People who were around noticed this strange scene and some even became more alert, thinking that the guy could be doing the girl some harm. But with her hugging him actively, it looked like everything was fine.
Who was as confused as they were were the other security guards at the nightclub. They were always on the lookout, but suddenly their bosses said to let this boy go, and now the girl was crying in his arms. Was that considered doing harm or good? Would they be fired if something happened? They were still waiting to see.
"H-How are you here? Who brought you? W-" Ella was starting to fill Arthur with questions when he put his finger in her mouth.
"We'll talk more about it later. The important thing is that I'm back…" He flashed her a sincere smile. His heart was more at peace, which he didn't feel very often.
"Alright..." While nodding positively like an obedient child, she kept hugging him after that. Thanks to that, she could feel how much Arthur's body had developed, and he was much taller than her, full of remarkable muscles.
'How did he manage to grow so much? Wasn't he sick? He couldn't even lift 10 kg before without having to grit his teeth...' Her cheeks flushed as she ran her hand down his arms. Her very affectionate actions seemed to be involuntary.
"Cough cough! So that's it, right... Let's go up now. Also, my name is Arthur. Is a pleasure!" He was also feeling how much Ella's body had developed in the last two years that he hadn't seen her. It made him a little uncomfortable, especially with her touches.
"Joana..."
"Vitória..."
Her friends were still a little stunned by everything that was going on. First this guy came out of nowhere and blocked the way, but now their friend was hugging him like they were old friends...
'Could this be the guy she was talking about so much? He really is handsome, but she always said he was a little weak and small because of medical conditions... He doesn't look like anything weak and small..'
"Will you still want the drink?" Arthur smoothed Ella's hair and asked everyone.
"Of course we want!" She replied with more than obvious joy. Even though it didn't seem like it, it was always a burden for her to think everyday about why Arthur had suddenly disappeared from their lives. Her sister refused to say anything, just like everyone else. It was almost as if he needed to be forgotten. But she didn't want to. How could she forget the only boy who did everything for her and who slowly... made her realize what a passion was.
"Yay, brother! Are you working at the bar for lack of choice? That way, I'll start cooking better than you!" Arthur went with them to the mini bar and greeted Santino, who already had the drinks ready.
"There is! Very funny joke! With these arms that can't even lift a frying pan... ok, I take back what I said!" Santino was almost laughing, but then, before finishing his sentence, Arthur flexed his biceps and showed that he could lift more than a frying pan.
The girls stared at this like idiots, and Ella was almost drooling in her mouth, but she quickly straightened up when she saw Arthur looking at her. She'd gone a long time without him, so she wanted to enjoy it all.
"I won't disappear, so enjoy carefully..." Arthur seemed to have read her thoughts as he walked over and handed them the drinks. He spoke right next to her ear, which made her blush and feel a rush of refreshing happiness.
As if she'd remembered something, Ella jumped up, with clear animation on her face: "Come on, let's go upstairs! My sister's upstairs!"
Hearing her talking about her sister, Arthur's body stiffened a little, his calm heart wanting to beat faster to the point of leaving his chest. But he didn't let that show as he quickly followed her. He had already given the signal for Santino, Ezekiel and Bart to go upstairs.
When they got close to the stairs, the group was stopped by another group that was entering.
"Arthur?"
"Arhtur!"
It was Patricia, her friend and a few other boys who were being led by Charles. It looked like his mother had "cleaned it up well", so his infamy didn't spread to the new group of friends. And Patricia seemed to have kept pretty quiet about the embarrassing subject too.
"Do you guys know each other?" Ella asked him, seeing that he didn't even speak to them and the situation got a little awkward.
"Do not. Let's go up…" He squeezed her. And he was in a huge dilemma whether he should go up and face his fate, so he wanted to go while he had the courage.
"Hey are you guys going up? I knew it needed to pay some money to go up. How about we split?" Patricia looked like she didn't want to miss the chance and took the opportunity.
