Forever (59 page)

She smiled, and humming to herself in an
unearthly beautiful voice, plucked up another butterfly, and then
another and another, until her hands shimmered with an exotic flock
seemingly poised to take flight.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The de Veiga jet had received clearance to
deviate from the normal flight path. Now, bringing the 747 down to
four thousand feet, the pilot put the big plane into a wide
sweeping turn. Below, the dark blue of the South Atlantic became
paler by degrees, and then Eduardo pointed, his finger tapping the
window. 'Rio will be coming up right there,' he said.

Stephanie leaned towards the Perspex. She
could see the hump-backed coastal islands below, like emerald
whales basking in the sun, and beyond them, the lushly vegetated
volcanic mass of mainland. And then the pilot banked the plane to
starboard and the wings dipped and, like magic, a whole panorama
opened up.

There it was, spread out right below them.
Rio in all its glory.

The breath caught in Stephanie's throat.
'It's so beautiful!' she exclaimed.

'It is one of the most beautiful cities in
the world,' Eduardo agreed. He smiled. 'To me it is the most
beautiful.'

And he pointed out all the familiar
landmarks: Ipanema and Rodrigo de Freigas Lake and Corcovado
Mountain with its giant statue of Christ on its peak and, off to
the right, Copacabana and Sugar Loaf. Flotillas of sparkling white
pleasure boats bobbed out in Guanabara B ay.

'See the racetrack below us?' he asked.
'That is the Jockey Club. I will take you there. And coming up is
the Jardim Botanico. The royal palms around its perimeter are one
hundred feet tall...'

Stephanie saw people sunning themselves
around the rooftop swimming pools of the skyscrapers and
bumper-to-bumper traffic on the wide thoroughfares which snaked
around the curves of the sandy beaches. And then she caught sight
of the other Rio - shanty-towns massed on the steep hills and
mountainsides all around. The profusion of slums was such that she
was shocked, and suddenly the city lost some of its lustre and the
day some of its dazzle.

Stephanie said, 'I've read about these
shantytowns, and seen pictures of them. But good God! I had no idea
they were this prevalent!' She glanced at Eduardo.

'There are no simple solutions,' he
explained. 'You must understand, Monica. Rio is huge. There are ten
million people, and millions of them are very, very poor. Poverty
here is more than just an enormous problem. It is a disease.'

'All the more reason that something should
be done about it,' Stephanie murmured, staring numbly back down at
the slums. It was hard to reconcile those vast tracts of cardboard
and tin hovels with this luxurious jet and the lavish
Chrysalis
. Could the distribution of wealth be so uneven? It
seemed impossible.

Then the plane executed a half-circle and
headed back out to sea in order to approach the International
Airport on the Ilha do Governador from the east.

In no time at all they were on the ground
and taxiing towards an out-of-the-way apron, where a limousine and
a Jeep with a uniformed official from immigration and another from
customs were waiting.

Eduardo unsnapped his seatbelt and stood up.
'This is where we get off,' he announced. Taking Stephanie's hand,
he pulled her to her feet. 'Welcome to Rio,' he said huskily,
drawing her close. He stared into her eyes. 'I hope you will love
it here as much as I.'

She held his gaze. 'I am sure I will,' she
said softly, wondering how things would work out. During the
twelve-and-a-half-hour flight from Nice, Eduardo had outlined his
plans for her. 'The world headquarters of Grupo da Veiga is in Sao
Paulo,' he had explained. 'My father is in charge of all operations
there. But we have substantial holdings in Rio and need to maintain
a large branch office there, which I head. That is where you will
work also. I am certain you will find it very exciting.'

Stephanie said fervently, 'I hope I won't be
a disappointment to you.'

He cupped her face in his hands and smiled.
'Somehow I doubt you could ever be that,' he said gently.

Oh, if only she could be so certain! But
then, she knew what he did not: that she was a fraud who had burst
into his life with an ulterior motive.

'We'd better be going,' he said. 'My parents
and Zaza are flying on to Sao Paulo. The sooner we bid them
goodbye, the sooner they can be on their way.'

In scant minutes, farewells were said,
luggage transferred from plane to car, and immigration and customs
- mere formalities for the de Veigas - observed.

