CHAPTER 14

It had been a few hours since Leonardo arrived at Marcelle's house, he was completely naked hugging her, Leonardo was caressing her head a few times, while they talked about music. Marcelle talked about how good it was to be with him at that moment, and how everything had been perfect, she was very relaxed in his presence, he calmed her nerves. 

After a while with Marcelle showing the songs she liked the most, she asked Leonardo to play some rock songs, she knew he liked them, and in order not to stray too far from the atmosphere, he played some Brazilian bands, with a more romantic touch, he played Fresno. Marcelle knew it, despite not being a big fan. 

She was lying right next to Leonardo, they were wrapped in the covers, and, when Leonardo began to relax a little more, and the caresses he was making on Marcelle's head were decreasing, she asked him to turn around, she wanted to do gave him a back massage, said he was trying to learn. 

With a bit of strangeness, Leonardo decided to do what Marcelle asked, turned around, and tried to relax a little. It was difficult for him to talk, in those conditions, but she kept talking, saying how good it was, being with him. 

Marcelle used some of the oil she used on her body, it had a nice smell, and it seemed like Leonardo was becoming impregnated with Marcelle's scent, her bed smelled great, and with the oil, he felt even more like Marcelle. 

Her hands were sliding down Leonardo's back, pulling at some points, she said that he had some very rigid muscles, he needed to relax more, and continued massaging his back with her hands. He didn't know what to say, but he seemed to be among clouds in the sky, a pure sky, and clouds as white as cotton, and Leonardo, among those clouds. 

He thought about how perfect everything was, he felt good about everything, he was completely fulfilled, he couldn't ask for anything more from Marcelle, just her company, it was already a gift for him. He was smiling, inside and out, and Marcelle saw that smile on his face, and she bent down and kissed Leonardo's cheeks. 

She kissed his cheeks, and massaged his head a little, stroking it, going down his neck, pressing a little near his shoulders, then going up again. Leonardo had curly hair, but she said that his hair felt great, he should let it grow a little longer, and then she massaged Leonardo's ears a little, and again, she kissed his face again. 

She was completely naked, lying under Leonardo's back, and kissing his face, with her hands resting on his shoulders, the feeling was wonderful, but he needed more, in a quick and gentle gesture, he turned, turned his body completely, towards Marcelle, and even left her on top of him. 

He looked at Marcelle's face, above him, and smiled again, pulled her towards him and gave her another kiss, with a lot of pressure, letting the passion he felt leave his body, he squeezed Marcelle's hip tightly, he felt everything through his fingers, and continued kissing Marcelle's mouth while squeezing her hips tightly. 

In another quick and careful movement, Leonardo sat on the bed, while Marcelle sat on his lap, and they stayed for a while, in that pose, hugging and kissing, Marcelle wrapped her legs around Leonardo's body, and she bit his neck, Leonardo let out a strong moan, which stood out over the music, she liked that, and continued giving small bites to Leonardo's neck, and continued to moan, in an engaging and burning way. 

The lyrics of the song were confused with Leonardo's moans, so he pulled Marcelle back a little, and started kissing her neck, then went down to his breasts, and continued kissing them, and this time, she started moaning, loud like music, and her hips started to move, as if it had a life of its own, and they continued in that position. For a while longer. 

. . . 

The rain had already passed, the dense gray clouds were now milder, it still looked like it was going to rain a little more, but the worst was over. The streets were practically empty, including the bars and restaurants, Cariocas really don't like leaving the house on a rainy day. Still, the wind made a different sound as it passed between the houses and buildings, as if it were inviting people to leave, as if everything had already passed, and no harm would happen. 

Between this inviting wind and the wet sidewalks, Leonardo walked arm in arm with Marcelle, they seemed like a couple, very united, and firm, in their choices, she talked about how tall he was, and had big hands, it was something nice to be around. feel and be close to him. 

