Time stands still. His eyes are on me. And those, without a doubt, are killing me. Why do his eyes show so much? Why even though I don't want a relationship, I can't refuse him? Why?The memory of the promise I made at Jack's grave, echoes in my mind."I'm sorry, but..."The illusion that showed in his gaze, slowly diminishes. Now I don't have the courage to continue with my prayer."I understand. You don't like me" Daniel replies after a sigh " Apparently, trying hard is not enough.""I like you" I say and his gaze lifts again with the same hopefulness that was recently gone "But, I can't accept your feelings. It wouldn't be fair to either of us.""Are you still in the past?""Yes.""Do you think it's a good thing?""Yes. It certainly is. The best thing that ever happened to me is in the past" I reply confidently."When has it ever been good to stay in the past?" asks Daniel and I smile without feeling vulnerable or bad about his question."That past was once the most beautiful prese
"No, Daniel. Earlier you did unnecessary things that got me in big trouble with my mother.>> And now you want to victimize me and I won't allow that. It's fine that you believe in a love story, that everything can be perfect. But I don't want to live in that lie. I can't do that and you have to respect that.""I understand and I'm sorry," Daniel comments regretfully."I will only take your apology as true, when you stop doing unnecessary things that annoy me. Daniel, if you want to be a prince, go be one. But go be one with someone who is a princess and wants to be rescued.>> Because if you continue to do what you've done. In my story, you will be a monster. A monster that a witch like me, do not want" I finish leaving the place.That's the problem when on television they only show women as helpless people. Men think they are knights in armor and walking horses who are looking for a princess who needs their help and protection.(...)I leave for the highway, walking down the highway
She doesn't answer me and I don't really expect her to.I ran out of the room in search of Aninka.I knew that I couldn't expect anything good from him. But without a doubt, Aninka had some hope that Esteban would act well. Unfortunately that hope was trampled by him.I run on my way to the roof, our forbidden zone at school.I climb the stairs that emphasize to me what little physical condition I now possess. Surely this would not have been difficult for me in the past. Exhausted from climbing so many stairs, I reach the rooftop almost dying.In the distance. Kneeling on the ground and holding on to the railings, I watch Aninka. I don't need to be close to know that she is crying. It is at these moments that I don't know what to do and if what I do would be right.I am not good at comforting people. And trying to do so, besides being complicated to do, generates some discomfort in me for leaving my comfort zone.With nothing else to do, I walk towards her and sit down next to her.I
"I will not abandon you. Just as we are now, I will be by your side watching a door or a beautiful landscape. Since you need me.""I know, I am very weak.""No one who lives is. The plants we see small and weak, were struggling to grow and survive. The small animals struggling not to be eaten and continue to live, are not weak either.>> Much less the people who live in this world full of masks are. We all smile, but only we know how many internal struggles we are having. And you, you are no exception. You're struggling with so many at once." I say trying to cheer her up."Do you think I will win the battles?" asks Aninka hesitantly."I have no doubt.""I don't think I'm capable alone." Aninka says discouraged."I will be with you. Not because I distrust your strength. But because you need my help to understand what is really important." I say wanting her to understand that she is capable of doing anything she sets her mind to, even if her brother is against her."Earlier you said you
We are not going back to school. Since the last thing we need right now is to waste time. I show Aninka the way out that Esteban once showed me and we leave the school.We don't make it home. Since my mother keeps an eye on us with the communicative neighbors we have. So we can only go to a cafe, away from the school. Since we can't be seen outside the school by any of the directors or teachers."Aninka Have they read your father's will yet?"She denies crestfallen. Which confuses me."If they haven't read the will yet, why have they already announced that Esteban is the one who inherited your father's shares?""It's expected. Parents always leave the eldest of their children as heir.""What if they are wrong?""It's impossible for him to be. My father trained my brother to replace him. Not me."Deep sigh."¿Y? He could have changed his mind and given you everything or split it equally between his sons. The latter would be the fairer thing to do.""I don't know how things are in your
Aninka manages to communicate with the lawyer. So now he is meeting with him in the cafeteria while I am in the library finishing the proposal.Tiredness overcomes me. My foot bothers me from time to time, but I continue. I can't give up.I pick up several management books and other tomes to see the developments in the industry that, without thinking, I get involved. I check on the internet, the objectives set by the company and the competencies. To polish the proposal even more.I don't know how long I stay in the library. Since I concentrated a lot on the project. I only know that my concentration is interrupted by a cold milkshake."I take it you haven't eaten?" says Aninka handing me a milkshake and a sandwich."How did it go?""I don't know yet."I look at her confused as I eat the sandwich which my stomach gladly receives."Explain yourself, because I don't understand you.""The lawyer didn't provide me with any relevant information. According to him, everyone involved must be p
