CHARLOTTE“You should rest a bit; you’ll need…” she started, reaching for the bowl. I readily handed it to her and shifted my weight, trying to find a more comfortable spot.“I think I’ve had enough time to rest,” I interrupted. “I’m tired of lying in bed. I need to…” I continued, but she held up a finger.“The only thing you need to do is stay in bed; you’re not strong enough for any other activity,” she interjected, and I shrugged.“Well, we had a deal. I do what I want today, and afterward, you can call the doctor,” I reminded her. She started to say something, then stopped.“All right,” she said instead. “What would you like to do?”“I need to get to the supermarket,” I started and smiled weakly as she stared at me with a confused expression. “Then a walk around the city would be nice,” I finished, and she chuckled.“Going to the supermarket, yes. No walks. You can barely sit up; I’m not letting you drag your weak body from one corner of Los Angeles to the other,” she replied in a
CHARLOTTERogerio was the type of man any woman would dream of. I spent my time doing things I thought would make him happy. Today, I asked the cook, Maria, to prepare his favorite meal in anticipation of his return for dinner. However, he had not arrived yet.“How many times have you seen a rocket in the sky?" I asked aloud.“What?” Maria asked and lifted her head to meet my gaze. “I don’t understand.”“A rocket, Maria. Do you know what that is?" I questioned, arching an eyebrow.“Of course,” she answered with a knowing smile.“Good. How many times have you seen one?”“Barely," she replied, her expression shifting from curiosity to confusion repeatedly.“Yeah. That’s how much I’ve seen Roggie in this house,” I acknowledged, and an awkward silence filled the room.“He doesn’t like to be called that,” she said after a long time.“I know. Perhaps that’s why he’s angry? And he hasn’t come home. Have I let out that name unknowingly?”“I doubt it,” she responded dryly and lowered her gaze.
CHARLOTTE“Rogerio,” I whispered as he shut the door behind him and stepped into the night. The clock ticked softly in the corner of the room as my heart pounded against my chest. I clutched the sides of my stomach to steady my body as a sharp pain shot up my spine, and my eyes ached terribly.I stood up a few seconds later to look at myself in the mirror again. My reflection stared back at me as my heart broke into a million pieces.“I did everything right!” I yelled and sobbed loudly. I heard the door open and looked up, expecting to see him and hear that he had changed his mind, but it was the door that led to the staff quarters, not the one he had walked through.I felt whatever was left of my dignity shed as Maria stepped into the hallway. “Signora,” she said and ran towards me, enveloping me in an embrace. “Let’s get you out of here.”“I did everything right, Maria,” I repeated in between sobs. She sighed and patted my head.“Let’s get you into the bedroom. This has caused quite
CHARLOTTEI woke up to the sound of hurried footsteps moving through the house and voices yelling in unison. Too disoriented to make sense of it, I struggled to block out the noise coming from the engines of trucks revving in the distance. Yawning and stretching my arms, I sat up, looking around the room with a confused expression.My mind felt like a blank slate for a hot minute, delighted yet frightened at the prospect. But a few seconds later, the feeling dispersed as my brain started to recall the events of last night.I sighed and smiled sadly. Life had taken a different turn, one I couldn’t deny I hadn’t foreseen as the days rolled by. I remembered the terms of the marriage that Rogerio and I had. We hadn’t started our relationship on the basis of love, but I could swear we were great friends.When I fell in love with him, he never made it feel like it was an unrequited love. I felt safe and secure, like I had found someone who was ready to stick with me through thick and thin u
CHARLOTTEI was too stunned to make any sudden moves. My life was crumbling before my eyes, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I slid onto a couch next to the door and sobbed quietly.My heart raced, and my body trembled terribly. I had finally lost everything that was important to me. It felt like life enjoyed playing cruel tricks on me. First, it was my dad and mom dying, leaving me to fend for myself in a world where everyone operated on a different set of rules than the one I had been raised with. Now my husband was gone.“This can’t be happening,” I said to myself as tears streamed down my cheeks. “It’s all a bad dream, and I’ll wake up from it soon.”I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly. I wiped my face and slowly opened my eyes, hoping to meet different circumstances. My resolve wavered as I opened my eyes and the house became silent. I was still in the library; nothing had changed. The silence made it worse; it was easier to deal with this when I could still hear people talki
CHARLOTTE“Maria?!” I yelled, my voice echoing through the empty house. “This is sad,” I added when she didn’t respond, and I started walking to the front door. Then I stopped in my tracks, turned around, walked into the room, and picked up the tray containing the dishes I had just used, proceeding to stack them in the kitchen sink.We were the only ones left in this deserted estate, and I couldn’t let her do all the work while I wailed about how much of a failure my life and marriage were. Plus, I needed something to do to keep my mind off the present as I made plans for the future.Today, I had one mission: find Rogerio and uncover the reason behind our separation. I had always assumed it was my fault, or that I was constantly making mistakes. However, upon reflection, I am starting to realize that there may be other external factors at play.First, I thought about his parents; Rogerio had grown up under the care of his grandfather, Don Huilo, and his mother, Penelope. I had no idea
ROGERIOThe sun had just begun to set when I arrived at the penthouse. The movers had completed their task of hauling the properties I had brought from the estate. Once they finished, they dispersed as swiftly as they had gathered, leaving me with the staff members who had packed up their things and moved with me. I studied them for a few minutes, waiting to see if anyone would speak up, but none did. It dawned on me then that my decision to divorce Charlotte had brought about unforeseen consequences.First on that list was her refusal to sign the papers. She claimed to love me, but I doubted it. Our relationship was built on different terms—love was never one of them. We both knew it, so I couldn’t fathom her delusion. It was pointless, considering we both acknowledged that our union wasn’t working. I attempted to push the encounter out of my mind and focus on what I could currently control, but the expressions on the faces around me made it futile.I stood in the corner of the room,
CHARLOTTEThe drive back home was slow and excruciatingly painful. I had to park by the side of the road a few times to convince myself that I would arrive at the estate in one piece. My body trembled slightly as the recollection of seeing Rogerio propose to his ex-girlfriend remained permanently etched into my memory.I barely knew her, but from the conversations we had when our relationship was still hopeful, I knew she had shattered his heart into a million pieces with her disappearance. I had thought our marital issues stemmed from an issue between both of us, one we could work on, but this was something different.It wasn’t a marriage that was done because one or both of us had issues that could not be fixed or tolerated. He had simply returned to the woman he truly loved. For the first time since we were married, I truly comprehended what unrequited love felt like.My thoughts shifted to the first night we met at the bar. He had walked in looking dejected, and I knew that he nee