It's the morning after Marina fainted at her party, the doctor tells the ladies that it’s all about stress and how many people suffer from it these days. I think it’s a rather accurate diagnosis. I think meeting the love of your life and falling head over heels in love with her and then finding out she’s married can indeed cause a lot of stress. Good doctor, this one. Vanessa also has an opinion and asks with a look that says she already knows the answer if this could possibly be related to not eating much and too much alcohol. Yeah, that could also be it. Perceptive doctor and perceptive friend. Seems Marina is in good hands.
Marina doesn't appreciate her honesty though and cuts her off telling her to stop making her look like a crazy person. Vanessa isn't impressed and tells her that’s exactly what she is. The doctor can see another reason right there for all the stress she’s been having and tries to calm the ladies down. He says he’ll prescribe her something to relax. I’m not sure someone who fainted needs more reasons for her body to go limb, but anyway. Marina doesn't think so either, she claims the whole thing was about emotion, listing the party, dinner, exposition and seeing her friends. Then this dreamy smile shines on her face knowing it's because of Clara and mentions meeting new people. She then wants to make sure she can follow up on that particular new person in her life, so she asks Vanessa if she invited Clara for lunch today. Vanessa eyerolls that Flavinha indeed left Clara a message on her phone.
While Marina talks to the doctor some more about taking medication, Flavinha enters the room and has a quiet conversation with Vanessa in the back. Marina wants to know what all the secrecy is about and Vanessa tries to play it off as nothing first. She then admits Clara is downstairs but she is going to send her away cause Marina is in no condition to receive a guest. Marina snaps to attention, immediately starts hand brushing her hair and gives Vanessa a proper scolding for sending her guests away, which I’m not sure she’d do in this same fashion if she’d not met Clara the day before. As she babbles on about knowing what’s good for her and tries to fix her hair without a mirror, we hear a knock on the door and we see a rather shy Clara step into the door frame.
The smile that instantly beams from Marina’s face is one that exists today on many desktop backgrounds and animated gifs. She literally shines with joy when she sees Clara again, calls her Clarinha immediately as she waves her over. Clara also has a smile on her face, but she’s still slightly intimidated and shy. She’s probably telling herself she’s intimidated cause of all the glamour, but she’ll soon find out it’s not about that at all. She enters the room excusing herself, she feels like she’s intruding on a very personal moment, but the way Marina welcomes her tells her it’s somehow alright for her to be there, even though she doesn't understand exactly where that comes from. She will though, very soon, cause we are about to witness a scene so perfect in capturing admiration, infatuation, seduction and confusion, the actresses involved deserve nothing but praise for it.
Clara walks over to the side of the bed, while she says she’s happy to come back later, with the doctor being here and all. Marina won’t hear of it and jokes that Clara is not leaving ever again. She says it jokingly cause she understands that’s how it should sound to Clara, who indeed takes it that way and giggles, but in truth, Marina is very serious. She claims everybody wants her to feel sick but she feels wonderful. Especially now that Clara is here, she can’t be more wonderful than this. She starts moving over to the side of the bed in order to give Clara a proper welcome, while Clara introduces her son Ivan as he walks into the room. She has to drop him off at Judo class, so she took him along. Marina instantly adores him and gets up from the bed to get a good look at him.
As she does this, however, it’s clear she’s not perfectly fine just yet and nearly falls backwards again. I guess it’s a good thing the bed was right there, if you’re gonna faint, aim for the bed, right? She attempts to steady herself while Vanessa rushes over to help while the latter is happy that the doctor was here to witness this particular episode. Clara stands back, a worried expression on her face, bites her lips and waits for things to be ok again. Marina is annoyed with herself, she’s nauseous now and she hates it. The doctor tells her he wants to have more tests done and I want to know if he needs an assistant for it and where I can sign up. He then asks her if she’s pregnant. She’s not, but she did want to adopt, she says. The doctor then apparently is also a social worker cause he remarks about how many kids want a home these days. Vanessa isn't in the mood to share her home however and claims if Marina would adopt a kid, as soon as they'd walk through the door, Vanessa would walk right out the window.
