed, barely able to disguise my bad mood. That was ridiculous. Less than a week ago I had given myself the luxury of, during a business trip, stopping for lunch at a restaurant. There was a couple in front of me confirming their reservation and in the brief minutes of waiting for me a woman arrived, recognized me, asked for an autograph and started a quick and informal conversation about how she liked my app. It was what? Three minutes of conversation? Four at most? Enough for someone to photograph the scene and, less than an hour later, it would be plastered on gossip portals with ridiculous questions about who the mysterious brunette would be. We didn't even touch each other.

But I didn't have much patience to explain this kind of thing, so I closed the press conference, thanking those present and withdrawing, under protests and flashes from journalists.

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't have stayed longer. I had an unavoidable meeting. A meeting that could define my whole life.

I took my car and drove to the luxury condo building where I lived. My sister Elisa lived one floor below mine. She and my nephew Caio were all the family I had and I made sure to have them around. Especially if what we've been trying for over a year finally worked.