(the picture above is Moses Smith)
The sun was rising on the beautiful city of Melbourne while Joel was in his last minutes of sleep. When he woke up, his hair disgruntled, the drool on the side of his mouth, on the white sheets of his bed, he remembered to call Debora with urgency. Yet, it was too early to call anyone.
He left his bed and walked to the kitchen, Moses was already awake.
"Shalom!"
Moses stretched his hand, touched his son's head and blessed him, saying:
"Shalom." He removed the hand off. "When are you going to Sydney?"
"I've planned to go in an hour..."
"But...?" Moses anticipated.
"Hmmm." Joel was indecisive whether he should talk about Debora that early in the morning, at least without raising any suspicions. "I forgot to tell Debora about that."
Moses giggled and shook his head, fully convinced of where Debora and his son would be the next year, or less than that.
"Abah-leh, we're just friends." He drew closer to his father and wrapped his arm around him. "Trust me. I still got so much to work on, and Debora and Adam are actually a thing."
His father turned to study his son's eyes, but didn't see any traces of sadness.
"Are you happy with that?"
"For the friendship or for Debora and Adam?"
"For both."
"I am content with our friendship, yes!" He said with a conviction that Moses had never seen before. "As for Adam and Debora, they are none of my business." He spoke as though he couldn't care less. "I gotta call her, I'd like to arrive there, at least, around 3 p.m."
Moses observed his son walking away with an excitement that was new. He wondered whether Joel was delusional, because it was obvious that he was in love with Debora, and the feeling was mutual; even if there was Adam in the picture. Abah-leh predicted that as soon as she opened those eyes of hers, Adam would no longer be such a ghost in her mind.
True love is hard to find, that Moses knew. Society and media paint love in a way that it becomes irrational, and when a feeling loses its rationality, then it isn't a choice, and if it isn't a choice, the free-will principle is not applied. Love and free-will are always together, that is why a beautiful, long lasting love story always starts with a friendship.
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Last night was long and it was good to sleep in when possible, but Debora had to wake up very early that morning just to catch the train that would take her back to Sydney. Since the trip would last at least twelve hours, she put on her headphones allowing herself to be entertained by the music.
Oh, that weekend was amazing! Debora had a smile on her face, while looking at the landscape through the window. Beautiful, entertaining sites! What a weekend! She could only think of words and expressions to convey the bliss that came out of that time in Melbourne. Now life in Sydney would continue, but without Chloe, without Joel. Having to readjust her peace to fit in the dilemma with Adam was one of the things that cost her the most. She had to let him go, for there was no point of pursuing a relationship based off an infatuation.
She ardently prayed to God to help her let go of Adam, but it didn't seem to work. It was surely hard when he was around, especially each time their eyes met. Somehow she wanted to be hypnotized and desired by him, to have that struggle of surrendering to him. Thoughts of him just deprived her of senses, and she enjoyed that. It was a pleasure to think about Adam, but that only increased her sexual appetite which was out of control whenever they were by themselves in a room.
It was wrong to think of any man like that, but she didn't care to fall into that temptation. For all she knew, there was a huge difference between imagining and performing a sexual act. But fornication was a sin that started with a thought, no matter how innocent or legit. To think of someone like that is to strip them of their emotional content and casting them into a fleshly and mundane value. It also is self-destructive, because she couldn't truly acknowledge how much harm Adam was causing, nor how much she allowed it simply because it was fun to feel jittery and excited.
However, if she truly cared to learn what was happening, she would realize that Adam didn't show any interest in knowing where nor when she was going. His actions just showed that he couldn't care less. Someone who wants to be as physical as he claimed should equally desire an emotional connection.
Infatuation makes people dumb.
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Joel preferred walking to driving, because parking was the biggest of troubles associated to owning a car. The biggest problem with cars wasn't the gases they released to the atmosphere, it was rather the space they took. He drove annoyingly for more than half an hour to find an available parking area. The clock was ticking and he was now running late for the signing of his contract. What a bad first impression he was going to give!
He was a minute late already, sweaty and rushing through the crowds. When he finally reached the staircase that led to the Opera House, a tear fell from his eye. He was so tired of running already that looking at that staircase seemed even more immense than it actually was. He took a peak at his wristwatch and saw the clock ticking; that encouraged him to climb up.
Some people barred the door with casual conversations and chitchat, still he managed to enter. Carol - the receptionist - welcomed and led him to Florencia's office. When she came out to receive him, Joel thought she was quite flirtatious.
"Hi Joel, so pleased to see you in the flesh!"
"Miss..." He didn't even have time to finish his sentence, because Florencia corrected him to call her by her first name. "So, Florencia, how are you?"
"I'm great!" She was always out of herself when dealing with a gentleman she considered attractive. "And you? How was your drive from Melbourne?"
"Safe and long. The parking however was exasperating."
"Parking is a real problem here, but that should be the least of your worries. Your new place is within walking distance, and also has garage."
