As expected, Litz couldn’t sleep properly at the hotel. She had a nightmare: she was at work and nobody knew she had resigned, so she had to tell it again. When she woke up, she took a quick shower, grabbed a take-away coffee directly by one of the housemaids in the kitchen and went to the beach. The village was silent, it was only 7 AM.
While she was walking slowly, Litz laughed at herself, wearing a bikini and drinking hot coffee in summer on a desert Brazilian beach. The ocean was very wavy and she felt connected to it. Her past few months had been turbulent and she couldn’t keep her focus outward yet. Instead, she went inward and lost herself in myriads of thoughts, fears, hopes.
When she came back, she spotted her friend Sally with Alan at Cafè da Moeda, the only place to sip a decent espresso. She joined them for a maracujà juice, as she knew they were just colleagues and they would stop speaking German. Sally missed speaking her language, so she often hanged out with German cruisers to take a break from English. (Too bad she recruited an Argentinian gentleman a few weeks later).
– I really can’t understand your behavior like a teenager, Sally.
Alan was complaining, when Litz joined them.
– I don’t understand why I should sit at the same cafè as a gentleman who rejected my offer.
Basically, there was one of Sally’s talents with his new Brazilian girlfriend at another table. Sally had attempted to leave, but Alan had forced her to stay and not be dramatic about it.
– Sally, I believe both of us have behaved like teenagers for the past few days.
Said Litz.
S: – Why the Hell would you agree with him?
L: – Because he is grounded and speaks the truth. Being rejected is nothing to be so dramatic about.
S: – You were rejected, maybe. I was fooled! He said to have such a deep connection with our company culture and now, what? He joined her new girlfriend’s start-up!
L: – The gentleman I interviewed last week has a new girlfriend as well, if that makes you happier.
Litz and Alan laughed, Sally was curious instead.
S: – Seriously? How do you know that?
L: – Everybody saw them last night. I didn’t even want to speak to him anymore. That’s ridiculous, he quit the selection process to join her start-up. I will just archive his documents and you should do the same.
S: – So you are telling me that you don’t feel hurt? Maybe you will go and wish them to get married?
L: – Oh, come on, of course I’m hurt, but I will never chase him. I will just focus on something else, like planning my trip to Rio.
A: – I don’t want to hear more of this HR talk, sorry. See you later at the barbecue?
Alan asked, visibly embarrassed.
L & S: – Sure thing!
Some cruisers had wisely booked in advance an amazing property for their stay at Porto de Galinhas. That afternoon they would throw a barbecue (unbeknownst to their owner).
At the barbecue, Litz sat quietly down on the grass, eating meat and drinking some non-alcoholic cocktail. She felt more pissed than she could admit to her friend and didn’t want to say or do anything wrong in front of the former candidate. Surprisingly, he had come alone. Litz went to the kitchen to get some water and she found Sally openly teasing her talent, who was making an avocado salad for her, because she was vegan. The room was suddenly filled with tension, because also his girlfriend arrived. Litz ran to the toilet, feeling ashamed of Sally’s behavior.
She never knew exactly what happened next.