Then they were in the chauffeured limousine,
heading into the city, a drive Stephanie would not soon forget.

She supposed it was due to the spectacular
urban sights as well as Eduardo's regaling her with tales of the
wonders she would find in this, his native country. Firing her
interest was obviously of paramount importance to him. But the
stories he came up with! So incredible and fantastic that she
wondered if he embellished them.

'There is so much you will find
fascinating,' he went on, saying that of all the places in the
world, next to Rio there was one he loved most: Recife.

Stephanie asked, 'And where is that?'

'North of here, closer to the equator. It is
an unspoiled colonial city on the Atlantic, built on a peninsula
and various islands - all linked by bridges.' He paused and
declared, 'We will go there together.'

As if I have no say in the matter, Stephanie
thought. But strangely enough, she felt no irritation. On the
contrary, she loved travelling and couldn't wait to see
everything.

Now they were riding along the heavily
trafficked Avenida Infante Don Henrique, alongside the wide expanse
of sand that was the Flamengo beach. Stephanie saw tanned women in
skimpy bikinis sunning themselves, and groups of athletic men in
tiny briefs playing soccer and volleyball.

'From the looks of things,' she mused, 'I'd
better buy myself a new bathing suit. I had no idea such skimpy
ones were in!!

Eduardo laughed. 'That's why they're called
fio dental - or dental floss?'

She had to laugh, but then suddenly frowned.
'Eduardo?' Her forehead creased. 'Why's nobody in the water?'

He sighed. 'Pollution,' he said grimly.
'Because of it none of the beaches surrounding Guanabara Bay are
suitable for bathing.'

'What a pity,' Stephanie murmured, it looks
like such a wonderful beach.'

'At least the ocean beaches are safe,' he
said, 'and there are many of them. Rio has over fifty miles of
beaches.'

'Yes, but still . . .' She stared out at the
accusingly empty body of water.

And then he brought up the Amazon: the
greatest river on earth in the greatest jungle on earth, where the
beauty was as breathtaking as the dangers were countless. Eduardo
painted a picture of a land before time ... of the Rio Negro, one
of the Amazon's many tributaries, where there are no mosquitoes and
the water is pitch black from the rotted vegetation which kills the
mosquito larvae . . . and the caimans, the South American
crocodiles . . . and the electric eels and piranha . . . and the
capybara, the largest rodent in the world, which can hold its
breath underwater for eight minutes.

'Eduardo!' she protested. 'When are we going
to find the time to go to all these places? I thought I would be
working -'

'And you shall,' he soothed, 'you shall. You
see, Monica, Grupo da Veiga has an enormous pharmaceutical testing
and manufacturing complex deep in the heart of the Amazon. It is
called Si'tto da Veiga, and every so often, we will have to fly up
there on business.'

They were on the Avenida des Na$oes Unidas,
where traffic breezed right through the mountains by means of two
long straight tunnels.

'Contrary to what some people believe,' he
went on, 'I personally find nothing wrong with mixing business and
pleasure.' He smiled raffishly. 'To me, they are one and the
same.'

He paused as the car entered the maw of the
second tunnel.

'Ah,' he said. 'Now we are almost there.'
And as they burst back out into the blinding sunlight, he
announced, 'Here we are. In the Zona Sul, the South Zone. Look
around you, Monica! We are in the travel-poster Rio de
Janeiro.'

Stephanie was alternately ducking her head
and craning her neck. This part of the city was affluent and
sleekly modern. There were shops and sidewalk cafes and skimpily
clad cariocas everywhere she looked.

At the end of the avenue, the car made a
right turn onto the Avenida Atlantica, which followed the vast
sweeping curve of Copacabana beach. All the lanes were crowded with
cars and buses and motorcycles, and the wide sidewalks, laid out in
great geometric patterns in black and white stone, were crowded
with pedestrians. As though oblivious to the constant stream of
traffic and people, the elegant facades of the high-rise apartment
buildings, swanky hotels, and stately Art Deco structures looked
out upon the beach and blue ocean like a species of very select
flowers whose faces were perpetually turned to the sun. Swimmers
and surfers were celebrating the big breakers, and kite fliers, sun
worshippers, and vendors were out en masse. Although it was a
weekday, there was a holiday spirit in the air.

