Page 8 of Please, Forgive Me

There it was. The real reason he’d barged in. In the end, everything always came back to work.

And at least that was a conversation I was willing to have.

I sighed, finally pulling my gaze from the screen to focus on him.

“What exactly did the team say about the failure?” I asked, already lining up a list of steps in my head.

“They think it’s a flaw in the security protocol—something that slipped through in the last update.” His tone was serious now, for the first time since walking in. “You’ll need to review it yourself. We can’t risk losing this client, and the media’s already sniffing around.”

I nodded, slipping into problem-solving mode. Because that’s what I did best.

Fix. Control. Contain the fire before it got out of hand.

It was what kept me on top.

And yet, even as Alexandre kept talking through the technical details, part of my mind—the part I rarely let wander—drifted to Maria Gabriela.

No matter what crisis was in front of me, she always found her way back into my thoughts. Like a song I couldn’t get out of my head.

Even with all the technical problems piling up at the company, there was something about her that always crept back into my mind—like a song you can’t shake.

Focus, Diego.

Work first. Feelings later. If there are even feelings beyond the game. With a resigned sigh, I forced my attention back to the issue at hand.

“I’ve got something else,” Alexandre broke into my thoughts, his tone casual. And I already knew I wasn’t going to like it.

“Oh, here we go…” I muttered under my breath, folding my arms, bracing for it.

“I’m taking Theo over to your place this week. He wants to play with Arthur.” He said it with complete ease, like he was doing me a favor.

I just nodded, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

And it was.

Our sons were the same age—five—and had gotten along from the start. It was almost eerie how the two boys looked like miniature versions of us. Sometimes, downright unsettling.

Not that I ever let it show. And Alexandre never brought up our own childhood either—duties, discipline, little joy.

The kids would play, and for a moment, it felt like life gave us a pause.

But Alexandre didn’t notice how much it unsettled me. Or maybe he did and chose to ignore it. Like always.

I forced myself to focus, pushing away the memories clawing up from the back of my mind. Because sometimes, it all felt like too much.

Arthur didn’t understand why I was always absent.

And for all the control I had over everything else, I couldn’t control the memories. They tied my stomach in knots every time they surfaced.

And Alexandre? Oblivious. Like always.

“All right, then,” I said simply, hiding any trace of discomfort. “Have Theo bring that new ball of his. Arthur’s going to love it.”

Alexandre smiled, satisfied. But I knew he sensed when something bothered me. And, as usual, he didn’t dig deeper.

Sometimes, I was grateful for that. Other times, I wished he would ask. But not today. Not now.

Because I remembered.