Chapter 4 #2
I kept staring at him without understanding what was happening, as if I were watching a situation in which I wasn’t a participant.
“Delfina, let’s go,” he repeated, stretching out his hand for me to take it.
At that moment I processed what had happened and fury shot through me like lightning. With what little composure I had left, I approached Gaspar intending to give him an explanation.
“I’m sorry, Gaspar. He’s a friend and I don’t know why he’s acting this way,” was all I could think to say.
“Delfina,” repeated the cause of my anger, looking at me as if his patience was running out.
I turned and pierced him with my gaze.
“If you want me to come with you, do me the favor of keeping quiet!” I exclaimed, and he looked at me surprised. “I apologize, I’m going to go with him now to clear things up.”
“I think things are pretty clear already,” said Gaspar, looking at us.
I looked at him and said nothing. If I were in his place, I’d think the same thing he was probably thinking—that Hermes was my partner and I had been about to cheat on him. Damn Hermes!
I turned to look for Serafina. I planned to go outside to talk with him because it was clear we needed to have a conversation; things couldn’t continue like this. My friend was still dancing with Nicolás.
“Where are you going?” asked Hermes, who was beside me.
“I’m going to tell my friend that I’m leaving. And let me make it clear that I’m doing this because I can’t stand you interfering in my life anymore. You’ve just exhausted my patience!” I exclaimed, turned, and continued walking toward where Serafina was.
“Delfi, what’s happening?” asked my friend, who must have noticed my fury.
“I’m leaving. I’ll tell you everything later, but Hermes showed up and asked me to go outside to talk.”
“He’s here?” she asked, looking around, and when she spotted him behind me, she looked at me seriously again. “Are you sure? He looks furious.”
“As always, he lives in a constant state of fury. But I’m going because I can’t continue like this; we need to have a talk.”
“Okay, but call me if anything happens.”
“I’m worried about leaving you alone.”
“Don’t worry, I assure you I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll keep my phone handy, call me if you need anything,” I asked her.
“Same here. Good luck!” my friend wished me.
I turned and headed toward our table to get my things. Hermes was following me just a few inches away.
“Can we leave now?”
I swear I wanted to be patient and not explode by telling him a string of nonsense about his arrogance and his stalker personality, but he was making it very difficult for me.
“I told you to keep quiet!”
And instead of looking at me seriously as he always did, he smiled. Yes, he smiled showing his perfect teeth. He smiled! And I was dazzled by that beautiful smile.
“Ugh, I can’t believe this. Are you mocking me?”
He didn’t respond.
“I asked you a question!”
“You told me to keep quiet, make up your mind,” he replied, still smiling.
“So now it turns out you have a sense of humor?” I said ironically.
I grabbed my clutch and headed toward the door as quickly as the crowd of people would allow.
Suddenly I felt his hand taking mine and moving ahead to clear a path.
I shuddered at that contact; holding his hand was a wonderful sensation, it felt too good.
At one point he turned and for a few seconds we just looked at each other, then he continued walking.
When we reached the street, he looked at me seriously.
“Let’s go somewhere quieter,” he stated.
“Fine, I’ll get my car and follow you.”
“We’ll go in mine.”
“No way, I came in my car and I’m not leaving it here,” I insisted.
“Leave it with your friend,” he suggested.
“Impossible because she doesn’t know how to drive.”
“Where’s your car?” he asked, rolling his eyes.
“In the parking lot at the corner,” I answered.
“Very well, I left mine there too. Let’s go,” he ordered, and took my hand again.
We walked there without talking. I noticed that, every so often, he would look at our joined hands and then look at me. I kept looking straight ahead as if I didn’t notice his glances.
“Mine is the gray Volkswagen T-Cross over there,” I informed him, pointing to it.
“Mine is the black Mercedes-Benz, follow me when I pull out.”
He let go of my hand and continued walking. I got into my car and started it, waiting for him to appear so I could follow him. After a few minutes, the spectacular car stopped in front of mine and honked. He pulled out of the parking lot and I followed him.
God, what am I doing? I don’t even know where I’m going, I said to myself.
The strangest thing was that I wasn’t nervous, just anxious to talk to him.
I realized we were heading toward his house, which surprised me greatly because I understood he never brought women there.