It seemed that all the shyness had returned to Leonardo, he wanted to say many of those things that Marcelle said to him, but he couldn't, couldn't even think of what to say, she was clearly beautiful, and there was an essence about her that she knew how beautiful she was. 

He tried to overcome these barriers that shyness raised, and pulled her closer to him, and hugged her, and gave her kisses on the head. He didn't say much, he resolved himself in small actions. 

They arrived at a restaurant that was a few blocks from Marcelle's house, she said that there they served rice with broccoli that was excellent, and she really needed to replenish her energy that night. 

It was a slightly old, classic restaurant, but the staff were very attentive, and the place was practically empty, only Leonardo and Marcelle ventured out at that time. 

Leonardo decided to order rice with broccoli and a barbecue. Marcele asked the same, they seemed to already have more tastes in common. 

Marcelle was different, she seemed to only ask things she already knew the answer to, but she liked seeing Leonardo's reactions to certain questions. She asked where he had learned certain things, and he was confused, he didn't even know how to say it, and it wouldn't be cool if he said it was from watching videos on the internet, but apparently, it had worked. 

She seemed to have liked many things, and she didn't seem to be embarrassed to talk, she talked calmly about it, even more so, seeing that the restaurant was empty. 

Their rapport seemed to only be growing, now Leonardo was able to talk about other, but intimate, subjects calmly, but he still held back from saying certain things, even though it was practically just the two of them there. 

Marcelle made great expressions while talking to Leonardo, especially when he said something more sensual. Her eyebrows always trembled a little, and she left her mouth a little aside, moving it in one direction, then another, and her eyes remained fixed on Leonardo. 

While she was talking about a trip she took alone a while ago, her phone rang. She didn't say who she was. She just hung up the phone and continued the conversation. 

Leonardo knew what it was like, he also avoided talking to people when he was too immersed in some activity, or talking to someone else, they really were similar to each other. 

Marcelle went back to talking about everyday matters with Leonardo, holding his hand across the table, and looking at him with a different shier smile, as if she needed to say something. 

The food was great, Leonardo and Marcelle seemed to have enjoyed the meal. He wanted to spend some more time with Marcelle, but it was getting quite late, and it was still a weekday, she also looked very tired, and he thought it would be better to call a car so he could go home. 

While he was waiting for the car in front of the restaurant, again, that call to Marcelle, but again, she didn't answer, and continued at Leonardo's side. After she hung up the call, she hugged him again and stood with her body next to him again, she was wearing the same outfit she had chosen earlier, and this time, she didn't stop to fix her hair, she just got dressed and went out to eat something. 

The car arrived, with a long kiss, they said goodbye, their fingers were intertwined, but she soon let go, and he went home, sighing deeply. Even though he had gotten used to being alone, it had hit him hard, being with someone again had done more good for Leonardo than he imagined. 

The car was going quickly to Leonardo's house, and he continued to think about Marcelle, and about how everything was going well, and beyond his expectations. 

After arriving home, he went to take another shower, and saw that there were some marks on his neck, almost imperceptible, but still, it was noticeable. As he didn't want anyone to ask too many questions about it, he decided to put some ice on it and stayed in the room, continuing to watch that Korean series. 

The couple was already clearly attracted to each other, but the police officer still didn't want to give in, after all, this was creating a barrier between them, and it was affecting her too, but she already thought about him all day long, even in the evenings. moments of more action, in which he tried to finish off the gang that was chasing him. 

An engaging story, Leonardo thought about maybe watching this kind of thing again, Marcelle really liked it, he also liked it a little, he just had to try and watch it, without any commitment. 

He was enjoying it, so was his mother, and it was almost time for her to arrive, so she wouldn't ask why he had a handful of ice around his neck, he only watched one episode, and went to the bedroom, he had to lower the video files that Jane sent, and I needed to start organizing the work. 