"No need to split, I'll pay for everything. Tonight is on me!" Charles spoke like a hot-blooded young man, which greatly pleased his new group of friends. It looked like they had made the right choice of who sucks to get benefits. He then continued, with sharp, defiant eyes: "But it's just for us here, so this one can enjoy the party down here!"
"Pay? We can go up for free, so I don't think you have to..." Ella seemed to have sensed something in this conversation, especially about Patricia's eagerness. She even took a few steps towards Arthur, so her intentions were starting to get clear.
Comparing their figures, the two were on two different levels. While Patricia did look like a spoiled rich young woman, her clothes and even behavior made her look vulgar. Ella, on the other hand, looked like an innocent princess of the modern world. Clothes that made her beautiful, but with a different and attractive charm. The comparative difference was noticeable by the flutter in the boys' eyes, even Charles', when they looked at Ella.
"How can you go up without paying? Are you thinking you own the club?" Charles commented while chuckling a little at the naivete.
"I don't have much time to waste, so excuse me..." Arthur had had enough of this bullshit, so he took Ella and the girls upstairs. Security immediately allowed him to pass, and even more so with a smile on their faces. It looked like they had been briefed on Arthur's status.
This immediately caused a shock to the people left behind. Even though they didn't even underestimate Arthur, showing his status so easily was too much for them to handle. After all, this nightclub was hoping to be the best in town, catering to the lower class as well as the upper class. And it hadn't even opened properly, but there were already "discrete" news of expansion.
"Wh-" Patricia and her friend were still a little shocked.
"Put that aside. Didn't he say the night was on him? Let's go up too, shall we?" Patricia's friend was quicker to recover and looked with expectant eyes at Charles.
"W-well, maybe we'll hang around here a little longer... and then go upstairs... I'll buy the drinks!" Charles' rich disguise immediately fell apart. He was only doing this to incur Arthur's wrath as he really didn't think he could just go up like that. After all, either you were a very important VIP to go up or you could pay a very considerable amount.
Of course, this considerable amount, etc, was just to prevent the ostentatious from going up, occupying a space and not buying anything else. Drinks, food and any additional services were a little above the value of the ground floor, in addition to having more expensive options. So if everyone who had a little more money went up just to enjoy a temporary status, wouldn't the club lose money on who would actually spend it at will? This was a well-used and well-versed tactic.
"I should have known!" Patricia rolled her eyes. But soon, her brain quickly processed something. 'Weren't they a little too close? Wasn't he already committing to Emily? This...' Her hand was faster and she had already taken out her cell phone to take some pictures of Arthur going up with Ella.
***
"Really, even the feeling is different..." When he reached the first floor, Arthur breathed a much purer and less heated air. Of course, downstairs was also air-conditioned, but the amount of human heat far exceeded what air conditioners could do. There were far fewer people here and everything gave off a feeling of greater luxury and so on.
"It's really amazing. But it's pretty boring and every now and then there are perverted looks at us. That's why I prefer to stay below." Ella agreed with the statement, but stated her point as well. The thing was, there were less security up here, so the ground floor felt safer because there was a lot more to protect her from anything.
As she spoke, Arthur's attention was completely drawn to an incredible figure, sitting alone at the bar. The way she lifted her glass and finished it all at once seemed sad and desolate, as if she was trying to drown something. From where he was, he could only see her back. But that didn't stop anyone from imagining how beautiful she could look.
Her short hair that reached her neck, but with a channel cut that suited her. Her clothes that hid her tight waist and an ass that any woman would envy. Arthur's heart pounded furiously just looking at her from afar, as if furious memories invaded his consciousness.
"Arthur? Hey!" A hand suddenly appeared waving in front of him. It was Ella, who realized she was talking to herself and noticed Arthur frozen in time. "Will you talk to her? Come on, I'm excited!"
