Brandon, \u00een schimb, nu mai era acela\u0219i. \u00cen spatele costumelor scumpe \u0219i al z\u00e2mbetelor pentru aparate de fotografiat, purta \u00een suflet o greutate care \u00eel ap\u0103sa din ce \u00een ce mai tare. \u00cen serile lini\u0219tite, c\u00e2nd Olivia fredona \u00eencet c\u00e2te o melodie popular\u0103 pe care o \u00eenv\u0103\u021base de la bunica ei, b\u0103rbatul sim\u021bea cum minciuna care \u00eei desp\u0103r\u021bea ardea ca un cu\u021bit \u00eenfipt \u00een carne vie.<\/p>\n
\u00cei pl\u0103cea s-o urm\u0103reasc\u0103 atunci c\u00e2nd, cu m\u00e2necile suflecate, fr\u0103m\u00e2nta aluatul pentru p\u00e2ine, a\u0219a cum f\u0103cuser\u0103 genera\u021bii \u00eentregi \u00een satele rom\u00e2ne\u0219ti. Mirosul de coaj\u0103 rumenit\u0103 umplea casa \u0219i \u00eel f\u0103cea s\u0103 se simt\u0103, pentru prima dat\u0103, acas\u0103. Dar acel cuv\u00e2nt, \u201eacas\u0103\u201d, era cl\u0103dit pe o minciun\u0103 ru\u0219inoas\u0103.<\/p>\n
Olivia, cu modestia \u0219i bun\u0103tatea ei, \u00eencepuse s\u0103-l \u00eenve\u021be ce \u00eenseamn\u0103 dragostea adev\u0103rat\u0103. Nu erau darurile scumpe, nici mesele luxoase \u00een restaurante de top. Era o ciorb\u0103 simpl\u0103 de legume pus\u0103 pe mas\u0103, era o lum\u00e2nare aprins\u0103 seara, era felul ei de a-l asculta f\u0103r\u0103 s\u0103-l judece. \u0218i el \u0219tia, cu fiecare clip\u0103 care trecea, c\u0103 \u00eei rupea sufletul cu t\u0103cerea lui.<\/p>\n
\u00centr-o sear\u0103 de prim\u0103var\u0103, dup\u0103 o ploaie cald\u0103, Olivia ie\u0219i pe teras\u0103. P\u0103m\u00e2ntul din ghivece mirosea a proasp\u0103t, iar printre plante, ea descoperi c\u0103 micile semin\u021be plantate cu luni \u00een urm\u0103 scoseser\u0103 primele frunzuli\u021be. Brandon o privi din prag. Avea \u00een m\u00e2n\u0103 un pahar cu vin, dar pentru prima dat\u0103, nu \u00eei mai ardea g\u00e2tul b\u0103utura, ci con\u0219tiin\u021ba.<\/p>\n
\u2014 E\u0219ti fericit\u0103 aici? \u2014 \u00eentreb\u0103 el, cu o voce joas\u0103.
Olivia se \u00eentoarse \u0219i z\u00e2mbi, cu ochii lumino\u0219i.
\u2014 Sunt fericit\u0103 cu tine. Restul e doar decor.<\/p>\n
Cuvintele ei \u00eel sf\u00e2\u0219iar\u0103. \u0218tia c\u0103 nu merit\u0103 acea iubire curat\u0103, n\u0103scut\u0103 din nimic altceva dec\u00e2t din sinceritatea inimii. \u00cen acea noapte nu putu s\u0103 doarm\u0103. Se plimba prin apartamentul de sticl\u0103, auzind \u00een minte r\u00e2sul prietenilor s\u0103i care-l aclamau pentru pariu c\u00e2\u0219tigat.<\/p>\n
A doua zi, \u00ee\u0219i chem\u0103 prietenii la vila de var\u0103. \u00cei privi \u00een ochi, unul c\u00e2te unul, \u0219i le spuse cu o voce ferm\u0103:
\u2014 \u00cemi pare r\u0103u pentru jocul stupid la care am participat. Am c\u00e2\u0219tigat pariul, dar am pierdut onoarea. \u0218i dac\u0103 mai aud pe cineva batjocorind numele so\u021biei mele, nu o s\u0103 mai r\u0103m\u00e2n doar la cuvinte.<\/p>\n
R\u00e2setele lor se stinser\u0103. Brandon se ridic\u0103 \u0219i plec\u0103, l\u0103s\u00e2ndu-i cu paharele goale \u0219i fe\u021be surprinse.<\/p>\n
\u00cenapoi acas\u0103, g\u0103si pe mas\u0103 un bile\u021bel. Olivia scrisese cu scrisul ei caligrafic: \u201eAm fost s\u0103 duc flori la biseric\u0103. \u00centorc repede.\u201d Brandon lu\u0103 biletul \u0219i \u00eel str\u00e2nse la piept. Sim\u021bi atunci c\u0103 trebuia s\u0103-i spun\u0103 adev\u0103rul, chiar dac\u0103 risca s-o piard\u0103.<\/p>\n
Seara, c\u00e2nd Olivia intr\u0103 pe u\u0219\u0103 cu m\u00e2inile pline de lalele, el se ridic\u0103 \u0219i i le lu\u0103 din bra\u021be.
