Chapter 7
"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step"
— Martin Luther King
I woke up to a soft kiss on my lips. I slowly opened my eyes and, when I saw Hermes sitting on my side of the bed already dressed in a suit, I quickly sat up.
“Why are you dressed? Are you leaving already? What time is it?” I asked, quickly and still half-dazed from sleep.
“Relax,” he said, caressing my cheek, “it’s still early and we have time to have breakfast together. It’s seven o’clock.”
“If you want, I can prepare something for breakfast,” I offered.
“That’s not necessary, darling. Felicia is here today and she’s already preparing it. You can get dressed without rushing, I’ll wait for you downstairs and we’ll have breakfast together.”
“And Felicia is...?” I asked, hoping he would provide information, though I assumed she was his housekeeper.
“Felicia takes care of everything related to the kitchen, she’s a very good cook. Several other people work in this house, it’s a very large house and requires a lot of maintenance.”
“And why have I never seen anyone?” I asked, curious.
“Because they don’t sleep here,” he replied, as he stood up. “I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
“Ok, give me a few minutes.”
I took a quick shower and got dressed in what I had been wearing the day before.
I searched in my purse for the makeup I always carried in a toiletry bag and fixed myself up a bit to get rid of my sleepy face.
I went down the stairs, but I wasn’t quite sure where to go.
The day of his mother’s birthday was when I had explored the house the most, but I didn’t know where the kitchen was.
While I was standing there looking in all directions, Hermes appeared from my right.
“Why are you standing here looking confused?” he asked, looking at me with amusement.
“I was trying to figure out which way the kitchen might be.”
“Come here,” he asked, stretching out his hand, “forgive me for not realizing that detail.”
“No problem, if I got lost I suppose I would have started shouting,” I said, shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly.
“You’re very funny. Let’s have breakfast, I’m starving.”
He pulled me toward the corridor where he had appeared from and we ended up entering a large American-style kitchen. Inside was a woman in her sixties who was arranging everything on the table set for breakfast.
“Good morning,” I greeted as soon as I saw her.
Felicia looked up at me and a big, genuine smile appeared on her face.
“Good morning, miss.”
“Felicia, this is Delfina Darner, my girlfriend,” Hermes said, and I nearly tripped and ended up on top of poor Felicia.
Did I hear correctly? Did he introduce me as his girlfriend? I questioned myself, surprised.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss. I’m delighted to make your acquaintance.”
“Thank you, Felicia, the pleasure is mine.”
Hermes pulled out a chair for me to sit down and then sat down himself. Felicia immediately approached me.
“What can I get you? There’s coffee, milk, tea.”
“Coffee with a splash of milk is fine, thank you.”
“Just coffee for me, thank you,” said Hermes.
Felicia served us and then withdrew.
“Today I have a meeting at seven in the evening so I suppose it’s better if I go straight to your apartment,” he commented, while spreading jam on a piece of toast.
I looked at him while drinking from my cup.
I was flattered that he wanted to spend time with me, but I had arranged to have dinner with Serafina and I didn’t want to neglect my friends.
Besides, everything was moving too fast and Hermes was too demanding.
I wasn’t complaining because being with him was wonderful, but I wasn’t sure if we were doing the right thing by seeing each other every day.
I had never experienced anything like this and I was confused.
“Hermes, I made plans with Serafina today, we’re having dinner together,” I informed him.
He looked up and stared at me seriously.
“I’ll pick you up after dinner with your friend,” he stated, and bit into his toast.
“I don’t know what time we’ll finish because when we get together we catch up on each other’s lives, and many times we end up sleeping over at one of our places.”
“But now that you’re in a relationship, that has to change,” he stated with certainty.
“And why should it change? Serafina is like a sister to me and we share many things, plus I also have other friends whom I see regularly and I’m not going to stop doing that.”
“Like that Paul guy, who slept in your apartment.”
“Exactly.”
“That won’t happen anymore,” he stated, biting into his toast forcefully, as if he wanted to take his frustration out on it.
“I can understand that you don’t want my friends staying over, but I don’t agree with not meeting up with them. I told you I would try to be understanding, but with Serafina it’s different. We grew up together, she’s like family to me, she’s always by my side.”
