CARL."Excuse me?""Help me to my feet."Of course, I helped her.I carefully lifted her, and helped her clean herself.I got her clothes immediately, sat her on the be,d and dressed quickly.I grabbed the keys from the pick-up,and the wallet and we walked out of the apartment straight to the elevator, to my car, where I helped her into it, although I realized she could do it on her own, and we got out of there.I tried to drive like a civilized man, but my nerves were attacking me."Did you know you were pregnant? Since when?""I'm not. Drive carefully, Carl, please."I nodded and slowed down."Okay, let's see. If you're not pregnant, why did you tell me that in the bathroom?""My period is not due yet and I was bleeding heavily. I was in a lot of pain, Carl. I didn't want to wake you up, but I almost didn't make it to the bathroom.""Shit, Olivia, damn it! You should have said something to me, we've been at the clinic for a while now... We're getting there. Good thing I thought of m
OLIVIA.I didn't bleed anymore. Of course, we didn't have sex that month. But the next month, in April, after the first official consultation and starting the usual check-up, we started to break the news.I told Mom, he to his parents and cousin. Everyone screamed in their way, too surprised, tearful, beautiful, very beautiful to say something like that and have everyone's support, the best thing that could happen.I wasn't nauseous, I just disliked some foods, while others I like very much now. I was very sleepy, that's for sure. And I used to sleep as much as I could after coming home from work.Then came the news in the Insurance. I thought a lot about whether to announce it at once or not. It was getting busy and pregnancy always meant sick leave, pre, and post-natal leave, and bonuses, among other things depending on the company policy, I did not know if the news would go down well at all.But the opposite happened; at least that's what they made me feel. Especially my boss, his
OLIVIA."May I join you?" someone asked, pointing to the empty chair next to me.After a few seconds, I nodded my head. I don't know exactly why. This man come to me, dragged the chair over, and slid into it.The restaurant was getting lonely, surely someone must have to tell me that I had to leave. I felt annoyance and misery if that was possible.I went through my little purse and checked my money for the cab. Thank God, was a good one! The many times I have been stood up have made me a cautious woman. “Do you want to order another drink?”, he spoke again.I looked at his face. Oh God. The words left my mouth, stay in my mind. He is... so handsome.He looked relaxed but expectant. Why is he looking at me like that?“No problem, I'm leaving" I said.“Do you want a cab?”I must have looked ridiculous trying to hide my bewilderment, without succeeding. I frowned.“Are you restaurant's owner?”“Excuse me?” he asked.I sighed deeply, tired, exhausted from this sad night, from being her
CARL.I want to start over... As soon as she said that, I went crazy.It's difficult to explain what I felt. What she said was a demand, an expression of entreaty. She was asking me for help.When I approached her table I never imagined touching her. I wanted to, I obviously wanted her from beginning, but I really didn't think this could go any further. That woman with her crazy words and her red confession transformed me into one being of action. That's what happened.I resolved stay in my apartment that night. My job is usually too competitive and sometimes tiresome; trying to keep it simple. My weekends is to devote to nothing, to stay at home or somewhere else to unwind. I wouldn't be there, I-wouldn't-be-in-that-restaurant. It wasn't meant to be, and I'm not a man to believe in such nonsense of destiny. In fact, I still think that this dinner I shared with her (if we can even call it dinner, because I don't remember eating anything but herself), if it had been planned, it would n
CARL.I was fifty percent sure she hadn't seen me.I sat at the farthest table in the restaurant and asked the waiter not to tell her that I had arrived.I also sent a bottle of beer with him and told her it was on the house. I watched with satisfaction as she drank it because I wanted to test her tastes. I only knew about wine and those energy-provoking her after several glasses. So, I decided to send her some of my beloved drink, not glistening or attached to her finesse and delicacy, I thought. Of course, I needed to know if she liked that kind of drink and if its effervescence suited her.She didn't reject it, very well! Point for me.I was pleased to learn that she had reserved the same table where I met her, I couldn't believe it at first. La Napolitana was an exclusive place, but not so much for booking reservations just for couples, unless for some special occasions. Her achievement was something new for me.I continued watching her for a few minutes, even though I was quite f
OLIVIA."I thought you were scared.""Why?" he asked quietly between bites of his escalope.I completely regretted ordering a salad. Who eats those straws for dinner? Just me, I guess. «If I ask him to give me a little bit... »Watching that Thermidor meat being devoured by those appetizing teeth, almost made me forget that he expected an answer."Because you thought I was gone. How would you find me?"His fork froze in mid-air."Here." He shrugged."What if I never came here again?""The other night you told me this was one of your favorite restaurants.""What if I moved out of town?"He stopped chewing."Are you planning to travel somewhere?"I stared at him for a moment. I didn't answer him and amused myself with that, knowing he wouldn't demand it of me. So, I continued eating."Is your salad good?""Yes.""Did you like that beer?""Yes. This is my favorite drink."He stopped eating again."I thought it was the wine.""I like it too, but I like beer much more."He froze for a mome
