Make-Believe Marriage by Dill Ferreira Page A

internal
conflicts.
    Amanda opened the door of
her apartment automatically. Her brain worked tirelessly seeking for response
to what had happened earlier between her and Antonio. Those caresses that
seemed necessary to his purposes were misaligning her mind. It wouldn't be easy
to fake a relationship the way she was doing. The proximity was too much for
her. The touches did not go unnoticed even if she wanted to. She would have to
try harder to fulfill their agreement without creating any kind of carnal
illusion with Antônio. Whenever possible she would need to remind her body that
that man was not hers and never could relieve her anxiety and stress between
four walls with him.  
    Absentminded, she took
long to realize that someone was knocking on her door. Believing it to be
Antônio, who had forgotten to say something, Amanda opened without being sure
of whom it was.
    – Breno! -She said
surprised. She had seen him at the restaurant before they left and seemed
willing to turn the night there. -What brings you here at this hour? she wanted
to know.
    -I want to talk to you –
he said getting in and closing the door. Breno seemed upset about something,
but his pride was so huge that he attempted to disguise it at all cost, keeping
his structure almost as impenetrable ice.
    -Couldn’t we talk in the
morning? – She asked realizing he was more agitated than she had imagined.
    -What do you think you're
doing? – Breno said roughly. -You're taking this game very seriously, don't you
think? “What gives him the right to interfere in her life with such authority,
as if she were his property”, Amanda thought in silence, observing Breno’s
sullen face.
    -Of which joke are you
talking about Breno? I don't know what you mean. -Amanda didn't understand what
all the fuss was about. But she imagined the reason.
    -That little scene in the
restaurant just a while back. – He explained without diverting his eyes from
her.
    -I didn't see anything out
of the ordinary there. I'm a single woman and I'm going to marry that man you
saw today – she answered drily, because she had nothing to tell him.
    -You know that I want you
back and that's why you're playing this little game with me. Want to get back
at me for cheating on you. “Innocent”, she thought. “The only thing that she
wanted in doing such an agreement was to get rid of that man who once had been
her husband and that now meant nothing more to her.”, Amanda completed to
herself listening to Breno’s drama.
    - I don’t know where you
got this idea that I am playing games and that I intend to get even with you. She
said. I have no time to lose with ungrounded stuff and I am surprised to see
that you really don’t believe that I grant you such an importance. Amanda’s
voice was so calm and sure that not even she could believe the sound she heard.
Her wish was to expel him out the door along with his huge self-sufficiency and
that superiority air that she once admired, to think it was something positive.
    – You know that I am
sorry, that I won’t live without you. – “Even making such a statement, his
voice was harsh and cold like ice. How could she not have seen this before?”
she asked herself, looking at that man who looked increasingly strange to her.
    - Our story ended years
ago Breno; there is no way for us to get back together; time heals almost
everything, but it does not delete memories. – And she knew that these memories
were quite alive in her mind, all the pains he had caused her, but this no
longer mattered; she had left everything behind, including him.
    – I don’t believe in
anything you say! – he exclaimed confident. – How do you expect me to believe
you will get married if a few days ago you did not even have a boy friend? –
Amanda was surprised, but already expected he had news from her; after all,
there were relatives of his in town. – During all this time, you had nobody and
now that I am back you kiss and make up with a guy