Aris and Lui

By Adriano Pereira Lima

At the end of the 90’s and at the beginning of the 2000’s, Luis Carlos Silveira, a Portuguese man from Porto, Portugal meets Jenny, both fall in love; they marry and have a daughter. In Brazil, São Paulo, Aris Tavares is a teenager who has a dream of living in the United Kingdom; the young boy experiences something that will not forget for the rest of his life. Nowadays, the Portuguese man and the Brazilian guy have met each other through social networks and become great virtual friends, and they are both lonely. One deals with a loss of a loved person while the other one tries to overcome the trauma of the past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adriano Pereira Lima
• Release date: Jan 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781547560202

Book preview

Preface

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The following content will show two stories and two main characters, however, and the life of these protagonists of this work will cross.

This is a work of fiction based on a true story. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter 1: A man in love

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Blue waters lighted up through the solar lights in a sunny Saturday of a summer afternoon.  Several seagulls were flying above the Matosinhos beach; one of these birds, a white one with black wings and a yellow beak saw Luis Carlos Silveira; a young man, whose 32 years old, 5’10" tall, black hair, pale skin and a beauty according to his Portuguese symmetry; he was sitting in one of the table of a terrace bar. Nuno Figueira, his childhood friend, smiley, a jovial spirit arrived, and then both have met to go to a friend birthday party.

— Hello guy!

— Hi Nuno, I am relaxing as usual, just got a job in Maia, in the area that I always wanted to start soon.

— That's great! Tell me in the way, we are going to meet a girl who is taking a tour here in Porto, Jenny, she is from London.

— Man, I don't want to know about any woman! 

— Are you gay?

— You know, I like women of all sorts, nothing against men, but I will never understand how to be with a man. 

— Come on  mate!

Both drank beers, after paying the bill, they were walking slowly to the car. Luis Carlos took the key to open the door, and it fell to the ground. A seagull that was down appeared suddenly took the keychain with the beak and started flying. They have gone after the bird that ran towards the sea curving to the right and landed on the sand of the beach. The Portuguese man's brown eyes sighted a medium-sized stone in front of his feet, his body heat cooled down; he was crouching to take it; he stood up and shot the bird and the key was off the beak falling on the sandy soil. 

— You were too rude to this seagull.

— What counts is my car I paid and not these pests that people feed and the government does nothing about this and need to take attitude not to encourage this act, let's go, it's already getting cold.

When he started the car, was distancing from the beach. The seagull was distancing from the world walking slowly losing forces, and losing the life, the solar lights distanced coloring blue sea reflection, weaker, the bird could fly and walk anymore, stopped. The brightness and of the lights of its sight of the natural beauties they were all erased being dark.

Luis Carlos had a weird sensation while he drove the car feeling a sudden shiver and took a deep breath.

— Are you okay Luis?

— I think so Nuno, it was suddenly, but nothing bad. — He said. 

He drove the vehicle to Vila do Conde, in the north of the city, in a friend's house who invited them. Hours later at Leda's house, some friends talked and drank wine made in the cellars of Porto. Someone rang the bell. Someone opened the door, it was Jenny; when he looked at her for the first sight; it was as if time had frozen at that moment, his eyes kept shine.

— Hi Portuga, I got it!

— Got it what?

— Invite her to go out!

Luis Carlos's face was smiley and red.

— He wants your phone number.

— Shut up guy! — He muttering for Nuno.

Jenny opened a smiled and threw the brightness from her eyes to Luis Carlos' a start between them a syntony, a chill. The time really has stopped at that moment, everything was motionless as if a stone hit them in their heads.

— Are you alright?

— Yes, better now.

After hearing the answer, the English woman smiled and embarrassed herself. There were a few people, a few friends of Leda's friend whom Nuno talked with. They intertwined looks and started talking about their lives comfortably in the terrace. The atmosphere started getting nice between them.

— Shall we meet again?

— Sure! I will be at my friend's house one week. — Opening a smile.

They exchanged phone numbers.