He was lost for words, feeling very uncomfortable in that room. His hands hidden between his legs.
"Alright!" She exhaled. "So, here is the employment agreement." She slid a three-page document to Joel. "You can read it carefully, I'll then make the copies."
He held the document and started reading it through. All was according to the conditions agreed with Florencia previously.
"It seems that everything we agreed upon is here." He nodded knowingly. "Where do I sign?"
She stretched a pen out to him, and replied:
"Right corners of each page and at the bottom of the last page."
He followed the instructions carefully, and handed the signed document back to Florencia.
"Alright, so here is the key to the apartment!" She stretched out a set of keys, and stood up. "Please follow me, I'm gonna introduce you to the team, while I make the copies."
She led the way through the long and well-lit corridor until the reception. There was Carol, discreetly entertaining herself with a game on her phone. As she heard her boss's footsteps, she quickly hid the gadget.
"Florencia, may I help you?"
"Can you make two copies of this?" Florencia stretched the document to the receptionist. "By the way, Carol," She pointed at Joel. "This is our new photographer, Joel Smith." She smiled. "And this is Carol Woods, our receptionist."
Carol and Joel greeted each other with a courteous smile and a handshake.
"Come, let me introduce you to the rest of the team."
He was so tired from his trip that he barely heard the names of his new co-workers.
While leading Joel to the exit, Florencia recalled that Debora wasn't informed of the new employee, let alone of what happened to Bryant.
"We don't have the whole team here today, because of the holidays. Our event manager, for example, will be here tomorrow, also, our project designer will only come next week." She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, this is normal."
"Yeah." Joel tended to be moody when he was deprived of sleep. "I don't mean to be rude, but I should go. See you tomorrow."
"Alright, bye, Joel! See you tomorrow!"
He walked down the steps, failing to perceive that Florencia observed him until he was out of sight.
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Debora arrived home in the afternoon. As she was opening the door, a postman approached the intercom system and pushed a button. She noticed that he was actually ringing to her apartment and intervened:
"Sir, you're ringing to my apartment."
The disconcerted postman looked at her.
"Do you know a Debora Oliveira, then?" He struggled to say her name.
"Yes, that's me."
He put his hand into the bag he carried with him and removed a letter. He then gave it to her.
"That's for you, Miss!" He explained. "That's an official letter from Court."
"From Court?" As an immigrant in Australia, that letter could mean anything. Debora was suddenly nervous, while inspecting the document. "Do you have any idea of what it is about?"
"I have no idea, sorry! It could be anything." He tried to divert the conversation. "I'm gonna need to see your ID to match."
Debora removed her purse and her ID from it, and gave it to the postman - fully trusting that he wasn't going to steal it.
"I'm not gonna need this anymore..." he informed returning her the document. "and your signature here!" He held out a gadget for her to sign. "Thank you!" He noticed that she was quickly done. "Have a nice day!" He left her, while putting the gadget back into his bag.
Debora only opened the letter when she was in the apartment, seating in front of the LCD Screen. She had to show up in Court, testifying against Richard.
She tossed the papers onto the couch and left for some grocery shopping as there was nothing left to eat nor cook.
As she was walking out the building and looked ahead, she saw a guy with a familiar appearance walking toward the building dragging two big suitcases with him. He looked like Joel, but that was inconceivable, so she just shook it off and kept walking her way, entertaining her thoughts with the letter from court.
"Debora!" A voice called.
When she heard her name, she stopped, and looked at the stranger in front of her, but it was no stranger, it was Joel. She was speechless at first.
"Sorry!" She started coming back to her senses. "I didn't expect to see you here..."
"Now that you mention that..." He looked ahead of him, recognizing the building. "Yeah, this is where you live, right?"
"Yeah..." The words were still trying to find a way to her mouth. "Yeah, I live in this building." She smiled at him, glad to see him there, still failing to believe her own eyes. "I gotta tell you, I didn't expect to see you so soon, let alone here in front of my..." She felt awkward. "I feel stupid! Did I miss something?" She frowned.
"No. I guess I shoulda told you, but it completely vanished from my mind yesterday." He explained. "I guess we're gonna be neighbors." He showed her the set of keys that Florencia had given him.
"You're gonna live in Sydney?!" She was even more shocked by those news. "In my building?!"
"I assure you, I'm not stalking you."
"I hope not." Debora stretched out her hand to reach for his keys. "What's the number of your apartment?"
"I think it's 177."
"Ok..." She was rather confused. "That's my door..."
Joel looked at her even more confused.
"Can we talk about this later? I really need to go buy some groceries, there's nothing at home." She asked.
"Do you need a ride?" Moody Joel was very helpful now, ignoring that he needed a rest. "I can put these in the car." He referred to his suitcases.
"There's no need, the market is right around the corner. But you are more than welcome to join me, if you like." She added, feeling completely numb.
"I guess I can help you, and put you up to speed."