Chapter 5 #3
“Whatever you say... I'll stop by later because I have an invitation for you”
My response:
“If it's decent I might consider it ”
Last message from Baco:
“ ?
I smiled at those little angel faces because my friend could be many things, but an angel wasn’t one of them.
I continued cleaning the apartment and a little while later I went to the gym.
When I returned, I was feeling in better spirits and less anxious.
I prepared something for lunch and just as I was sitting down at the counter to start eating, my phone rang with a video call.
“Hello, artist.”
“Beautiful, I know I said I’d stop by, but I won’t be able to because I’m shopping for tonight and I don’t have time,” he said, as I watched him walk through a supermarket.
“What’s happening tonight? Are you cooking?”
“Does it look like it? Look where I am,” he stated, showing me the alcoholic beverages display.
“I thought as much.”
“Today is my birthday,” he informed me.
“Happy birthday, Baco! Why didn’t you mention it before?”
“Thanks. I didn’t tell you because so many things have happened lately that I forgot. That’s why I’m calling you now. I’m having a gathering at my apartment and obviously I expect you to be there, and before you ask, I’ll let you know that Hermes won’t be there.”
“Are you sure? Because I wouldn’t want to run into him.”
“I’m sure. He had to travel for business, that’s why he came by this morning to wish me happy birthday. You know that’s true because that’s when he ran into your friend,” he informed me.
“That makes me feel better.”
“I should clarify that since he’s my brother, you’ll probably cross paths many times, but I hope that won’t make you abandon me.”
“I would never do that, but these first few times are going to be very uncomfortable.”
“For today, rest easy because he won’t be there. He’s traveling to Brazil,” he stated confidently.
“Do you need help with anything?” I asked, to change the subject.
“No, I have everything under control, I just need to buy a cake for…”
“Let me take care of that. It will be my birthday gift to you,” I offered.
“You’d do that?” he asked, incredulously.
“That and anything else you need.”
Baco stopped walking and looked at the camera.
“Thank you, Delfi. It’s good to have you by my side.”
“And for me it’s good to have you by my side, literally speaking since you live right next to me,” I said, to joke a little. “I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this, but it’s about time you knew that I care about you a lot and I’m happy to have you as a friend.”
“Same here, beautiful, I assure you.”
“Well, I’ll let you go so I can take care of your cake.”
“Nothing princess-themed!”
“We’ll see...” and I ended the call.
I wasn’t good at decorating, so I quickly thought of a bakery or pastry shop where I could buy a nice cake. Once I had one in mind, I grabbed my car keys and left my apartment again.
I left the bakery happy with my choice. It was a three-tiered cake with the top tier decorated with a painter’s palette, and several paintbrushes sticking out of the thumb hole that served as birthday candles.
The middle tier had “Happy Birthday Baco” written in chocolate letters.
It was a beautiful cake and I knew he would love it.
I asked them to deliver it to my home so it would be a surprise, and afterward I went for a walk along the promenade.
I needed to get some air or, rather, clear my mind and think a bit.
I needed that physical and emotional freedom that I could only achieve through this activity.
Sometimes solitude was a good companion and advisor.
I was aware that since Hermes had entered my life like a whirlwind, I hadn’t been the same.
I knew that since that man had come into my life, he had turned it upside down.
And the most complicated thing to accept was that I couldn’t stop thinking about him, couldn’t stop thinking about his kisses, his caresses, his gazes—everything about him!
I was in big trouble because I knew he meant more to me than I wanted to admit.
“I think I’m in love with Hermes Darwich!” I said aloud to myself.
After that confession to myself, I sat on the promenade wall and stared at the waters of the Río de la Plata, which that day formed large waves due to the earlier storm.
I wasn’t alarmed by the discovery; the reality was that I had always known it, I just didn’t want to acknowledge it.
That was why I didn’t want to accept his proposal.
I knew that feeling something for him meant my chances of coming out of that relationship unscathed were zero.
Added to that, if we spent more time together, the pain of separation would surely be difficult to bear.
The best thing was to keep myself as far away as possible.
After a while of pondering, I checked the time and, since it was close to six in the evening, when the cake would arrive, I went back to my car to return home.