CARL.She was not heavy for me, but she wasn't a feather either.Exploding in front of me, like that, with these vicious movements, brought pounds of excitement to my brain. And that, the excitement, was my responsibility now, I couldn't let it drop.I bit my lips and began to fuck her hard, thus, that's how we started to like it, turning up the heat of having succumbed that first time, the same night we met.Damn, no protection, no shit on me. I didn't even remember her exact words when she assured me she was clean, but I know that I certifying the same. It was the second time we'd met and again, we were doing it like this.We're nuts, we're behaving like mindless beasts. But I wouldn't let her go, not even if somebody held a gun to my head. If I was forced to walk away from that god's delicacy, I'd drag her with me. I liked her very, very, very much.She rested her heels on the bed and propelled herself like a master. I caught her by her waist and she began to bounce, dance, and shi
OLIVIA.I stood behind the wall of the Personnel Department.It was Saturday and very early. The other employees had not arrived.I carried out the tasks that my boss asked me to do: choose the flowers for his girlfriend, buy them, put in the office, over her desk, and wait to receive the delivery that would bring a very exclusive breakfast.I was very sure that my great boss would not be in the building that morning and I thought that this gallantry was a distant congratulation, an apology for not being here, but how wrong I was. The exclusivity of this breakfast was a lingerie kit as a present, attached to the famous meal.And at detail made him not stand idly by, he couldn't bear to send it to her without him being there.So, he arrived after a while, closed the door of his beloved's office, and I, hidden like crazy behind a wall, could hear them and even imagine the exact spot where they were... doing it.Because they were "doing it", yes. They were making love in that office.Str
OLIVIA.I didn't bleed anymore. Of course, we didn't have sex that month. But the next month, in April, after the first official consultation and starting the usual check-up, we started to break the news.I told Mom, he to his parents and cousin. Everyone screamed in their way, too surprised, tearful, beautiful, very beautiful to say something like that and have everyone's support, the best thing that could happen.I wasn't nauseous, I just disliked some foods, while others I like very much now. I was very sleepy, that's for sure. And I used to sleep as much as I could after coming home from work.Then came the news in the Insurance. I thought a lot about whether to announce it at once or not. It was getting busy and pregnancy always meant sick leave, pre, and post-natal leave, and bonuses, among other things depending on the company policy, I did not know if the news would go down well at all.But the opposite happened; at least that's what they made me feel. Especially my boss, his
CARL."Excuse me?""Help me to my feet."Of course, I helped her.I carefully lifted her, and helped her clean herself.I got her clothes immediately, sat her on the be,d and dressed quickly.I grabbed the keys from the pick-up,and the wallet and we walked out of the apartment straight to the elevator, to my car, where I helped her into it, although I realized she could do it on her own, and we got out of there.I tried to drive like a civilized man, but my nerves were attacking me."Did you know you were pregnant? Since when?""I'm not. Drive carefully, Carl, please."I nodded and slowed down."Okay, let's see. If you're not pregnant, why did you tell me that in the bathroom?""My period is not due yet and I was bleeding heavily. I was in a lot of pain, Carl. I didn't want to wake you up, but I almost didn't make it to the bathroom.""Shit, Olivia, damn it! You should have said something to me, we've been at the clinic for a while now... We're getting there. Good thing I thought of m
CARL.I carried dinner in bags, my rolling suitcase in another, and maneuvered with the keys. I waved to the concierge and went upstairs.I opened the door expecting to see Olivia, but I didn't expect her to be like this.Yes, I asked her to undress, but being obeyed to the letter and beyond is too much of an impression.She stood with her back to me wearing wicked black heels. Nothing else.Her hair was down and as she turned towards me, her fully waxed mons pubis and wild face almost made my pants explode.Quietly (pretending to feel that), I arranged everything on the floor of the entryway and walked over to her.She had her hands behind her lower back and with them, held herself against the glass.The terrace had been reopened and rearranged, and that construction served perfectly to generate light around the female who was waiting for me.I sighed deeply. She smelled exquisite, all of her."Stay like this." I knew my command would be fulfilled to perfection.I took the food to th