By bringing up the adoption thing, it’s like Marina instantly wants Clara to know she’s ok with her having a child, it won’t be an issue for her. Marina doesn't know at this point that Clara is clueless to any seductions that have taken place up till now. She felt the two of them really connected, but Clara hasn't considered the romantic aspect of it at all. Marina doesn't know this yet, she’s still figuring out where Clara stands, but just in case Clara is down with the two of them sharing blankets and pillow talk, she wants that issue out of the way. She even mentions she’s been thinking about adopting a little Chinese girl, hoping that Clara reads between the lines that she won’t be getting any children through conventional methods.
Doctor has more things to do today however, so he pipes in again and says he wants more exams done and if she’s eaten by now. Vanessa answers for her and claims the opposite, Marina is apparently fasting. He tells her to eat something light and to call the lab tomorrow. He wants to see the exams soon. Marina nods and agrees so she can get him to leave and she can start her seductions on Clara. She tells Clara she won’t kiss them hello cause she doesn’t want to spread around whatever virus has her down. She then invites Clara to sit next to her on the bed, which Clara does after telling Ivan not to touch anything.
As soon as she sits down, they have a proper moment to look each other in the eyes, and immediately the sparks fly again, they are both lost for a moment. Marina was giving it all with the intense stare into her eyes on purpose, Clara is appropriately phased. As soon as she realizes they’re ‘having a moment’ she averts her eyes, trying to break herself away from the ones that are staring at her so intensely. Marina, being the expert at seduction that she is, realizes Clara needs to talk about something else, so she brings up her son, saying he’s a lovely boy. After she asks his name and he gives it, Clara is visibly happy with the distraction and jokes about how he’s always up to something. Marina nicknames him ‘Ivan the Terrible’.
Clara tells Marina sincerely that she scared her yesterday. Marina agrees on the scary part and she talks in a very foreshadowing manner about how scary and unpredictable this death thing is, how one day you’re fine and the next, you are not. Being as far in the story as we are now, I find this quite an interesting reference but it's one I will not get into right now. More intense stares follow, mainly from Marina, while Clara has troubles finding places to look. Before she can settle on anything safe, a touch of panic enters her gaze when Marina leans closer to touch Clara again. She gently holds her chin, turns it slightly while Clara just lets it happen, then tells her the sunlight makes her face even more beautiful. While Marina jokes about having this obsession with putting people in the right light, Clara is almost too scared to move any muscle cause this is affecting her and she knows it, she’s afraid of what her expression might be right now. She can’t keep herself from shaking her head in the most minimal manner while she takes a very deep breath before closing her eyes.
It’s as if she trying to make sense of her own feelings right now, the sensations shooting through her, things that she never felt like this, things that are new to her. She is also closing her eyes as if she wants to remember how this feels, how she adores Marina’s voice talking to her and wants to hear all of it and remember it, then she remembers she doesn't think that much of herself at all and the shyness is back. She touches her own face as if she’s trying to feel what exactly it is that Marina is seeing while she says she must look terrible, no makeup, left in a hurry and all that. When Marina says she doesn't need any of that, Clara is both charmed and still surprised that this woman who to her is nothing but perfection, can think she’s beautiful. She claims every woman needs it, but Marina counters that during the evening, maybe, but during the day, the light is enough.
It’s like she has taken it upon herself not just to have this woman, but she’s already seeing things in her she can’t imagine Clara can’t see in herself and she’s determined to bring that to the surface. To let Clara see herself as she does, letting Clara know she thinks she is beautiful isn't enough. She wants Clara to know it. She makes sure to pause for a tiny moment before she tells Clara she’s beautiful right now. Clara takes the compliment quietly, not knowing how to respond and when Marina adds ‘No, you are always beautiful.’ it’s like this is the moment Clara decides to believe her. Hearing this from Marina is making her feel wonderful and special, even if she’s been told she is beautiful before by others. She’s never heard it with such sincerity, such honesty, it never felt this amazing and she wonders why it feels so special to her now. Why, when Marina says it, she knows it’s not just a polite compliment, she can feel that she means it, even though she doesn't understand how she can see her that way. It’s like she’s taken by surprise both cause of how much this seems to matter to Clara that of all people Marina has this opinion, but she’s also warmed by the fact that Marina seems to want to make sure she knows it. She’s not just saying this to be nice, she actually thinks Clara is beautiful and on top of that, it matters to Marina that Clara is aware of it. She’s known her for less than 24 hours and already Marina managed to make her feel like the most special, most amazing, most beautiful woman. It’s overwhelming.
