Chapter 7 #2
?“I still don't understand why you're doing this. I thought you were Dalina's friend, that you cared for her. How can you talk like this about a friend? Friendship is loyalty,” Niky insisted, looking at me sadly.
?“We were friends, but I can't tolerate her fakeness anymore.
Always trying to make all men fall in love with her and then playing with them and trampling their hearts.
For many years I put up with it and didn't say anything, but now it involves a friend's brother, and I won't allow it.
I won't let her break Henry's heart. I want you to know that I'm on your side, and of course, on your brother's side too. Besides, Dalina is finished for me.”
?“I'll ask you again, and I want you to be honest. Do you know my brother?”
?“Just knowing you is enough to know that he's the same—you're good people, respectable and well-regarded. That's why I have to prevent him from getting hurt.”
?—“And how do you plan to prevent it?” she asked, looking at me with eyes wide as saucers.
?—“By talking to you, but if you don’t do anything, I’ll have to do it myself.”
?—“Do what?”
?—“Confront your brother and tell him how things really are.”
?—“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. I appreciate your concern, but I’m asking you not to call me anymore because after all this, I prefer to leave the group. I’m going to delete our WhatsApp group and we’ll pretend we never met.”
?—“We’ll continue seeing each other, I’m sure of that. We’ll end up being like sisters, don’t forget that.” And with that phrase, she ended the call.
I looked at Niky and began to cry inconsolably.
My friend of so many years, whom I loved like family, had betrayed me behind my back.
It hurt; the pain of betrayal was immense.
I had shared my most vulnerable side with her, hoping she wouldn’t take advantage of it, and I had been wrong.
All the time we’d spent together had been a lie, but you learn from adversity, and I intended to learn this lesson.
Niky stood up, crouched beside me, and hugged me.
“I’m sorry, Dali. I’m sorry you had to hear all that garbage, but I needed to remove the blindfold from your eyes so you could see who that woman really is.”
“It’s better this way. Now I can clearly see that Sol doesn’t care about me. If she did, she wouldn’t act like this. I still don’t understand what’s motivating her to do this, but I suspect Henry has something to do with it.”
“Do you think my brother knows her?” she asked, concerned. “I saw them together at home that weekend when you were there, and it didn’t seem like he paid any attention to her or knew her. In fact, I remember when Sol came into the bedroom, he asked who she was.”
“I don’t know, I’m truly confused.”
“I think we should tell Henry about this, just in case,” she suggested.
“Maybe that’s best.”
A while later she left the office, leaving me immersed in the crushing anguish of recognizing the betrayal of my lifelong friend.
It was an anguish I felt physically; it weighed me down, overwhelmed me, and prevented me from moving.
Sol was part of my childhood, my youth, my life.
We had shared so many experiences, so many years together, and so many guarded confidences.
Why did she hate me so much? Because in her words and the tone of her voice, I could feel her hatred.
Suddenly I felt so sad that I could barely breathe.
I got up and decided to leave; I wouldn’t be able to accomplish much that day, my head was anywhere but focused on work.
I informed Cameron that I was leaving and asked him to tell my brothers that I was leaving early because I had some personal errands to run.
I suspected they would think it had something to do with Henry, but at that moment I didn’t have the strength to tell them everything that had happened with Sol.
I went to my suite, changed from the clothes I was wearing into jeans and a blouse, and went out for a walk along the promenade.
As I walked, I tried to understand her actions, but nothing justified them.
I still couldn’t understand her motives, and I knew that at some point I would confront her so she could tell me to my face what I had done to make her betray me like that.
I wasn’t going to assume anything; I planned to confront her and clear things up.
Nor would I allow her bitterness to interfere with my relationship with Henry.
If anything was clear to me, it was that I needed to let go of those who no longer wanted to be in my life and make room for those who were coming into it and wished me well.
At that moment, I also remembered that Sean had always told me that on many occasions he hadn’t felt comfortable around Sol, and I felt that perhaps he could help me understand all this madness.
Given the time, I assumed he wouldn’t be studying anymore, so I sat on the promenade wall, took out my phone, and made a video call to him. My friend answered right away.
“Hello, beautiful! Wait a minute, you’re at... How envious I am! You’re at the wonderful promenade of our country. You have no idea how much I miss walking there.”
“I can imagine. How are you, handsome?” I asked with a smile.
“I know that face; something’s wrong with you,” he stated, looking at the screen carefully.
“I think you know me better than anyone.”
“What’s happening? Problems with your boyfriend?”
“No; problems with Sol. I’m still in shock.”
“What happened? I’ll tell you that nothing about Sol surprises me, so tell me at once.”
I told him everything Niky had told me and the conversation I had overheard that day in my office. Sean looked at me in amazement but let me speak without interrupting.
“I don’t know what to think, Sean. I never expected this behavior from her. I have no idea what’s happening to her, I swear I didn’t do anything to her.”
“That woman is trash! Let me tell you several things. First, I’m surprised she’s such a harpy, but I imagined that sooner or later she would show her true personality.
