You're too sweet for me 🫀🎶🍫

by Macunaima

Chapter 69: We are so young (Somos tão Jovens)

Summary:

✨Arc - I could be a good mother✨

✨- Megumi is young and beautiful.
👻- Leal made a promise.

Notes:

So, guys,
I’ve finally reached this arc. This is incredibly important to me because I’ve been planning this entire fanfic around this moment since last year.
Before this chapter and the next one, I strongly recommend that you reread Chapters 47 and 60. Not just to refresh your memory on Felipe’s story, but so you don’t miss a single detail of this ✨Greek tragedy✨ that I wrote with so much love lol

Megumi never imagined that being 22, living in Brazil’s roughest city, and being thousands of kilometers from home would be so much fun.

Her college academic cycle was coming to an end. She no longer cried missing her brother; her college friends took her to every possible hangout, and when Megumi Takatani wasn’t a rich girl living out the dream of every Brazilian medical student, she had a hot and caring boyfriend.

“Loucuras que ela fez comigo, desceu pra bandido… ” The girl, wearing a miniskirt and her Barcelona jersey, hums down the hallway of her apartment. “Sem medo de se apaixonar.”Megumi ignores the fact that she’s drunk as hell after watching the La Liga final at the class barbecue and tries to open the door with her key. “Na cama, o meu vulgo ela chama. Te conheço piranha. Você não nasceu para namorar…”

Goddamn, why won’t this door open?

The medical student squeezes her eyes, feeling the warmth of all the gin, whiskey, and cachaça she’d drunk at the supposed “casual lunch just to watch the game” coursing through her body. She feels the bunch of keys in her hand as she tries again, to no avail.

What the hell?

Megumi takes a deep breath; after all, she was literally a genius, there’s no way she could be so drunk she couldn’t open it… “Shit!” She curses under her breath when she realizes that the bunch of keys with a Palmeiras keychain wasn’t hers, but her classmate’s. “Ugh…” She whines to herself, but immediately remembers her boyfriend. “Felipeeeee!”

I hope he hasn’t gone out, or I’m in big trouble…

She thinks about how embarrassed her parents would be to have a daughter who drinks every weekend (which in Brazil meant from Friday after 10:00 p.m. until the end of Sunday) instead of studying for the neurology residency entrance exam.

At this rate, I’ll never get into the Sírio-Libanês Hospital…

Fortunately, her daily moments of self-reproach and academic despair are interrupted by the sound of the lock clicking open. “Amorrrr!” She celebrates by throwing herself into the arms of the tall guy wearing a Real Madrid jersey (she ignores that fact). “My hero! I love you, Felipe, you’re the best boyfriend in the world. I found out that my college friend wanted to hook up with you, but I told Pedro you were mine…”

Megumi hears the door slam behind her; the lawyer’s arms gently push her away.  “Honey?” Felipe steps back slightly from her, studying her face intently for exactly 5 seconds. “Are you drunk?!” The lawyer runs his hands through his curly hair (always impeccable) and pinches the tip of his nose. “Again, Megumi?!”

“Not again!” She defends her honor by pointing her finger at his amber-colored eyes. “The last time was I don’t know when. On your birthday…”

“My birthday was last week!”

“Oh, Gabriel, you’re overreacting.”

“Overreacting? Me?” The lawyer blinks, looking her up and down, and then his face takes on a look of horror. “Tell me you didn’t drive here, Megumi…”

“I took an Uber…”

“She came by Uber…” Felipe Gabriel laughs to himself, running his hands over his face just like he did when he lost a court case. “My woman drinks at a rich people’s party and comes home by Uber…”

My woman… 
I love it when he calls me that…

Megumi ignores the butterflies in her stomach (the heat in her pussy). She tilts her head to the side, her waist-length blue hair falling over her shoulders. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that you’re totally drunk and you smell like…” Felipe leans in slightly and runs his nose along her neck, sending a shiver down his spine. “Apple Balalaika?!” He steps back with that incredulous look. “Why didn’t you call me, girl? I could’ve come pick you up!”

