Chapter 22
Maria is looking at the food delivery app to decide what to order for lunch at the office when someone knocks on her office door and immediately opens it.
Her eyes bulge and her heart starts jumping wildly inside her chest when she sees that it's Trinidad who enters, elegant as always in one of those suits that fits her like a glove.
"What are you doing here?" she asks, rising with such force that the chair shoots backward and crashes against the wall with a thud.
"I wanted to see you," Trinidad responds with a seductive smile while closing the door.
Maria circles the desk to approach her.
"I wanted to see you too, but it's not wise for you to leave your house given the circumstances, don't you think?"
Trinidad runs a hand over her face before burying it in her hair and giving her a passionate kiss that turns the lawyer's body into a puddle of jelly.
"I've decided I'm not going to stop my life because he's back," the businesswoman says, sitting in one of the chairs on the other side of Maria's desk while she sits across from her.
"I'm exhausted with this situation and I won't allow him to keep controlling my life, because one way or another, it's clear that he does.
All my movements these years have always been based on avoiding him, Maria, I haven't had a life, just fear and discomfort, always looking over my shoulder or avoiding certain places in case I ran into him. But that's not the worst."
"And what is?"
"My family, Maria. He separated me from them back then and he continues to do so now.
I changed my name and we decided not to maintain contact for safety, because he had resources and through them he could find me.
These days, since I know he's appeared again, I've been thinking a lot about everything and I refuse to continue like this, I need to get my life back, and that starts with stopping being afraid of him. "
Maria leans forward and takes both her hands affectionately. She's proud of Trinidad, although she knows that, deep down, no matter how much the businesswoman says otherwise and strives to prove it, she's still afraid.
"I was going to order something to eat, would you like to stay?" the lawyer asks and Trinidad narrows her eyes thoughtfully until she finally nods.
Maria lets Trinidad choose the food from an Italian restaurant where she's eaten before and takes the opportunity to tell her what she's discovered while they eat.
"I found Ismael's family lawyer and called him to arrange a meeting. I'm waiting for his response."
Every muscle in Trinidad's body tenses hearing her, deep down, she's terrified because Ismael awakens something in her that goes far beyond fear, but she's not willing to back down from her decision to face him.
"Okay," she responds and Maria continues explaining the few details they have.
"His wife, or her family," she specifies, "has a large number of companies throughout the peninsula."
"I thought they were in real estate," Trinidad interjects.
"That's the main line for public view, but they have dozens of businesses and Ismael's wife oversees them.
There's one in particular, their own jewelry line, whose production facility is in Barcelona.
If I had to bet, I'd say that's what brought them here from the other side of Spain, because their current residence is in Salamanca. "
"Well, the reality is it doesn't matter what brought him here, the point is he's arrived and already knows where I am, but I don't want to talk more about him," Trinidad wipes her mouth when she finishes eating, "do you have much left to finish your workday?"
"Well, I wanted to get ahead on some things for tomorrow, but I can do it another time, why do you ask?"
"Because I think it's time we talk a bit about what's happening between you and me."
Maria chokes on her own saliva and drinks water to clear her throat.
"As long as you agree that something is happening between us, of course," Trinidad specifies raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, yes, of course," Maria hurries to answer, "it's just that damn, you're so strange," she expresses so sincerely that Trinidad laughs instead of taking offense.
"A couple of weeks ago you were cold as ice and quite rude, and now you're so charming that I'm afraid all this will disappear with a snap of fingers. "
"Are you suggesting I'm bipolar?"
"No, I'm just saying you've kept me in so much tension since I met you that I'm finding it hard to relax with you," Maria admits.
"Okay, maybe I went a bit too far," Trinidad admits with a grimace.
"Well, it's not a big deal, actually, you were right yesterday when you said I needed someone to bring me down a notch."
Maria is so nervous she doesn't know how to approach the conversation, but Trinidad has it clear.
"I haven't been with anyone since I fled from Ismael," she declares leaving Maria petrified, "I mean there hasn't been anyone I wanted to go beyond a couple of dates and a fuck with. And I confess I'm scared shitless, I don't even know if I'd know how to do it again, but with you I want to try."
Maria, moved, stands up and sits on Trinidad's lap, joining her hands behind the businesswoman's neck.
"I haven't told you this, well, actually, I haven't told you anything about me because we barely know each other," Maria says without looking away.
