Chapter 26 Marfil
We walked the streets, handing out donations for a couple of hours.
Sebastian had wanted to keep it shorter, but I begged him to let me stay longer.
When he saw that my teeth were chattering and my lips were blue from the cold, he forced me to get in a taxi that was thankfully still in service.
By the time it dropped us off at the place we’d parked, I was truly freezing.
That’s when I saw him.
A medium-sized puppy was curled up on the curb beside our car, his fur covered in snow and frost.
My heart shattered.
“Sebastian,” I said, pulling at his coat to get his attention.
He followed the direction of my gaze and stopped. “Marfil. No.”
I ignored him and approached the dog with caution. He was shaking so hard that he hardly noticed when I walked up and crouched beside him. “Hey, buddy,” I said. He looked at me with big, sad eyes.
“Marfil,” Sebastian said, bending down, “dogs can handle the cold. Don’t you see all that fur? It’s like he’s wearing a warm coat. He is, in fact.”
“We can’t leave him here,” I said, petting his head. His tail began to wag slowly, and he stuck out his tongue to lick my hand. “Poor thing!”
Sebastian cursed aloud, and when I stood up, the dog did as well. The creature was filthy, frozen, and malnourished.
“Please, Sebastian,” I said, turning to him. “Don’t be cruel. I can’t leave him here. You said I couldn’t bring people back to the apartment, and I didn’t even object! But this little dog needs me.”
“Dammit, Marfil,” he said, but then he held open the car door.
I got in the back seat, and the dog clumsily climbed in beside me. Sebastian turned on the heat, and the dog started licking me.
“Don’t let him do that. He might have some disease,” Sebastian warned, but I ignored him.
The dog was adorable, gray with black legs. One of his floppy ears was also dark. I felt sorry for him, with his matted coat and skinny body.
“I’m going to feed you until you can’t eat another bite,” I said, feeling a warmth in my heart that I hadn’t noticed had been missing.
Seeing all those people on the streets and knowing that there was so little I could do had affected me deeply.
Sebastian was right: I couldn’t save the world, and I couldn’t bring every stranger home with me, but I could save this little dog from freezing to death on the street.
My father had always forbidden us from bringing home stray animals and became furious if we disobeyed.
We’d once found a little piglet with an injured foot; he’d escaped from the neighboring farm.
My sister and I brought him in and wanted to keep him as a pet.
Our father had him slaughtered and butchered, and then forced us to sit at the table while he ate it for dinner, to teach us a lesson.
I still remember my nausea, which lasted the rest of the night.
When we got back to the apartment, Norman looked at the dog with curiosity. “Miss Cortés… you got a pet?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, holding my head high. This stray was no purebred, but I was no snob.
We went up to my apartment, where it was warm inside, since the radiator turned on automatically when the temperature dropped below fifty-five degrees. I truly understood, more than ever, how fortunate I was. My father could be an asshole, but he had always given my sister and me everything.
Sebastian hung his coat up without taking his eyes off the dog, who had waltzed into the apartment like he owned the place.
I smiled. He walked around sniffing everything—his snout stuck to the floor—and then circled the rug three times and lay down beside the small electric fireplace in the living room.
“Do you see how smart he is?” I said, pressing the button to ignite the flames.
Sebastian groaned something in response and looked at us.
“We have to give him a name.”
“You’re going to name him?”
“What do you think of Rico?”
“Why would you call him Rico?”
“I don’t know… It’s the first thing that came to mind.”
Sebastian walked over and studied the dog with a serious expression. Rico sniffed him. “He’s kind of ugly.”
“He’s not ugly! He’s unique.”
Rico barked, as if agreeing with me, and Sebastian smiled for the first time all day. “You should take him to the vet; he’s malnourished. And you’re going to have to house-train him and walk him…”
I rolled my eyes. “I know how to take care of a dog, thanks.” I stood up, and Rico followed me into the kitchen. “What should I feed him?”
Sebastian raised his eyebrows, as if saying I was already proving him right. “Don’t give him too much—his stomach must be the size of a marble. We’ll give him a little bit of chicken, to see how he does with it, but tomorrow you need to take him to the vet.”
I nodded, looking lovingly at Rico. “Want me to give you a bath while Uncle Sebastian makes you something to eat?” I asked in a singsong voice.
“You gave Uncle Sebastian the rest of the day off. Don’t push it.” He turned around and headed down the hallway.
“Come on, Sebastian,” I begged, looking at Rico, who barked to back me up. “You’re really going to leave me alone in the kitchen?”
He seemed to think better of it, then turned around and threw me a poisoned glance. “I’ll make him a chicken breast, and after that I’m done.”
I smiled as I walked to my room, Rico on my heels.
“One for me, too, okay?”
I didn’t hear what he said because I quickly closed the door behind me, took off my coat, and carried Rico into the bathroom.
I didn’t really want the dog in my tub, but I knew Sebastian would refuse to let me wash my new four-legged friend in his shower.
I turned on the hot water, adjusting the temperature to keep from burning him.
He barked when I put him in the water and grabbed the showerhead to wet him.
As soon as he was fully soaked, Rico shook his fur, splashing me with water and grime.
I went through almost an entire bottle of shampoo before the water finally ran clear. The dog’s fur was now bright white, and I smiled contentedly at the result. I picked up the hair dryer and started to dry him as he ran back and forth, opened his mouth to feel the air, and barked like crazy.