Luis Carlos and Nuno left the party and went away; both talked on the way about a soccer match they had seen on television the day before, Benfica against FC Porto, throws and pitches and about the girls at the party.

— They are really beautiful!

— You have to go out with Jenny; she will make you feel very well. 

— I can't wait.

He left his friend Nuno in front of the door of the house, then he went to his house after having parked the car in the garage, his parents slept. He went to his room to put pyjamas. At bedtime, the image of Jenny did not get out of his mind, totally delighted, he wanted to call her at that moment, to arrange an appointment. However it was too late, too late, the schedule did not allow him to wake her up, and he fell asleep happy. The next day, after getting down to have breakfast, in the dining room, he looked at his two croissants and a cup of coffee, sitting waiting for the time to call Jenny. It was too early. Exactly ten a.m., he called her. Leda answered and passed the telephone to Jenny:

— Good morning!

— Good morning dear! 

— So we can go this afternoon to take a walk in the city in case you don't know Porto yet.

— Of course, we can take a walk, I'm here to work, but surely, and I want to be this day in good presence. — Laughing.

— Sure! — Smiling. 

Hours later, after taking a bath, only  wearing a towel in his bedroom to choose the best clothes in his wardrobe to please her. Luis was dressed, tidy and perfumed. He took his car and went to Vila do Conde. In front of Leda's house, he beeped. She has appeared, wearing flowery summer yellow dress to her knees.

After parking the car, they walked to Ribeira, one of the oldest locations of Porto. Jenny took some photos of the River Douro, the Dom Luís Bridge, postcards of the city. They went to a nearby terrace bar for a drink. Luis Carlos was a little unsafe, and not able to begin a conversation at that moment.

— The day is sunny today.

— We are almost in the summer, here in Porto, I come here almost always, and lately I have little time.

— What do you do?

— I work with fashion; I'm stylist, draw many  dresses and you?

— With financial movements in a retail store network, there is a branch here in Porto, but let's change the subject and take a walk. Do you like to talk about tourism?

— You're right! I like very much... if I could, I would travel all over the world!

He took the woman's hand. They were walking hand in hand going to the parking lot, near a pier. They got on the car and began to go sightseeing through the city while he was showing and telling her story of each tourist spot of the city. Luis Carlos took the Boavista Avenue going towards the sea, in one of the beaches with sunny weather and a breeze, reached the sea, hand in hand again. Both noticed affinities, dialogues in the car, the same favorite songs, same kind of movie.

— How about watching a movie at home, I have a tape of the movie Adam and Eve.

— I love this film Luis, wonderful, but how about Scream by Wes Craven in the movies,  I love horror pictures.

— I am afraid of horror films.

— I can't believe it! — Laughing.

— But for you I see this picture.

— Wow sweet!

They walked to the Castelo de Queijo door, radiant, almost forming a couple in fact, and the harmony between them has strengthened step by step. They were already a prince and a princess back in time to the 7th century. A seagull landed near them and Luis Carlos expelled the bird that flew and went away.

— You are evil!

— No, these vultures are terrible, too many of them here, they are tricky.

— There are seagulls everywhere in the world. — Jenny walked slowly towards the Portuguese guy.

— They steal, as for example your heart.

Suddenly he kissed her. They did not contain each other, and could not believe that they would approach quickly. It has been love at first sight since the first encounter at the party in Leda's house. He met her the day before, and fell in love. They went to the movies to watch Scream, and could not move away from each other, hand in hand of the scares which they got throughout the scenes. Then, he took her to Leda's house, and they gave a kiss. They arranged to meet each other more times until the return of Jenny to London.

He called Nuno to tell who he had kissed her in front of the castle. His friend suggested going to the city where the new Portuguese man's girlfriend lived frequently to keep contact between the couple.

They had been keeping in touch through phone calls and visits from Luis Carlos to London and Jenny to Porto and months have passed. She got along with her father-in-law Emanuel Silveira and mother-in-law Ana Claudia Silveira. During a lunch in family in Luis Carlos' house, his parents, Jenny and