\u2014 Olivia\u2026 trebuie s\u0103-\u021bi spun ceva.<\/p>\n
Femeia \u00eel privi, surprins\u0103 de gravitatea vocii lui. Brandon \u00ee\u0219i adun\u0103 toat\u0103 puterea \u0219i \u00eei povesti totul: pariul, banii, ru\u0219inea. Pe m\u0103sur\u0103 ce vorbea, chipul ei se albea, iar florile \u00eei sc\u0103par\u0103 din m\u00e2ini, r\u0103sp\u00e2ndindu-se pe podea.<\/p>\n
Lini\u0219tea care se a\u0219ternu dup\u0103 m\u0103rturisirea lui era mai grea dec\u00e2t orice t\u0103cere tr\u0103ise vreodat\u0103.<\/p>\n
Dar Olivia, dup\u0103 c\u00e2teva clipe, ridic\u0103 ochii umezi spre el \u0219i spuse \u00eencet:
\u2014 Mi-ai fr\u00e2nt inima, Brandon. Dar nu pot s\u0103 ignor tot ce am tr\u0103it \u00een aceste luni. \u0218tiu c\u0103 ai gre\u0219it. \u00centrebarea e: ce vei face de acum \u00eenainte?<\/p>\n
Brandon c\u0103zu \u00een genunchi \u00een fa\u021ba ei. Pentru prima dat\u0103, nu mai era milionarul arogant, ci doar un b\u0103rbat care-\u0219i dorea iertarea femeii pe care ajunsese s-o iubeasc\u0103.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Voi face orice, Olivia. Nu pentru bani, nu pentru pariuri. Pentru tine.<\/p>\n
Ea \u00eel privi \u00eendelung, cu ochii \u00eenc\u0103 plini de lacrimi, dar \u00een spatele lor ardea o lumin\u0103 de speran\u021b\u0103. \u0218i, \u00een acea sear\u0103, \u00eentr-un apartament plin de flori r\u0103sfirate pe podea, cei doi au \u00eenceput, pentru prima dat\u0103, o via\u021b\u0103 adev\u0103rat\u0103 \u00eempreun\u0103.<\/p>\n
Un \u00eenceput cl\u0103dit nu pe o minciun\u0103, ci pe adev\u0103r, pe iertare \u0219i pe dragostea aceea simpl\u0103, autentic\u0103, ce-\u0219i g\u0103se\u0219te r\u0103d\u0103cini ad\u00e2nci, asemenea florilor pe care Olivia le \u00eengrijea cu at\u00e2ta r\u0103bdare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brandon, \u00een schimb, nu mai era acela\u0219i. \u00cen spatele costumelor scumpe \u0219i al z\u00e2mbetelor pentru aparate de fotografiat, purta \u00een suflet o greutate care \u00eel ap\u0103sa din ce \u00een ce mai tare. \u00cen serile lini\u0219tite, c\u00e2nd Olivia fredona \u00eencet c\u00e2te o melodie popular\u0103 pe care o \u00eenv\u0103\u021base de la bunica ei, b\u0103rbatul sim\u021bea cum minciuna […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-povesti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5236,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5231\/revisions\/5236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}