Cristiano was leaving the Santo Antonio cookie factory, at 27 travessa do forno, in Funchal. The weather was still good on this November evening, but the young man was cautious. In the factory, the ovens gave the impression of working all year round in the tropical jungle, and Cristiano had more than once caught a cold when he went out in the evening humidity. So he closed his jacket and crossed the bridge in front of the factory. He spotted Yamila Martins coming out of the Cristalia building, just across from the factory, and turned his head as if he hadn't seen her. He felt Yamila's gaze on the back of his neck. The two had been on the outs since she discovered that Cristiano was also having a relationship with Zelinda da Oliveira, a waitress at the Churrascaria Bom sucesso. Cristiano had taken the trouble to flirt with a girl who didn't live in Funchal, but the island was too small, so everything came out. As a result, he was single, because Zelinda had learned, through...