“Delfina, I told you this is complicated for me. Please don’t make it harder. Let’s take these issues slowly. I have no problem with you going out with your friend, but when you decide your get-together is over, let me know and I’ll pick you up.”
I sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. I wanted to understand him, to put myself in his shoes, but it was difficult. I tried not to argue and, for this time, I accepted defeat, but I was convinced I would keep fighting. I might have lost this battle, but I intended to win the war.
“Fine, Hermes. I’ll let you know when we’re done, but there’s no need for you to pick me up. I have my car.”
“I’ll pick you up,” he decided, once again giving me no other option.
“And what am I supposed to do with my car? Leave it forever in my office parking lot? Don’t you see how illogical that is?”
“I was thinking of putting a chauffeur at your disposal so…”
“What?!”
“It’s been a while since I’ve heard that little question,” he joked, but my sense of humor had completely vanished.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear what you just suggested because it’s absolutely insane.”
“It’s not, think about it more carefully.”
“I don’t need to think about anything. This topic ends here,” I declared, and this time I was the one who left no room for other options.
“Sometimes it’s necessary. I have a chauffeur on staff and sometimes I get around with him.”
“Good for you,” I said, taking a long sip of my coffee with milk.
Hermes looked at me, but he must have realized it was better to end that topic because he didn’t mention it again, though he brought up another subject where we also had different ways of thinking. Did we think alike about anything? I didn’t know.
“We need to talk about Friday. As I told you, we’ll have to go to each dinner for a while, then we’ll see which one we go to first.”
“Where is yours?” I asked, because I still hadn’t decided if what he was proposing was what I was going to do.
“In a hotel ballroom in Carrasco.”
“You’re in luck because the dinner I’m invited to is also in the Carrasco neighborhood. In fact, it’s also in a hotel ballroom and…” as I was saying this, an idea began to cross my mind, the same one that occurred to Hermes.
“By any chance, is your dinner organized by the company ‘Values’?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“I can’t believe it! Are we really invited to the same dinner?!” I exclaimed, completely astonished.
“It seems so. Problem solved,” he said, appearing relieved.
“We’ll probably be seated at different tables.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he stated confidently.
And I knew he would do whatever he thought was best, which was probably to make sure we were seated together. After all, if we were dating, that was the right thing to do.
“Let’s go, darling, we need to get going.”
“Yes, let’s go,” I said, getting up from my chair.
The journey to my house was relaxed; Hermes once again seemed calm.
“What I said about your advice on some projects for my company, I meant it. When can you meet with me at my office?” he asked, turning to look at me.
“Don’t you have someone who advises you on these matters?”
“Of course I do, but I also want to know your opinion,” he pointed out.
“It doesn’t seem very ethical to me,” I suggested.
“I can ask for as many opinions as I deem necessary, and besides, you’re my girlfriend and you can give your opinion on my affairs whenever you think it’s necessary.”
“Alright, I’ll see when I can stop by your office and you can show me what you want me to analyze.”
Hermes parked at the entrance to my building and got out to say goodbye to me.
“Have a good day, darling, call me as soon as you finish your meeting with your friend,” he requested, and then gave me a kiss on the lips, but it wasn’t a simple kiss, it was a passionate one.
“Have a good day too.”
He waited for me to enter the building and only after I did so did he get back in the car and leave.
When I got to my apartment, I felt like I hadn’t been there in a long time, but only 24 hours had passed. Life with Hermes was so dizzying that I even lost track of time.
After changing my clothes, I called Serafina to arrange what we would do that night.
“Hi, Seri,” I greeted her.
“Hi, Delfi. Are you at your office already?”
“No, I’m still at home, but I’m about to leave.”
“We’re still on for today, right? Because I imagine you have a lot to tell me.”
“You imagine correctly, I have sooooo much to tell you. What should we do?”
“Just give me a preview—did you work things out with that hottie Hermes Darwich?”
“I don’t know if ‘worked out’ is the right phrase, but I can tell you that I’m dating him. In fact, I stayed at his place last night, and he just dropped me off at my apartment so I could change.”
“Are you happy?” she asked cautiously.
“Being with him is what I want, but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I’m terrified. I’ll tell you everything later.”
“Okay, Delfi, I’ll let you go because I’m also heading to the office.”