"That's true, but I'm all ears."
"I was married for many years to the same man, and practically from the beginning, I was having an affair with Ursula."
The confession catches Trinidad off guard.
"So it's true," she says sketching a soft smile.
"True?" Maria frowns.
"You didn't trust me and I wanted to know if I should worry, so I asked Adrian to investigate you a little," Trinidad explains to Maria's surprise, who's left open-mouthed.
"He didn't find much, but he did tell me about your marriage and that there was a rumor going around that you'd had an affair with Ursula. "
"Really?" Maria's eyes open with surprise.
"Really," Trinidad responds nodding her head at the same time. "To be honest, I didn't believe it, I had seen so much complicity between Ursula and Mildred that it was hard to imagine."
"Well, it was before she met Mildred. I also slept with her, by the way," she says and clears her throat.
"With Mildred?" Trinidad's eyes open with surprise.
"Yes, since we're being honest, I'll tell you everything," Maria scratches her hair, "but it's a settled matter that I'll tell you about another time."
"Okay, but with Ursula you were together for years, wasn't there anything more between you?" Trinidad probes, dying of curiosity.
"No. Ursula and I are friends above all, what we had besides that was sex and good conversations, but that ended when she started with Mildred.
In any case, what I'm trying to tell you is that, although your love life and mine haven't had anything in common, I have the same fear as you about starting anything, Trinidad, because, despite loving Marcos and being used to him, I never had what we could call a normal relationship because I had that affair with Ursula and my life was being caught between both. "
Trinidad raises her eyebrows and smiles grateful for her honesty.
"Did he know you were having an affair with Ursula?"
"He suspected, but he didn't say anything, I guess we had a kind of silent pact.
The thing is that Marcos asked me for divorce practically at the same time that Ursula ended our affair and, suddenly I felt vertigo.
I had spent my whole life having what I wanted, my husband when I got home and my lover outside of it, I even went to that club alone sometimes," she confesses with a grimace, "but my life revolved around them.
That type of relationship was what I knew and liked, and I knew finding something like that was very difficult, so, let's say I went a little crazy and decided that the best thing was to dedicate myself to fucking whoever I wanted and disappearing so no one else could leave me. And then you appear..."
"And then I appear," Trinidad repeats looking into her eyes. "And what do you think now? Do you want to continue with that type of life or would you prefer to take a risk and start something with me knowing that it could also end?"
"Is that your way of asking me to date?" Maria asks with a certain mocking tone.
"I wouldn't call it dating either, but I would like us to get to know each other better, and obviously, that implies certain respect between both if we agree."
"Like stopping sleeping with other people?"
"Like you stopping doing it, because I only sleep with you," Trinidad admits, "and if we get to something more serious, I assure you I wouldn't be like your husband, if I find out you cheat on me once, it's over."
Trinidad doesn't consider herself a jealous woman, but she already dealt once with a husband who cheated on her and isn't willing to go through the same with anyone.
"I shouldn't tell you this because I'm only going to inflate that ego of yours that's already quite large," the lawyer jokes, "but since you fucked me the first time, I haven't slept with anyone else, so you could say I've respected you from the beginning."
Trinidad smiles with tenderness.
"In the end you're not as tough as you try to appear."
"And neither are you, Trinidad," Maria silences her with a slow and deep kiss, which extends until the lawyer's phone starts ringing.
Maria abandons that lap where she feels so comfortable and stands up to answer. From the responses she's giving, Trinidad deduces she's talking to Ismael's lawyer and that makes her nervous.
"My client agrees to meet in front of an empty warehouse next to his wife's company, in the industrial park..."
"No way," Maria cuts him off sharply, "no isolated places, my client agrees to see him in a public place where she can feel comfortable and protected from such an animal," she lets out unable to contain herself.
"And what place is that?" the lawyer asks.
Maria hadn't even considered it, but searches in her head for places that might be most crowded outdoors and says the first one that comes to mind.
"A children's park."
"Fine, choose one, send me the location and we'll see you there tomorrow."
"Agreed."
"That's it?" Trinidad asks when Maria hangs up, standing and crossing her arms over her chest in a clear defensive gesture that doesn't go unnoticed by Maria.
"Yes, that's it," the lawyer responds hugging her. "Do you want to come to my house tonight?"
"Better at mine, there's more security," Trinidad concludes.