OLIVIA.The little welcome gift I gave Carl two weeks ago... almost 2 weeks, yeah... was the best thing I could have thought of.Honestly, giving a gift is always an incredible detail. Giving something to someone we love is an awesome plus, but giving something to someone who loves you, and who you also like this gift, and who leaves your eyes rolling, is the zenith of life itself.The truth is that every day, despite the things that may happen to us, I feel very good living with Carl Malaver. It was a great decision to have him back in my life. Being with this man is wonderful, our coexistence is good.Of course, there are some details. For example, I can tell you that I don't like the way he drinks his coffee in the mornings. I mean, I don't like that he doesn't put effort into a unique style of coffee.Ok, I'll try to explain it better.It doesn't matter how it comes, hot or cold. As long as it's in the morning, it's all good for him.Com'n! I don't like cold coffee. Who likes cold
OLIVIA.During lunchtime in the office, we usually try to have lunch together in the dining area or we go individually as I did some time ago with Leonidas to the nearby restaurant.I'm usually one of those who brings a lunch box so that I can make the best use of the time and work optimally. That's why I usually have lunch in the kitchen with everyone else.The cleaning ladies always have the habit of buying the newspapers in the mornings and after finishing their first service, as long as they have nothing to do, they sit down to drink tea or coffee, sometimes cold soft drinks, and start reading, devour the little press that is still printed in the nation and, of course, give the newspapers to the others to enjoy some of their headlines when we eat or meet there, as far as possible.I like to read and I am of the first ones to pick up the press in that short period, but precisely that day I did not do it because I was answering questions about Leonidas, taking my cell phone to the t
CARL."Give me a chance and I'll call you back." Olivia hung up and in a couple more seconds, my cell phone rang with her incoming call. "I saw the story in the paper. Did you see it?""That's exactly why I'm calling you. Did you read all about it?""Yes. I need to call Mom. This looks serious.""Make sure she's okay, but I've talked to Nancy and Finol. They won't close the company as long as they don't have to. She and Finol are meeting me in a couple of hours at the apartment, can you leave early today so you can be there? Are somethings they don't mention there in that note that is happening in the wake of Tony's capture.""Oh, honey, I can't. I want to get out of here, visit Mom, but..."I noticed desperation in her voice and became more alert than I already was."What's wrong?""It's work. I have to do the calculation for the interns. They're getting a Christmas bonus and I'm on my own with everything, because I just... Ash, God, what a hassle.""Baby, take a deep breath and tell
NANCY.We had dinner at the home of Carl Malaver, the city's star accountant. First time I attended that apartment and a meeting like that, of course, it should be noted.Finol is a crazy old man, but I like him. I already knew him. That gave me the leverage to claim the power to ask him for advice and so on as to what might or might not happen to me.Carl wore a bad face. Olivia looked like a little girl lost in the woods, although I also noticed a prominent tiredness when she arrived late from the insurance company.Finol looked annoyed and Juan, the ex-cop's son... that red-haired junior sophomore looked like he had chewed a bad mushroom in the worst place in the universe.Everyone present, Carl, Olivia, Ray, Finol, and Juan, concentrated on what could happen after the news of the imprisonment, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, while I... I had to smile.I felt happy, I felt HAPPY!I was overjoyed, nothing could be better after that.Finally, that bastard Tony Urdaneta was paying what
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
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
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,
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