When you have nothing good to say ... (I)

On Sunday, Carlos was still upset … although, to be honest, even he himself couldn't identify the true cause of his continued bad temper. He no longer knew if because of Brian's stupidity, Sara's lies, or because of himself, for having been a coward for not expressing his feelings when he had the opportunity. If he had, she would never have gone into Brian's arms and nothing bad would have happened.

**«»**

Night came and the Mon'tblank opened its doors. Carlos was in the kitchen, giving some instructions to the staff when one of the security officers approached to inform him:

“With permission, Mr. Mon'tblank.”

“Tell me.”

“Someone is waiting for you at the lobby, but … after what happened with Mr. Smith.” Hearing that last name, Sara couldn't help but tune her ears to hear the entire conversation, she prayed that Brian had not returned, she no longer wanted more problems in her life, less with her boss.

“He dared to come back?” He asked annoyed.

“No sir, it's not about him but about Mrs. Jazmin.” Carlos showed no reaction by the visit, he just limited himself to order that they allow her access. Sara, although dying of curiosity and anguish, tried hard not to show interest in knowing what was happening, she didn't want to harm things again, she remained silent while she waited for her assignments that night.

**«»**

A bottle of white wine … Jazmin's favorite was uncorked and two glasses were served on the table just as Carlos arrived to attend the visit.

His premise had always been that: ‘When you have nothing good to say … the best thing was to keep quiet’. So, he was looking at Jazmin without saying a word, rather like someone waiting for an answer. For her part, the blonde only took her glass, tasted the delicious wine, and for a few minutes ignored her ex-husband's impatient gaze.

“Time without visiting the Mon'tblank, it continues as I remember it … exquisite and elegant. I see why my dear brother comes so much, although of course, you already took it upon yourself to withdraw his membership.”

“In fact, nobody took it off … he lost it by himself.”

“Yes, of course, my little brother had the audacity to show interest in the ‘overrated’ waitress. And the eminent Dr. Carlos Mon'tblank passed sentence … judge, jury, lawyer, and witness, all at the same time!” She replied visibly upset.

“And your ‘little brother’ misses this place so much that you come to intercede for him?”

“What's so special about that waitress?”

Jazmin shifted the focus of the conversation, making it clear that she was not there to intercede for her brother, but to resolve all her doubts.

“Jealous?” He asked wryly.

“Jealous of an insignificant waitress? Do not make me laugh!”

She gave a false smile that failed to deceive Carlos. “Simple and plain curiosity. It is obvious that she must give them ‘something’ so that you and Brian behave like two ‘neighborhood bullies’.”

It was insulting to Jazmin that her brother and ex-husband were fighting over the same woman.

As if she were the only one in the world.

Although she never admitted it, deep down she saw that her relationship, or whatever she had with Carlos, was at risk. How could they possibly go to the extreme of hitting each other for defending such a tasteless and graceless waitress? For her, that was an indisputable sign of danger.

Now it was Carlos who ignored Jazmin's presence while he drank his wine. It was evident that this situation amused him, he had never seen her so interested in hearing from someone other than herself, so he decided to take his time to respond.

“So—?” She asked annoyed demanding an answer.

“So … nothing,” he interrupted. “Your presence here confuses me, I thought you were coming for Brian, but now you make me a scene of jealousy totally out of place.”

“Jealousy? Got damn! This is not about—”

“There is nothing between you and me! Your presence here is not justified.” He interrupted her again and immediately, began to prepare to leave. “As you well know, I'm very busy, so—”

“You have had beautiful women, with more class and from our same social circle, why with that waitress? Why with so little? Is your intention to humiliate me?” He was almost up to leave, but at the nasty comment, he decided to sit down and look reproachfully at his ex, before speaking.

“And why not? When the hell will you understand that the world does not revolve around you?” He asked being obvious since nothing prevented him. “Jazmin, our divorce is a fact, so I am free to redo my life with whomever I please, whether you like it or not … that is what matters least to me.” He paused. “I do not seek to humiliate you or your overflowing egocentrism, in fact, I do not seek anything from you. Sara is a beautiful and incredible woman, although she does not belong to ‘our same social circle’. A person is worth more for her essence than for her wealth … understand it and apply it.”

“Wow! So, the miserable waitress is amazing and beautiful … Did you suddenly go blind?” Jazmin replied with so much sarcasm that Carlos lost his patience, although he tried not to show it. “Did you go crazy?”