Eduardo's right, Stephanie thought. This is
the very view I've seen on countless posters and postcards, in
books and movies and brochures . . . Only, no photograph had ever
quite done justice to the magnificent reality. She could see that
now.

'Well?' Eduardo asked. 'What do you
think?'

'What do I think?' She turned to him,
goggle-eyed with excitement. 'I think it's out of this world!'

'Good. Then we are in agreement ... as
usual.' He smiled at her.

'But I had no idea Copacabana was this huge\
The beach goes on forever!'

'And adjacent to it is Ipanema, which is
also enormous.' He nodded. 'I trust you will soon acquaint yourself
with it also. Now then. Would you like to drive around and sightsee
a bit more, or would you rather go directly to your apartment?'

She turned from the window to stare at
him.'My apartment? I ... I don't understand.'

He explained, 'Actually, it is one of many
buildings owned by Grupo da Veiga. In this one, we reserve a number
of furnished apartments for visiting VIPs. The apartment is sitting
there empty. Also, I should mention that you are welcome to live
there for as long as you wish. Permanently, if you are so
inclined.'

Permanently. She was stunned. 'I. . . I'd
like to see it,' she said.

Eduardo pressed a button which lowered the
glass divider behind the driver's seat, and gave the chauffeur
instructions.

Stephanie sat back, staring out at the
world's most famous beach. Once again, she felt curiously helpless,
as if everything had already been decided for her and was happening
in fast forward. She didn't know whether to feel gratitude or
irritation. Was Eduardo uncommonly thoughtful... or did he have
some ulterior motive? Abruptly she put that line of thought out of
her mind. / mustn't be ungrateful. I should appreciate everything
he's done for me. And, if he does have an ulterior motive, so do I,
so who am I to talk?

It was a penthouse duplex near the midpoint
of Copacabana beach, with two terraces overlooking the ocean. The
first floor consisted of a foyer, an enormous glass-walled living
room, a separate dining room, a big kitchen, a bathroom, and a
separate maid's room. Wide spiral teak stairs curved gracefully
from one end of the living room to three luxurious bedrooms
upstairs, each with its own marble bathroom. The furniture was
attractive and expensive and there were beautiful framed
lithographs on the walls.

A middle-aged woman with grey hair set in a
tight permanent met them at the front door.

'This is Astrid, the housekeeper,' Eduardo
said. 'She will help you get settled.'

'How do you do, Ms Williams?' Astrid's
English was accented but fluent.

'Fine, thank you,' Stephanie said, giving
the woman a friendly handshake. Eduardo didn't tell me about her.
She wondered what other surprises were in store.

A building porter arrived with Stephanie's
luggage and Astrid directed him upstairs. Then she turned to
Stephanie again and switched effortlessly from Portuguese back to
English. 'If you like, Ms Williams, I can show you around.'

'I'd be delighted!' Stephanie glanced at
Eduardo. 'You don't mind, do you?'

He smiled at her barely subdued excitement.
'Of course not.' He gestured. 'I will make myself a drink and wait
for you on the terrace.'

Stephanie followed Astrid. Everywhere she
looked the apartment was immaculate and set up for perfect
housekeeping - from the kitchen, which was stocked with every
conceivable appliance and item of food, to the bathrooms, with
their luxurious towels and imported soaps and perfumes and powders.
Informal bouquets of fresh cut flowers were in every room, and in
the master bedroom, the sliding doors were open, the floor-length
curtains billowing in the ocean breeze. Stephanie twitched them
aside and went out.

This terrace was stepped back, smaller than
the one below. But the view was awesome, and privacy from the
buildings to either side assured by opaque windscreens covered with
a sea of pink and magenta bougainvillaeas. Potted banana plants,
glossy, tooth- edged Japanese aucuba, dwarf citrus trees, Kentia
palms with seven foot fronds, and exotic orchids transformed it
into a tame jungle, while comfort was provided by the
yellow-and-white striped canvas awning and glass-topped tables and
a wealth of bamboo chairs and extra-long cushioned chaises. Luau
torchieres mounted on rakish bamboo stalks awaited being lit at
nightfall.