She closes her eyes, her head tilted down, as if she wants to stay in this moment forever. Marina then asks Vanessa, who’s doing something on the other side of the room, ‘Isn't she beautiful?’ When Vanessa answers that she is, Clara knows enough not to make excuses or claim otherwise, and says ‘thank you’ in the most humble and cute way ever. Marina knows now she succeeded in making Clara feel special, which makes her so incredibly happy she greets Clara with the most heartwarming smile when their eyes meet and a flirtatious finger to the mouth for added emphasis on the lips.
Marina decides it’s time for her next move so she seductively plays with her hair while her eyes never leave Clara’s. Clara’s reaction is fabulous, her eyes never leave Marina while they show a hint of panic and she starts holding her breath without realizing it. She may not understand all those feelings that have been going through her up to this point but she is very aware that Marina is the cause of it, it’s as if she’s scared of this next move that’s clearly doing something as soon as Marina started doing it and she’s not sure how she can live through those as well.
She’s lets out the breath she didn't know she was holding in and touches her chest and neck in a futile attempt to control her own body’s responses. Marina internally grins and high fives herself but she doesn't even blink when she asks Clara if she’s feeling hot. She already knows the answer and it’s only confirmed when Clara’s body nods yes even though her voice says no. Clara caught her own Freudian slip and quickly tries to fix it by saying no while shaking her head this time. She knows she failed to mask it, she knows she’s flustered and is showing it, so she can’t stop herself from smiling slightly while she starts babbling about how hot it is outside but how nice and pleasant it is in here. She can hardly form a sentence and it’s cute as hell.
Marina agrees with me on the cute and gives Clara a look that says she knew exactly how hot Clara just felt, but decides to spare Clara more torture for now. Enough time for that in the tub, which is why she brings up how she can only truly refresh in water, giving herself a nice little assist to ask Vanessa if her bath is ready yet. Vanessa tells her it was drawn a long time ago so Marina decides it’s bathtub time. Vanessa rushes over to help, while Clara looks the other way, both bummed that this probably means their time together is over for now, but also to give them some kind of privacy. Marina doesn't want any privacy when it comes to Clara though, cause she simply informs Vanessa and Clara both that Clara will be the one to help her to the tub. Clara’s head shoots straight back towards Marina after hearing this, her expression both panicked but also intrigued.
Vanessa isn't happy, but Clara doesn't object. As Marina moves towards Clara across the bed, the latter gets up, extends her hands and Marina happily takes them. Both arms locked into Clara’s, Marina slowly lifts herself up to a standing position where she takes a moment to see if she’s going to pass out again. It seems she is not, so she informs Vanessa to look after the boy, give him some food. Even though Clara tells her it’s not necessary cause he ate a huge breakfast, Vanessa is clearly having a really bad day. They seem to have forgotten about her altogether after that and she is left with Ivan, who probably will be fine for a few moments on his own. Her expressions are hilarious though, yet at the same time you can't help but feel for her, she’s absolutely not happy with this turn of events.
I also find it interesting how Marina knew very well that Vanessa was in the room when she was unleashing her seduction on Clara while they talked on the bed. I don’t know about you, but I am not that forward. If I get my flirt on, which believe me, I love to do, I don’t need an audience. I don’t mind other people around and I don’t mind at all if they catch some of it, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t need them fixated on me, they can be having their own conversations and I don’t need them to monitor everything we are saying and doing. Marina on the other hand, didn't seem to mind at all. She was going all out seductress, knew Vanessa was watching, treats her like a friend but at the same time orders her around or tosses her aside. She must have known how this would be for Vanessa. Maybe it was on purpose considering the history they have, wanting to be clear about moving on, but I still found it interesting.