The day ends, a new one begins and with it new problems that, added with the old ones, leave us nothing to give up everything.The day of the reading of the will is today, so it goes without saying that today will be a long and stressful morning.And it's going to be caused by Aninka's notorious desperation."Aninka, you're going to give me a headache" I tell her stressed.Aninka who has been pacing back and forth in her old home office, pauses a bit to watch me warily.It's ten o'clock in the morning, we've only been in this office for ten minutes and already Aninka has walked back and forth more than a hundred times. It stresses me out. But the reason for her actions is obvious, she is afraid that everything will end. And even if she doesn't want to accept it, it can happen.According to what Aninka told me before, I decided to investigate if what she told me so absurd and macho was true, because hey, who in the middle of the 20th century doubts that a woman can manage a company?Bu
My mind is filled with a thousand questions. Apparently, the surprise for both of them is that my father is here and not that they had never seen him before. Something that leaves me quite pensive. Especially when my father is not a good father figure.No doubt I should ask Aninka where they know my father from, of course, if things turn out well.The lawyer takes his time pulling out the document that causes the Bogdanovs so much anxiety, but I just focus on the pros and cons of what that document might reveal."Well, today we will be..." the lawyer begins."Please skip everything and get straight to the point - who and how much do you inherit?"The lawyer looks at the others present and they nod.Enough of all this mystery, the sooner it's all over the better."Good. The total heir of the estate goes to one person."Shit. It's all or nothing."Mr. Mordashov will be in charge of maintaining the estate while the heir reaches the age required to take possession of his property."'Shit,
Our dresses were very different. Aninka's looked like a princess, so big and with so much fabric to the point of her skirt and veil, dragging the place down. Mine, on the other hand, was simple. A dress with long sleeves and bare shoulders. With a fabric that clung to my body and stretched to the end of my feet.We were two opposing brides, one overdressed and one simple, at the wedding Aninka wanted: big and with guests I've never seen, but I know they are businessmen. Something that helps her fulfill that wish of Aninka's about having a big wedding. Where I could barely keep up with her and as soon as we get married I will run away. So many people overwhelm me.The two of us, we walk towards the man who will be our husband. The walk, quiet and slow, helps me remember everything we went through to get here. From the scorn, kidnappings, deaths and estrangement we lived through, to the good times and how we supported each other when it was necessary.Our relationship w
I knew the news had come as a surprise to both of them. But, I didn't know how they would react to it. And there was no time to back out now. I had given the news in a nervous shock. Esteban, immediately hugged me, while David, put away his gun."I can't lose them. I couldn't go on knowing they were dead. I can't fire anyone anymore." he whispered."It's okay. Don't worry. It'll just be this moment and it'll all be over.""You don't need to expose yourselves anymore. We can...""Go take her somewhere safe. I'll handle this." says David and I deny."I want them both to be okay" I say and Stephen nods."Everything will be fine, just, go get the boys to take you home safely and we'll come after.""No, I'm not going to leave them."Esteban brings his hands to his neck and removes the chain from where he pulls the ring he gave me over two years ago."This is my promise that I will come back alive. We will come back alive. But, we can only do t
'Well, that's partly your fault, Sofia. Are you going to ignore your responsibility in this?' my mind chides me 'You want it too, make the most of it.'Knowing what I want and that nothing will change if I don't want it, I open the shower door and he turns his body showing me the source of his problem."Get out, Sofia. I have things to do" Esteban says frustrated and I walk over to him, backing him up until I reach the wall he had used to hit himself."I can help you with that. I'm partly to blame for that" I say taking his hand which I place on my chest."Sofia, you're playing with fire.""We're underwater, fire isn't going to burn us here. So what are you going to do?" I ask and the next second, it's me against the wall, my dress torn and him, lifting one of my legs."Are you sure about this?" asks Esteban in a hoarse voice."And you are?" I ask challenging him and he smiles at me making a single movement that makes me stifle a moan."I am"
