Chapter 13
“Because, although no one knows what I tell no one, the entire night is too short to dream of you and the whole day is not enough to think of you.”
—José ángel Buesa
William
I won’t deny that I wavered between calling her or continuing to look for another solution, but I ended up pressing Devon’s contact and my heart began to beat rapidly.
Although I’m a confident guy and nothing usually rattles me, with her my confidence went out the window.
Everything related to Devon made me nervous and, many times, I didn’t know how to handle it.
Besides, in this situation I was at a disadvantage because I knew I was taking advantage of her generosity.
“Dr. Dulcet,” she answered, and I’d bet she was sleeping because her voice sounded drowsy.
“Devon, it’s William Cavaller,” I informed her, because from the way she answered, I assumed she hadn’t looked at who was calling.
She didn’t say anything. For several seconds she remained silent and I feared she might hang up on me.
“Devon, are you there?”
“Sorry, I’m just sleepy,” she said, but I was convinced she was actually surprised.
“I’m sorry to bother you at this hour.”
“No problem. Is everything okay?” she asked immediately, and I imagined she must be completely bewildered by my call and the time she was receiving it.
“Actually, I’m calling to ask you for a favor. I’m in New York and Alba called me because her youngest son had an accident and she wants to travel to Canada to be with him,” I began to explain, but she immediately stopped me.
“I’m sorry to hear that. How is he? Is it serious?”
“It doesn’t seem to be, but they need to operate because he had several fractures.
The issue is that if Alba travels, I don’t have anyone to leave Aurora with, and I can’t return until two days from now.
I know my daughter adores you and that’s why I’m turning to you.
I also know I have no right to bother you, but it’s an emergency situation and I only trust you.
” There, I had said it, now I just had to wait for her response.
“You trust me?” she asked, and I must confess that question sounded like a reproach, and I knew I deserved it.
“Yes, I trust you, Devon. Alba and you are the only people I would leave Aurora with. I know I’m taking advantage of your generosity and I’m very embarrassed to bother you.
If you can’t do it, no problem, I’ll ask Alba to wait until I arrive and I’ll try to travel as soon as possible,” I stated, because now that I was talking to her, I understood that asking for this favor after everything I had said to her was presumptuous.
“Don’t do that, I can stay with Aurora,” she affirmed with conviction, surprising me once again with her generosity.
I didn’t know what to say. This woman was wonderful.
“Thank you, Devon.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer Aurora to stay at my apartment. I can go get her and bring everything necessary. I don’t feel comfortable staying at your house.”
I couldn’t blame her. I had told her I didn’t want her to see my daughter again, but now I needed her and was bothering her to stay with Aurora.
On the other hand, this confirmed to me that she wouldn’t use Aurora to get to me, because staying at my house would be a great advantage for that, but she had decided to go to her own place.
“No problem. I’ll talk to Alba so she can start preparing everything for Aurora, and I ask that you call me if you need anything,” I clarified, though I knew she was capable of resolving whatever might come up.
“Alright.”
“Really, thank you so much for your help,” I repeated, because her generosity touched me deeply in my heart.
“You know I care a lot about Aurora, for me it’s a real pleasure to be with her,” she affirmed, and I was sure it was true; my daughter was in the best hands.
“I don’t doubt that, but I imagine it must also complicate things quite a bit with your work, and yet...” I said, knowing it could potentially cause her problems, but she was still willing to do it.
“I have a lot of accumulated leave and the other day they told me I needed to start taking some days off,” she stated, but I wasn’t so sure that was true or if she was just telling me that to keep me from worrying.
“If you happen to have any problem at your work, I assure you that I...”
“No,” she interrupted me, “that won’t be necessary.”
“Alright,” I said, but I was certain that if she had complications because of me, I would use my influence and solve it for her. “I’ll call Alba to let her know you’ll be coming for Aurora. When could you go?”
“I’m leaving right now so Alba can get organized. Tell her not to wake Aurora because it’s the middle of the night. For today I’ll stay at your house and tomorrow we’ll come to my place,” she proposed, with her usual good sense.
“That’s fine, whatever you decide. Thank you very much.”
