Week 22
On Monday everything is the same.
At lunch time, I go to have lunch with the girls because they want to interrogate me about my date with Álvaro on Friday, but they know there’s not much to tell because my face gives me away.
I tell them about the wonderful show, how comfortable we were during the whole night, the dinner and the goodbye… the insult included.
“But why did you insult him?” Emma defends him.
“Because I’m tired he doesn’t want to trust me. I’m not running anymore and he doesn’t believe it ―I say feeling impotent.”
We continue talking for a while longer until we go back to the school. Well, they talk and give me their opinion about my no-relationship, I only listen to them.
In the afternoon I call my nephew Carla, like every Monday.
“Auntie!”
“Hi honey””
“Tell me how it went with Álvaro.” Ithe first thing she tells me, I start to think that she’s becoming a little witch too.
And if she were another friend, I tell her about how wonderful the show was, how comfortable were during the whole night, the dinner and the goodbye. In this case I don’t tell about the insult at the end, I don’t want her to learn those things from me and I don’t want her to know I say those things either.
“And that’s all… he doesn’t trust me. He thinks I’m running again.” I finish my story.
“Convince him.” Carla tells me convinced.
“I can’t honey, it’s not that easy.” I tell her resigned.
Finally, we change the topic. We talk about María’s recovery and I speak with Gerard who tells me “hello” for a second so he can give the telephone to his sister again.
At dawn I’m still awake, as I don’t get to fall asleep.
I think on Álvaro over and over.
It hurts that he can’t trust on me and that he always thinks I’m going to run.
I mull over it.
But suddenly, as if everything would make sense, I understand a lot of things and I think on it for the rest of the night. Finally, I think I understand everything.
I see how the sun starts to come out, it’s only five in the morning I can’t take it anymore.
I get up, get dressed and leave.
I take a taxi and arrive to my destination.
I’m nervous, but I feel very self-confident, what is more, I think I’ve never been so sure in my life.
I knock on the door.
Nobody opens, but I insist.
Suddenly, the door opens and before me Álvaro is standing, with only his pajama pants and my mouth waters when I see him.
“Martina!” He says my name with that sexy tone.
“I have to talk to you ―I say without waiting for him to invite me in. I get to his living-room and I sit on the couch with security.”
He follows me there and looks at me in surprise.
It’s around six in the morning and I have just got into this home.
I pat on the couch to let him know he must sit by my side. A bit bewildered, he finally gives in and sits next to me.
Then I say:
“You know things aren’t fine like this, although you insist on repeat it.”
He looks at me, but he doesn’t say anything. I think he wants me to continue talking.
“I learnt the lesson.” I confirm.
“What lesson?” He asks.
“I understood that it’s very difficult to be mistrusted, over and over.”
He has a half-faced smile, you can tell I got him. Then I know I’m on the right track.
“It’s very desperating.” I say joking but serious at the same time.
Then I add:
“I’m sorry about all my flees, but don’t make me go through this ever again. You’ve been very bad with me.”
“And I’m going to be worse right now.”
And getting closer to me, he says:
“Come here, baby.”
And with a quick movement, he grabs me by my waist and catches me. He looks at me with that gaze of his that freezes me inside and burns me outside. He kisses me on the neck and little by little, as if he smelt me, he reaches my mouth and devours it. I can’t do anything but go with the flow , although my first intention had been punishing him a bit. But finally, I give in.
“Mmm, I missed this so much.” He whispers.
And he continues touching and devouring me with his mouth, which I love.
We don’t make it to his bed, the couch is great to make peace as we deserve.
In the middle of our encounter he whispers again:
“I love you, baby.”
My stomach flips and it hurts to hear it. When I can, I answer:
“I love you more.”
Our sexual reencounter can’t last long as I must go to the school and Álvaro to his office.
We say goodbye after having kisses for breakfast.
I leave his home very happy and I spend the whole morning smiling.
The girls look at me surprised and on the break they try to make me tell them what is going on, but I tell them to wait for lunch time as I’m very busy. I decide to make them suffer a bit, because I know they’ll be very happy when I tell them the big news.
At lunch time they explode.
“Did you make peace with Álvaro? ―Emma starts with a smile in her face.”
“When?” Angélica asks.
“Where?” Lucía says.
They’re anxious to know but I realize they’re a bit weird. Emma is really excited for my answers. Lucía is absent and Angélica, pensive.
I decide to overlook what I think and I tell them that yesterday I understood Álvaro was punishing me so I understood how hard it is that I didn’t trust him.
As I realized before, Emma is the only one who is very happy for what I tell them. Lucía is very weird and Angélica too.
I can’t take it anymore and I tell them:
“But what is wrong with you?”
