Chapter 14
“Don’t be upset with the dry well for not giving you water; instead, ask yourself why you keep trying to draw water from a place where it’s clear you won’t find any”
—Buddhist reflection
Half an hour later, I was parking at the corner of the “Very Much” bar.
As I was opening my car door, I saw his car parked in front of the bar entrance and decided to wait there.
If he was in the bar, he would have to come out eventually.
And he didn’t keep me waiting—two minutes later he was coming out with his arms around two people.
On one side was the woman from the photograph, and on the other was a man I didn’t know.
He seemed drunk and they appeared to be helping him walk, but that didn’t stop him from laughing cheerfully.
I stopped breathing. My lungs forgot how to function.
“Breathe in, Dalina, do it” I told myself.
I closed my eyes and forced myself to focus on breathing.
“Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale”
When I caught my breath, my hands began to tremble and tears welled up in my eyes.
My heart was beating painfully as I tried to process what I had just seen.
I felt a devastating pain mixed with fury and disappointment.
I tried to calm myself, but I couldn’t—something was burning inside me, a rage like I’d never felt before in my life.
Henry had lied to me, he had played with my feelings.
I wanted him out of my life once and for all; all he had done was make a fool of me, causing me immense pain.
Even though my soul was aching, I continued watching the scene in front of me.
The man helped Henry into the car because he was staggering from drunkenness.
After making sure he was seated, he said goodbye.
The woman approached the man and kissed him on the cheek, and when she was seated behind the wheel of Henry’s car, she stuck her hand out the window and shouted:
?“Waylon, thanks for everything!”
Waylon? That was the name of the friend who had called him, I remembered it perfectly because Henry had mentioned him.
My mind began working at full speed. If the friend knew this woman, she was probably someone special in his life.
The soccer game had likely been a complete fabrication to meet up with them.
The woman started the car and joined the traffic.
I shouldn’t have done it, but I followed them.
My disappointment grew even greater when I saw them arrive at his house.
His deceitful words echoed in my mind: “You’re the first woman I’ve brought here, I’ve never come here with anyone.
” Who knows how many women had paraded through his bed.
And I had believed him... I had thought I was special to him.
How stupid I felt! Damn liar, womanizer, and traitor!
He was the worst person I had ever met in my life.
Fate had been cruel to me by putting him in my path again and again. That cursed, relentless fate, as if playing with me on a roller coaster, had made me go up and down, be happy and then wallow in misery. And for what? So that this manipulative, treacherous man would only end up breaking my heart.
I didn’t stay to watch them enter the house.
I continued on my way; there was no need to see anything more.
On the journey back to the hotel, I had to stop several times because my tears wouldn’t let me see clearly.
I was furious with myself, reproaching myself for being so naive, so stupid, believing in his words, his caresses, his kisses.
I hadn’t cried this much since I lost my parents, but I wasn’t going to shed another tear for that man.
He didn’t deserve a single tear from me!
In reality, if he felt anything for me and respected me, he wouldn’t make me cry.
But those feelings can’t be forced. Henry didn’t love me and never would.
Was I crying over the loss? What had I lost?
I hadn’t lost anything—if anything, he had lost someone who loved and respected him.
Sometimes you gain more when you lose.
“I give up,” I told myself.
I wasn’t giving up on life, never that—I was giving up on this situation. I wouldn’t look for explanations for his betrayal because I would never understand it. There was no place in his life for me. I would accept that he would never be mine; I would just be a tiny speck in his past.
It was necessary to close the door.
I arrived at the hotel close to midnight.
Getting back to the hotel had taken longer than usual because of all the times I had to stop due to my tears.
I took the elevator and headed to my suite.
When I arrived, I sat down in the living room armchair.
I needed to think about how to confront him.
Surely, the shameless man was capable of showing up in front of me as if nothing had happened, as he had probably done on other occasions.
At that moment, my phone rang again. It was another message from the unknown number, and again it came with an image.
In this one, Henry was sleeping peacefully in his bed, embracing the woman, and both were naked.