Balalaika, so that was the name of that vodka…

She staggers a little, her gait slightly unsteady, into her 5 million reais apartment. “Aren’t you working?”

“Megumi, you’re drunk!” Her boyfriend walks toward the living room sofa. “I could easily have put my case aside for 30 minutes to come pick you up. What if the driver had done something to you? Do you have any idea how many women there are…?”

“Oh, your 67-year-old Joaquim, with a 4.75-star rating on Uber, wouldn’t have done a thing…” The girl smiles at her boyfriend, a former employee at the women’s police station. “Trust me.”

Felipe simply shakes his head, sitting back down on the couch next to his laptop and a stack of case files. “There are so many things I’d like to say right now, but for the health of our relationship and my spiritual improvement, I’m going to keep quiet.”

Megumi glances at her boyfriend, with whom she’d shared cheap street snacks, had movie nights at home with Coke and brigadeiro when he didn’t have a penny to his name, and who’d been by her side ever since her grandmother’s death.

Becoming a real adult had truly changed Felipe. Not in a bad way, of course. Maybe it was the fact that he’d managed to open a law firm on his own, and now Felipe made a point of paying for all their dates. Maybe it was the fact that, after years together, with her in poor health and him without money, Megumi was certain there was no problem in the world that could separate them.

No argument was too big to be resolved through conversation. No day was too bad that it didn’t end with Felipe making her laugh or with his tender hands caressing her. 
Megumi had the peace of a tranquil love. 

She walks toward him with an innocent look on her face, crawling toward the couch and sitting on the lawyer’s lap, each of her legs wrapped around his thighs.

“Megumi Takatani…” Felipe takes a deep breath and smiles wryly. “What the hell are you doing, babe?”

She kisses the dark skin of his neck, well aware that his hands are cupping her ass. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…” She feigns innocence as she takes off her Real Madrid shirt, leaving her in just her black lace bra. “You’re in such a bad mood. We can talk about this or…” 

“Sua safada…” The lawyer’s eyes fall on her breasts. Megumi feels his erection against her body, but her pleasure-killing boyfriend smiles and shakes his head. “I’m not going to fuck you, Megumi.”

“Why not?!” She whines, the cold air making her nipples harden beneath the fabric of her bra.

“First, because you’re drunk.” Her ultra-religious boyfriend muttered without lifting her off his lap. “And that’s morally wrong and literally illegal. Second, because I’m upset.”

“At me?”

“That, too!” He tilts his head to the side, but makes no effort to hide the hungry look he’s casting at her lips. “I’m particularly upset with you, miss. ” Felipe keeps that serious, grown-man expression for exactly 10 seconds, until his expression softens, and he pulls her toward his hips. “Bento’s gone…”

She searches her memory, going over names and everything he’d said recently. Unfortunately, Felipe had a lot of contacts, and Megumi was very drunk. “Bento? I don’t remember who that is…” 

“He’s the little boy who drowned. He’s white with blond hair; he must be about 6 or 7 years old.” Her boyfriend purses his lips, a hopeful expression on his face. “He hasn’t shown up to me in a few days. Have you seen him? Bento adores you…” 

Oh, so that’s Bento…

“Did I see your ghost that no one but you can see?” The drunk girl, her sanity slowly returning, looks down at the necromancer below her. “No, honey, I haven’t seen him. I’m so sorry…”

“Tsk.” Felipe Gabriel Leal takes a deep breath, with that silly way of his to hide his feelings and act like a grown, strong, and intelligent man—which just makes him look like a sulky little boy. ‘Man, I left him some candy, I prayed, I lit a candle, get it? The kid’s gone…’

Felipe is so sweet.

Megumi had learned a few things being the atheist girlfriend of a religious guy. Yes, when the Leals said they talked to the dead, predicted the future, and healed illnesses, they were serious. No, it wasn’t some kind of religious delusion or mass psychosis.

