Past:

Michelle Clarkson was a very pretty girl. She worked at the municipal library during the day and went to study business administration at the School of Commerce at night.

She was punctual and organized at work. Her love for books showed, in her indications to the library members, that often asked for her opinions. Michelle also got good grades at school.

She was working hard and educating herself because she had a dream. Mainly it consisted of leaving her home because her parents drank a lot, the house was always a mess and the shouting and cursing were constant there.

Fortunately, she was never beaten by them because the parents entertained themselves by hitting each other. Many times, Michelle had to clean their mess after they had broken furniture and glasses and went to the bedroom or the nearest sofa for a drunken slumber. She was used to it since it had been happening her whole life, nonetheless, it made her sad.

When she saw families hugging in the park, or showing interest in what one was saying to the other, she was sure she was never going to have that with her parents.

Her neighbor was a retired teacher and gave her a lot of good books. Michelle absorbed ideas from great people that had overcome challenges as sickness or poverty.

Abraham Lincoln, Marie Curie, Martin Luther King, and Thomas Edson became role models for her. She talked to the old teacher and asked her if, in the current days, success could be obtained, as it was shown in those biographies. The teacher said yes. And the formula was the same, work and studies.

So Michelle made her plan and was living it. She was saving money from a job that she loved and she studied business administration. Her first step would be to get a place for herself, even a room in some boarding house would suffice. Then, with skills from her college education, she would try to find a position in some stories and work hard to become a manager in the long run.

This would make it possible for her to think of having her own family someday because she loved kids.

She often read stories for some kids weekly at the library in her free time.

Michelle was really a good girl and life seemed to be rewarding her efforts, after her harsh start in a difficult family.

A BUSINESSMAN

When Tom White entered the library and asked Michelle´s help to find some books about international trade, she didn´t think much about it.

Many business people used the library and she was used to seeing well-dressed men. She found him handsome and polite, but it was a normal thing. The only difference was the way he talked to her when he was living, “Thanks, sugar. See you tomorrow.”

Michelle´s attention was caught by the intimate way he said that. As if he was asking her on a date. And she liked when he called her sugar. Michelle was not used to compliments, she never even heard the tender words that most children hear from their parents. The guys at school also didn´t flirt with her, because she always dressed with simplicity and wore no makeup. She didn´t have any time or money for vanity, while other girls who were surrounded by suiters seemed to have both.

Then, being realistic due to a lifetime of disappointments, she concluded that he said that because he didn´t know her name. It made sense and calmed down her accelerated heart a little.

But the next day brought new compliments and a rose. It was the first one she had ever received, even being already nineteen.

“Hey, beautiful. Can you help me find some more books?”

“Sure, Mr. White.” His name was on the library card.

“Call me Tom, please. I am not that old at twenty-six, am I?”

“Of course not, Tom.”

This went on for a week and then, when Tom had finished his book search he asked Michelle to go out for a coffee.

During this first date, Tom said beautiful and pleasant things to her. She was soon infatuated with him. He courted her for a month, taking her out every day after school. She even missed some classes which got her teachers worried. One of them even had a talk with her to check if everything was alright. But she assured the teacher that it was just a schedule conflict and nothing else.

Because she had a great memory and a quick mind, the teachers always encouraged and helped her. Everybody believed she was going to achieve her goals of success because she was not shy in sharing her dreams of a better life. Many students talked about their reason for doing this course and their choices for the future.

A DIFFERENT DREAM COMES FIRST

When Tom kissed her mouth for the first time, he noticed that Michelle was very inexperienced and he made her tell him the truth. In fact, it was her first kiss. Instead of being disappointed like she thought he would be, he changed his words from sugar and sweetie to my love.

She was surprised and delighted. Michelle loved Tom with all her heart now. And not only because he had showered her with flowers, nice chocolate, and beautiful dresses. It was more because of his intent look and tender words. She believed in everything he said and every promise he made.

Soon their dreams were the same. Basically, get married, have kids, and open a business together. He had a great amount of money to invest because he had saved during some years working with import-export trades.

Six months had passed since their first encounter and Tom already knew all about her troubles at home. One day, when she was feeling down, after a violent scene at home, he suggested that they got away from all this.

Michelle instantly said yes. She thought he was proposing to her. Then he was celebrating her decision with kisses and telling her that he would buy the tickets for their trip and she was too embarrassed to change her mind.

On the way to a tropical island, Michelle confessed to herself that she was happy about her decision. She saw no problem in inverting the things a little because she was sure that after this honeymoon, they would soon be getting married.

In fact, this trip was for Michelle, a glimpse of what a good life could be. She felt so important when she entered the airplane. Tom was holding her hand the whole time but she was not afraid. She felt as if she was inside a dream. She sat by the window and looked at the city from a distance. Everything looked so peaceful from up there, that it was almost impossible to imagine that inside of one of those tiny houses she was seeing, her parents were destroying objects and trying to kill each other.

At the island she walked in the white sands and entered the crystal-clear waters of the Atlantic Ocean, feeling blessed for having Tom in her life.

The hotel was very beautiful and shining. Their bedroom smelled of flowers and the sheets were clean and soft.

Michelle learned all about love on that island and it became her favorite place in the world.

When they returned home, they kept seeing each other, and she spent many nights in his apartment. Tom convinced her to do that, after buying her an engagement ring. It was a simple one, but worth everything to her because it was a symbol of their love and a promise of future happiness.

Three months after their sort of honeymoon trip, Michelle was holding the test that confirmed her pregnancy.