The photograph had been taken by her because she was looking at the camera, and you could see her arm stretched out as if she were holding the phone to take the picture.
I imagined it was one of his lovers who had gotten my number and, out of jealousy, decided to warn me about the lies of the man with whom we were sharing sex.
The text of the message:
“You were never the only one, stupid fool”
What could I reproach this woman for? Surely upon seeing her lover spending more time than usual with a “stupid and foolish” girl, she had decided to act this way. As cruel as it was, deep down I thanked her for having “removed the blindfold from my eyes.” Let them be happy and leave me in peace.
I knew it wasn’t an appropriate hour, but I needed to talk to someone, so I called Sean.
“Dali, do you know it’s not even six in the morning here?” was the first thing my friend said, answering with a sleepy voice.
“I’m sorry, Sean, I needed to talk...”
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” he asked immediately.
“The truth is, I’m not. I’m destroyed, actually it’s my heart that’s been shredded to pieces.”
“Your boyfriend,” he stated.
“I think he was never my boyfriend or, better said, he was a shared boyfriend. The sad part is that I loved him like no one else, but he loved me like all his other lovers.”
“What a fucking bastard!”
I proceeded to tell him everything I had experienced without my friend offering any opinion; he just limited himself to listening and asking me a few things.
I appreciated his company and support because sometimes all you need is a friend who understands you, not advice, not reproaches, just an ear that listens and allows you to vent.
At that moment I was incapable of answering questions because I didn’t have the answers myself.
“I don’t want to see him again, I don’t need explanations for something that’s already crystal clear.”
“He’s a son of a bitch!”
“I can’t deny that, because he promised not to hurt me, but he did it deliberately.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know... I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you come spend a few days with me? My apartment has only one bedroom, but I have a sofa bed in the living room and I can sleep there. Maybe it would do you good to have a change of scenery and get away, plus I miss you and I’d love for you to come,” he proposed.
“I don’t want to complicate things for you.”
“Did you hear what I said? For me it would be wonderful to have you here for a few days. And I remind you that you said you would come visit me at some point.”
“If it really doesn’t cause you any problems, I’d love to come see you. I need you, Sean.”
“And I need you too, beautiful.”
“And how are things with your love?”
“I told you I’m not ready to talk about that yet. We’ll talk about it someday, but not now.”
“That’s fine, but just tell me if my presence won’t complicate things with her.”
“I assure you it won’t.”
“Then it’s decided, I’m coming to see you. As soon as I hang up, I’ll book the first available flight and let you know.”
“I can’t believe I’ll have you for a few days all to myself. I assure you won’t be bored; we’ll go sightseeing and have fun.”
“Thank you, handsome. I love you.”
“And I love you too. Let me know as soon as you make the reservations.”
“I will. We’ll stay in touch.”
“Take care and don’t worry, everything can be fixed, even a broken heart.”
“Thank you.”
Sean ended the call and his last comment resonated in my ears. “Everything can be fixed, even a broken heart.” Could it be? I hoped so.
An hour later I had booked my flight to France, my plane was leaving the next day at ten in the evening. I had sent the details to Sean and my friend was truly happy about my visit.
Now I had to face my brothers and explain the situation to them a bit. Those two were going to be furious with Henry, but I couldn’t lie to them.
That night I hadn’t been able to sleep a wink and had dedicated myself to packing. By eight o’clock I was in the office.
I had no news from Henry and that gave me a little breathing room, but on the other hand, I imagined him at his house waking up with that woman, having breakfast together and sharing everything that until that moment I thought was something special for us, and my heart was wrung with pain.
He hadn’t even bothered to read my last message.
He was probably still in bed embracing that woman.
At nine my brothers arrived and I told them we needed to talk. Five minutes later they were there.
“What’s going on, Dali?” Lolo said.
“Well, I don’t know where to start...” I said, while they continued looking at me seriously. “The first thing you should know is that I’m traveling to France tonight, I’m going to spend a few days with Sean.”