Five months laterHow naive I was to believe that I could leave or that I could help them. I was foolish to think that leaving here was possible and so, I was once again locked in the room that looks like a huge cage.After all, trying to escape through the air ducts because I wanted to get my life back ended up in the foiled plan that Esteban easily destroyed.Nor, escaping through the back door or another exit, was impossible because I didn't have the access code. And even going to the garden didn't give me any chance of leaving, because the place is so heavily guarded that it is impossible to take a step without my brother and Esteban knowing.But, since I tried to use knives from the kitchen to threaten the others to be released, I am now locked in the room, while the guys have focused on capturing the damn man they still haven't killed."Please let me out. I promise I won't do anything crazy." I ask bored from already being locked up for two weeks. Wher
Sofia narratesI was nervous, there weren't as many people as when Mordashov was killed. But, still, I was afraid. The possibility of seeing them get hurt or killed while I'm a dumb spectator, it's not pleasant.Quickly, she walked to the closet where Esteban took out his weapons and taking a long-range one, she looked for a place where she could use it.One thing that certainly shows that I'm in a big cage is that the window doesn't open. It is only a kind of material that is not glass or other fragile material, but I doubt it is iron because of how transparent the window is, impossible to break.Annoyed, I look all over the place for a spot where I can take out a part of my gun to shoot, fortunately, in the bathroom, I find a small hole where I place the gun looking slightly outward.The guys had already gotten out of their cars and were shooting incessantly. So, I had to hurry. A girl who had gone three years without using a gun was now going to do it to
The kiss was deep, something they had both missed doing and that was why Sofia was upset.'Why did she have to desire someone who had decided to leave? Why on earth would she enjoy lips she had been so determined to forget and a single second all effort went down the drain?' mentally wondered Sofia.Sofia moved her face to interrupt the kiss and with tears running down her cheeks and a pain in her throat, she spoke to him.'Why do you play with me like this? You arrive, you get my hopes up and you leave. Yours, Esteban, is not love, it's a damned emotional tourism that always takes me to the edge of the abyss that I strive not to fall.""It's not like that, Sofia.""Yes it is, Esteban. You supported me to the point of confusing me so much and believing you had changed. But, look at you, Esteban. This was what you wanted," Sofia says painfully and Esteban walks away."I left because if I didn't, they would come for you. They would because this never ends
The car carrying Sofia, celebrated the triumph of having taken 'the package' easily. While Aninka was desperately looking for her friend. Everyone thought it was all over, until a car driving like crazy appeared from a corner and crashed into the car carrying Sofia.Esteban Bogdanov was getting out of the car, shooting at the men who had tried to take Sofia. Behind him, his men were shooting at the Englishmen who dared to kidnap Sofia.The car, which had been wrecked on the side opposite to where Sofia was, was so destroyed that the man who had carried her over her body. When Esteban ran to rescue Sofia, the bodyguards who came out on motorcycles and in cars, began shooting at him, causing him to back away."Protect Sofia!" he shouted in annoyance, while looking for protection, shooting at the falling motorcycles as they lost their driver. Thing that doesn't stop the cars and Esteban immediately, understands what they want to do."It's a trap! Shoot anyone who tr
Two years laterSofia smiled with pleasure at what she had achieved. In all this time, she was completely dedicated to the academy where she teaches and to her own training. Along the way, several of her girls left for professional teams and the few that remained were talking about which team to join.As a result, the academy, which was full of life, now, did not have many students. Those who were still attending were doing it for entertainment and not because they wanted to prepare themselves to be on a professional team.Therefore, the demands of the last few months had diminished. Sofia took a deep breath and skated for the last time in the rink where she had demanded and had demanded from her students many things that helped them all grow. Both she and her students.Making a full presentation, she said goodbye to the rink where in the middle of the rink, she left the box that Esteban had left her as a gift the first time she taught at the academy.
Omnipresent NarratorThe boys smiled when they saw Sofia's attitude. She didn't look so sad and down. Although she was not happy, she looked calm and less mortified by the decisions of others. So, that, already, was considered a win."Well, the food was amazing, what do you guys have in mind to do now?" asks Zayn smiling."Aninka" they all say knowing that she is the one who always makes plans for all kinds of things."Well I have the perfect plan." says Aninka smiling as she gets up from her chair and runs to the sound she turns on "Dancing.""This must be a joke." mutters Sofia and Aninka gives her a dirty look."You promised you'd try. Besides, the fun hasn't even started yet. So, don't be a spoilsport." chides Aninka and Sofia sighs deeply."Okay, dance." says Sofia crossing my arms."Let's dance." corrects Aninka and she slides her hand down to the prosthesis she removes."Sorry, I can't dance without a foot." mutters Sofia reluctant