“Nothing.” They both say trying to pretend.
“Come on… tell us.” I ask them, as it’s evident something is going on.
It’s Angélica who starts to explain:
“Well, the truth is that Felix has been offered a job in Ibiza… and it’s a good offer for him.”
“And are you sad because he’s going to Ibiza?” Emma asks supportive.
“No… I’m sad because I’m going with him.”
“Whaaaaat?” The three of us say at the same time.
“I’ll come to see you, but I want to go with him. I talked with the principal and told me there are chances I get to work in another school similar to this, in Ibiza.”
“But for the next school year?” I ask.
“No, I’m leaving in two weeks. Time enough to gather all my stuff and arrange all the documentation.”
I’m feeling very sad, I don’t like goodbyes, I know that although she tells we’ll see each other and we’ll meet, nothing will be the same as our daily life.
I know I’m going to miss her a lot, but I understand… and today more than ever. After my reconciliation. I would also go anywhere in the world with Álvaro.
Suddenly, Lucía, who has been quiet all the time, speaks:
“I also have to tell you something.” She finally says.
We look at her scared.
“Néstor and I are going to be separated for a while.”
To our surprised faces she adds:
“You know we’ve been having a bad relationship for a while, we’ve been talking about this and we decided to give us some time to think.”
“Oh, I’m sorry Lucía.” I say with sorrow.
“It seems that since we married everything has changed, and it’s been worse.” She makes a pause, I imagine it’s to gather strength. “I proposed to separate for a while and it seems he liked the idea because he didn’t opposed.”
We tried to comfort her and cheer her up as we can.
&nbs
p; Afterwards he has to go back to the school to spend the afternoon with our little students.
When I leave school, I feel I’m exhausted.
First of all, because I didn’t sleep a wink between thinking about Álvaro and going to his home. And afterwards because of the news Angélica and Lucía gave us, which surprised me.
Luckily, when I look at my phone I see a text from Álvaro that makes me smile, simply because he had thought about me at some point of his day.
<> I answer: < >. When I get there, Magda is going to her home and we ran into each other at the front door. When she sees me, she hugs me. “Álvaro told me he’s waiting for you. I knew this would work out. Now be good and make this work.” Magda asks me with all her heart. “We will, Magda.” And after another hug, we say goodbye. I get into Álvaro’s apartment and I go to his office, but he’s speaking on the phone. I blow him a kiss from the door and I go to his living-room to wait for him. I stretch out on the couch and I fall asleep in two seconds. When I woke up, Álvaro is working on his laptop by my side. “Hi, Sleeping Beauty!” He tells me. “Álvaro, I had a horrible day.” tell him potting. “What happened?” He says leaving his laptop on a side of the couch and hugs me. I tell him the news, Angela’s and Lucía’s. And while I tell him everything, I start crying, it makes me very sad that Angélica is going so far. It also makes me sad that Lucía is separating from Néstor, I like the guy. Well, when he isn’t being annoying about being back with Álvaro so the ambiance at the office was calm. Álvaro hugs me and comforts me. I like to be like that with him, I missed him so much. When I’m calmer, we decide to eat some dinner and get in the bed. I’m not in the mod for what Álvaro wants and I ask him to hug me. Luckily, he does it and he does it very good. But before falling asleep, I can’t take it anymore and I ask: “Can you tell me who Sofía is?” He looks at me in shock by that question that he didn’t expect, but he says: “Sofía is a friend.” “Yes, I imagine that.” I want more information. “But, what kind of friend?” I tell him in a bit loud tone so he starts talking clearly. “No… She’s not my friend.” I don’t understand anything and I’m starting to be pissed. As he sees my face, he explains: “Sofía is my cousin.” “Wow, another cousin.” I say while I remember witch Noelia is. “Yes, but she has nothing to do with Noelia, what is more, so you’re more relaxed, she’s my cousin on my father’s side and not on my mother’s. So, they don’t share DNA and she can’t be so mean.” He makes me laugh with his explanation. “By the way, I talked with Noelia and her friend after I found out what happened with her at my parents’. They told me they overheard me talking with Claudia about our conversation and the importance of getting married. And they decided to invent that I told them.” “Yes, they invented that and some more things.” I remember how mean they were with me. “It doesn’t matter Álvaro, just hug me for a little while longer.” 