There, in front of me, was not only the powerful man of Faria Lima.
The boy was alone who one day also needed hope.
“The night I left, after my grandmother died, I had almost nothing. But I took one thing with me.
Gabriel opened the drawer of the table and took out a small piece of paper, folded carefully.
It was already yellowed by time.
The worn edges.
He put it in my hand.
My chest froze.
It was a note written in childish, crooked handwriting, full of errors and erasures.
“Gabriel, don’t leave. Today I studied a lot. I like you.”
My vision instantly blurred.
“You left it under my door the morning I left,” he said. “I carried this note with me for fifteen years. In every important meeting. In every failure. In every victory. When I thought I wouldn’t make it, I looked at him and remembered that, somewhere in the world, there was a girl who believed in me without demanding anything in return.
I put my hand to my mouth, unable to stop the tears.
“I thought you had forgotten me…
Gabriel took a step forward.
“I could forget my own name before I forget you.”
The Final Proposal
He stood before me and held my hand.
His fingers were warm. Firm. Real.
– So, Dr. Helena… The position of financial director is yours, because you have earned it with every night of study, every test, every resignation and every step you took alone.
My heart felt too small for what I was feeling.
He shook my hand lightly and continued:
“But there is another position… the one you offered in the backyard of the village, so many years ago. This one remains vague. And the CEO is an extremely demanding man. He only accepts a single candidate.
I laughed through tears, wiping my face with my other hand.
Then I lifted my chin, regaining the old stubbornness that had defined me at the age of seven.
“Well, Mr. CEO… I hope the benefits package is really good, because I’m a difficult employee to keep.
Gabriel smiled in that way that always dismantled all my defenses.
“The contract is for life.
And before I could answer anything, he shortened the distance between us and sealed with a soft kiss the promise that time could never erase.
At that moment, I understood something with absolute clarity:
I hadn’t gone to that interview just to get a job.
I had gone, unknowingly, to get back the most beautiful part of my childhood.
And Gabriel…
Gabriel had been waiting for me for fifteen years.
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