I always suspected that Sol presented herself one way but was actually another, and I also always suspected she had a tremendous envy of you.
At some point, I think I mentioned to you that I didn’t feel very comfortable in her company. ”
“You never told me all this.”
“They were just my conjectures, something I sensed but couldn’t confirm, and I wasn’t going to fill your head with those things to ruin your friendship with her. Now I see that I should have.”
“What else were you going to tell me?” I asked.
“That I suspect she likes your boyfriend and that’s why she decided to ruin your relationship. Did they know each other?”
“As far as I know, they didn’t.”
“Then it must just be jealousy because you have a boyfriend and she doesn’t.
If we think about it, the idea isn’t so far-fetched because you’ve never had a boyfriend before, but when she sees that you might have a lasting relationship, she starts all this scheming to tarnish your image with his sister. A first-class harpy.”
“I’m going to confront her and tell her everything I think. You can’t imagine the disappointment I feel, it’s a deep pain because I love her so much.”
“Don’t confront her yet, wait a few days and let’s see what she does when you stop calling her. But talk to your boyfriend about it, it’s better that he knows.”
“Do you think Sol might say something to him? I mean, lie to make him think badly of me?”
“We’ve already seen she’s capable of anything. If I were you, I’d be careful and get ahead of any damage she might cause.”
“I had already decided to tell Henry, but maybe I’ll talk to him sooner rather than later.”
“How are things going with him?”
“They’re going well, getting to know each other and trying to spend time together.”
“I’m happy for you, beautiful.”
“How are you? Do you want to talk about your things?”
“No,” was his only response.
“That’s fine, but you know you can always count on me. When you want to talk, call me no matter what time it is. I love you so much, handsome.”
“And I love you too, beautiful. Watch out for that harpy and keep me updated on the situation.”
“I promise.”
After hanging up, I got up and continued walking. A few minutes later, I received a call from Henry.
“Hello,” I greeted.
“Hello, darling. Are you outside? The noise is making it hard to hear you.”
“I’m walking along the promenade.”
“Why are you there at this hour?”
“Because I needed to walk and get some fresh air,” I replied.
“For any particular reason? Is something wrong?”
“I’m a little sad, that’s why I went out for a walk. It’s like my therapy,” I explained.
“Sad? Why are you sad?” he asked, and I noticed concern in his voice.
“Because of my friend Sol. It’s something I was going to tell you later.”
“Did something happen to her?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. I have no idea what’s going on with her to make her act this way. Like I said, it’s something I wanted to talk to you about too.”
“Stay where you are, I’m coming over there,” he stated with conviction.
“Henry, you’re working, you don’t need to come. Besides, I’m heading back to the hotel now.”
“Then I’ll meet you at the hotel.”
“It’s not necessary, we can talk about it another time.”
“Dalina, go to the hotel and wait for me there,” he said with a firm voice.
“Why are you always so bossy?” I asked, but deep in my heart, his concern for me was an act of affection that produced a pleasant warmth in my soul.
I heard him laugh and I laughed too.
“See you in a bit,” he affirmed.
“Thank you,” was my response.
Without hesitation, I turned and began walking toward the hotel.
I really wanted to see him, be with him, and take refuge in his arms. Until his call, I had felt a sadness so deep that it had chilled my body.
Added to the disappointment of Sol’s attitude was the loss of her friendship, a friendship I always believed would last a lifetime, but that I now clearly understood I wouldn’t recover.
Disappointments, when deliberately caused, showed us what kind of person someone really was, and although it hurt, although her friendship had accompanied me for almost my entire life, I was going to distance myself, because if she wanted to hurt me, what she felt wasn’t friendship.
Friendship was a bond based on loyalty, and she had destroyed it.
The more I thought about it, the more it hurt and angered me.
Henry’s call, but above all his attitude, his confidence in deciding to come see me, had given me that embrace of the soul that I needed, and that made me love him even more.
I could no longer deny it, I had fallen in love with Henry Woollardy.
Becoming aware that he mattered to me more than I could manage was terrifying, but I couldn’t keep denying that he had taken possession of my heart and there was nothing I could do about it.
So many self-imposed barriers for him to break through and travel, without any effort, the direct path to my heart.
He had broken down my defenses one by one.
Recognizing it didn’t alarm me; I knew he had shaken my heart and awakened my body to passion.
They say that first love always leaves a mark, that you love like never before without being very clear about what’s happening to you, and that you never forget it.
Henry was my first love, and I was sure that the mark he would leave would be very difficult to erase.
I didn’t know if he would be the love of my life, for now he was the love of today, the love of my present, but I wished with all my heart that he would become the love of my life.
I was clear that I wasn’t going to confess my feelings to him, not yet, I was sure he wouldn’t want to deal with that, but I did plan to enjoy this relationship without speculating about the future.
It was either that or distance myself to avoid getting hurt, and at that moment I decided to take the risk and enjoy what he was offering me.