Chapter 5 Two

"Um." I snorted without opening my mouth. "What makes a person return to São Paulo after more than twenty years living in the gringa?" I scoffed.

"Stop, ta think it's a fairy tale out there?" My mother laughed.

"St. Paul's is not." I said as we sat down at the table.

We had our breakfast while I was thinking about that young man I saw get out of the car, was he the boy I had played with as a little girl? I could go there and say hi with that excuse, or not.

"Oh beautiful, I wouldn't want to mess up your fertile, but we have to run and you're still in towel on your head." My mother spoke waving her hand in front of me.

"Aff, I had already forgotten." I snorted. I swallowed my coffee and ran to the bedroom to finish my mane.

My hair has always been as independent as I am, when straight comes to hit the waist, but when curled gives the back, I love it all defined, but there is patience to finish. I grabbed the cream, opened the jar over the bathroom sink and took it to her hair.

"Come on Jasmine!" My mother was already screaming at the bedroom door.

"I'm going, Mama!" I yelled back. I closed the cream, washed my hands, and walked out room. I put on my receptionist dress, put on a quick nude lipstick and put on my sneakers.

When I left the room my mother was already outside taking the car out of the garage, I grabbed the key in the keychain and left closing the doors with everything when I heard my mother honking impatiently.

"It's eight in the morning, Mrs. Marilia, for God's sake." I said running up to the car.

I went in and put on the belt, when she was already affirming I remembered that I had forgotten the phone.

"Stop, stop, stop." I said, slapping my hand on my forehead.

"What was it this time, daughter of God?" My mother stared straight at me.

"My phone, I forgot my phone." I said snorting.

I got out of the car again.

"Daughter, it's already seven and fifty-five." My mother spoke staring at me out the window.

"Do it like this, go ahead." I motioned with my hand for her to go and turned her back.

"And you beautiful thing?" She screamed from the car.

"I'm walking, Mrs. Marilia. It's there. In ten minutes I'll get there, go soon!" I pointed to the street. "Go beautiful, go!" I spoke knowing that at eight we should already have everything ready to open. My mother is very punctual and the restaurant is not far away, we live a street from downtown. It would arrive quiet in ten minutes, even several times I had been walking home just to spend leg.

"Okay, okay." She said in reverse. "I love you." He yelled from the car and drove away.

I grabbed the key and opened the house all over again, went inside and went to my room to get my phone and headphones, I was no one without those two gadgets. I enjoyed it and got the kindle too, I love reading a little on my lunch break. I grabbed a bag aside and walked out of the house locking everything up again. Outside, I stuffed the kindle and keys into the bag, put the bluetooth headphones in my ear, and tossed my hair over the top to disguise. You never know when the owners will show up right! The honor of living in Brazil is knowing that you buy and have the possibility to give as a gift to the owners. I was entertained choosing the song I was going to listen to – A Thousand Miles – when the kid appeared outside talking to the driver of the moving truck. Wow!. I stared at him without completely taking my eyes off the phone, he seemed to have noticed me for a few moments, but soon returned to paying attention to the driver's conversation. I put the phone on my chest, the Brazilian's hiding place, and went on my way. Since I tend to believe I'm an artist when I'm walking around and listening to music, I started my private show.

"I'm Estefani, in my CrossFox, I'm going out, I'm going to travel, I'm going to have fun, I'm not going to be waiting for you anymore because now I'm too much..." The music in the Brazilian version is much better.

I followed lost in my thoughts to the center of Holambra, a walk of only ten minutes. I arrived at the front of the restaurant facing the glass doors with the big sign written: Sweet Jasmine. Yes, the restaurant has my name, it's being too important, right? I walked in going straight into the kitchen.

"I've arrived." I warned my mother.

"Okay, go to the reception." She spoke.

My mom has had her restaurant since she married my dad! It was her dream to do gastronomy, but in my grandmother's time it did not give money, so at the request of her mother she did administration, which today has become very useful with the restaurant, but soon after the wedding she took the gastronomy course that she wanted so much at the encouragement of Dad. My mother is amazing in the kitchen, the best dishes come from her, here we serve everything, but the same success is always the sweet desserts. The atmosphere is cozy and sophisticated at the same time, with all the furniture and decoration in woody brown; Cabinet of samples of drinks with every kind of drink possible, although what comes out more here is the famous coffee of Mrs. Marília, with taste of home. Not to mention the smell of Jasmine that reigns the environment, my mother always passes the essence of Jasmine before opening, and soon at the reception and in some specific points, small jars with Jasmine decorate the environment. We have a sizable audience because we cater to all audiences by opening at eight and closing at nine o'clock at night. Having on the menu: Breakfast, lunch, dessert and dinner. My mother is the head cook, but she has the help of Marileide – she hates this name, so we always call her Mari. – I work at the reception always welcoming everyone who arrives and when it is a little slow I also take orders, but we have the waiters who are Mario and Solange – who likes to be called Sol.

Soon the three of us arrived and we began our work quietly. I love working on sweet Jasmine, I feel a little bit of my dad in this place. He loved to cook together with my mother, and was always in favor of her opening this restaurant and so she opened it, to have it a little more. The smell of this place reminds me of my home, and I've never been as happy as I am when I'm in here, I remember running with my dad around this place and cooking together when I didn't even know how to do anything, just eat. With the start of college it was agreed that I would take classes at night and work with her during the day. For the night shift we can hire an apprentice since it is only from six to nine. As my college is Unicamp and is in Campinas, I can go back and forth by car. Everything programmed down to the last details.

The day was quite productive and went even faster than expected, including for me who had time to listen to all the gossip in the neighborhood. The best part of working in a restaurant is that you hear all kinds of gossip, although nowadays I see more people on the phone than talking, but there are still those who go there to gossip during lunch break, or to talk bad about work, is what I hear the most. At lunchtime I took my plate and decided to eat at the back door, which led to an alley that also led to the back door of the shed next door and to the barrel where we put the garbage at the end of the day. I loved being on this side in my free time because here the calm reigns and no one stays.