While he was downloading the videos onto the computer and organizing them, Leonardo's mother arrived, and then went to his room, said that the next day they would have dinner with Jonathan and Fernanda, they had already arranged everything, and asked him to leave the house and buy some things the next day. 

With just a more apprehensive look, Leonardo shook his head and said everything would be fine. He would now reunite with Jonathan again, after a long time. All things seemed to align again for Leonardo, the world seemed more beautiful in his mind, and things were perfect again. 

. . . 

The day was still cloudy, Leonardo woke up before the alarm clock went off, he tidied his room, put the clothes to wash, and cleaned the whole house, and had already gone to the market. Everything went smoothly and he prepared well for things to end like this. 

He started working on Jane's video and remembered what the day had been like with her, this time, he produced the video more slowly, he was enjoying each of Jane's words, and laughed at the expressions she made, he remembered why of every face she made. 

There were many cuts until they were able to finish recording everything, she was apparently also anxious, on the day of recording she said that she often recorded with friends around, but still, with Leonardo there, she acted differently, she was more agitated, and now as he looks at the videos more calmly, he understands this better. 

He made some changes, edited some parts of the video, then decided to take a break and think a little about everything that was happening to him. He put on a Marcos Valle album and lay down on the bed. 

Marcelle, who recommended this artist to Leonardo, said he might like it, it had a bit of samba, and a bit of modern, and he really liked it, he seemed to have hit the nail on the head with this singer, in some more romantic songs, Leonardo thought about Marcelle, he was ready to do everything again, everything they had done. 

The rhythm of the beats went directly against Leonardo's body, and he relaxed completely, for real this time. He could lie still and think without feeling bad about himself, and when he thought about Marcelle, he wished he could levitate out of bed and go towards her. 

Everything seemed to go well, there was nothing different for him to think about, yet he went back to the computer. And he saw some videos of Jane. 

She talked about how important dialogue was at that moment, in bed, after sex, and what were the best topics to talk about. 

Jane spoke calmly, even talking about sex, and conversations in bed, and in the video where Leonardo was next to her, she seemed more nervous about what she was saying, perhaps he made a strange impression on her, they were still not that close so, he thought. 

Leonardo soon came to the conclusion that it would be better if he tried to be closer to Jane, too. They had a lot of things in common, and it seemed like she wasn't very comfortable around him. 

Leonardo decided to call Jane to talk a little. About random subjects. 

"Hello, Jane? How are you?" Leonardo asked. 

"Hi Leonardo! I am fine? And with you?" 

"I'm editing the video right now, and I was rewatching some old videos, it looks like you've improved a lot." 

"Oh, really? Great! I'm glad to hear that, even though I feel like the same person I always was, some people tell me that too." 

"We rarely notice these changes in ourselves, luckily you have your videos so you can evaluate them." 

"Yes, there is, the channel is a few years old, so I think you can notice my changes over time." 

"And which change for you is the most noticeable?" Jane asked. 

"Hmm... it's difficult to say, it's easy to see that you've changed, but it's difficult to say where, I would even say that maybe it's the way you speak, now you seem to be more direct and decide on what needs to be said, I think this is a noticeable change." 

"Hello, Jane? Did the call drop?" 

"No, I still am, but thinking about what you said." 

"Maybe the Jane in the videos has changed, I'm still the same as always, off camera, there are many things I wanted to say and do and ended up not doing. I think even I need to learn from this other Jane." 

"You seem the same to me, inside and outside the videos, you don't need to worry too much about these things, maybe what you didn't say wouldn't have been good to say, but I say this knowing that I'm like that too." 

"You too? And what did you want to talk about and didn't talk about?" 

"A movie played in my mind, I think it's a lot." 

"And when was the last time that happened?" 

"I think it was just yesterday, but it's better to let it go." 

"I said, whenever you want to vent, you can count on me, we work together, but we know almost nothing about each other, we have to change this situation." 

"Maybe we can arrange something in person. I saw there's going to be an emo music event in Lapa, I think we can go there." 