"No... Sorry, I have to talk to her alone. You know, I've been missing for quite a while, and she's not easy to deal with..." Arthur apologized with a smile as he patted Ella's head. "Can you wait here for a while? Order some snacks!" He also waved to an attendant who was on hold.
"All right, gosh! But we'll talk later!" Ella felt a little upset, but she wasn't a spoiled brat. She understood what he was saying, so she made him promise that he would come as soon as possible.
Taking another dose of courage, Arthur approached the lonely woman.
***
"What's up man! Can you make me a mojito? I'm starting the night now..." Arthur waved at the bartender and ordered his drink. He didn't really drink, but he needed some conversational line.
He was sitting very close to the woman, with a short distance of 1 meter.
She glared at him, but quickly diverted her attention. She imagined it would be more of a 'gentleman' who discreetly struck up a conversation. She had already sent them all out of the place, which was why she was so lonely.
"Today was a really difficult day... I have to admit that I almost didn't get to close a very important deal!" Arthur spoke as if he were some important businessman.
The woman was already prepared to leave the place, as she didn't want to hear the nonsense about how much money he made in one afternoon.
"What business?" The bartender asked as he prepared the drink.
"The fish guy who passes by my house sold me two for R$5! And the regular price is one for R$7! I don't know how many tears I shed, but I'm sure I deserved an Oscar! I told him I'd come back with the money and I took the fish, and that I wouldn't be called Marcos if I didn't come back."
Finding the story a little interesting, the woman didn't leave, but decided to stay a little longer.
"And then?"
"And then what? My name is not Marcos, so I didn't come back! But you don't believe what he did either! When I got home, the guy had taken everything! The wretch even took the meat from the fish! I came here to drown my tears of helplessness!" Arthur crashed to the counter, as if he'd been defeated through tears.
"Pfft!" The woman finally got a reaction, and laughed a little at the joke.
"This isn't funny, I'm telling you. I'll have to be hungry now and I still lost R$5..." Arthur complained indignantly.
"So why are you ordering a R$20 drink? Not hungry?" The woman spoke without even looking at him.
"Have you never heard? Alcohol heals everything, even the deepest wounds. I am now waiting for a miracle, and I only have to pay three times the amount!"
"Wouldn't that be four times?" She asked back. She seemed strangely collaborative with this stranger, but was enjoying the conversation.
"Four?... Truth! My boy, the best bartender in the world, I only have $15! Take it or leave it!!" Arthur got up suddenly and tried to negotiate, "The R$5 I had went to fish!" This made the bartender stop and look at him strangely. The situation got a lot funnier now, with everyone looking at each other strangely without saying anything.
"But you said you didn't pay..." The bartender spoke with his eyes almost winking.
"True, huh..." The awkward silence returned with Arthur's comment.
"Pfft!" The woman laughed harder at the guy's demeanor. He was clearly lying, as he managed to get up to the first floor. That meant he had a lot more money.
"Okay, I'm kidding! Keep going. Make a negroni for this beautiful new friend of mine too!" Arthur sat back while waving his left hand playfully.
The woman took the time to look more closely at Arthur and saw that he was a really handsome and good-natured young man. But she felt nothing more than that, even as she accepted the drink. She liked this drink a lot, and that's why she allowed it.
'I must be a little drunk right now... This guy looks a little like him, like he's matured... that day when I washed your face, I imagined how you would mature too...' She thought with a sigh.
The bartender soon finished both drinks and delivered them at the same time.
Picking up his glass, Arthur raised it towards her as he said, "To failed negotiations, wasted money and new friendships!"
She didn't say anything, but lifted her glass to toast his, without even looking. But then his last sentence caught her attention and made her look at him in shock.
"But as a writer with a beautiful name once said: "Surrender as I surrendered. Dive into what you don't know like I did. Don't worry about understand, living exceeds all understanding!""
He looked deeply into her shocked eyes as a smile played on his lips.
"Isn't that right, Lis?"