Anyway, enough about Vanessa, we are ready for the Bathtub scene. Yes, with a capital B. We start out in the best way ever because they haven’t been in there for two seconds and Marina has already stripped down to her birthday suit in all its wonderful glory. Clara did not expect to be facing Marina’s glory quite so soon so she turns her head as if she doesn't feel allowed to look at her even though she surprises herself by sort of wanting to, yet she still wants to give Marina her privacy. The fact that Marina did it very much on purpose is something Clara subconsciously knows but still tries to ignore. She has absolutely no idea where to look and I had no idea her head could stretch that fat to the left.
As Marina talks about random stuff like not wanting to shower as a kid but only wanting to be in the tub, she gets in the tub slowly, torturing Clara with temptation for as long as she possibly can. She adds that she was a very naughty girl as a child and when she asks Clara if she was a naughty girl too, Clara says no, but in the meantime thinks to herself she’s feeling a little naughty now, then quickly tries to dismiss that thought as quickly as it popped up. Marina pats on the side of the tub, inviting Clara to sit next to her, but Clara chooses the safer option, which is across from Marina on a seat in front of the mirror. Distance seems like the way to go.
Marina has the biggest grin and her eyes fixed on Clara, who still hasn't looked at her since Marina took off her clothes. She’s very aware Clara is forcing herself not to look. She’s loving it, she knows that if this wasn't doing anything for Clara she’d have no problems looking at a naked friend, but the fact that she is trying so hard not to look, is very telling. This is affecting her and Marina knows it. She brings up Ivan to break the ice, again, and when Clara repeats her earlier comment how he’s always up to something, she even keeps her eyes firmly closed. While Marina keeps her gaze fixed on the woman opposite her, Clara finally decides that keeping her eyes closed is silly and the moment she opens them she clearly makes another telling and very conscious decision to do so. What she sees is Marina looking at her in the most gorgeous way possible so she almost immediately attempts to look away again cause she’s still not able to deal with her own emotions quite yet.
When Marina asks her if she can ask her something, she gets herself to look at her again while she tells her ‘Of course.’ as if she’d ever say no to that. Marina pauses for a moment, then asks her ‘Pose for me.’ Clara’s breathes in deeply as she hears the words, like she knew this was coming and feared it at the same time. She has the slightest hint of a smile on her face, she loves hearing this, she loves the request, she also fears it. She wants to say yes, she wants to spend more time with this woman, this woman that does things to her body, things she wants to feel again yet she fears at the same time. While Marina tells her she wants to take pictures of her that reveal her soul, she wants to say yes but she fears those very revelations that those pictures might reveal.
She smiles shyly when she declines almost against her will, decides to go with being shy, it’s not her thing, she won’t be good at it. Since Marina already made it her mission in life to show Clara how beautiful she is, she won’t rest until she has her in front of a camera so she tells Clara she won’t take her clothes off. In her mind she adds ‘Yet’, but she’s wise enough to keep that to herself. Clara, who is still trying to avoid looking at Marina as much as can be considered polite, quickly says a tiny prayer, asking forgiveness for allowing herself to think for a tiny second how that doesn't sound like such a bad thing at all.
Marina assures her they have wonderful clothes in the studio and she wants to give these photo’s to Clara, it’ll be her present to her. You can see Clara’s eyes light up wonderfully as she wants to receive this present from Marina, but also if Marina wants this so badly for some reason, she wants to give that present to her. She would love to do this, but she’s been living in such dome of comfort, going out of that comfort zone would simply be a huge step. She wants to say yes, she can’t say no anymore, she chooses to say she’ll think about it.
