Chapter 14 #3
They had the right to know all the details of what happened; after all, they had become involved in this unpleasant situation because of me. We sat in the living room, and they gave me a few minutes to begin telling them what had happened.
I told them everything, from the call he received inviting him to a soccer game from this Waylon person, to when I saw him enter his house with the woman. I showed them the photographs from the bar, but I omitted the one where they were naked.
“The first thing I’m going to ask is that you never again go alone to a place mentioned by a stranger. Do you understand that it could have been a trap to harm you or even kidnap you?” Bastián explained, with concern.
“I understand that clearly and I thought about it, but I had to confirm what I was seeing in those images.”
“I imagine that if you saw it with your own eyes, there’s not much more to say. If it had been just photographs, I would tell you to be suspicious because they can be doctored, but if you saw it yourself, there’s not much to clarify.”
“What are the things that don’t add up for you?” I asked.
“Do you have any idea who might have sent you those messages?” Lolo asked, without answering my question.
“I have no idea. I assumed it was one of his lovers who got my phone number and, upset because he was dedicating too much of his time to me, decided to expose him.”
“And how did they get your phone number? Our numbers are protected,” Lolo said.
“She probably got it from his phone. If they have a very close relationship, she might have had access to his phone,” I guessed, because I had already asked myself all these questions and these were the conclusions I had reached. After all, even I had looked at the messages from that Anabel woman.
“Could be...” Bastián said, “but there’s still something strange about all this and we’re going to figure it out.”
“What do you find strange?”
“Could it have been Sol?” Bastián questioned.
“Sol? I don’t understand what she has to do with all this,” I said, surprised by the question.
“You told us that you thought she was in love with Woollardy, and her behavior these past few weeks has suggested that something isn’t working quite right in her head, so to speak,” Lolo said.
“But do you really think she’s capable of doing something like this?”
“I do,” Lolo said, very convinced.
“I do too, little one,” Bastián said.
At that moment, I remembered that on Sunday I thought I had seen her twice, and both times she had looked at me with hatred.
I also had the feeling that someone had followed me when I returned from the gym.
But all of these were just my assumptions, and I couldn’t worry them more, so I decided not to share that information.
“It’s hard for me to believe it,” I confessed. “Although if it was her, all she did was show me what I was refusing to see.”
“I’m going to be honest with you,” Bastián said. “I’m not going to sit back and do nothing. I’m going to investigate that phone number and try to reach a conclusion.”
“I agree, Bastián and I have already discussed it and we’re going to get to the bottom of this,” Lolo said.
“And I won’t stop you, but promise me you’ll keep me informed.”
“Speaking of that, you need to turn on your phone because we want to stay in touch with you. We called you several times today and couldn’t reach you. If you’re going to be far away, we need to be able to communicate,” Bastián scolded.
“Yes, I know. I’ll turn it on now. Also, I’ll give you Sean’s phone number.”
“I already have it, I always write to him for his birthday,” Lolo commented.
“I have it too,” Bastián said.
My brothers had a very good relationship with Sean, and it didn’t surprise me that they had exchanged phone numbers.
Just after seven in the evening, we were arriving at the airport.
I completed the check-in procedures, always accompanied by my brothers, and then said goodbye to them.
I tried to appear calm and make them see it as a vacation where I was visiting a friend, but both they and I knew clearly that my departure was for a more depressing reason, and that was what distressed us.
After a journey of almost twenty hours, I landed at Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport the following night.
The trip had been torturous. Having all that time to think, my mind hadn’t stopped replaying everything that had happened, and with each minute that passed inside that plane, I felt more depressed and discouraged.
The saddest part was that I missed him terribly, which made me want to slap myself.
Now I carried many memories on my shoulders, and it wouldn’t be easy to forget, but I was going to put all my effort into it.
When I passed through the airport gates and spotted my friend searching for me among all the people coming through, the emotion of our reunion took over me.
