Desperate for You

by Ruben Soto

  Some guests, who were coming in, unexpectedly interrupted them. They also wanted a tour of the house. Monika looked at Jennifer as she started walking away. Jennifer reminded her of what she was like in her younger days. Monika was still concerned about Roberto because she knew he was determined to find out who Jennifer’s lover was. He was not known to be violent but she knew he was a machista. It was okay for him to have a mistress, but it was unthinkable for his wife to have a lover. He was too smart and she wondered why he hadn’t done anything yet.

  The party continued until the early morning hours and both Jennifer and Roberto were exhausted. They went to sleep and didn’t get up until close to noon the following day. They had breakfast together and Lupe fixed them another great meal.

  Roberto started reading the newspaper and then asked Jennifer what she was doing the rest of the day. She was startled by his question since he never cared before. She told him she would be at the boutique and then would come home. He said he wanted to take her to eat at the restaurant at the Tower of the Americas.

  He was doing this since he wanted to patch their relationship. And he was willing to give up his mistress. He suspected all this time that Jennifer had a lover. He couldn’t conceive that she was cheating on him. But he didn’t put it past her. She had been spending too much time with Monika and he knew she had somehow influenced Jennifer. He still had doubts, and more than anything he wanted to prove to himself that he was wrong.

  Nevertheless, Roberto’s jealousy couldn’t be contained any longer. He had followed Jennifer one day from the boutique and saw her go into Enrique’s apartment complex. He didn’t know of anyone who lived there. Who was it that lived there? Why was she spending so much time in there? He waited for over an hour in a parking lot across the street until she left and then followed her home. He didn’t ask her any questions that night. He was going to get to the bottom of this. But he needed to have his facts straight first.

  Chapter Twelve

  The following afternoon Roberto was waiting for Jennifer to leave the boutique. He was parked on a side street and his car was hidden from her view. He was driving his Jaguar. She closed the shop, got inside her car and drove off. He followed her, carefully making sure she didn’t see him. His heart was palpitating because too many bad thoughts were going through his mind. Oh how he wanted it to be a lady friend that she was visiting. He didn’t want it to be a man. Heaven forbid it was a man. His rage would be uncontrollable. He would be capable of doing just about anything. But thoughts of his children removed these suspicious feelings. It made him realize he was planning on harming someone. He just didn’t want it to be Jennifer.

  Jennifer drove inside the complex and Roberto waited until she was in and then drove in himself. He saw her drive around the back and then saw as she parked her car. He, on the other hand, parked his car so he could see from a distance where she was going.

  He glanced to his right and was astonished to see that he could see his house from there. He stayed there for about half an hour and the sun was starting to set. It was getting harder to see from where he was parked.

  Suddenly he saw two people come outside on the balcony of a third floor apartment. He noticed that it was a couple. The woman was wearing an outfit similar to what Jennifer was wearing today. He started trembling and grabbed his binoculars. He focused on these two people and he wasn’t ready for this scene. He saw that the woman was Jennifer and his heart was beating like never before. He felt betrayed by the woman he loved. She was cheating on him. It hit him very hard. She had been lying to him all this time.

  He put the binoculars down to catch his breath. He placed his right hand over his heart since he couldn’t contain himself. He slowly grabbed the binoculars again and this time focused on the man. He couldn’t quite see him at first because Jennifer was blocking his view. Jennifer’s back was facing Roberto and the man was standing in front of her. Then without warning Jennifer stepped away and he got a glimpse of the mysterious man. His eyes couldn’t believe it. Was that Enrique who was up there with his wife? His wife was sleeping with a sleazy carpenter? He never liked the way Jennifer paid so much attention to Enrique. And he knew Enrique was the type who took advantage of women like her. He wasn’t going to take this any longer.

  He saw Enrique take Jennifer’s face into his hands and then give her a passionate kiss. He saw him kiss her in the neck and caress her hair. Roberto wondered how long this had been going on. How could he have been so stupid as to not know that his wife was having an affair? Jennifer had obviously planned this very well. Roberto figured she was also paying for the apartment and was keeping Enrique as her lover. He wanted to kill Monika. He knew she was the reason his wife had taken on a lover. How he wished he wasn’t going through this at this time. It was the holidays and he wanted to spend quality time with Jennifer and the kids. He sat there for a while longer and then drove off and went home.

  Jennifer got home a little while later and hugged and kissed the kids. Becky told her they had been good all afternoon. Becky was leaving and told Jennifer she would return in the morning. Jennifer took the kids upstairs and she went in to take a bath. Roberto was in the library drinking, still shocked at what he had seen earlier. He would confront Jennifer with this tonight. He couldn’t live like this any longer. She had made a fool of him and he wasn’t going to take it lightly. He wasn’t John Garza, who let his wife do whatever she pleased. His wife was also the mother of his children and he expected her to be respectable. But that was no longer the case.

  To him Jennifer was now just like Lisa. She had made love to another man. She was now a cheap woman, willing to give herself to any man. No longer was he going to see her in the same manner. She had broken their marriage vows. He started crying thinking how lovely Jennifer was when he first saw her. Why did she have to betray him like this? He had kept her away from certain pleasures, knowing they would corrupt her.