"In Lapa? I'll do some research here later today, but I think we can go." 

"It's been a long time since I went out to an event or listened to live music, I wanted to go to this event, but I didn't want to go alone, it will be a good way to update my musical style." 

"So it's set, let's go, and I'll send you some songs too, I know you'll enjoy them." 

After that, Leonardo went back to working on Jane's video, and within a few hours, he had everything ready, and sent it, and saw that she had sent some songs. It seemed to be Math rock, or something like that, TTNG, it was different from what Leonardo was used to listening to, but it really sounded like Jane, and he liked it, he put on his headphones, and lay down on the bed, enjoying every moment of that album , but this time, he thought about Jane's videos, and how they were helping Leonardo connect with himself. 

After some time lying down, still with his headphones on, Leonardo went out to eat something, and with the melody in his head, he observed Rio de Janeiro after the storm, and he felt almost the same way. 

Strong winds passed and a lot of water fell from the sky, while the sound of the rain grew louder, many thought it best to retreat to their homes, but now, the rain had passed, and it was time to go out, walk through the city washed with rainwater. Leonardo walked without paying much attention, but attentive to everything that was happening around him. 

The streets were already full again, people going in all directions, going up and down, going to the south zone, north zone, west zone, they went in all directions, paying close attention to the path they were taking, they noticed very little of what was around, but even so, they managed to reach their destination. 

Walking among these people, Leonardo passed, walked slower than the others, following his own internal rhythm, and thinking about perhaps changing a little, he thought about new ways, new things to do, maybe he should be more like those people, and have a right way to go. He thought about it, but in his own way, and at his pace. 

While everyone was going to some activity, almost by chance, Leonardo saw that same restaurant that helped him from bad thoughts, everything was practically the same. The discreet sign next to the entrance, the shirt shop downstairs, and it seemed to still be a little-visited place. 

Leonardo decided to enter that restaurant again. This time he was different, he didn't have any bad thoughts chasing him, nor did he feel bad about the people around him, in fact, he was even feeling comfortable around them. But he took some time for himself and went to eat something different. 

He entered that restaurant and saw that same old painting, of a samba player, with the guitar next to him, and without a face, he found it strange, again, but he didn't feel bad, when he observed the painting, he felt something different, but he couldn't say exactly what it was, and even though he didn't feel bad looking at the painting, it still took up a lot of Leonardo's attention. The attendant had to ask his order three times, again. And again, he ordered the house barbecue. 

The space was busier, almost all the chairs were filled, and one of the few vacant seats was the same place Leonardo sat last time, it seemed like destiny, so he decided to sit next to the window again. 

People were more concerned about finishing the meal as quickly as possible so they could get back to work, they devoured everything very quickly, and even though there were groups together, there were few conversations happening, Leonardo noticed each of these things, and continued to look at the people around him, he wanted to be able to decipher something about them, but he didn't even know where to start. 

He looks out the window, the gray clouds still covered the sky, but apparently, it wasn't going to rain anymore, and since Jonathan didn't care, he thought the races were going to be canceled again. 

The barbecue arrived, it looked great, Leonardo hadn't noticed that the first time, and he savored each piece calmly, he wanted to savor each bite, and with no one around to talk to, he talked to the painting on the wall, through his eyes, Leonardo said things. And through the same gaze, he heard them. 

As he chewed slowly, he wanted to feel the same as the samba player in the painting felt, he could only think about it, maybe it wasn't a melancholic painting, a thought passed through him. Maybe it really wasn't. 

While he was enjoying the food, he looked closely at the shape of the painting, and even though they hadn't painted the samba player's face, he imagined him, smiling, and happy, happy as if he had just played the best song of his life, he was happy, like if you were looking directly at his loved one and composed a love song, and waited for the inspiring lover and muse response. 

The painting conveyed a completely different image to Leonardo this time. It was an image of someone who had finished, and was satisfied, who had done something good, fought the good fight.