“Lipe…” The young woman uses every ounce of her alcohol-fogged brain and thinks back to her psychiatry classes on active listening. “Tell me about him…” 

“Ah, Meg…” Her boyfriend tilts his head to the side. “Bento was a childhood spirit. He likes to watch cartoons and eat Brigadeiro…” Felipe, that kind guy who always helped elderly women carry their grocery bags, smiles. A sweet smile that lasts just a few seconds before fading away. “I called him Bento because he didn’t even have a name. He said his parents mistreated him and his stepmother threw him into a river…” 

I don’t believe that…

“What?” The girl feels a wave of nausea in her stomach. She immediately brings her palm to her nose, hoping to control her urge to vomit. 

How could a woman have the heart to kill her husband’s son? That’s so cruel…

“Are you okay?” Felipe immediately furrows his brow, adjusting his posture on the couch and placing his hands on her back. “Princess…” 

“Yes, I…” Megumi, for some inexplicable reason, feels like crying. “That’s so sad.” She whimpers like a child—not a 22-year-old woman—imagining a little boy going through something so inhumane and cruel. “Poor little Bento…” She feels her eyes sting and immediately hugs her boyfriend. “I think I’m in PMS or something…”

“Holy shit…” Felipe freezes when she sniffs, almost sobbing, and hugs her the next moment. “Hey, sweetheart, it’s okay. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you about that…”

“It’s okay, it’s just… I don’t know. Ever since that patient of mine, kids make me emotional, I don’t know…” Megumi rests her heavy head on his shoulder, just as she used to four years ago. “Where do you think he went?”

“I think he’s been reincarnated…” Her boyfriend strokes her back, but also savors that long moment of silence. The two lovers simply hold each other, Megumi’s sensitive, sweet heart beating against Felipe’s steady, loyal one. “Bento must have certainly made the transition, evolved, or something like that. He must be someone else’s baby now…”

Geez, that sounds like the kind of thing I’d like to believe…

“Hmm?” Megumi winks at her boyfriend, feeling a strange heaviness in her heart and stomach. “Do you really believe that?” 

“Mom says souls stay on Earth to evolve and guide us before they’re reborn. I…” The man in front of her takes a deep breath. Felipe runs his hand through her straight, blue hair. “I just hope his parents are nice to him. That they’re kind—better than the last ones…” 

“He will be…” Megumi looks at her boyfriend. Felipe had rough hands, though he usually wore prescription glasses that covered his large, gentle eyes. “I hope he’s born to the kind of couple who’ve always wanted a child but have trouble getting pregnant, and who’ll love him forever…” 

“The rich white people who do in vitro fertilization?” Her boyfriend smiles to himself.  

Megumi shakes her head and imagines an even happier scenario. “Maybe he’ll be really, really lucky and be the son of rich lesbians who used artificial insemination and will spoil him forever…” 

“Tsk, then he wouldn’t run the risk of having daddy issues…” Felipe laughs; in one fluid motion, he sets his laptop on the floor and lies back on the couch. “Oh, man…”

“What’s up, honey?” Megumi asks, knowing exactly what had been going through his mind—that thing that goes through the mind of anyone in love with someone kind, secure, and loving.

“For a moment I wondered what it would be like if we…” Her boyfriend held her by the hips. “Had a daughter. Sometimes I dream about her. A little girl who looks just like you…” Felipe smiles to himself and then shakes his head, as if shooing the thought away. “But we’re still so young…”

“Were you thinking about having a daughter with me?” Megumi can’t help but smile at the man who was more afraid of getting her pregnant than he was of dying. "Doctor — Megumi, please don’t forget to take your birth control. Tell me you took it like you’re supposed to… —" She mimics the panic he’d have every time her period was late. “I thought you hated…”