Then she remembers she has a son and he was supposed to go to Judo class, so she tells Marina apologetically that she really has to go. Marina plays disappointed which she is, but she also can’t help but smile. Clara assures her she’s up for coming back anything to chat but that won’t do. ‘Come back anytime’ is way too vague, she won’t let Clara leave this house without a new date set for them to meet. She tells Clara she will be here this Sunday for lunch and for the photo shoot and puts on her most convincing cute face while she does it. Clara really wants to say yet but unfortunately Sunday is her lunchtime with her family, so she can’t. Marina doesn't see the problem and simply tells her to bring her husband and son along. Clara is afraid her crazy family will drive Marina mad so she tells her it’ll be too much trouble. Marina assures Clara that all those extra dishes won’t bother her at all since she has people to do that for her anyway.
As Marina repeats the time and date Clara’s face is clearly showing how much she wants to say yes as she bites her lip. Marina then asks her husband’s name and Clara stutters that it’s Carlos Eduardo, but everybody calls him Cadu. Marina happily repeats Cadu’s name and Ivan and charmingly tells her she will bring them then, so it’s all settled, right? Clara swoons at all this charm for a moment until she finally relents and says yes, right before a glorious happy smile shines through on her face. She then buries her own head in her hands for a moment and laughs, knowing she’s been charmed into it and was basically powerless to stop it.
She giggles a nervous ‘bye’ and starts gets up while Marina tells her to give her son a kiss from her. As she says she will do that, she’s kind of torn between wanting to stay and really having to go and takes a few unsure steps back and forth, not really knowing what to do. Before she gets to decide either way, Marina tells her to bring her bikini, she’ll have the pool cleaned and everything. Clara says she will and awkwardly waves another bye, then turns and finally walks towards the door. She’s so ready to stay however, that all it takes is Marina calling her name and she’s right back at the bathtub and probably wonders if the next attempt she’ll make it past the door.
By now Marina has caught on to the fact that she definitely has an effect on Clara, but that the poor woman has no idea what is happening. Marina decides this is the moment to make her intentions known and to show Clara how special she really is. She starts by saying sorry to call her here like this, she knows she should have gone and found her herself but unfortunately she wasn't in any condition to do so. But the real reason she called her here was because of all the people here, she was the one who deserved special attention. Clara doesn't agree with that, claims there were many important people there, she still doesn't see yet how she could be that special. Marina nods and she speaks quietly but clearly, looks Clara straight in the eyes when she tells her, ‘There were many important people here, important for my mind, but none of them were more important for my heart than you.’
Clara needs a moment to let this sink in, as it basically hits her like a brick. She already knew that for some reason she was special to this woman even though she didn't understand why, she suspected it but at the same time couldn't really imagine it. On top of all the feelings she’s gone through the night before and this day in those few minutes that she was visiting Marina, those feelings that took her by surprise and can’t give a name to yet, on top of that, here’s this marvelous woman telling her, ordinary Clara, that she’s as special to her as Clara suspects she might be to herself. She has absolutely no idea how to respond as she stares at Marina, figuring out what to do next, what to say. She can’t think of anything, it’s too much, she needs to let this sink in, so she just tells her ‘Bye’, then immediately turns around and leaves.
She tries to at least, because in her confusion it takes her about an hour to figure out how the curtain works that hangs in the bathroom door. Marina knew before she said it that It was going to leave a mark on Clara, which is exactly what she intended. She smiles at her sudden goodbye, mumbles a quiet ‘ciao’ of her own of which she knows Clara isn't registering anyway, then leans back into the bathtub, content and happy, both cause she got to spend more time with the wonder that is Clara and cause she knows she made an impact on her.
Cut to outside, Clara and Ivan are walking towards the car but Clara is so flustered about everything, she walks right past it and Ivan has to remind her that it’s right here. She excuses herself by saying she’s dizzy which is not a lie at all, but she also knows her son won’t understand what the exact reason is, so she feels safe enough to say it. They get in the car and drive off. Clara nearly manages to kill someone who walks unto the road like she was never taught to pay attention to traffic ever, but the pedestrian still feels she has the right to make rude gestures at Clara. Clara nearly gets a heart attack and takes a deep breath as she tries desperately to get herself together. She was possibly speeding, I don’t know, but it’s clear she’s completely off her game.
