Bruna Nascimento and Lina Godoy breezed through immigration and followed the rest of the crew to the waiting van. A ten-minute drive brought them to the Caesar Park Hotel. The rising sun was painting the building with gold as they maneuvered their small suitcases through the revolving door and into the marble-floored lobby.
They checked in, sent their luggage upstairs, and then, as they often did after a long flight, the two young flight attendants went to the coffee shop.
Forty-five minutes later, they were on their second pot of hot chocolate and trying to get rid of Horacio Leao. Leao, their copilot, was handsome, single, and on a fast track to captain. He was also vain, shallow, and a crushing bore. His interests, as far as Bruna could determine, were limited to airplanes and sex. Horacio had been trying to get Bruna or Lina into bed for some time, and he’d made it abundantly clear that he’d be equally happy to score with either one.
“I’m just below the penthouse,” he was saying. “You can’t believe the view from up there. It’s almost as good as the one I get from the cockpit.”
Bruna toyed with her spoon and glanced out of the window at an A320 on its final approach. Lina looked at the tablecloth.
“So, how about it?” Leao looked from one woman to the other.
“One of you ladies want to have a look? I’ll get the check.”
He turned to signal the waiter; Bruna and Lina exchanged a what-an-idiot glance.
“We have some girl things to talk about,” Bruna said as Leao scribbled his name on the check. “What’s your room number?”
Leao furrowed his brow. She could practically see him decide to be hopeful.
“1607,” he said.
“See you later, then.”
Later, she thought, would be when they were in the van, on their way to board the return flight.
Leao got to his feet and favored her with a leer before he swaggered off.
“Creep,” she said, as soon he was out of earshot.
“Screw him,” Lina said.
“Not on your life.”
“Figuratively, I meant. Come on, Bruna, come with me. It’ll be fun.”
Bruna shook her head. “I need sleep.”
They were on a seventy-two-hour layover. Lina was going to her uncle’s country place in Juquiti, a municipality three hours’ drive to the south. The uncle’s partner, Franco, was a gourmet cook. And neither man ever talked about airplanes.
But Bruna was exhausted. Her holiday on St. Bart’s had been anything but restful. Henri, the diving instructor she’d met on St. Jean Beach, had seen to that.
“I’m going to get into bed,” she said, “and I’m going to sleep for twelve hours. Then I’ll take it from there.”
“Take what where? This hotel’s in a dead zone.” Lina gestured toward the window where the control tower of Guarulhos Airport towered over some shrubbery and a chain-link fence.
“But in here there’s double glazing and room service,” Bruna said. She glanced at her watch. “Let’s go up to the room. Your uncle’s almost due.”
“He’s always late,” Lina said.
Upstairs, Lina stripped off her skirt and blouse. Bruna kicked off her shoes and inquired about messages.
There weren’t any.
Lina opened her suitcase, took out a shoulder bag, and started stuffing it with things she might need. “Nothing from your Frenchman?” she asked.
Bruna shook her head. “I’ll give him another ten minutes. Then I’m going to block incoming calls.”
“You? Block incoming calls? You must be exhausted.”
“I told you,” Bruna said, standing up and removing her blouse.
“Why don’t you call him?” Lina said and disappeared into the bathroom.
“You have any idea,” Bruna said, raising her voice so Lina could hear her over the sound of running water, “how much it would cost to call St. Bart’s from this hotel?”
“Probably a lot, but you could make it short, tell him to call you back.”
“I told him where I’d be. He’s the man, so he’s supposed to call. I don’t want him to think I’m chasing him.”
“Which you are.”
“Which I am, but I don’t want him to think so.”
Lina stepped out of the shower and Bruna stepped in. She’d just turned off the tap when the telephone rang. Lina answered it, but it wasn’t Henri. It was her Uncle Eduardo, and he was downstairs.
“Gotta run,” she said, coming into the bathroom to give Bruna a peck on the cheek.
Bruna heard the door slam and picked up the hair dryer.
It seemed as if she’d barely laid her head on the pillow when something woke her from a steamy dream in which Henri was playing a major role.
She squirmed, stretched, and looked at the clock. Half past eleven. She’d slept three hours, no more. She frowned, rubbed the sleep from her eyes. And then it came again: the sound of someone rapping at her door. She was sure she had hung out the DO NOT DISTURB sign. Once more, the same knock, furtive, as if the knocker didn’t want anyone in the neighboring rooms to hear; insistent, as if the intruder knew she was there.
Which, of course, he did. It had to be that damned copilot. He must have seen Lina leaving for her uncle’s sitio, must know Bruna was alone.
“Who’s there?” she said, not bothering to keep the irritation out of her voice.
There was no answer.
“I’m trying to get some sleep,” she said. “Whoever the hell you are, come back later. Come back in ten hours.”
The reply came in the form of three gentle taps, neither harder nor softer than before.
Furious now, she went to her open suitcase and felt around until she’d found her kimono.
“All right,” she said, searching for the sleeves and finding them. “I’m coming. Wait.”
And she did let him wait. She went into the bathroom, splashed some cold water on her face, grabbed a brush and smoothed her blond hair. Finally, she went to the door and removed the chain. If she’d been more awake, or if it hadn’t been the Caesar Park Hotel, with all the security in the world, or if she hadn’t been quite sure that it was their copilot, she might have kept the chain on.
But she didn’t.