2 weeks later… Days are going by and everything is very good with Álvaro. We see each other every day, except the days he’s on a trip, that it’s when I am in my apartment, which is a strange place now. Angélica is preparing everything to leave in a few days. She’s very happy and she already has an interview with the principal of a school. I’m glad to know that she’ll resume her life where and with whom she wants to be. Lucía is living with her older sister, as Néstor is at their apartment. It seems like it’s a temporary separation and they’re handling it more or less fine. Although Lucía has some hard days. According what Álvaro told me, who sees Néstor in the office, he’s not handling much better. He has a long face the whole day. My sister María is totally recovered and she’s preparing the trial against Rubén with Claudia. This weekend, we’re meeting them to help them with something related to the trial, according to what Álvaro told me. This is why, he proposed me to go to spend the night to a hotel near Girona Friday night, so we’re already there on Saturday, where Claudia has her office. I happily accepted, I feel like having a romantic and relaxing night. On Friday afternoon, when we finish working we leave Barcelona and go to a small village very near to Girona. We get to a hotel Álvaro booked. It’s a small hotel, apart from everything and luckily, today we’re the only guests. Our room is beautiful and has a jacuzzi inside. So, after the dinner, we get inside for a while and of course, we spend the night making love. On Saturday we have to get up early because we’re meeting Maria and Claudia in Girona. When I leave the shower, Álvaro has taken the breakfast to bed and we eat it between kisses. When I leave the room I hear a lot of noise. “Calmness is over, we’re no longer the only guests.” I say with sorrow. “You don’t even know.” Álvaro says. I don’t understand what he says and I say: “What?” “No, nothing.” I still don’t understand until I get to the hall, where I see my sister Lara with María, Carla and Gerard. I’m paralyzed. I don’t understand what they’re doing there. My niece, jumps on me when she sees me. “Auntie!” “Hi, honey! What are you doing here?” “As aunt Maria is meeting Claudia, we came with her.” I don’t understand a thing. Suddenly, by the door I see Claudia with her husband Juan Carlos and their two children: Hugo and Georgina, who runs to me when she sees me. “Hi beautiful!” I tell her giving her a kiss. “Hi, aunt Martina!” I’m surprised she calls me that, but I see how Álvaro likes it too because he has a half-faced smile. Incredulous by what I see, I ask what they’re doing there again. “As María and I had to work, we decided it would be good to have part of our family near.” Claudia tells me. “Did you know we were meeting here?” I ask Álvaro surprised. “Yes.” “And, why didn’t you tell me?” I ask incredulous. “I forgot.” He says, and he’s lying, but I don’t mind because having all my family and part of Álvaro’s makes me very happy. Everybody decide to settle in the rooms and meet again a while later under the pergola in the garden of the small hotel. The garden is very wild and has that country style that I love. As I chat with my sisters I notice they’re very happy. My nephew and niece are with Álvaro’s and it seems they get along. My boy is with his sister and his brother-in-law who is very relaxed drinking a beer. But suddenly, a new surprise. Álvaro’s parents show up and everybody stands up to greet them, and I do it too. “Son, what a beautiful hotel!.” His mother tells him “I knew you would like it.” As they see my puzzled face, Álvaro’s father tells me: “We knew you were meeting and we didn’t want to miss it.” And when I can’t feel happier for having all my family and Álvaro’s together and that they have such a good connection… My four friends show up: Lucía, Angélica, Emma and Carlos. And it’s then when I realize that definitely, this must be a dream and I haven’t woken up yet. But thanks to my friend’s hugs, I realize that it’s not like that, that I’m very awaken and we’re all together. Snapping me out of it, Angélica tells me: “We wanted to see how you cope with your two families together. I must say that we came to gossip, actually.” She makes me laugh with that comment which is as crazy as her. They don’t give me time to waste and they take me to the same dining-room where Álvaro and I had dinner last night. The room is different because they set a huge table so we could eat all together. Everybody sits down and I watch them from cloud number nine. Suddenly, Álvaro whispers to my ear: “Did you like my surprise?” “Of course, I love it.” And I give him a sweet kiss, that is booed by all the guests with comments such as “go to a hotel”, “there are kids here”… When we separate Álvaro whispers with his sexy voice: “I love you.” And I answer and “I love you more” with my silly face. The food is delicious and we spend a great time. In the afternoon people are exhausted and they go to their rooms to take a nap. When I get to mine with Álvaro, I jump on him, I cover him with kisses and tell him: “Thank you for this wonderful surprise.” “I knew you wanted to be with your family and that you wanted to say goodbye to Angélica. I thought it was a good excuse to meet everyone.” “It was.” We, unlike the rest, we don’t have time to sleep, we’re very busy touching each other. At dinner time, we get into the dining-room and it looks a different one every time I go there. The table is ready for everybody, as they’re already seated. There are lots of candles, red roses and hearts everywhere. I’m amazed, I think it’s beautiful for a romantic dinner but I think there are too many people there. Álvaro drags me to my chair, but he doesn’t let me sit down.
Take him! Page 18