  But now he blamed Enrique for having the guts to seduce his wife. He was the one Roberto was after. He was going to make him wish he had never been born. No one was going to make a laughing stock of Roberto Del Castillo.

  Jennifer came down and served herself some wine. She was in the kitchen thinking about the day that she made love with Enrique on top of the island. She closed her eyes to cherish that moment. This beautiful kitchen would forever remind her of the love she had for Enrique. She would spend as many moments here that she could possibly afford to. She could smell his body’s aroma and feel his muscular arms around her. She could feel his hair with her fingers and feel the way his lips would kiss her with desire. How she longed for that moment to be relived again.

  All of a sudden she opened her eyes and saw Roberto standing there. She felt instantly scared. She accidentally dropped her glass of wine and it shattered. She wondered how long he’d been standing there staring at her. He had an angry look on his face. She could also tell he was drinking.

  “You look like a woman in love. You must’ve been thinking about someone special. If you weren’t my wife I would’ve guessed you were thinking about your lover. We haven’t made love in a while. I guess you’re in the mood for me tonight?”

  Jennifer was shivering. Roberto had had too much to drink and he wasn’t making sense. She wasn’t going to allow him to treat her that way.

  “Oh, silly me did it seem like I was doing that? I just had a nice relaxing bath and I was thinking on how good it felt. You look tired, you need to get some rest.”

  Roberto was drunk but he knew what he wanted to tell her. Her infidelity had driven him to drink excessively tonight. He couldn’t let this opportunity fly by him.

  “So were you also thinking about Enrique while you were taking your bath? You two looked like you were having a good time in his apartment this afternoon. It was a lovely scene. My decent wife kissing a low class carpenter like him. Oh, Jennifer how disappointed I am at you. I never thought you would lower your standards to that level. It was pathetic when I saw you with that
trash. You are now in the same category as he. You are now trash yourself.”

  Jennifer felt cold all over. She froze when she heard Roberto mention Enrique’s name. He obviously followed her today to his apartment and saw them together. It was no longer a secret. What would Roberto do to her now? She was too scared to talk to him.

  “What’s the matter, you can’t talk all of a sudden? You’ve been enjoying yourself with him all this time. You got him a great place conveniently located close to our house. I guess you had it all well planned. You knew I was getting home late so I would never know what time you were getting here. You have broken my heart, Jennifer. I never thought you would go this far. You hurt me. You’ve driven me to drink more than I ever have. The question is what am I going to do with you now? You gave yourself to another man and now you’re no longer fit to be my wife. You’re not even fit to be the mother of my children. You are now a cheap whore.”

  Tears started rolling down Jennifer’s face. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. Roberto’s accusations and his strong tone of voice were too much for her to withstand at this moment. She felt completely defenseless and didn’t know how to retaliate. He started walking towards her and she just stood there not able to move. She was crying intensely and guilt took over her conscious. She knew this was her punishment for being unfaithful to her husband. She had never felt more ashamed in her life. She started thinking of her children and how much she loved them. She couldn’t let Roberto take them away from her. They meant the world to her. Why did it all have to end up this way? She didn’t know what Roberto was going to do with her. He was now torturing her mentally and was literally in her face.

  “You want to be with him. Well, go ahead and be with him. I no longer want you in this house. Go now, spend the night with him and see what kind of future he’ll give you. See how life will be, knowing that you won’t ever be able to see your children again. I won’t allow them to be raised by a woman who doesn’t have moral standards. You have failed as a mother Jennifer. You selfishly thought of your own perverted needs and now this is where it got you.”

  Roberto was outraged. He couldn’t hide his feelings from her anymore. His pride was shattered and he was furious. Jennifer was now going to pay for her infidelity. He was acting ferocious under the influence of alcohol and he was yelling at her.

  “I want you out of this house right now. I don’t ever want you to come in here again. Get out, get out right now!”

  Jennifer was distraught. Why was this happening to her? She started pleading with him but she was too overcome with emotion. She didn’t want the children to wake up and hear them arguing. She knew he was drunk and wouldn’t remember this in the morning. But now she knew that he was aware of her affair with Enrique. There was no way of hiding it anymore. She ran upstairs and got her purse. She went into the children’s rooms and they were asleep. She gave each of them a kiss. She went back downstairs and left through the front door. Roberto threw his glass at the door as soon as she walked out.

  Jennifer was too shaken to drive so she calmed down before she turned on the car. She drove to Enrique’s apartment and it was near midnight. He opened the door and she embraced him. She then told him everything that had happened and that she was now afraid for her life. But she was also afraid for Enrique’s life. She didn’t know how far Roberto would go. She spent the night with Enrique although she was in no mood for making love. Her whole life had changed in a matter of minutes. She was too worried to even think about sleeping. She would call Monika in the morning to help her.

  Roberto was so enraged that he momentarily lost his breath. His drunkenness allowed him to eventually fall asleep. In the morning Lupe found him in the kitchen and she knew he had been drinking. She woke him up and he was feeling sick. She asked him if he was all right. He hesitated to answer her and he was having trouble breathing. She immediately called the medical emergency number.