A few blocks more and we were in front of his mansion, because that beautiful house was nothing less than a spectacular mansion.
What I couldn’t understand was how a man could live in such an enormous house without feeling an immense loneliness.
The gates opened automatically and we both drove into the gardens.
He parked at the front door and I parked behind him.
When he got out, he immediately came to my side and took my hand again.
“Why did we come to your house?” I asked.
“We won’t find a more peaceful place,” he answered as we climbed the steps to the door.
We entered and headed toward the enormous living room. I remembered it from Catalina’s birthday, though it looked different now.
“Would you like something to drink? Although you shouldn’t because I noticed you’ve had quite a bit to drink tonight,” he asked and answered for me.
“I want a whiskey, and if possible a double, to see if I can calm this fury a little.”
“Why are you furious?” he asked, as he walked toward the bar where the drinks were kept.
“I’m not going to answer that question which is more than obvious,” I replied, while taking a seat in one of the large armchairs.
He returned and stretched out his arm to give me the drink.
“I only gave you one measure and with ice,” stated Mr. Don’t-contradict-me, and then sat down beside me.
I took a sip and it burned my throat, I wasn’t used to drinking whiskey, but I tried to hide it to avoid his mockery.
“Well, here we are, tell me at once what you have to say to me.”
“I have several things,” he said, and ran his hand through his hair, he seemed nervous and I was very surprised to see him in that posture.
“To begin with, I want to apologize for my behavior the other day at my mother’s house.
I shouldn’t have said what I said. I’m sorry,” he apologized, and his emerald gaze was so sincere that it made me shiver.
I didn’t understand how this man managed to make me feel this way just by looking at me.
“The other day you said many inappropriate things and were very rude, but I accept your apology.”
“Thank you,” he expressed, and I noticed him looking so vulnerable that I almost threw myself at him to give him a strong hug and tell him not to say anything more because he already had me at his feet.
“The other thing is that... I accept,” he said, looking at me cautiously.
“What is it that you accept, Hermes? For God’s sake, I don’t understand anything!” I exclaimed, desperate, this man was throwing me off balance.
“I accept exclusivity. I accept that, while we have sex, we won’t see other people.”
“What?”
“You need to stop saying that,” he said, and looking at him, he seemed frightened to me.
“Why did you change your mind?” I asked, unable to believe what I had heard.
He looked at me and ran his hands through his hair again.
“Because I desire you with an intensity like I’ve never experienced before. I’ve tried by all means to forget you, but I failed, and the more effort I put into it, the more I think about you. If I don’t have you, I’ll go crazy.”
I stared at him without being able to respond. Hermes desired me that way? God help me because I desired him the same way.
“But you told me you’ve never had exclusivity and that you don’t trust women.”
“All of that is true.”
“And if you don’t trust me, how can you propose something like this?”
“I already told you, I need to have you. With you I’ve skipped all my rules, and the last one will be trying to trust you, but if you don’t keep your word, I’ll make your life a living hell.”
“Do you think that comment is ideal for starting a relationship?”
“Yes; honesty above all.”
“How romantic of you.”
“Let’s be clear about something. I’m not talking about romance, don’t expect that because you won’t get it, we’ll share sex with exclusivity, but romance isn’t part of this relationship.”
“Are you proposing a secret relationship?” I asked.
“No; because I’ll probably ask you to accompany me to some social gatherings where I need to bring a partner. If I can only go out with you, you’ll have to accompany me.”
“And supposing I accept, what do I tell Baco and your mother? That we’re lovers?”
“That’s what we’ll be, I don’t see why we should say anything else. My family is clear about what I think about relationships, they won’t imagine anything else.”
I took a moment to reflect. He watched me expectantly.
“Hermes, it’s clear that I desire you too, but what you’re proposing is something I’ve never done before and it’s obvious that it’s something you do regularly, I don’t know if I’ll be comfortable because...”
“But I’ll be only with you until we decide it’s over, and I assure you that’s something I’ve never done before,” he clarified.
“Yes, you made that clear. Nevertheless, I also understand that I’m the one who loses the most with this arrangement.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to be very honest.”
“Please do,” he said, as if giving me permission to begin my explanation.