Brazilian Summer

Chapter 13

They had passed the next two hours drinking and dancing at the bar. Rachel loved being introduced to Felipe's friends, they were a really loud and fun bunch. That was probably also why Rafa fitted right in. Only ten minutes after they had gotten to the other table and introductions had been made she was already the life of the party in the group.

Rachel couldn't have been happier to run into Felipe here but as her first surprise wore off she could feel the insecurity kicking in. How was she supposed to behave now? To her it was clear that she had feelings for him, it had made her stomach drop to just see him from the other end of the bar. But what did he want?

So far, she couldn't really tell. She thought that she had seen a knowing glance exchanged between Felipe and some of his friends as he had introduced her but that could have also only been wishful thinking. Or maybe worse, they might be thinking 'Oh so this is the lying one!'. They had danced for a few songs and Felipe had made sure that she always had a drink in her hand, even though sometimes he slipped in a bottle of water between caipirinhas.

It felt like he was looking out for her but Rachel couldn't be too sure. Maybe he was just being friendly. That thought caused an instant inner outcry of regret within her. For her it was clear that she wanted to be much more than friends and at several points of the night she'd have to stop herself from leaning over to kiss him.

And then there were all the delightful memories that came back with seeing him: what it felt like to kiss him and feel his strong arms wrap around her. The little noises he had made just before he went to sleep. How he turned around to check in on her when they'd been driving on his vespa. Having him so close to her again here brought all of this right back to the surface.

Eventually, the band announced that they were now going to play their last song. When it was over the crowd in the bar roared asking for an extension of the show so another song was played and even another one after that. But it was clear that the night there was slowly but surely coming to an end. Rachel wasn't nearly ready to say goodbye to Felipe again and tried to make her way over to Rafa without causing too much suspicion in order to strategize with her on what to do next.

'What am I gonna do now? I'm not ready to say goodbye to him yet!', she urgently whispered into Rafa's ear.

Rafa laughed and lifted an eyebrow at her. 'Then don't. Just because this bar is closing doesn't mean you have to call it a night. In fact I've already agreed with the boys that we'll have an afterparty at the AirBnB they have rented. It's just down the road from here.'

That was great news. But if it was up to Rachel she would much rather have some time with Felipe alone than joining 10 pleasantly tipsy friends for a dance in their living room. When the music stopped all together the people in the bar started moving towards the exit. There was a general feeling of departure in the air and some of Felipe's friends were also gathering their things to get going.

'We're going back to our place and have another drink there, you guys are coming, right?', Felipe asked Rachel after he had chatted to his mates again.

'Oh, we're definitely coming!', Rafa answered before Rachel could even open her mouth. She linked her elbow with one of Felipe's friends and was off towards the exit.

Rachel tried to hang back a little. She was hoping that Felipe would do the same so they could walk just a bit behind the rest of the group and get some quiet time to chat at least a little. To her delight the plan worked out just like that. The two of them were the last to leave the bar and once they had made it out onto the cobblestone road the two of them laughed at the samba songs the group was singing a few meters in front of them as they started their walk towards the apartment.