It was the first Christmas after the divorce, but there was really no reason to believe this one night would be any different. It had been an amicable separation, after all. And, for fifteen years, this had been the one night that had remained unchanged: always he, Helena, her parents and the children, in that house. Their house. Maybe there had been a string of small misunderstandings, maybe some wishful thinking on his part... But, the moment Helena opened the front door, Paulo realized something was amiss. He wasn’t really expected there this year. The unfamiliar male voice in the background only made that clearer.
It was a simple, fundamental need to breathe that made Paulo wander aimlessly through the streets and eventually end up in the red light district. What made Susy catch his eye was probably a sadness mixed with something nice in her expression, as she lit a cigarette. “Are you taking me to your place?” - she asked. Paulo smiled: “No… No sex and no stuffed turkey tonight, please.”
At the restaurant they ordered octopus cooked in the oven for two, then spent the rest of the evening talking about their lives. Was it the beginning of a beautiful friendship, maybe a romance? Not really. It was just a very comforting night for both, right when it was needed the most. Not bad.
(Contribuição para um desafio do Global Writing & Storytelling Group do Internations