40
DANTE
I had just walked into the office when the board representative asked to speak with me immediately. There was no lengthy explanation in the invitation. Just the information that he had received a complaint regarding a supplier to the Hotel das Acácias.
The company’s name appeared in the subject line of the attached file.
A?úcar de Dentro.
I stood frozen in front of my desk.
Then I called to find out who would be attending the meeting and asked that they preserve the message with the original attachments. I would read it in its entirety.
At 8:30, I was sitting across from three people, with Eunice joining the conversation.
The material had been sent by Augusto, through his representatives, as part of an appeal against the decisions made regarding him.
It presented another accusation: that I had used the hotel’s acquisition to favor the company owned by the woman I was involved with.
There were dates, amounts, and photographs.
I recognized a picture of Cecília in the ballroom during a delivery. Another showed us talking in a hallway. Neither needed to be fabricated to serve the text beside it.
The document cited event contracts, the season’s additional charges, and my presence at meetings. It arranged real things in a sequence that suggested a decision predating them all: buying the hotel to benefit Cecília.
My first reaction was to stand up.
I remained seated.
“Her contract with Trama predates the acquisition,” I said.
“That point will have to be documented,” replied the board representative. “The material also questions the subsequent changes and your role in maintaining the services.”
I looked at the figures.
One table added expenses from different categories as though all of it were bakery revenue. Some payments were for the events’ infrastructure, not Cecília’s work. The legitimate extras appeared without the quantities and approved services that explained them.
“This total needs to be broken down,” I said. “It doesn’t correspond to a single vendor.”
Eunice made a note.
“We’ll verify it against the source records, not only the spreadsheet submitted.”
I knew why I needed to hear that. I also knew how much effort it took me not to pick up the phone and call my brother right then and there.
He’d prepared the files before losing access. The copies’ dates and the sources of some material showed that. He hadn’t reentered the systems after being blocked; he’d taken with him a story he was already assembling.
I remembered the phrase from the hallway.
It’s not the only document that exists.
***
The accusation hadn’t been limited to the board.
The communications team had received a request for clarification from a media outlet that had gained access to the material. There was a deadline to respond, questions about the contracts, and a mention of my relationship with Cecília. We don’t know yet, they said, who else received it.
I looked out the window. The morning was still bright. Somewhere in the city, Cecília was opening the store or overseeing the kitchen renovation, unaware that someone had once again twisted her name to fit an accusation.
“I need to let her know right now,” I said.
“First, we need to establish the official statement,” one of the people at the table began.
“You can draft the company’s response. She needs to know that her name and contracts are included in this material.”
Eunice agreed that contact should take place without delay, while preserving the necessary documents and boundaries.
The review of the current contracts would be supervised by someone other than me.
My relationship with Cecília had already been disclosed in the previous review, but now it would be necessary to specifically examine the allegation of favoritism.
I would respond as well.
“The recommendation is to pause new contracts while we check,” the board representative said. “And review the payments still outstanding.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
“Services rendered must be analyzed in light of what was contracted and received. We cannot treat an allegation as a conclusion.”
“That’s exactly why we’re going to look into it.”
I jotted down what they needed to check. I thought about the purchases Cecília would need to make before the next delivery.
I requested that any action be formally reviewed by those in charge, with complete records. I didn’t promise a result on my own. Nor did I accept that Cecília’s name be removed from a spreadsheet as if that would resolve the issue.
I left the meeting with a copy of the material that could be shared with her and her representatives.
I called before I reached my office.
***
Cecília answered on the second try.
I heard the sounds of people working in the background, then her voice asking someone to wait a moment.
“Hi. Did something happen?”
“Yes, it did. Can you go somewhere where you can talk in peace?”
There was a pause.
“Is this about Bento?”
“No. He’s not involved. It’s about the bakery’s contracts.”
I heard a door close.
“Go ahead.”
I explained where the complaint had come from, what it said, and who had already received it. I didn’t start by expressing my outrage. I said that the available records needed to be examined and that I wanted her to read the material, along with Clarice, before giving any response on her behalf.
Cecília was silent for a few seconds.
“Is he saying that you gave me the contracts?”
“He’s suggesting favoritism in the acquisition and afterward. Your original contract date doesn’t fit his account. The extras will need to be shown with their corresponding requests and approvals.”
“I have everything.”
The reply came quickly, firmly, and made me breathe a little easier.
Then her voice changed.
“But has it been published already?”
“A news outlet has asked for comment. I don’t yet know who else received it. I don’t want to assure you of something I haven’t confirmed.”
I heard a soft sound, perhaps a chair being pulled back.
“Send it to me and Clarice,” she said. “I need to see exactly what he’s using.”
I confirmed I’d send it through the agreed channel.
“Cecília, I’m sorry that…”
“I need to read it now,” she interrupted me. “We’ll talk about the rest later.”
“Okay.”
She took a deep breath.
“And speak to Teresa. She has documents too, and her company’s name will come up in this.”
“I’ll ask the team to contact her for the records. Do you want to tell her first?”
“I do. I’ll call her now.”
“All right.”
Before hanging up, Cecília asked one last question:
“Is any money I’m owed at risk?”
I looked at the papers in my hand.
“They’ve requested an assessment of the pending payments. No final decision has been made yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear of any measures that might affect you.”
She didn’t answer right away.
“I have a small renovation starting, Dante.”
“I know.”
“No. You know about the countertop. I’m talking about the people I have to pay.”
I closed my eyes for a second.
“I understand. I’ll make sure that information gets to whoever’s reviewing it, along with the contracts and receipts.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as a decision is made,” I added.
She hung up to talk to Clarice and Teresa.
***
I went back to the office and sent the authorized material right away.
Then I gathered the acquisition records I was responsible for. Trama’s contract, signed before the purchase, had to come from the people who’d entered into it. The extra charges had been approved by their respective decision-makers. My presence at meetings couldn’t be explained by my word alone.
I wrote a timeline of what I remembered and looked for the corresponding records. This time, I noted where I was certain and where I needed to confirm.
Around noon, the phone rang with a new notice of a board meeting.
There would be another meeting in the late afternoon. My role would be discussed, as well as measures to preserve the independence of the analysis.
I confirmed my attendance.
A message from Cecília appeared on the screen before I closed our conversation.
“Teresa found the April contract. I’m gathering the rest.”
I read it twice.
Five years earlier, I’d stopped her from answering an accusation I’d already accepted as true. Now the story arrived loaded with documents, and I could see the same danger of choosing a conclusion before listening to the people caught inside it.
I replied that I had received it and would await the next records through the agreed-upon channels.
Then I opened the meeting agenda.
My name was listed among the topics to be discussed.