“Now that you ask, well … yes,” he responded by crossing his left arm at chest height and placing his right elbow on him, while grabbing his chin, imagining Sara. “Who wouldn't go crazy before a woman like her? Beautiful, fun, with a mixture of innocence and mischief so exquisite that anyone would surrender at their feet, including me. Please! What the hell does it matter if she is a waitress? If I can make her my queen as soon as I want to.” He said the last annoyed and with all the intention of end the topic, leaving no room for doubt. “Don't worry about the wine … it's a gift from the house.” Without saying more, Carlos got up and left. Jazmin was left with a lump in her throat, she did not expect that reaction from him.

Despite all the things that had happened to them in the past, she always got privileges from him. She was the one who always said the last word. He was a gentleman, and although she acknowledged that, in many cases, she had abused that chivalry, it certainly pained her that today he had acted like a lout.

**«»**

In another area of ​​the Mon'tblank …

What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you feel that way? It was what Sara asked herself over and over again, as a great emptiness germinated in her chest, causing her enormous sadness. Seeing Carlos talking and sharing with Jazmin, made her start to feel jealous … although she didn't like it, she had to admit it, she was jealousy and that made her seem really stupid.

Why the hell was she jealous of her boss with his wife? Is it a reaction from a normal person? She was sure it was not.

Sara continued to do her job and, unsurprisingly, Jazmin upon seeing her completely ignored her. She never intended to be friends with that waitress, much less be nice to her. As soon as she finished her drink the blonde left the place.

The chestnut, for her part, even appreciated that Jazmin ignored her since it would be difficult for her, even more so that night, to pretend that she estimated the woman. In fact, ever since she saw her kissing Carlos at the club, began to experience a growing revulsion towards her.

**«»**

On way to his office, Carlos was confused, not so much by Jazmin's behavior, to which he was already accustomed, but by his own, neither in the most difficult moments of their marriage nor during the long process of divorce had he been so rude to her … but in fact, he was already fed up! He had an urgent need to put aside the past and get on with his life, he felt so detained in the damn time.

For years he waited for things to be resolved with Jazmin, but for that to happen … or she had to change or he had to resign himself and accept her as she was … and none of those options was to his liking so that he was never satisfied. He understood that it was better to let her go.

Little by little his heart became empty, so empty that it ended up closing, and although Carlos was a very handsome man and besieged by many women, he was never again interested in a true, stable and lasting relationship. But now he was beginning to feel that everything had changed and that it was finally time to move on … only that, driving Jazmin away by lying to her and making her believe that he was dating Sara, wasn't exactly his idea ​​of ​​progress.

Although, on the other hand, it was not all lies, he began to think about all the qualities that he mentioned so spontaneously about Sara. It was true that, from the beginning, he recognized many things in common, it was also true that It was extremely nice to visualize himself in a relationship with her … she could well be the perfect woman for him.

**«»**

Back in the kitchen, Sara saw her boss, who was climbing the stairs to his office, she decided to ignore him and concentrate on her work. Carlos was surprised that since she was always so insistent, she was so quiet at the time, especially, after seeing Jazmin there. And, although he also wanted to talk and clarify many things with the chestnut, he did not want to interrupt her, so he preferred to continue but, when he was halfway there … he repented and returned.

“Sara, please come up as soon as you're done.”

**«»**

After a long time, in which she was struggling with her feelings and with herself, she finally entered the office.

“Well, you wanted to talk to me … now is the time,” he said, but Sara was no longer so sure that she wanted to return to that topic, so …

“I changed my mind, it is better to leave all that in the past, from now on I will make sure to focus only on my work, as it should have been from the beginning.” She said visibly disappointed, looking down and trying to get out of that office soon. What she did not consider was that Carlos also needed to speak and be heard, in fact … and he did not care how selfish he looked but he was promoting that conversation more for him than for her, but noticing how hurt she was still for what the idiot Brian had done and, without being able to help it, he ended up feeling jealous, and how it was not easy for him to show his feelings, but yes his angry moments, before he seemed in love, he again ended up looking like a bitter old man.

“Does it affect you so much that Brian's idiot didn't turn out to be that ‘blue prince’ you imagined?”

“Actually, I prefer not to talk about it.”

“Why not? And don't tell me that I'm your boss and all that nonsense!” At that moment, his cell phone rang but he turned it off and tossed it on his desk to continue talking.

“In fact, if I remember correctly, we were all like ‘one big family’ yesterday,” he snapped sarcastically. It was so annoying for Sara, the way he spoke to her, that in a jiffy she stood in front of him to clarify her opinion about it. And that was just what he wanted … make her mad.

He knew her well enough to ensure that making her angry was the only way for her to speak without hesitation or detour.

“I didn't know Brian and Jazmin were brothers! And much less that you and she would be there, you can't blame me for that.” She spoke to him, showing confidence, her index finger pointed at Carlos's chest so strongly that at some point he felt ‘his life at risk’, as he watched her and smiled to himself.

