João Felipe
I believe it was only because, despite everything going according to plan, we were still too early in our operations to already be proclaiming victory. It was just another step completed. There was still much to be done.
I left the office after nine in the evening and accompanied by Miguel and Jack, we decided to stop by some bar to have a drink in celebration of the closing of a great contract today and soon we were talking about various subjects.
I was paying attention to what Jack was talking about, related to successful investments made by our Brazilian headquarters, and once again I was able to confirm his wit towards business. He was a very intelligent and pleasant talking guy, but I noticed that there was something that made him uncomfortable when he was in my presence.
He spoke looking at Miguel and always looked away when I stared at him firmly. It took a lot of insistence on the part of Miguel for him to accompany us today.
" Do you have investments in conjunction with Mendes de Albuquerque, Jack? " Miguel asked the question I was already asking.
"I have some small investments with you. "
"You're also part of Mendes now. It's one of our "I made a point of including him, since he was a valuable collaborator, I had already realized.
Before he could give any answer, his phone rang and he excused himself to answer, retreating somewhere farther away from the ambient sound of the bar.
"It was my wife. Our son is a little feverish, I'll have to leave now. I apologize for my sudden departure. "
"No need to worry, Jack! Son always in the first place " Michael spoke solicitously. " Need some help with the situation? "
"No need to worry. See you tomorrow. "
" Send news," asked Miguel.
I kept quiet during the brief dialogue between the two men, I didn't even know what to say to Jack in the face of such a situation. I was unaware that he was married, much less that he was already a father. It didn't seem to suit him, the fact that he already had a family formed. It shouldn't even be twenty-five yet.
"A beautiful family Jack has. "
"Do you know them? "
"I was at your wedding a few years ago. He's the brother of an ex-girlfriend and I have him on my social media. "
"Small world, isn't it? You never commented that you knew Jack so well " Something I found strange, now that I knew the fact.
"I only heard about his hiring when we got here a month ago. Since then, we've had little time for conversations. This is the first time we've sat down to play outside conversation, as my mom would say," she said and laughed.
He was much more relaxed after a few shots of whiskey. But he was right. Even when I took up my position at my father's company in São Paulo a few months ago, I had little social contact with our employees. The meetings were always linked to business and I was focused on the plans of the foreign branch.
Either way, it was okay for the company's employees to know each other beforehand. There was no reason for me to get upset, but I didn't know why, I was upset.
"But, let's change the subject. Jack's personal life is not in our interest, is it?" I said to make it clear that personal matters should not be the agenda of conversations, especially when there are more important issues to be dealt with.
"Sure. Business always comes first, doesn't it? "
Although the words reminded me that João Pedro had said the same thing in one of our recent discussions, I did not identify any kind of criticism in Miguel's tone and agreed with his words with an affirmative gesture of the head.
I saw no problem with putting business ahead of the more mundane things and would take that as something positive about my personality.
We continued talking for a while and then each took a taxi home.
It was Thursday night and the week had been exhausting, but I still had work the next day.
My apartment was in an upscale area of New York City and belonged to my grandparents. It was very well located and soon I was entering what was my home for a few years, given that I did not get to spend even four months in São Paulo and was already back in the city.
I went straight to the kitchen, deciding whether to make something to eat or order ready-made food when a message notification arrived. It was my father.
Father: Congratulations on the contract closed today.
João Felipe: Just the result of a job well done.
Father: I'm glad you're getting what you want.
João Felipe: Just the first step.
João Felipe: There is still a long way to go.
Dad: Yet?
João Felipe: Of course!
Father: I understand.
Father: The most important thing is that you are happy.
Father: I and your mother just want your happiness.
Father: We love you, son.
João Felipe: I love you too.
I took off my jacket and put it on the back of a kitchen chair as I placed my phone on top of the counter that divided the kitchen into a gourmet area.
I was thoughtful. My parents walked with strangers, hardly called me and most of the time we spoke, it was like now, by messages, which was not common before, when I spent five years here and my mother called me every day. Even if he spoke only the essentials. And my father rarely spoke by message. They were always called.
In the four months I spent at my home in São Paulo, we always talked, if only during meals, but now I was feeling them so far away. Was something going on that I didn't know about?
I decided that I would contact my parents over the weekend and try to get something out of them.
I ended up not doing so since the weekend was full of commitments that I considered a business, even though they were social events. I was investing my time in networking and was getting very satisfying results.
The days went by and turned into weeks and then months, without me taking action on the estrangement from my family. I didn't want to admit it, but talking to them brought back memories of the moments I spent with Viviane and made me question some aspects of my life. I also didn't want news of how the wedding preparations were going.
I was more than pleased that my parents never brought this up in this matter. It would be quite unpleasant to hear them talk about the "young couple's" plans, I thought cynically. I knew my father should be happy with the union between his youngest and his protégé, but he had said nothing about it and I began to think about how strange it was.
The only thing I knew was that João Pedro had assumed all his responsibilities in front of the Matrix in São Paulo and that he was developing excellent work, from what I could perceive from the numbers presented, and from what Miguel passed on to me, during our meetings.
As we were already in December, I believe that the classes at the university where my brother and Viviane studied have already ended and that soon it would be the graduation of the two in their respective courses. I was even a little curious about how they should be feeling about the two big events in their lives, which were marriage and graduation.
Would I be invited? Until now I had not received any kind of invitation, whether it was formal or not.
"Since you've kept quiet, I must assume you agree with me, isn't that it, João Felipe?" My thoughts were interrupted by Jack's question and I corrected my stance immediately.
I realized that I hadn't paid attention to anything that was said in that room and I was embarrassed.
It was Monday and I was in the conference room, in a meeting with the board of directors of our company, while Jack gave a presentation on the results achieved so far and the potential for growth for the medium and long term.
Data that I had no idea about, even though he had just presented it.
"I'm having a slight headache and I couldn't grasp much of what was said here. I prefer to analyze these balances better. Then we got together again. "
I got up from the chair I was sitting in, at the head of the large meeting table, and began to pack up the papers in front of me. I would analyze everything in detail, but only later. Now I was unfocused.
" Of course," said Jack, apparently confused, since it was I who called that meeting.