DECEMBER - JOÃO FÉLIX

26. engagement

DECEMBER TWENTY SIXTH —
VERA'S POV
my eyes fluttered open, the sun light shining through the window of the living room.

i quickly got up, realizing i was still dressed in my clothes from yesterday and i was in fact asleep in my living room.

i don't remember shit from yesterday but my memories always come back eventually.

my head was hurting too much, i drank more than i needed to. i sighed before going into my bathroom to take a shower when the memories began to come back.

was it really joão or just my imagination?

if it was somebody else— i can't even imagine how embarrassing that was.

after getting out of the shower, my phone began to ring. i looked over at it after putting my hoodie and sweatpants on to see it was joana calling on facetime.

i smiled before answering the call, seeing joana's face for the first time in a day felt like ages.

"hi!" i waved with a smile, she waved back before asking me how portugal is. i just shrugged my shoulders as daniel peaked through the screen and waved as well.

i couldn't help but wonder where joão was. i knew looking at him would only hurt me more but i really miss him.

just then, their front door opened revealing joão with a hat on. he was wearing a white shirt with a brown jacket, black pants and white shoes.

my eyes noticed the necklace that was showing off, it was the one i gave him.

he looked up from the floor, his eyes stuck once he realized joana was facetiming me.

he didn't know what to do, whether to smile or cry or just walk away. he ended up just giving me a slight smile before walking away from the screen.

"i'll call you later, i have to be somewhere right now." i said with a sad smile before waving goodbye to joana as she did the same and hanging up.

tears fell down my face immediately but i decided to ignore them, putting my shoes and taking my apartment keys before walking to my local restaurant.

the cold air quickly hit me as the rain was pouring down on me. i should've brought an umbrella.

i ended up having to almost run through snow and ice to the restaurant.

once i finally got there, i was out of breath.

one of the workers smiled at me before walking away and beginning to cook the order i usually get.

i played with my phone until a person sat right directly from me. i looked up to see it was martin.

"oh— hi, martin." i spoke with a smile. he smiled back slightly before quickly wiping the smile off his face.

this was an unusual behavior from him, he almost looked angry..?

"what are you doing here?" i asked, chuckling nervously. he looked me up and down before ignoring my question and asking something himself, "how are you feeling?"

i paused before nodding, "good..?"

"you don't remember last night?" he asked, my heart immediately dropped at the mention.

oh shit. was it him!?

"martin—" he interrupted me, "no it's okay. i understand, vera. i'm not mad at you.. i'm just disappointed— you should've said something. i could've convinced my dad to end the marriage."

i shook my head, "i'm sorry, i should've said something."

he held out his hand, squeezing mine comfortingly. "don't worry. this marriage thing won't change our friendship, i promise." he smiled softly before the waitress came over with my food.