“Hey! I don’t hate kids!” Her boyfriend shakes his head. “I hate being poor. I just didn’t want our kids to…” Felipe bites his lip, running his hands down her back. “Man, it’s so awful to grow up going hungry, growing up in fear, and watching your mom kill herself to put food on your plate…” 

“My love…” Megumi rests her forehead against his, placing her palm on the cheek of the young man who loved her so deeply. “I’m so sorry…” 

“Seriously, baby, you’ve held us together all this time, love.” Felipe runs his hands through her hair. “I’m grateful and all, but I’ve got my pride too, you know? I don’t want our kids to go through the hell that I…” 

“I know, Lipe. You’re so…” She feels his lips gently brushing against hers. “Well. Our kids won’t go through that, no…” She promises, thinking of a distant, hypothetical future—one she thought about all the time. “We’re going to be happy. I’ll be a neurologist, and you’ll be a wonderful father to our hypothetical daughter, and we’ll be a perfectly ordinary couple…” 

“Oh, oh, Megumi…” Her words make him smile; the lawyer runs his copper-colored fingers around the amber-colored beaded necklace with a small golden pendant shaped like a hand mirror that she’s worn around her neck for years. Ever since that night on the beach when they kissed for the first time. “I love you so much…” 

The young woman smiles to herself, rolling her eyes. Hearing those words that her boyfriend spoke so easily was always disconcerting. “Felipe, me too…” 

“No kidding…” The young man intertwines his fingers in that necklace, finally kissing her quickly. A sweet, quick, and chaste kiss. “You’re the love of my life, little rich girl…” 

 

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Graduating from the University of São Paulo law school, earning his own money, having a pretty girlfriend, and being a real adult was everything Felipe had always dreamed of.

But being a lawyer came with certain costs.

“I’m not going to pay 2,000 reais in alimony.” The man with black hair cut in an Italian style speaks to him via video conference, his face completely red. “My ex-wife has money; she already kept the house I bought, and now she wants my money so she can keep spending it on her hair and nails…” 

Fuck, I can’t take being a lawyer anymore…

“With all due respect, I’m going to interrupt you right here.” Sitting at his desk, smelling the coffee the secretary was making, Felipe feels like losing his hearing or committing a hate crime. “We’re here to discuss child support for your three kids, who study at a private school, have a national health insurance plan, and all three take classes in…” His eyes dart to all the receipts his client had sent him. “Swimming, ballet, and the youngest has weekly sessions with speech therapists and a physical therapist. All these costs are being covered almost entirely by the children’s mother…”

That guy rolls his eyes. “That’s no problem for Jaqueline. Her family has money…”

“You’re an engineer, and your ex-wife’s family has no obligation to support your children. What’s at issue here is your obligation as a father.” Felipe feels irritation gnawing at him and vows never to take on another family law case again. “Two thousand reais is no more than 30% of your salary, and it doesn’t even cover half of what my client spends on the three children.”

“Look, Dr. Felipe…” On the other side of the camera, the civil engineer bites his lip as a woman places a cup of coffee in front of him. “You know how the economy is in this country; I’m not going to give you my word on a commitment I won’t be able to honor.”

“Mr. Matarazzo, what we’re discussing here in our third meeting isn’t a commitment, it’s a legal right of your three kids. Your kids. Your obligation. You can accept the proposal or…”

Before the lawyer could continue, the man interrupted him. “I think it’s best if we take this matter to court so the judge can decide what he thinks is best…”

I can’t believe this. 

A amused laugh escapes Leal. “You want to take this to court? Fine, I’ll file the lawsuit in family court today.” Felipe smiles as he signs the legal document, knowing he’ll squeeze every penny he can out of that man in front of a jury. “With that, I adjourn this child support review hearing. Have a good afternoon.”

“You too, Doctor,.” The engineer says as he steps out of the room.

“You fucking son of a bitch…” Leal mutters as he tugs slightly at his burgundy tie—a gift from his girlfriend—leans back, and covers his eyes with his hand. God, he was going to fuck that man so hard.