“No problem.”
“We’ll be in touch,” I said goodbye, although I could have stayed talking with her for hours and listening to her voice, and that overwhelming need left me restless.
A few hours later, I had organized everything necessary for Alba to travel as soon as possible with any family members she wanted to bring.
I had no choice but to bother my secretary because she was the one who had the contact for the private flight company, as she had always been in charge of everything concerning coordination and contracting.
I had decided to hire a private flight so she could travel as soon as possible to be with her son.
Alba deserved that and much more. When I had informed her that Devon was on her way to stay with Aurora and that I had already arranged her flight, she had burst into tears with emotion, and that had squeezed my heart.
I couldn’t even imagine what she was feeling at that moment, being far from her son; even though I knew he was out of danger, it was still surgery.
Everything I had experienced in those hours had left me so agitated that I wasn't sleepy at all.
I picked up the phone and called Alba again to make sure she hadn't had any issues with the flight.
She told me she was on her way to the airport and that Devon was already at my house.
Imagining her there made me feel an irrational happiness.
Something was happening to me with this woman that was different from anything I had experienced before.
It was a new emotion that had me worried and somewhat terrified.
I felt such a great longing that it was almost painful.
I wanted to be with Devon, I wanted her to be only with me; imagining her with someone else turned my stomach.
But could I take a step forward when I felt such great fear?
She had already rejected me once—what if she did it again?
With all that spinning in my head, I picked up the phone and called her again. I didn't even check the time.
“Cavaller,” she said as soon as she answered, and although I wanted to hear her say my name, I didn't want to pressure her.
“Devon, I just spoke with Alba and she told me you were already at the house and that she was on her way to the airport.”
“That's right, I'm here and everything is fine. Aurora is sleeping peacefully,” she said, and imagining her in my house, with my daughter, sent an intense shiver down my spine, but I tried not to show her the whirlwind of emotions she caused in me.
“You don't know how grateful I am for what you're doing. How are you going to arrange things at work?” I asked, because that was another issue that concerned me.
“Tomorrow is my day off, but in the morning I'll call to let them know I need a few days of leave. When would you be returning?” she asked, reverting to formality, but I didn't say anything about it.
I had noticed that she switched from formal to informal treatment in an instant, and I had no idea why she did it. I supposed it depended on the distance she wanted to put between us at that moment, so I assumed that on this occasion she was creating distance between us.
“In three days, and only if it doesn't complicate things for you. Otherwise, I'll let Xavier handle all the meetings and I'll return whenever you tell me to,” I proposed.
“Don't worry, come back on the day you had planned. I'll call you if anything comes up.”
“Devon,” I began to say, because I felt the need to tell her to call me William, that we needed to talk about us again, but I said nothing.
“Yes?” she asked, noticing that I had fallen silent, unaware of the turmoil inside me.
“Could you stop addressing me formally? Please,” I said at last, almost like a plea.
“All right,” she responded without hesitation.
“Thank you, Devon, for everything.”
“You have nothing to thank me for.”
“I hope you find my house comfortable,” I said, and I truly hoped so. I wanted her to feel my house as a home.
Home? For her? What are you thinking?, I asked myself, but she pulled me from my thoughts.
“Actually, I don't know which bedroom to use. I forgot to ask Alba. Can you tell me?”
“Use whichever one you want; if you like, you can sleep in my bed,” I replied, knowing I was risking her being bothered by my comment, but I couldn't resist that irrational impulse to let her know that I intended to seduce her again. Yes, I was going to do it.
“Absolutely not. In fact, it's so late that I could just stay on the living room couch,” she stated, and I noticed she was flustered, which I liked.
“Of course not. Sleep in a bed so you can rest properly. My bedroom is at the end of the hallway; the other two are for guests. The staff bedrooms are in another part of the house. Use whichever one you want.”
“All right, thank you.”
“I'm the one who should be thanking you. Really, thank you very much, Devon. I'm in your debt,” I commented, and that was truly how I felt.
“Not at all. For me, it's a real pleasure to spend time with Aurora,” she affirmed, and I had no doubt she was speaking from the heart.