Chapter 21
Violeta and her mother walk home in silence. Earlier, when Maite returned to the kitchen a couple of hours later, her daughter told her that Olga had left because she felt overwhelmed by the situation. Maite didn't want to comment then, and she doesn't want to do it in the middle of the street either, so she waits until they get home and finish lunch.
"Well, are you going to tell me?" Maite asks.
"What?" Violeta looks up from her coffee cup, bewildered.
"What's going on between you and Olga? Besides the obvious," her mother shoots straight.
Violeta clears her throat and ponders. She's spent part of the morning thinking about how to approach this conversation with her mother, and now her mind's gone blank. The other half she's spent thinking about Olga; she's very worried and all she wants is to get up and go next door to see how she's doing.
"Violeta..." her mother insists.
At last, she raises her gaze and fixes it on her parent. Violeta decides to tell everything, not wanting to omit anything because she knows that when her mother talks to Olga, she'll be completely honest, and she doesn't want their versions to clash. She tells her they met that night in Huesca, and her mother's eyes widen so much that Violeta fears they might pop out of their sockets.
"Really?" she asks, astonished. She doesn't seem angry; she even laughs and makes a gesture expressing her surprise. "What a coincidence."
"Yeah," Violeta smiles too.
She continues relating the sequence of events. That moment when her mother took her to Olga's house to introduce them, and they both recognized each other. Maite can't get over her amazement.
"Why didn't you say anything at that moment?"
"Well, the truth is, I don't know, Mom. We were both very shocked. For me, that night in Huesca was very intense, it was something I thought about a lot, but at the same time, I knew it wouldn't happen again because I didn't even know her name. Finding her here and knowing she was your friend, I froze, and my reaction was to pretend I didn't know her."
"And she played along," Maite continues.
"Yes," Violeta laughs, remembering that moment that now seems so distant, "she was very thrown off too."
Violeta continues explaining what happened next. From that conversation where they both decided nothing should happen between them, to how little effect it had because the attraction between them was inevitable. She tells her they've been seeing each other in secret and that if they haven't said anything, it's because they don't know where it's going to lead them, and if it goes wrong, they didn't want her to be caught in the middle.
Maite, as her daughter had already guessed would happen, doesn't get angry about their behavior and understands them.
"I'm very worried about Olga," Violeta finally says.
"Why?"
"Because what happened has affected her a lot. She thinks she's betrayed your trust, and I'm afraid she'll decide to end whatever we have to stop feeling that way."
Maite looks at her daughter, stunned and a bit worried. She suspected there was something between Olga and Violeta, but she didn't imagine that something was as deep as she's starting to discover.
"What do you feel for Olga, Violeta?"
Her daughter looks at her with the air stuck in her lungs, feeling so many things for that woman that she doesn't even know how to explain them.
"I don't know, Mom. I like her, I like Olga a lot."
"How much?"
Violeta shrugs and touches her chest. Maite swallows.
"And Olga? Has she said anything to you?"
"Time stops when we're together, Mom. That's why you caught us."
Maite opens her mouth and closes it again, not knowing how to respond to that.
"Have you talked to Olga since she left?"
"I've sent her a couple of messages, but she hasn't answered, she hasn't even read them. I'm going to see her now," Violeta says, downcast.
"Would you let me go?" her mother asks, surprising Violeta.
"You? What for?"
"Well, I think that just as I've talked to you, I should talk to her too, don't you think? She's scared because she thinks I'm angry..."
"Yes," Violeta interrupts.
"So let me go explain to that silly woman that I'll only get angry if she hurts you."
Maite stands up with a tired gesture.
"That's precisely one of the reasons we didn't want you to know anything."
"Honey, do you really think that if you get into something serious, I won't find out? Don't be naive, please."
Violeta blinks, feeling stupid, and smiles briefly.
"You're right."
"Of course I am. Come on, take care of placing the orders for the goods we need for tomorrow. I have it written down here to order."
Maite hands her agenda to Violeta and shows her where she has all the suppliers written down. Violeta takes it quickly, surprisingly happy to be able to help her with something other than just serving customers.
"Do you mind if I keep trying my king cake here? The last one turned out very bland."
"First, wash the lunch dishes, and then do whatever you want, but when you're done, I want everything cleaned up."
For a moment, Violeta feels like she's fifteen again, when her mother had to chase her for everything because she was a bit lazy.
"Okay," she laughs, "and don't be hard on Olga."
"Oh, come on. If you keep insisting that I should be angry, I'll end up really getting angry."
Maite walks out the door and Violeta takes a deep breath. She'd like to be present for that conversation, but she knows that this is a moment between them, between the two friends, and she has no place in it.