I hate him so much.

No wonder Felipe Gabriel Leal had made a name for himself in the legal world in such a short time. Hated by heroes and cops alike, he was known for being an aggressive, shrewd, and treacherous defense attorney. 

I should go back to criminal law, but that could be dangerous for Megumi and my family…

This definitely wasn’t why he’d decided to become a lawyer—he’d wanted to be like the district attorney in *Batman: The Dark Knight* (yes, the one who became Two-Face) or that super-hot girl from *Legally Blonde* (that inspiration was totally off-topic). 
Leal never imagined he’d have to choose between working himself to the point of ruining his marriage, arresting men for failing to pay child support, and resolving all kinds of silly fights, or getting criminals out of jail. 

It seemed cooler in the movies…

He sighs; at least now Felipe Gabriel could buy new sneakers for his sister, pay his mom’s bills, and take his rich girlfriend to cool places without her arguing about who’d pay for the purchases.

Man…

Felipe’s fingers fly to his cell phone, and he realizes two things: Their four-year anniversary was just around the corner. Four years of watching her volleyball games, listening to her talk about medical stuff he had no idea what it meant. Taking her on all kinds of outings, from obscure parties and Formula 1 races to showing her his house in Rio de Janeiro. 

She’s about to become a doctor, damn…

Over the course of four years, he watched Megumi—who barely spoke Portuguese—present scientific papers four times a year. The girl who used to cry in the backseat became the most badass woman he knew. Definitely the best four years of Leal’s life.

Damn, I really was so lucky…

That’s the conclusion young Felipe Gabriel, at the height of his 27 years, reaches when he sees one of the photos on his desk—a picture of him on graduation day with an arm around Megumi’s waist, and her looking at him with a proud smile and sparkling eyes.

I’d better get back to work…

Leal’s eyes catch the words from another case file. He reads the words “three-star restaurant,” “invited to leave,” “racial injury, ” and he knows he’s won yet another case.

What a load of shit…

The 15,000 reais he’d earn that year would be the most bitter of all. Being a relatively well-known lawyer in a city of 20 million people (absolutely all of whom needed legal assistance) really did have its advantages.

At least I can buy her something nice…

“Boss…” His reading is interrupted by the voice of his secretary/accountant. The Heteromorph woman with little mouse ears and short gray hair waves. “Do you need anything else?”

Damn, it’s already 3:30 p. m. I didn’t even notice the time passing…

“Oh…” Boss. Sir. Doctor, man, those words felt so strange. It had been a few years since he graduated, and he still wasn’t used to being addressed so formally. “No, Gabi. You need to leave, right?”

“Mavi had chemo today, and her dad said she’s feeling really awful…” Gabriela’s eyes seem deeper, and a faint wrinkle appears on her forehead. “But I’ve already got everything ready and all the paperwork on the table…”

Oh, man, I’m so sorry the baby’s back in the hospital…

“No problem, I was just about to leave anyway…” Immediately, Felipe straightens up and pulls something out of his brown leather wallet. “And how is your daughter doing?”

I don’t understand how she manages it; I would’ve gone crazy by now…

“Oh…” The young woman, who must be only a few years older than him, sighs. “The hematologist said that the type of lymphoma she has is very aggressive…” Her eyes glisten slightly as she runs her hands over her black dress. “But she’s responding very well to chemotherapy, and it’s a good thing it was diagnosed early. Your girlfriend was an angel for getting Mavi a spot at the Hospital das Clínicas…”

Every now and then, Megumi Takatani would do strange things, like staring at an elderly man on the street for 30 seconds and saying, “He has Parkinson’s disease, ” or pointing out random spots on her neighbors’ skin and then taking them to specialized dermatology centers to be treated for leprosy. But definitely the scariest thing his brilliant girlfriend ever did was when the two of them spent an afternoon doting on a 2-year-old baby, and she simply turned to him and said, “Honey, I think this little girl has a very aggressive form of cancer; we need to take her to the doctor right now…”