  Lupe ran upstairs to get Jennifer and noticed she wasn’t there. Where was she, she asked herself? She went into the children’s rooms and saw that they were there. But Jennifer was nowhere to be found. She went back downstairs and told Becky that Jennifer wasn’t anywhere. She immediately realized that Roberto and Jennifer must have argued last night and that he probably drunk excessively. Olga came in and asked them what all the commotion was about and they filled her in. Becky went upstairs to get Robert ready for day care and to check up on Alyssa. Where could Jennifer have possibly gone, they thought?

  The ambulance got there and the paramedics took Roberto’s pulse. They said he was too weak and they needed to take him in. His blood pressure was too low and his body was cold. Olga told Lupe and Becky that she would ride in the ambulance and asked if they could try to contact Jennifer on her cell phone. There was tension all throughout the household.

  Jennifer was still in bed with Enrique when she heard her phone ring. She noticed the call was coming from her house. She thought twice about answering it and decided not to. She thought it was Roberto trying to find out where she was and begging her to come back. She then heard that a voice mail was left and she decided to listen to it. She looked at Enrique who was fully aware of what was going on. She heard Lupe’s voice and she noticed she was crying. She only understood that something had happened to Roberto and they wanted to know where she was. She also heard something about an ambulance and the hospital. She dialed her home number and Becky answered. She told Jennifer what had happened and she wanted to know if she was okay.

  Jennifer told her she would be there immediately. Jennifer got dressed quickly and told Enrique what had occurred.

  Jennifer arrived at the house and hugged Becky. She was speechless and Becky could sense that something terrible must’ve happened between them last night. Becky led her into the family room and sat her on the sofa. Lupe brought her a cup of coffee and then left them alone. Jennifer explained everything to Becky, and Becky was overtaken by sadness.

  How the years had changed Jennifer. She would’ve never imagined things turning out this way for them. She thought they were the happiest couple on earth. She got the children ready and she told Jennifer she would drive her to the hospital. They dropped Robert off at the day care and then they headed for the hospital. When they got there they saw Olga in the waiting area. She told them Roberto had coughed blood as soon as the ambulance got to the hospital. The doctor had not come out to tell her what condition he was in. Jennifer walked to the registrar’s office and told them who she was and if she could speak to the doctor. The doctor came out shortly and told her that Roberto had suffered a mild stroke and he was currently in intensive care. They were carefully monitoring his condition and he would probably be there for the rest of the week.

  Monika and John showed up and they hugged Jennifer. Lupe had called Monika to let her know what had happened. Lupe, of course, had told Monika her version of what she thought had caused this to happen. Monika knew it would be coming in due time. Roberto would react very badly once he found out about Jennifer’s affair. But she never thought it would turn out this way.

  Jennifer went back to her house not knowing what would happen next. She called her mother, Daniela, in Monterrey and confessed everything to her causing her mother much sorrow. Daniela couldn’t believe what her daughter had done. She hadn’t raised her in that manner and she had warned her about these things. She didn’t understand what had led her daughter to do such a thing. She wanted to be there with her so Jennifer arranged to have her catch a flight to San Antonio the next day. Jennifer needed all the moral support she could get during this difficult period. Having her mother with her was the best thing she could ask for at this time.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The week went by and Roberto was still at the hospital. His condition took a turn for the worse and he was in critical condition. It seems he was so affected by Jennifer’s affair that it caused him to suffer this stroke. Jennifer visited him every day and couldn’t believe how her love for him was almost gone. R
oberto had been good to her throughout the years. Even though she had suffered much by his affair, she knew she was the main reason for his current condition. But their marriage had been a lie for many years now.

  Jennifer’s mother went with Jennifer to the hospital every day as well. She loved Roberto for having improved her family’s life in Monterrey. It saddened her to see how her daughter had changed. But she was still thankful for what Roberto had done for them. Roberto’s parents visited him daily and it was hard for them since they had health problems of their own.

  Jennifer didn’t visit Enrique throughout the week, instead they called each other. She didn’t feel it was right being with him while Roberto was in the hospital. Besides her mother was staying with her and she didn’t think it would be appropriate. Jennifer was feeling much guilt for her recent actions. Her mother was being very supportive and not once did she come down on Jennifer. However, she did ask Jennifer to stop seeing Enrique and begged her to tell him to leave the apartment.

  Now that Roberto knew where he lived he would surely go after him. Jennifer knew her mother was right and told Enrique that he needed to move from the apartment. At first Enrique was upset because he was accustomed to living in this nice complex.

  Afterwards, he changed his mind and he agreed to move. He told her he would move to an undisclosed location. Once he got there he would call her.

  Roberto’s condition improved somewhat but the doctor told him it would be a long time before he would regain his normal state. He remembered what had triggered his condition. He found it hard to look at Jennifer when she visited him. He didn’t know if he was able to forgive her. Nor did he know whether he would be able to love her again. He enjoyed seeing the children and they were now the reason for his existence. He needed to go on living for their sake.