Her son adds some fuel to the fire by whining he’s going to be late and she’s so stressed and she snaps at him cause hearing the truth isn't what she needs right now and it’s easier to take it out on her kid for now, at least that’s something she understands and also, she just really can’t deal with a 8 year old having it together more than her at this point. She continues driving and exactly a second later another car leaves a parking spot, but this time she’s done with stepping on the brakes, so she swerves left, almost runs over someone with a stroller in the process while honking loudly cause how dare this person get in her way after all this confusing torture she’s gone through.
We skip to the house, where the whole family plus Nando is sitting at the dinner table. Cadu has made some famous risotto which he’s happy to share with his family. He’s a cook, so everyone expects something special. They all take a moment to admire the smell and the looks of the dish, as Cadu explains how everyone was so jealous and wanted the secret and so on. Cadu brags that it’s such a refined dish and he didn't even spend so much money on it. Clara laughs at this, we get our first indicator that this household has some financial issues as she talks about him not paying the bills and if her credit card is blocked it’s his fault. See, this is a very old fashioned household, if you will. The husband works, the woman is a housewife. Problem is, he’s out of work at the moment, so while he’s about the money, there is no income right now. It didn’t occur to her yet that she could also get a job and she doesn't have to wait at home while he tries to aim way too high with his ambitions and his grand plans which are bound to fail. But I’m sure with the right motivation, that might change.
Anyway, Cadu doesn’t want to hear about trivial matters such as money around his masterpiece, he has it all figured out anyway, it’ll all be fine. As he sits back he invites all three of them to take a simultaneous bite and as they do, their mouths erupt just as simultaneously because apparently the dish is way too hot and they can hardly stomach it. They all complain, the poor kid Ivan cries he burnt his mouth, Nando says it’s way too hot and way too salty and poor Cadu just looks at them with the moist dumbfounded expression on his face. He sure didn't expect that reaction to his masterpiece.
After dinner they’re all leaning back, Ivan is someplace else, he doesn’t like grownup talk, cause the topic is Nando’s wife, Juliana, they are having some troubles. She wants a kid, he doesn’t, now she’s apparently being a bitch about it and has kicked him out and they’re all sympathizing more with Nando than with her even though she’s Clara’s aunt. Nando says he thinks it’s going towards a divorce. Clara’s phone rings, she checks but she doesn’t pick it up and instead finds herself defending marriage furiously. No divorce yet in our family so far, don’t give up on it and more of that. As they discuss it more, the phone rings again and this time we get to see the display, it’s Marina, of course. She still doesn’t pick it up but stares at the phone in almost a sneaky manner until Cadu asks her who’s calling and why she’s not picking up. Clara almost acts as if she’s caught doing something naughty and Nando actually calls her out by saying something’s up.
Clara denies this passionately and says it’s Marina, the photographer. She tells Cadu she invited them all for lunch at her place and then pauses for a moment while the biggest grin slowly appears on her face, then she nearly bursts out of her own skin when she says she wants to photograph her like she still has trouble believing why exactly but is seriously thrilled about it. Cadu is totally clueless to how happy this makes her and can’t read his wife’s emotions at all when he asks if she will be posing naked. Clara’s answer is smacking him with a napkin before she tells him of course it’s not naked.
She then gives Cadu the first clues how impressed she is with this woman when she tells him how intense she thinks Marina is and how she’s able to make her even more shy than she already is. She says all this with a dreamy look in her eyes staring into nothingness, no doubt picturing Marina as she sat in the tub while she convinced her and all her shyness to pose for her without much effort. She dreams on while she mumbles she doesn't know what it is. Then she snaps back to the dinner table and tells him it’s Sunday. She says she already told her they could make it and practically stares Cadu into agreeing to it even though it’s supposed to be family dinner time. He’s fine with it though, Clara takes a happy sip of her drink as she doesn't realize she’s smiling.
No comments:
Post a Comment
What do you think?