“That’s great, Gabriela…” Felipe tries to smile as he walks over to the office staff member and hands her a pink card. “We’re reducing the workday to a 4x3 schedule and offering food vouchers…”

“Doctor…” The woman tilts her head to the side as he ignores her gaze. “You don’t have to…”

“Nice workspace…” He points to the certification on the wall as he turns off the lights in the internship office and the break room where he usually spent time with his family. “And I was going to hire another employee anyway, so now everyone can work less, be happier, and give me more money at the end of the month, yippeeeeeeee.”

The young woman furrows her brows, a look of relief on her face, and speaks more softly. “I thought you were going to fire me and we’d starve…” 

What the hell kind of impression do my employees have of me?!

“Are you crazy, woman?” Felipe laughs nervously as he opens the glass door to the law office so she can leave. “My mom would’ve killed me. Don’t worry and go take care of your baby. If anything comes up, talk to me or Meg, and we’ll always be cool, got it?”

Gabriela smiles serenely. “Thanks, Felipe…”

“You’re welcome…” Felipe waves as he watches his employee walk to her car. “Say hi to your husband and give Mavi a kiss!” 

If only Bento hadn’t left. That little boy always worked miracles…

Felipe pushes aside the longing he feels for that annoying little ghost as he walks through the tree-lined neighborhood, passing countless boutiques, bookstores, and expensive cafés where São Paulo’s bourgeoisie fleece other bourgeoisie.

Fuck, 40 reais for a sandwich? Screw that. I’m going to eat at Meg’s house, where it’s free…

He mutters to himself, but his eyes stop as he walks past a store. 

Wow…

Not just any store among the dozens in that neighborhood, but a jewelry store. 

Leal had never set foot in a real one, one that sold actual jewelry and not gold- or silver-plated costume jewelry. His feet immediately carry him inside until an elderly gentleman walks toward him with a smile. “Did something catch your eye, young man?”

“Yes…” The lawyer’s eyes turn to the countless pieces of jewelry on display. “No.” He runs his hands through his curly hair and shakes his head. “I came looking for a gift for my girlfriend…” After years of waiting, Felipe finally arrives at the moment he’s always dreamed of. “A ring…”

Damn, I can’t believe this is really happening…

“An engagement ring, young man?” The man was white, wearing gray dress pants and a blue polo shirt, and he looked OLD. Very old. He smiled at Felipe and wiggled his finger. “Do you have a photo of the young lady?”

“Actually, yes…” He takes his wallet out of his pocket and hands over a small Polaroid of his girlfriend, dressed in her lab coat and smiling in front of the Hospital das Clínicas. “Here you go, sir…”

“Ah, what a beautiful girl…” The man smiles as he looks at the photo and then turns back to him. “What do you do for a living, young man?”

“Um… I’m a partner at a law firm down the street.” Felipe adjusts his glasses, ignoring the fact that his heart was racing and his hands were sweaty. “I’m a lawyer.”

Oh my, is this going to be really expensive?

The elderly man looks at the photo of Megumi, then at him, and then at her photo again. “I know exactly what you need, boy. ” The man pushes a small cup of black coffee toward him and walks toward the back of the jewelry store. “Wait here.”

What a nice guy…

Maybe his mother was right, and kindness really does beget kindness. Felipe grabs his phone and checks to make sure he actually remembered to pay the electricity, water, and internet bills for the office and his home. He sends a message to his brother-in-law, who was surely the most Brazilian Japanese man in history, and then sends some silly memes to his girlfriend.