OLIVIA.Hot, it was very, very hot that morning in early March.The months fly by, you don't realize it. And things are happening and passing as if everything was a long corridor that we had to walk down.The end of the year was a good celebration. For obvious reasons, we preferred to stay at home. Our adrenaline level was already sky high and Carl was not ready to "jump-jump for his life", as he put it. So, we invited his cousin to the apartment, who came with her husband, and a little black box that I didn't see until after the gunshot.The ring... I still can't believe it.Carl has told me how he got it, without any shame, managing very well that philosophy of no secrets, although I know we'll always keep for each other some little thing we don't want to say or tell.But there he was, hugging me from behind as we watched some beautiful fireworks that some neighbors launched outside the entire building.We watched them from the largest window in the living room, Carl and I, his cous
CARL.Olivia saved my life. That's how it is. That's how it was.I only think of the possibility that if I had been there alone, or with another woman, maybe I wouldn't be telling this episode of my life.I'm still dazed and in my body runs a painful relief, the one that manages to channel and make me think of things that I would not have done before, but I needed to get up soon, or I would go crazy.Walk a little, go to the bathroom, drink water, or something stronger. Olivia was doing all that for me, but she was asleep, I wasn't going to wake her up.Nobody shot me, they shot Nancy. And thanks to Olivia, who saw when the guy came towards the blonde to shoot her almost at point blank range, my girlfriend managed to get to the ground just before being hit by the bullet.The problem was when we fell, we stumbled hard against the table, the tablecloth rolled off crazily and we got tangled up in sharp things, like a damn glass pitcher full of water that someone left on the edge of the c
NANCY.Juan Finol's push prevented my body from lying, catastrophically, on the pavement in front of my restaurant.Both of us, escort and I, fell to the ground. And in a matter of seconds, a couple of men belonging to the restaurant's security and part of Finol Sr.'s crew, fell on top of the guy like hungry gazelles making his escape impossible."Nancy, are you okay? Nancy, hey, are you okay?!"I was trembling, my heart was beating fast, and I felt dazed.I looked at the person who wanted to kill me, I wanted to see his face, something that the hood of the sweater made impossible for me.But face down, hands tied behind his back, I could not see him.Then, I focused my gaze on Juan. He looked dismayed, waiting for an answer from me.I held his forearms tightly, he kept caressing my face trying to revive me."Am I hurt?" was what my lips said, but it was not what I wanted to say. I wanted to say a thousand things and that's all that came out.He quickly checked my body. He shook his h
NANCY."Can't I stay out of my restaurant either?" I asked Juan Finol's inveterate pursuer. "What a nuisance with that guy! I came to hire your bodyguard services at the right time".He wouldn't let me in the sun, or the shade, neither to other people's cigarettes nor to city fumes or alcoholic beverages. He wouldn't leave me either on roads or sidewalks, cars or trucks, nothing, he wouldn't leave me in peace, he wouldn't leave me in peace! And I thought he didn't like my resistance and every act of stubbornness I showed him.Finol Junior Second approached me while I was on the phone.Mom wouldn't answer. I'm the worst daughter in the world. I started to organize everything and I missed the time she told me to call her. She must have left her cell phone somewhere in the apartment or whatever.My family is big, but few of us are close. My father and mother were still alive, still married and traveling, spending Christmas far away from home. They were in Miami.I wanted to talk to them,
OLIVIA.I felt like the luckiest woman in the world.We arrived at the restaurant, we were treated excellently. What a spectacular atmosphere there was inside La Napolitana, it reminded me so much of their anniversary party, the one Carl and I were at; (well, I was, actually). That time, waiting for him was uncomfortable, I thought he wouldn't go, but it was fun to see the level of organization of Nancy and her people, they always pull out all the stops.That 24th were not as many people as that night, the paraphernalia was not as high.Outside I did not find girls dressed in the promotion of a brand of alcoholic beverage, the celebration that December was a little quieter, although all the tables around ours were occupied.I saw families with underage children, that partly I liked, partly I did not. It always generated a bit of stress for me to see 14, 12-year-olds there. I never understood why they let children in the place, but sure, I understand, it is a family restaurant, however
OLIVIA."Baby, are you all right? It hurt pretty bad yesterday. When are you going to see a doctor? Every time that happens, my life gets a little short." I had to laugh. "I keep thinking about it all day long. I'd like to think about sex all day long, not what exactly hurt you from sex."That was Carl. That was the memory of Malaver in my head, as I was grooming myself in the bathroom, one that was about to be over, just a few minutes away.In just one week, being that night December 24, we were already loaded with all the ready clothes and the desire to enjoy ourselves.We wanted to go now. Especially to that specific place. Carl and I were very excited because last December we didn't celebrate together because of our breakup. I remember it with a bit of annoyance, since he celebrated in Caracas with the mother of his son and they even kissed and I celebrated at my mother's company in a tower in the city, the same company that at that time was having problems, even though mom had no