As soon as his eyes met mine, a smile lit up his face and he opened his arms for me to run and take refuge in them.
I almost ran to him and threw myself into his arms, hugging him as tightly as I could. I had missed him so much.
“You can’t imagine how much I missed you!” I exclaimed, while I continued embracing him with my arms and with no intention of letting go.
“Of course I can imagine it because I missed you just as much or more than you did.”
“More, I doubt it,” I said.
“Well, I think so.”
He separated himself a bit from me and looked at me seriously.
“You’re more beautiful than ever, but I can see in those eyes that you’re sad.”
“A little, but it will pass.”
“Well, let’s go because it’s freezing out here and I want to get home, have dinner, and talk with you calmly. You have a lot to tell me.”
“You too,” I said, remembering his secret love, but Sean looked at me and made no comment.
My friend lived in the Marais district located on the right bank of the Seine, one of the most vibrant areas of the city where you could find museums, interesting shops, restaurants and bars, and which was characterized by its colorful atmosphere and cultural offerings.
The trip from the airport took almost half an hour.
During that time, I told him in great detail everything that had happened with Sol and, although he was surprised, he kept insisting that he had always seen something about her that he didn’t like.
I was charmed by his apartment. It wasn’t very big, but it was a warm and very modern place. The large windows in the living room overlooked a most picturesque cobblestone courtyard. The bedroom also had a view of that courtyard and not only had a bed, but also a desk and a large wardrobe.
“Well, beautiful, let’s have dinner because I imagine you’re famished, and I assure you that I am too.”
“Did you cook?”
“Don’t tease me, you know very well that I’m a terrible cook and I could never make a dish as elaborate as this one,” he said, pointing to a meat lasagna that he had already placed on the table and which looked delicious.
“France is the cradle of gastronomy, maybe living here you’ve learned some cooking secrets,” I said, smiling.
“Me learn to cook? Even if I stayed here the rest of my life, I couldn’t make this lasagna,” he replied, also smiling.
“You’re probably right. Well, how can I help?”
“Take the bottle of wine and the water pitcher to the table,” he ordered, while he finished setting the cutlery.
We sat at the table and began to devour the delicious food.
“Mmmm, this is delicious,” Sean said.
“It is, thank you so much for waiting for me with this tasty dinner.”
“We needed to eat something hot and hearty because it’s terribly cold. The weather is one of the things I’ve found hard to get used to; it’s colder here than in our country.”
“They were having extremely high temperatures in Uruguay now.”
“Yes, I know, I always check,” he said, looked at me seriously and added: “Do you want to talk about your relationship or would you prefer we talk another time?”
“Another time. Right now I’m tired and I don’t think it will take long before I fall asleep. What time do you have to go to the university tomorrow?”
“In the morning, but Thursday and Friday I don’t have classes, so we’ll have four days together.”
“That’s wonderful. We’ll make plans tomorrow,” I affirmed.
“I already have in mind everything we’re going to explore, but you already know Paris.”
“It’s always nice to explore it with a soul friend.”
“Thank you, beautiful.”
“Thank you, handsome.”
After dinner, we cleaned the kitchen and I helped Sean prepare the couch for him to sleep on, since I couldn’t convince him that I could sleep there and he gave me his bed.
When I went to bed it was past one in the morning.
I looked at my phone knowing that I had to gather my courage and turn it on.
Again I found myself with many missed calls and unread messages. The first thing I did was to let my brothers know that I had arrived safely, although I suspected Sean had already done so.
When I faced Henry’s messages, I couldn’t believe he had so many. I started reading from the oldest one, it was his first message and he had sent it on Monday, after ten in the morning.
?I was set up
I swear it?
The following messages in order:
?Answer me I beg you
Let me explain?
?Dalina I’m desperate
We need to talk?
?They put something in my drink
I don’t know that woman
I swear it?
?I’m heading to the hotel?