“No, I don't blame you for that … but yes, for being a silly and ignoring me. What did you think? What did you hope to achieve with Brian?”

“Wait?” Sara was silent, deep in her thoughts, because she recognized that yes … she had been very silly to let herself be carried away by her fantasies, especially when deep down she knew that Brian had always been very far from her reach.

Carlos noticed her lost gaze and her sudden silence. He took a deep breath and exhaled. He did not want to hurt her, on the contrary, he sought to protect her. She was unleashing feelings in him that he swore he would never feel for anyone else. Why did she have to suffer for that idiot? Why the hell couldn't she see it? Why didn't she see that he was there for her? He released the contained air again, getting a single answer for all his questions. Perhaps because you have never shown it to her, nor did you know how you felt about her, until now.

He thought that then it was time to reopen his heart, it was not something that was easy for him, less after so many years without wanting to know anything about love, but now with her, he felt safe and willing to take that step.

“Sara, did you really think that this meeting at the club was casual and not planned by Brian and Jazmin?”

“What need do they have to do that?”

“That is why you confuse me so much … How can you be so credulous and so lying at the same time?”

“I didn't mean to lie to you! I have told you so many times … I … I was just trying not to cause more problems.”

“I got tired of asking you and you only answered ‘that everything was fine’ ‘that nothing happens’, as always, you lied.”

“Yes, I accept that I hid what happened, but I already told you … I did not want to cause problems.” She emphasized the last sentence and huffed irritably at the end. Suddenly, she looked directly into Carlos's eyes, while taking enough oxygen to continue, she had just remembered a very important detail, which under no circumstances was she going to keep. “Although, it's obvious that I'm not the only liar here!” She blurted out helplessly, unable to contain her annoyance at all that he reproached her.

“I don't understand what you mean by that comment,” he replied curious. “I have been totally honest and direct with you. If I have something to say, I say it by looking you in the eyes and without having to hide anything.”

“It is not true! I remember perfectly that on your birthday you told me that you were divorced and it turns out that yesterday you were ‘delightedly sharing with your wife and brother-in-law’ … as you just said, ‘everyone as a great family’.” She scolded him.

For Carlos, this comment from Sara was like a tailored suit, so much so that he couldn't avoid the sly smile that had just formed on his lips. He sat, comfortably, in a corner of his desk, crossing both arms on his lap, while observing Sara's beautiful face, as red as a tomato, while so passionately complaining about his supposed deception, speaking wildly, more with gestures than with your words. Although she was discussing, what he observed was totally lovable. What was happening was just what he needed to be able to divert the conversation where he wanted, without fear of being indiscreet or committing some stupidity. He listened to her without interruption and when she … finally fell silent, he got up from his place and opened one of the drawers on his desk, pulling out a folder and reaching out to hand it to her.

“What is this?” Carlos looked at her and smiled more cheekily, at the image that formed in his mind of Sara's possible reaction.

“If you don't read it, you will never know.” She opened the folder and began to check the contents; it was an original because of the number of stamps and signatures … it was the divorce certificate.

“Miss Gonzalez, will this document be enough to calm your doubts and satisfy your curiosity?” He spoke initially with mockery, but later more seriously added. “I do not lie.”

At the time, Sara could only ask ‘for the earth to opened up and swallow her up’. The document in her hands was more than enough to put her in her place. She was paralyzed, without wanting to look at that pair of sapphires that were watching her, with too much attention.

“So … I don't understand, why didn't you ever deny Brian? Why she and you—? That is—”

“Why waste my time correcting every nonsense that comes out of that pair's mouth? It doesn't affect me at all. Nothing that they think about me affects me at all.”

“Excuse me. I didn't want to be nosy, it's just that—” She opened her eyes as big as two sunflowers when she realized her mistake, and she was not referring to the one of insulting him by calling him a liar, but of another more compromising one, to the mistake of giving ‘green light’ to the curiosity of Carlos, who did not miss the opportunity and began to investigate.

“It's just that … you needed that clarification, right? Now I ask you, Sara. Why does it affect you, what I have … or not, with Jazmin? Why are you so upset?” He purposely scowled to add drama to his questions.

“No, I do not …” She did not know what to say and, with how good she had become to ignore the difficult moments; she decided to flee.

“I'm sorry, you're absolutely right, it's your private life and what others think shouldn't bother you,” She spoke very quickly, trying to get out of the office while handing him back the folder with the document.

Carlos, who had anticipated her reaction, prevented her from running away, planting himself in front of her, leaving her defenseless and without escape routes, with her gaze anchored to the ground. At this point, and even if he wanted to, he could no longer hide the great satisfaction that all this caused him.

“Sara, look at me.”