I see you, Bruno

Chapter Six

Bruno was not surprised that Lucia wanted to be alone as soon as possible. He accompanied her out of the wall and she was already running out of Casita into the street and Bruno quickly lost track of her. He didn't follow her or try to keep an eye on her. He respected her desire to be alone and he understood it. If his Mamá had said about himself what Adella said about Lucia, he would want to be alone too.

Since that morning, Bruno now had a completely different image of Adella in his mind. He had always known that she was very strict - hadn't she once pinched his ears when he had accidentally stepped on one of her roses? - but that she was strong enough to make such statements had surprised him greatly. Bruno would never even dare to talk about someone like that, even if it was his greatest enemy. No, such a thing was absolutely not okay.

Adella was a devil of a woman. Only a few days ago he had shaken his head when Lucia claimed this, but now he was firmly convinced. She was Lucia's aunt, her family, and yet she dared to say such terrible things about her just because she had dreams.

He wondered if Lucia would speak to her aunt. He wouldn't be sure if he would tell his Mamá that he had overheard the conversation if she had also said such things about him. Well, strictly speaking, she had, but it hadn't been anything Bruno didn't already know, so it didn't count.

Bruno sighed and let himself sink to the floor against the wall. He hadn't left the hallway with the picture yet, his thoughts had prevented him from doing so until that moment. Should he perhaps go and find Lucia after all? Did she perhaps need someone to comfort her right now?

He didn't know. Probably no.

She certainly needed time to sort out her thoughts and come to rest. He would just be an uninvited guest. No, she certainly didn't need anyone right now.

Or was he mistaken?

Was she perhaps crying her eyes out and praying from the bottom of her heart that someone would come and help her? Was she perhaps lying on the ground in despair, not knowing what to do with the storm of emotions inside her?

Because if so, he would certainly have to come looking for her. And he would have to do so immediately.

But ... what then? What would he tell her then? That everything would be, all right? That Adella is wrong and a stupid cow? Kind of inappropriate.

It would probably be better if he asked someone more familiar with the emotional chaos of a young woman. And even if she couldn't put herself in Lucia's shoes one hundred per cent, which Bruno considered almost impossible, it wasn't exactly unlikely that she would still have good advice for Bruno.

So who would he ask?

His Mamá? No, she was smart and would know right away that Bruno and Lucia had overheard their conversation.

Julieta? Better, but she was still busy in the village and Bruno didn't want to distract her from her task.

That left only Pepa, and as Bruno thought about it, he felt ashamed that he hadn't thought of her first, because with a gift like hers, Pepa had to know best about feelings!

Immediately Bruno jumped up and made his way to Pepa's room. She hadn't come down to the village that morning because her gift wasn't needed today; the weather was fine as it was. Perhaps she would take another short trip to Encanto towards afternoon, but for the moment she was resting in her room.

He didn't hesitate for a moment when he arrived at her door and knocked. It took a while for Pepa to come and Bruno became nervous. Should he tell Pepa what he had heard? He had to, otherwise, she would certainly not be able to give him any good advice. However, Pepa was one of the most talkative people he knew and he wasn't sure she could keep it all to herself.