Chapter 4

• If there's someone I think I'll never be able to understand in my life, it's Theo, because I didn't see him in the elevator this morning, and it's not that I waited for him, because we don't see each other every day. But once again we met on the bus on the way home, and even though there were more passengers than yesterday, I'm sure he saw me, although this time I'm sitting by the window, and he didn't speak or stood nearby, just walked to the back, apologizing to people so he could get through.
• I try not to pay attention to that fact, I want to think that maybe he didn't see me, because maybe at another time I shouldn't care at all, but Theo and I crossed the line of just knowing each other, and I'm sure he did so many promises yesterday that I have a hard time repeating them all, so I don't understand what's happening to him.
• When my stop arrives, I excuse myself to the lady next to me and to the other people so I can get to the back door to get off, seeing how Theo is standing there, holding on to the superior tube, and as the bus pulls to stop, he lets a woman with a little girl pass first, then he goes down, despite being the one who was there before, and I try to follow him closely, although he continues without noticing me, maybe he didn't really see me.
• “Theo” I say in a tone loud enough for him to hear me.
• “I don’t want to talk to you.”
• His voice is hard, almost the same as yesterday when he told me that I was no longer invited to have dinner at his house.
• I don't know what exactly I did to make him mad at me, because this morning I didn't even see him, and this whole situation seems so strange to me, because I'm not at fault for whatever is going through his head, but I think he's being very unfair, shouldn't I at least know the reason for his anger?
• “Theo” I insist, taking bigger steps to catch up with him, but he ignores me “Hey!” I take his hug poster.
• “What do you want, Aldair?!”
• He turns around, his brow is furrowed that makes me doubt if it was a good idea to have insisted on wanting to know what was happening to him, it was not my subject, or at least I want to convince myself of that, since he seems so angry, and from own experience, I know there are times when you don’t want to talk to anyone, in fact, my whole day was like this, except that I wanted to know the reason why he was angry.
• “I-I just wanted to know if you were okay?”
• “Perfectly.”
• He takes the poster from my hand and begins to walk with strong steps towards the building.
• It seems like the dumb version of me came out today, because even though I know he doesn't want to talk to me, I go after him, not just because I live in the same building as him, but because I want to know.
• “Theo” I speak once more.
• He stops but doesn't turn to me.
• “Don't you have a wedding to go to?”
• I don't expect to hear a sob after that, which makes me feel uncomfortable, because I prefer the happy guy who gives hugs, not one who is crying, and because of the red nose he wears might seem creepy.
• I don't know, I'm not used to this kind of thing, not with an almost stranger, because when Malu threw tantrums, he knew how to calm them down, but he… I feel frustrated with all this.
• “How do you know about the wedding?”
• “It doesn’t matter.”
• He walks back towards the building and this time he doesn't stop. I follow closely, entering the same elevator, in which the atmosphere feels so uncomfortable and what I should do is pray that it reaches my floor quickly. However, I stop it though, as Theo hasn't stopped sobbing next to me, but when I do it, his gaze hardens.
• “What are you doing?”
• “What's about you? Are you okay?”
• “That doesn't matter to you, Aldair.”
• “Maybe, but you haven't stopped crying since I spoke to you in the street; so I'm starting to think I caused it and I'm not feeling good at all.”
• “Will you attend the wedding?”
• “What?”
• “Will you?”
• “Yes.”
• “You’re still a fool.”
• Theo presses the button to make the elevator move again and I don't know what I'm thinking because it's pretty clear that things between me and him aren't right, however, the words slip from my lips before I even consider them be the right thing.
• “Come with me to the wedding.”
• “You’re still a fool.”
• I didn't understand if that was a yes or a no, the only thing I know is that almost an hour later when I'm about to leave the apartment for the wedding, I find Theo at my door. He wears a white shirt, black suit, tie, and perfectly polished shoes, which are also black; he tells me again that I'm a fool, but the smile on his lips is back.
• I'm not going to lie, it's better to see him smile than cry.