“Ahram…” The old man returns with an even bigger smile than when he left, placing a fine brown leather box in front of him. “I think it’ll work well with her…” the man says as he opens the jewelry box, revealing a silver ring with five stones lined up in a row—four small white ones and a square one in the center, a beautiful, deep blue. The color of her hair. “It’s white gold; the tiny crystals are diamonds, and the blue one is a sapphire…”

Holy Mother of the Sea…

He feels the air escape from his lungs as he imagines that ring on the fingers of the girl who waited for him for so many years. Megumi waited for him at night when he had to work late. She waited for Felipe to finish college. She waited until he could take her on dates like a good boyfriend would. 

After all those years, he would finally have the honor of calling her his fiancée. He would be her man—making her laugh, standing by her side on difficult days, and watching her become a doctor, fulfilling the dreams she’d had since she was a little girl. He would faithfully take her back to Japan so she could satisfy her longing for home. They would have children together, spend vacations in Rio de Janeiro together, and grow old together. 
That was what a young man in love saw on a random Thursday afternoon. A whole lifetime. 

“It’s so…” His amber eyes get lost in that deep blue. The color of her star-spangled shirt. Of his country’s flag. Of the sea—and of her. “Beautiful.” The young lawyer smiles and braces himself for his happiness to end as the question slips from his lips. “How much does it cost?”

It must cost about two kidneys, an eye, and my car…

“Well…” The little old man shakes his head and then picks up the ring in his hands. “Since you’re young, in love, and with such a beautiful young woman…” He hands it to Felipe with slightly trembling hands. “And it’s always good to have lawyer friends in the neighborhood, I’ll let you have it for a symbolic price…”

Felipe tries not to laugh at the old man’s mischief. “Which would be…”

“7,500…” The little old man opens the box and shows him a certificate of authenticity. “But I know you’ll be coming back here to the store to get your wedding band, so I’ll let you have it for 5,000. What do you think?”

My Lord, what a sly old man…

“Wedding band? She hasn’t even said yes yet.”

“But she’s not going to say no.” The old man gives him a light pat on the shoulder. “A handsome young man like you. I already know what the wedding band will look like—gold and silver intertwined…” 

“You rascal…” The young man mutters, but his eyes turn to the engagement ring. “5,000 reais, huh?” Felipe thinks of all the cases he’s won recently, of the numbers in his bank account, but all he can think about is his sweet, kind, and intelligent girlfriend, smiling the way she used to when she was happy. “I’ll pay with my debit card…”

 

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Maybe, just maybe, Felipe Gabriel wasn’t as brave as he thought he was.

It won’t last past today.

That’s what he’d been telling himself every single day since he blew half his emergency fund at that jewelry store weeks ago.

It really won’t last past today.

There was no way it could. Felipe scans the table in her apartment, feeling his palms sweat a little as he stares at the damn Portuguese pizza and sushi he’d bought for their anniversary.

Damn it, why did I buy pizza and sushi?

He could have done so many better things, like taking her to an expensive hotel or a fancy restaurant. Or maybe somewhere that served real Japanese food instead of the kind with cream cheese.

Damn it, she hates sushi with cream cheese…

What a great boyfriend he was. Leal takes a sip of his beer—at least he’d remembered to buy her favorite (Corona).

What an idiot, Felipe. 
You’ve done way harder things than this, damn it. 
All you have to do is ask a question…

A short question. “Will you marry me?” 
It wasn’t as if they hadn’t talked about this hundreds of times over the years. Or as if his girlfriend didn’t always drop that hint whenever one of her college friends got engaged. 

But what if she realized she’s too young? Man, isn’t Megu curious about being with other guys? Will she want to spend her whole life just with me? 

Suddenly, Felipe didn’t feel quite so proud of being her first and only. For a moment, his anxiety really makes him doubt himself, but he’s saved by the door opening. “Feeeeee.” His girlfriend calls out to him in her drawling voice.

“Meg!” Felipe stands up, feeling a smile spread across his face, but his happiness immediately fades when he sees his girlfriend. “What’s wrong, amor?”

Does she look upset? What’s wrong? 

