Chapter twenty-three
MICHAEL
Continuing our investigations, we decided to go to reception to try to find out something about the room reservation made in my name on that fateful night.
The girl who helped us was very polite and attentive, and we didn't need to make up any stories for her to agree to do us the favor of checking the information we needed on the computer.
She typed something and stared at the screen for a few minutes, until she announced, “I found it. The reservation was paid and signed by Julian Green.”
I knew it! That put an end to any doubts that might have existed.
This Julian guy had been the Harrises' accomplice in the whole scheme. He had made the reservation for the room, and he was probably also the one who filmed us drinking, using a cell phone.
Thanking the attendant, we walked away, and then Camila asked me a question that was also running through my mind, “How could he know that we would get drunk enough to agree to go to a hotel room together? I know you're a man who'll sleep with anyone, but...”
"Hey!" I protested. "It's not like that. I mean, it used to be, sure—but I’ve been trying for months now to get my act together and be a decent man."
“Exactly. You were determined not to do something like that. And he probably didn't know anything about me to assume I'd go along with something like that.”
She fell silent and widened her eyes, as if a frightening idea invaded her mind.
“What if he wasn't counting on drunkenness alone ?”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it, Michael: he must have been spying on you, waiting for you to slip up. You sat next to me at the bar, and we started drinking together, to the point where we got a little too relaxed. Maybe he had the idea of speeding up the process a little... by putting something in our drinks, perhaps?”
Yeah, that was really scary.
“Do you think we were drugged?”
“Don't you agree that it's very strange that we both have such profound lapses in memory of that night? Sure, too much drinking could cause that, but... both of us?”
That made sense. I had been drunk on a similar or even more intense level than the one I had been on that night, and I had never experienced such a bizarre situation of almost total memory loss.
And it also explained why we had both practically passed out from sleep as soon as we got to the hotel room.
“We need to find this Julian guy to get this straight. Well, at least it's a relief to know that the Harrises' accomplice is a hotel employee and not someone from within my company. I even suspected that it might have been Victor.”
Camila rolled her eyes and laughed.
“Are you serious? Smith would never be qualified to do that. He's completely useless.”
“I always thought he was a great employee.”
“You should pay more attention to your office.”
Having said that, she turned around, signaling for me to follow her, and I understood the message. We had nothing else to do there, and it would be better if I took her home, it was almost nightfall.
Even though I had suggested we come here in the morning, Camila insisted that we leave it for the end of the afternoon so that she could work most of her shift.
She assured me that she no longer cared what her colleagues might say about her, but she was committed to a project and wanted to get as far ahead as possible.
One thing about Camila was that she was very dedicated to her work, but it went beyond mere obligation. She loved what she did and had an admirable sense of responsibility. Especially for a completely irresponsible person like me.
We drove the whole way to her house in silence. It was only when I stopped the car in front of her building that she finally said something.
“Do you want to come up? My grandmother will be happy to see you.”
“Tell her I said hello, but I'm going home. It's been a long day, and I want to get my thoughts together. I still need to call Janet and tell her about everything we found out today.”
“You don't have to make so many excuses just to say that you're scared of my cat.”
I laughed. Although, thinking about it, the statement wasn't entirely wrong.
“Sorry, I'm just afraid I'll have a sneezing fit, or my throat will close up and I'll die without air. Anyway, thanks for today. You were very insightful in your questions.”
“I think I've read a lot of investigation books in my life; you end up getting the hang of it. But there's nothing to thank me for. It was also for me that I did this. They set you up, but I was also involved.”
“Yeah, I know. I'm sorry about that. You got caught up in all this trouble of having to pretend to be my fiancée and everything.”
She glared at me, looking irritated, as if I had said something absurd.
“Do you really think this was my biggest upset? My life has been completely changed. When this is all over, you'll go back to being the same old bachelor. What about me?”
“What do you mean? You'll also go back to being the same single woman you were before.”
“It won't be the same again, because there are things that you can't go back to.
I'll never be able to experience my first time with a guy the way I've always dreamed.
I know you don't care about that kind of thing, but for a woman, the moment of losing her virginity truly is, important, and I can't even remember mine.”
For a moment, it was as if not a single word she said made any sense.
“Hey, wait... virginity?”
As if it were possible, her gaze towards me became even more horrified than before.
“How could you be so insensitive to be the first man in a woman's life and not even realize it?”
First man?
Wait... what was she talking about?
Absolutely nothing had happened between us. Didn't she remember that we had simply fallen asleep as soon as we got to the room?
I should have answered that right away, but I was still kind of in shock about the virginity part.
Camila was about to turn twenty-five and... was she still a virgin?
I don't think I've met a virgin since I finished high school.
And I always dismissed them all.
Taking a girl's virginity was a responsibility I never wanted for myself—especially knowing they wouldn’t get anything from me the next day. I ran from serious relationships like the devil runs from the cross, but still, I always played fair and never led anyone on.
My shock grew as she continued to speak, “Worse than not being able to remember my first time, is that I don't even remember if we used a condom.
I need to take a pregnancy test, but I read on the packaging that the result isn't accurate in the first few days, so I'm waiting and freaking out more every day that passes.
But what difference does it make to you?
I won't even be the first woman you've gotten pregnant.”
It wouldn't have actually been the first, but just the idea of having to deal with another situation like the one I faced with Alice already sent a shiver through my entire body.
A bad chill. Very different from what I felt with the virginity part.
My God, a virgin!
“Anyway, none of it matters. See you tomorrow at the office, good night.”
She started to open the car door, but I stopped her, grabbing her by the arm. When she looked at me, I couldn’t resist the furious expression on her face—I ended up laughing.
It wasn’t out of spite. She just looked adorable like that. Especially because she was worked up over absolutely nothing.
“What are you laughing at? Did I say something funny?”
“You did. The possibility of you being pregnant was funny.”
“What's funny about that?”
“The funny thing is that there was no way that would be possible. With Leah, it was an accident where a condom broke, but it was an isolated case, because I always use condoms.”
“What if I were a new isolated case ?”
“Well... That would be a new isolated case twice, because it would be very unlikely for us to have a child without having had sex.”
She opened her mouth to retort, but no sound came out. The irritation on her face gave way to confusion.
“What do you mean by that?”
“That we kissed a lot and made out a bit, but... it didn't go beyond that.”
“But... We woke up in the same bed and... without clothes.”
"Because we still managed to take our clothes off before you passed out."
Her cheeks turned red.
"I passed out?"
"And I’d say it was kind of offensive of you to fall asleep before the sex, but truth is, I didn’t stay awake much longer either—I ended up crashing too."
"So... does that mean I’m still a virgin?"
Again, I couldn't help but smile. Not that it was funny, it was just... different.
And, why not say... adorable.
“Are you really still a virgin?”
“Well... That's none of your business!”
Furious, she finally got out of the car, slamming the door hard.
I stood there, watching as she walked up to the entrance of her building, unable to keep the silly smile off my face.