A few minutes after arriving, the doorbell rang to let me know they had arrived with Baco’s big birthday cake.
When I saw it, I was amazed. They had done a great job and I knew my friend would be super happy.
They set it up on a table I had prepared for it, a table with wheels that I had covered with a beautiful white tablecloth.
After my shower, I chose a navy blue midi dress, with a fitted skirt featuring a high slit on the left leg and a bodice with a square neckline and thin straps adorned with crystal embellishments.
I paired it with navy blue satin high stiletto sandals with an adjustable ankle strap and open toe.
I styled my hair in waves and applied natural makeup, but with emphasis on my eyes.
Baco had sent me a message to let me know that the invitation was set for nine o’clock, but that I should come earlier. It was fifteen minutes before nine when the cake and I appeared at his door. Baco opened it, looked at the cake, and was speechless.
“Happy birthday!” I exclaimed, leaving the cake and throwing myself at him to give him a big hug.
“Thank you, Delfi, thank you so much. I can’t believe you had this spectacular cake made for me. It’s... I have no words, it’s wonderful. Only you could come up with something so beautiful.”
“Help me bring it in, the table has wheels, so we won’t have any problems. I don’t know how many guests you have, but just in case, I bought 50 disposable plates with their respective utensils.”
“You’re a total genius,” he said, as he pushed the table to bring it into the living room.
Baco and I arranged the living room, moving the furniture to create more space and positioned the table with the cake in a corner.
I went back to my apartment to get some outdoor string lights, and we hung them from the ceiling above the cake table and also placed several on the balcony.
Everything looked spectacular. When we finished, Baco came over and gave me a big hug.
“Thank you for everything!”
“Nothing to thank me for. I hope you have a great birthday.”
“I definitely will, and it makes me very happy to share it with you.”
“Me too.”
A few minutes after nine o’clock, his guests started arriving and the apartment filled with people.
Baco introduced me to most of them, but later there were so many people that it was impossible to meet the last ones to arrive.
His friends and acquaintances were very friendly, and I quickly felt integrated.
They put on music, and many of the guests started dancing in the middle of the living room.
Baco approached me and pulled me to dance with him.
At that moment, “Todo de ti” by Rauw Alejandro was playing.
We started dancing hand in hand, and my friend would spin me around and move very sensually.
His friends, seeing that the birthday boy was dancing, encircled us and left us alone while they cheered us on.
Both Baco and I danced in rhythm, but we couldn’t stop laughing.
The next song was “I gotta feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas, and at that moment everyone started dancing with us again, forming a very fun group.
Suddenly, Baco looked at me, I noticed he became serious, and, hugging me to disguise it, he leaned close to my ear to whisper:
“Don’t look to the right because Hermes just walked in with a woman.”
“You told me he wasn’t coming,” I reproached him, desperate.
“I swear that’s what he told me. Besides, he came to say hello this morning because he was traveling. I guess something must have happened and it got canceled. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you alone,” he said, and I noticed he was genuinely concerned.
“Please, I don’t want to monopolize you because I know you need to be with all your friends, but don’t leave me alone because I don’t know anyone.”
“I don’t plan to. He’s coming this way, try to act naturally,” he advised me, as we continued dancing and he smiled playfully to disguise what we were talking about.
“Good evening,” Hermes greeted, standing next to us. “Happy birthday, brother. Nice party you’ve organized,” he said, looking at his brother and completely ignoring me.
“What a surprise, Hermes! I thought you said you were traveling today and couldn’t join me.”
“Last-minute changes, the life of a businessman is like that. Let me introduce you to Carly, a friend,” he said arrogantly, and put his arm around the girl’s shoulders.
“Happy birthday,” she said.
“Thank you very much,” Baco said, “this is Delfina, ‘my’ friend,” he introduced me, also putting his arm around my shoulders, and I noticed he emphasized ‘my.’
The girl and I greeted each other, but Hermes continued to ignore me, though I could notice a certain twitch in his eye when he saw Baco hugging me. If he wanted to play that game, I wasn’t going to stand in his way.
“Feel free to help yourselves to whatever you want, enjoy and thank you for being here with me,” Baco said.