Brazilian Summer

Prologue

It was like taking a really hard hit to the stomach. She first felt her belly drop and then a small ball of pain radiating from her solar plexus. Like a bubble of sorrow rising into her throat and no matter how many times she swallowed Rachel didn't manage to dislodge it. 

Over the days and weeks to come her feelings had morphed from shock to sadness to anger to disappointment to devastation. Her heart was broken like it never had been before. Sure, Rachel had been through other breakups and they had hurt pretty badly but she had never experienced anything like this before. She had seen so much in Clive and the daydreams that they had shared together of building a future all came crashing down in an instant. It was the hardest thing Rachel had ever had to do to pick up the pieces of their broken plans and try to glue them back together in a version that didn't include Clive and his infidelity.

Clive moved out of their apartment the next day. Rachel had cried for countless hours on the couch. Why, why, why? It didn't make sense. She knew he had loved her - why did he feel the need to see someone else on the side? All her girlfriends were there to support her, hold her hand and pep talk her into a future she couldn't quite see for herself yet. It seemed impossible to find herself again outside of the relationship. Clive and her had been together for five years and Rachel could barely remember what her life had felt like before he had entered it. They had formed the perfect symbiosis, with all their common interest and their two large circles of friends that had slowly but surely merged into one.

Some days she seemed to drown in her sorrow and heartbreak, other days she was furious, determined to leave the bastard behind as soon as she possibly could. It was tiring, having to come back to life somehow from fatal damage that you never could have imagined enduring. Rachel dove into work deeper than she ever had before. her job at the agency was stressful as it was but for the weeks after she found out she would be the first one to get to the office in the morning and the last one to leave at night. A night event the agency was booked to handle? A late call with some clients in the US? The team gabbing a drink after a late meeting? Anything to not have to be home in the world that had once been theirs to share. 

But the pace that Rachel was going at wasn't sustainable to her. It became evident fairly quickly that what she needed was more than her next promotion or another great achievement in the world of PR. She wanted a break, actually needed one. Desperately. Luckily, the agency offered the benefit of a sabbatical: Rachel had been saving up for a while in the hopes of being able to take some time off with Clive for a bigger trip. It seemed like the perfect solution to now use this money she had set aside to finally close the Clive chapter - and not take a trip with him but away from him and all that reminded her of him. 

This time away was going to help her heal her shattered heart. What better way to lick your wounds than on the tropical beaches of Brazil, in beautiful Rio de Janeiro? When she had facetimed her good friend Rafaela and told her the whole story Rafa had suggested right away for her to take some time off and enjoy a change of scenery in the Southern hemisphere. It was exactly what she needed, some sun and salt water and maybe also a few caipirinhas. Rafa and Rachel had met at their first accounting class in university about seven years ago and had hit it off straight away. Rafa was tall, dark, loud and undeniably Brazilian. She had taught Rachel the basics of how to samba one night after a few glasses of wine and their friendship had stayed strong over the last two years since Rafa had moved back to her home country to pursue a job she had been offered in the management of one of the posh hotels at the Copacabana. 

Rachel was busy shoving her backpack under the seat in front of her as the flight attendant announced over the intercom that boarding had been completed. Great, that actually meant there was going to be a free seat in the middle of her row. Rachel and the lady on the aisle gave each other a small and friendly smile of recognition of their luck. Twelve hours in a small airplane seat wasn't the same as a luxurious king size bed with white linen but Rachel had already taken off her sneakers and put on some warm socks instead. She had traveled enough for work to know all the good hacks that made her feel more comfortable. She arranged her neck pillow and fastened her seat belt over the airplane blanket that would protect her from the cold air being blown down from the low ceiling. Rachel pulled her sleeping mask down over her eyes and put in her ear buds - this wouldn't be so bad and she could use all the rest she could get before disembarking on the other side of the world. 

She had never been to Brazil before, it was going to be her first time in South America actually. She didn't quite know what to expect but was hoping for the best: a lighthearted summer - thank God for reverse seasonality - with lots of chats and laughs with Rafa, dancing, exploring the sights of Rio and tasting all of the local food. She couldn't wait to explore the city's lush green hills and breathtaking beaches; the Christ statue towering over the city and the world. Rachel was ready to float through it all and receive with open arms whatever would come her way over there. As long as it would get her away from London, the memory of Clive and the misery she was wallowing in.