Chapter 5 #4
“Thanks, we will,” Hermes replied, and they walked away.
“Sometimes when I think my brother has reached his quota of idiocy, he surprises me by surpassing it,” Baco stated.
“I don’t want you to spend your birthday worried about me, maybe it would be better if I leave in a little while. I won’t do it now because it would be obvious that I’m doing it because of him,” I suggested.
“You’re not moving from my side, understood?” he said, looking at me seriously.
“I got it,” I said, as we continued dancing.
“When this song ends, we’ll go chat with my group of friends and you’ll forget about my arrogant brother.
Several of my friends have asked about you because you left them drooling.
Start talking to them and if they ask you to dance, don’t hesitate to do it, show him that you can have fun even if he’s with someone else. ”
“Do you think so? He’ll realize I’m doing it on purpose.”
“And why would you do that? I remind you, gorgeous, that you were the one who rejected him. That’s why he showed up with a woman; you hurt the man’s pride, and I assure you he’s not used to that. Come on, let’s join my friends.”
We approached a group with several guys and girls, and they immediately integrated me as we began to discuss various topics.
I participated, trying to forget that he was just a few feet away with a woman, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t.
I felt devastated. At one point, one of the guys, whom they called Lolo, came up and asked me to dance.
Baco looked at me and nodded, so following his advice, I accepted the dance.
We headed to where others were dancing and started moving.
Lolo came closer and began asking me personal questions—my age, what I did for work, if I had a boyfriend, and a few other things.
I answered each question, also asking him some in return so as not to seem disinterested, but the truth was that I no longer felt comfortable and wanted to leave as soon as possible.
If I was making the effort to stay, it was for my friend.
At one point, I noticed a couple position themselves next to us, and when I turned, I found Hermes and the striking brunette he had arrived with.
I made my best effort not to appear surprised and continued dancing without looking in their direction again.
When the song ended, I was about to leave, but Lolo took my hand.
“Would you like to get some air on the balcony?” he asked.
“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to go back to Baco. I need to leave soon, and I’d like to spend as much time with him as possible.”
“I don’t think Baco will mind if you’re away for a few minutes,” he insisted.
“I’m sure he won’t be upset, but I’m the one who wants to spend time with him. It’s his birthday, and we’re here for him,” I said, trying to make him understand that I had no intention of being alone with him.
“We’ll have another opportunity, right?” he asked, smiling.
“Surely,” I replied, and I thought I heard a throat-clearing from where Hermes was standing, but I dismissed it.
We headed toward where Baco was, and my friend immediately approached.
“Delfi, do you have one or two extension cords you could bring? Maxi needs them for something,” he said, pointing to the guy in charge of the music and ambiance for the birthday party.
“I think so. I’ll go to my apartment and check.”
“Thanks. Do you need me to come with you?”
“I don’t think anything will happen to me on the way,” I said with a smile.
“I’m not so sure. There are several guys here who want to jump you,” he said with his mischievous smile.
I punched him in the shoulder and turned to leave the apartment and head to mine. On my way out, I glanced to where Hermes was dancing and saw the girl hanging from his neck.
Idiot, I thought, and kept walking.
I was kneeling down, rummaging through a box I had in one of the kitchen cabinets when I heard his voice. I was so startled that I almost dropped everything I was holding.
“You shouldn’t leave your door open,” he stated.
Thank goodness I was on my knees because I felt my legs trembling and my body shudder. Summoning all my self-control, without standing up, I turned to face him.
“And you shouldn’t be here. You have a bad habit of entering without being invited.”
“Well, you never gave me a key to get in, so I can only enter when I see the door open,” he stated, and I immediately knew he was alluding to his encounter that morning with Paul.
“I repeat, you shouldn’t be here. Your friend must be wondering where you are,” I commented, as I picked up what Baco had asked for and stood up to face him.
“Don’t worry about her. My friends know what I offer them.”
“That’s right, I had forgotten. You always make a deal and set the rules clear from the beginning,” I stated, as I walked past him to leave as soon as possible, but Hermes grabbed my arm and prevented me from walking away.
“What game are you playing?” he asked, bringing his face close to mine and leaving his mouth just inches from my own.
“Hermes, let me go,” I said firmly, looking at him seriously. “I’m not playing any games. I don’t even know what you’re referring to, but let me make it clear that you have no right to ask anything about my life. There’s nothing between us.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” he asserted, and without giving me time for anything, he took possession of my mouth mercilessly.
His assault surprised me so much that at first I was paralyzed, but when I felt the passion of his kiss, my body reacted and my heart surrendered.
I lowered my defenses, responding with the same eagerness.
The electrical device I was holding fell to the floor with a thunderous noise, but neither of us paid attention to it.
I raised my hands to wrap around his neck, embrace him, and feel the warmth of his body.
Hermes was hugging me so tightly I could barely breathe.
His hands, which until that moment had been around my waist, began to move up and caress my back.
His mouth plundered mine with desperation, leaving nothing unexplored.
Gently, he pushed me toward the wall to trap me between it and his body, but at no point did he stop kissing me.
The moment I felt his hands lifting the skirt of my dress, I reacted and made an effort to break the kiss and stop the advance of his caresses.
I rested my forehead against his, trying to control the trembling of my body.
“What are we doing, Hermes? We can’t, you have a woman right next door waiting for you. This isn’t right,” I said, with labored breathing.
“She’s just a friend. You are the woman I want to be with. It’s a need I can’t control and it’s driving me crazy.”
“And she is a reality who is probably wondering where you are. This is wrong!” I stated, breaking free from his grip and moving to a safe distance.
I wasn’t going to be with someone who was with another person. Even though I didn’t know that woman, I wasn’t going to do to her what I wouldn’t want done to me.
“Delfina, …”
“We can’t have this conversation now, they’re waiting for us.”
He stared into my eyes and for a few minutes that’s all we did, look at each other intensely. The sound of a voice familiar to both of us startled us.
“Hermes, your friend is asking for you very insistently. If you don’t come back, she’s going to start looking for you everywhere,” Baco said.
“Your date is waiting for you,” I stated.
He looked at me and then turned and left my apartment. When he passed by his brother, he didn’t even look at him, but Baco didn’t take his eyes off him until he disappeared from sight.
“What happened?” he asked.
“He came in while I was looking for what you asked for because I didn’t close the door, I was planning to leave right away. He just insists that he wants to be with me.”
“And what did you tell him?”
“And what can I say when he’s accompanied by another woman? I told him it wasn’t right to have that conversation when she was waiting for him.”
“Did anything else happen?”
“He kissed me and I kissed him back.”
Baco stared at me for a few seconds without saying anything.
“Are you aware that Hermes is going to keep trying to seduce you?”
“At this point, clarity is the last thing I have, Baco. Now let’s go back because it’s your birthday and your guests are waiting for you. Here,” I said, picking up the extension cord from the floor, “I found one.”
“Let’s go back, beautiful. I suppose if my brother has any common sense left, they must have left.”
“I hope so.”
As we were entering Baco’s apartment, we crossed paths with Hermes and the girl who were leaving the party at that moment.
She was hanging on his arm and also resting her head on that part of his body.
I looked at him and shook my head; if that was how he wanted to convince me there was nothing between him and his friend, he was going about it all wrong.
He also looked at me and I could see the discomfort reflected on his face.
“Baco, enjoy your party,” Hermes said. I kept walking and didn’t hear anything more of their conversation.
The gathering continued very lively, we sang the traditional happy birthday song, toasted to the birthday boy, and close to four in the morning I returned to my apartment. In Baco’s place there were still people eating, drinking, and having fun.