6

Arabella

"There was a Miguel in the middle of the road, in the middle of the road there was a Miguel..."

To paraphrase Drummond, my life could be defined like this at that time. An unplanned trip because of Miguel. And here I am, the 2:25 p.m. on a Tuesday, going down four flights of stairs from my building with a huge suitcase that seems to weigh a ton.

Upon arriving on the sidewalk outside the building I find Miguel getting out of his vehicle, a white Range Rover, to help me with the suitcase. He had sent a message warning that he would be here in a few minutes and so I decided to wait for him outside so he wouldn't have to come up to my apartment.

He seemed a little downcast. Asking if he was okay was the height of idiocy, it was obvious that he was not, but tried not to let it show. So the only intelligible thing I could say was a good day, which was answered with another.

Miguel took the bag from my hand and put it in the trunk of the car. He opened the door for me and headed for the driver's side. I sat in the passenger seat a little shy, it was strange to be outside my natural habitat. I closed the door and put my purse in my lap. It contained my documents, my cell phone and the apartment key.

Miguel left and we headed for the airport. After parking the car we went to check in. He didn't say much, he just explained where we were going and that we would stay at his parents' house, all while we waited in line.

After all that tedious procedure we packed our bags and went to the departure lounge. After passing the metal detector we head to the gate to wait for the call. When it was announced our flight I was tense. I tried not to show it, but I was nervous. One fact I forgot to mention was that I had never taken a flight in my entire life. The trips I had made were always limited to vehicles that moved on dry land. So as soon as I got on the plane I sat in my place, which ironically stood at the window. I tried to calm down by telling myself mentally that everything was going to be okay, that it would only be for a few hours.

When the plane took off it was inevitable not to close my eyes and start breathing wildly as if I was drowning. A very strange feeling dominated me, I felt my stomach wrap and my pressure gradually dropped. I was thinking about how pathetic I was being when I felt someone hold my arm and shake it lightly. I knew it was Miguel, but I stayed the same way. I was stupidly nervous about the feeling of flying for the first time and too embarrassed to open my eyes. So I gradually slowed down the breathing rate.

However, Miguel did not seem willing to leave me alone because he continued to cling to my arm shaking him, only this time more intensely. Since he wouldn't stop, I opened my eyes and saw him staring at me with the worried countenance. I felt a little guilty about leaving him like this, and I couldn't even answer anything coherent to reassure him. He asked me if I was okay and I said it with my head. Miguel didn't believe me, he knew I was lying.

So he wanted to know if I was sick. How I denied it, he stared at me for a moment as if he were looking for the reason I was like that. And like a snap, he realized what was going on. I saw the gears in his head working, putting together my silent panic attack, the pallor and the fact that I was sticking my nails in the arm of the armchair.

- Don't worry, we're going to be landing in a little while, it's going to be a quiet trip. Try to calm down, I'll get you something to help you relax, okay? -Miguel said gently rubbing his fingers on the back of my hand.

He called a stewardess who was soon by his side listening to what he was saying. About five minutes later she parked next to us and stretched out a tray with a glass of water and a pill. Not knowing what to do I kept staring at her until Miguel poked me out and signaled me to get it. With the help of the water I swallowed the pill and thanked her. A few minutes later I felt the medicine start to take effect. My eyelids were heavy and my body softened, even fighting against, i couldn't resist and fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up feeling my head slightly sore. My face was buried in something firm and smelly. My pillow certainly wasn't, because I didn't recognize that fragrance. When I opened my eyes, the sunlight that penetrated the small windows made me hide my face even more. Fingers moved over the hull of my head and I snored sly with the caress. I rubbed the tip of my nose that was starting to get cold in the heat source next to me and aspired to its perfume.

I heard a low giggle, but I decided to ignore it. Then reality fell like a bomb shell on me.

I raised my head in a quick motion, which made the pain worse. I was still a little disoriented and very sleepy, I was always weak with medications. Then I realized I was lying with my head on Miguel's chest. I suddenly felt ashamed.

Most of the passengers had already left and there were only a few people left, including us, who collected their belongings and were heading for the exit of the aircraft. Miguel seeing my state of lethargy, held me by the arm and helped me up. I got off the plane being anchored by Miguel, who kept me from tripping and falling face down on the ground as he held me by the shoulders and guided us where we should go. We landed at florianópolis airport and followed by car the rest of the way. I slept all the way and didn't wake up until we finally got here.