“What the hell are you doing to that dog?” Sebastian asked, entering the bathroom and picking him up before he could dash out the door.
“Help me out!”
Between the two of us, we dried him off, and I brushed his fur with my hairbrush. The transformation was incredible.
“Rico, you’re gorgeous!” I said, looking at his white, wavy fur. He was such a mutt that it was impossible to tell what breed he was, but to me, he was beautiful.
We went into the kitchen with Rico following along beside us.
Sebastian placed some chunks of chicken in a cereal bowl and brought it closer to Rico, who sniffed it, hesitant at first, then began to eat slowly.
It made me sad to think about the things this dog must’ve experienced and the fear and the cold he must’ve felt.
I noticed there was a plate on the counter for me—grilled chicken breast, tomato salad, and cooked carrots—and I turned to Sebastian with a smile. “What would I do without you?”
He didn’t respond, he just leaned on the kitchen counter and watched as I ate.
When I finished, he took my plate and put it in the dishwasher. Rico had returned to his spot on the rug and was dozing beside the fire. It made me happy to see him getting used to my apartment so quickly.
“You should go to bed,” Sebastian said, posing it more as an order than a suggestion.
I walked over to pet Rico. “What if he’s scared to be in a new place?” I said hesitantly. “Although he seems pretty comfortable.”
“Anyplace is better than the street, Marfil, believe me.”
I stopped petting Rico and looked up at Sebastian for a few seconds, wishing I had the ability to read minds.
“Can I shower in your bathroom?” I asked.
Sebastian frowned.
“My tub is all full of Rico grime,” I explained.
“Shower wherever you want. I’m going to bed.”
How sweet. I missed the other Sebastian.
I went to get my pajamas and knocked on his door. He told me to come in, and I eventually found him standing in his closet, the door open, pulling a white cotton T-shirt over his head.
“Do you need me to show you how to turn on the water?” he asked. “It’s the same as yours.”
I rolled my eyes as I went into the bathroom and closed the door.
I took off my clothes, aware of the fact that he was just steps away, and turned on the hot water.
Unsurprisingly, all of his products were perfectly lined up.
I sniffed his shower gel and felt a tingle of pleasure; it was like smelling him.
Wanting to have him as close to me as possible, I rubbed that familiar scent, his scent, all over my body.
Finally, I turned off the water and stepped into a cloud of steam—I loved a super-hot shower. I dried off, pulled on a simple white camisole with thin straps, and stepped into my pink cotton pajama pants. I squeezed the excess water out of my hair, then left the bathroom.
Sebastian was sitting up with his laptop open on his knees, which he closed as soon as he saw me.
“Why do you always do that—are you watching porn or something?”
“Go to bed, please.”
“I thought you were going to sleep.”
He set his laptop on the table, sighing. “I don’t go to sleep until you do.”
I walked slowly over to him and sat beside him. “How do you know when I fall asleep?”
“It’s enough to know you’re in your room.”
I smiled, remembering the time I snuck out the window. Then I thought about how he must’ve freaked out that night, and the smile faded from my face.
“I like your bodywash,” I said, sitting very still. He looked me in the eye for the first time since I’d come out of the bathroom. “I smell like you.”
He took a deep breath and ran a hand over his face.
“Does it bother you when I say things like that?”
“What bothers me is the way I feel when you say it.”
My heart sped up. His eyes were still closed, and I took advantage of the fact that he wasn’t looking to move closer to him.
“Why do you make me feel like it’s wrong to want to touch you or to feel something for you?”
He opened his eyes and looked at me. “Because it is.” He was being serious.
“Why?”
Sebastian sighed again. “Marfil, I can’t do my job if we keep this up.”
“How does the fact that I want to kiss you affect your work?”
Sebastian looked to my lips and then back to my eyes. “It would be a distraction.”
“No, I can kiss you only when we’re at home. Outside the house, you’ll be able to concentrate as much as you want.”
Sebastian smiled, and my heart fluttered as if I had a hummingbird flapping its wings inside my chest.
“It doesn’t work that way, Elephant,” he said, moving my hand away when I tried to hold his. “We can’t, it’s that simple.”
I pursed my lips, annoyed, but also sad.
“You should be going out with some college guy,” he added an instant later.
“You’re not being serious,” I replied, unable to believe what he was saying.
He stood up, walked to the door, and opened it for me. “I’m being very serious.”
I instantly felt lonely without him beside me.
“Are you saying you wouldn’t be bothered to see me with other guys?”
“I’m not saying anything, Marfil. I’m not here to participate in your life; I’m here to protect you. That’s it.”
I stood up and walked over to him. “That’s not it and you know it, but I’m not going to keep insisting.”
“I’m glad you finally get it.”
“I’m a slow learner, I guess,” I replied in the same cold tone.
“Go to bed.”
“Of course, Mr. Moore.”
I walked down the hallway toward the living room, angry and hurt.
Rico lifted his head as soon as he heard my footsteps and looked at me from his spot beside the fireplace.
“Do you want to sleep with me?”
The dog jumped up, wagging his tail happily, as if he’d understood me.
I heard Sebastian’s door shut behind me, and I sat down on the couch with Rico.
I hugged him tightly and began to cry. Why did everything suddenly seem to revolve around the way I felt for Sebastian?
Why couldn’t I just forget about it, the way he did?
I guessed that was what it meant for me to be in love: suffering like an idiot since no one would ever take me seriously enough to love me back.