His girlfriend was wearing one of those pink hospital uniforms that made her look really hot; she had her blue hair tied up in a slightly messy bun and was looking at dinner with her gentle eyes as she sighed. “Is this for me?”

Man, she’s been super teary these days. Could she be PMSing? She always gets emotional when…

“It’s our anniversary…” Felipe replies cautiously, trying to figure out what day of the month it is. “What’s wrong, meu bem? Did some son-of-a-b*tch surgeon yell at you again?”

I’ve already told her to yell back at those jerks. 

“No, I…” His girlfriend lets her purse slip off her shoulder at the front door, which makes him immediately walk over to her. “Felipe…”

Holy shit. 
We’re screwed. 

As a rule, very little scared the young lawyer—after all, he was a kid from the favela and a necromancer—but the tone of his girlfriend’s voice, always so restrained and rational, sets off every red alert in his mind.

Dude, is she going to break up with me? Did I screw up? Damn, I don’t remember doing anything…

“Amor, you’re scaring me…” He immediately grabs her by the wrist and leads her to the kitchen table. Felipe sits down in the chair and pulls her onto his lap, studying her face intently. “What happened? Tell me, please…”

“Meu bem, I…” Megumi did what she always did when she was really nervous—she swung her leg back and forth, and her hands shook when she tried to move them. “I need to tell you something, but you have to promise you won’t…” Her girlfriend looked into his amber eyes. “Please, don’t get mad at me…”

Holy shit, it’s over. 
Did she crash my car? 

That was the same line Felipe used every time he tried to justify doing something terrible, like eating the last slice of pizza in the fridge or admitting he’d broken a special 300-year-old family heirloom. “I’d never get mad at you, sweetheart…” 

She doesn’t say a word. 

And Felipe imagines all the worst things a beautiful, hot, rich girl could do to him.

“Tell me you didn’t cheat on me with a white guy. Like that blond Italian friend of yours from the neurology club who’s always wanting to hook up with you….” The words slip out of his mouth, and he realizes they were the wrong ones when she looks like she’s about to cry. “But if you did, I could cheat on you too, and then everything would be okay…”

Wow, that came out really badly…

“Felipe!” Megumi’s face turns red with anger. He had definitely chosen the wrong words. “You’d cheat on me? You think I’d cheat on you?”

“No, I…” The young lawyer feels the blood drain from his face as he hears her angry tone. “I’d never do that, Meg. I…” 

“And you jumped to that conclusion way too fast!” She continues to threaten to get up angrily from his lap. “You bastard…”

“Okay…” Felipe holds her firmly by the waist and puts on his funny-looking shirt. “You’re stressed, my darling…” The young lawyer, who was no fool, runs his hands up her hips and proudly draws a sigh from his wife. “Let’s take a shower, together. I can fix this for you in a second…”

“I’m not going to have sex with you since you apparently want to have sex with other girls…”

Oh, what a difficult woman…

“Megumi, why would I want another girl when I have the most beautiful and incredible one in the world?” Felipe hands his girlfriend an open bottle of Corona. “I’m not leaving you, woman, not even if Miss Brasil ever wanted me.”

“You idiot…” The young medical student sniffs and turns away from him.
Felipe grabs her by the chin and smiles. “If I win the Mega-Sena lottery, I’ll stay with you, I’ll stay with you…”

“Felipe…” A tear rolls down the cheeks of the woman he loved as much as himself. “You promise…” 

“I promise, princess.” Megumi’s best ex-boyfriend lies, without even realizing he’s lying, and wipes the tears from her face with the back of his hand. “I’d never get angry with you. Nothing in the world would make me leave you or love you less, my love.…”

“Gabriel…” In what felt like the longest moment of his life, he saw her eyes fill with fear. Fear of him. Megumi whispers the words that changed him forever. “I’m pregnant…”

Notes:

Felipe is the sweetest male character I've ever written (I'm going to destroy him).

Fun fact:
He's called "doctor" because the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro, granted that title to lawyers in the 19th century.