We were walking into town and I was looking at everything in amazement. The place was just beautiful! It felt like we were abroad. Everything was very organized and you didn't see a piece of garbage on the street. Really impressive. And what made me madly in love was the beach. The wonderful sound of the waves breaking in the sand, the sea air invading my senses, all this captivated me right away.

Balneario Camborio was Miguel's hometown and his parents still lived there, even after their children went to college in other cities, at least that's what he told me.

We made the journey in ten minutes through the city, as we approached the entrance of a condominium with a beautiful modern strip. At first I was a little upset, I was feeling out of place. That's because we hadn't actually actually actually entered. The car stopped at the front door, Miguel lowered the glass and after identifying himself, our entrance was cleared. We entered the place and his was impressed by the concierge, the interior left me infinitely more. It was similar to those American film scenarios, with a house more spectacular than another.

About about two minutes, Miguel stopped in front of a wonderful white house, with many windows and a balcony at the front. He set off the garage gate, manoeuved the vehicle and started parking. I was on a glaring level of nervousness. How am I supposed to behave in that place? Would your family treat me badly? And how should I look at my face now? I took a quick look at the mirror that was in my bag and found that I was the embodiment of disorder in the flesh.

My hair looked like a broom, my face was all crumpled and my eyes looked opaque. The typical face you just woke up from.

I tried to ease the chaos by going through my fingers through the hair in order to fix them a little and patted him on the face to unmasse it. I turned to Miguel who had already turned off the car and removed the key from the ignition. Fighting my pride, I asked how I looked and stared at me for a few seconds, he said I was fine.

I didn't like your answer, I didn't want to be okay to meet your family, I wanted to be great. At that moment I did not wear a drop of makeup, nor a measly lipstick ie, it was not at all presentable.

As soon as we got out of the vehicle Miguel went to pick up our bags from the trunk and I waited for him next door. Upon hearing a noise of jumps and some voices approaching us, even though we could not see them because of the walls of the garage, the volume of voices that increased gradually denounced were coming towards us.

It's time: I heard a little feminine scream of enthusiasm, and the other voices that joined hers. We turned around almost at the same time and people approached Miguel and hugged him, then to me too. Everyone asked how the trip and other things were.

There were three women in the group, two seemed to be a little younger than the other. By the way, I realized they were mother and daughter. They seemed to be models of so beautiful that they were, tall, sly, blonde, it was even outrageous to be close to so much beauty. There were also two men, the younger one looked like a younger version of Miguel only more extroverted. The other a little older, it seemed was his father, had black hair and blue eyes and was very handsome. It seems beauty is a hereditary evil in this family.

I was a little embarrassed to be in the middle of these people I didn't even know. All are elegant, beautiful and polite and not forgetting the fact that they are Miguel's family. I feel like a fish out of water, I don't know what to do around them, I'm afraid to do something wrong and embarrass myself. When the greetings ceased, a strange kind of silence arose, and those pairs of blue eyes stared at us curiously. I didn't understand the anything until Miguel started the introductions. Oh, so that was it... I thought something was wrong.

Family, this is Arabella, my co-worker at West Communications. She was very understanding of my family problem and was willing to accompany me on this trip, so that we could continue our project, for as long as we were here. Miguel said, and I felt everyone's eyes on me.

My will was to contradict him by telling him that I was not willing to accompany him, but I chose to be quiet in mine.

Arabella, this is my family. My father Brendan, my mother Giovana, my sisters Fernanda and Isadora and my brother Kaile. There's still Grandma Eliza, who you'll meet inside. - he said, finishing the presentations.

- You must be tired from the trip, so let's go inside so you can eat and rest. -Giovana said and signaled us to follow her.

While Miguel went to lock the car I lowered myself to get the handle of my suitcase, however Kaile, Miguel's brother hurried and took it from my hand with a leaves that I take. In the end I only left him because it was extremely dull, after all the guy was just doing me a kindness. Besides, I was at your house and I had to do everything i could to make sure there were no embarrassments.

After he locked the car Miguel took his suitcase and headed towards the entrance of the house. I was right behind everyone, but always close to Miguel. I don't know what these people were thinking and what they thought about me, but I hope I was at least courteous. They didn't show their opinions, so I don't know what to expect. And now I'm going to get to know the inside of the Bertottis' home and another member of this family. This grandma Eliza. I wonder what she's going to think. Will you like me?