Chapter 39
“We’re not driving?”
“No, I prefer the helicopter. We’ve had more than enough for today to deal with traffic as well.”
“Okay.”
Now that the initial shock has passed, I’m slowly starting to think clearly.
Everything happened so fast that I didn’t even have time to understand. One moment I was walking to meet Guillermo, the next, one of the security guards—whom I used to greet every day at the start of my shift—grabbed my arm, saying I couldn’t leave.
It didn’t take long for people to stop what they were doing to pay attention to me.
I’ve never felt so ashamed in my life.
I’ve never had trouble with being poor. I never dreamed of wearing expensive clothes, and not even when I lived in that tiny room was I ashamed, but the moment I was publicly accused of being a thief, I thought I was going to faint.
I think the whole confusion didn’t last fifteen minutes, because as soon as they took me to the security room, Joaquín arrived, and soon after, Guillermo. But for me, it felt like a lifetime.
We’re heading up to the roof of the building now, and my heart is racing.
I’ve never been on anything that flies. In fact, the only mode of transportation I’ve used besides a car was a boat.
As a sixteenth birthday gift—the last one my mother was healthy for—she gave me a trip that departed from Long Wharf to see the whales.
It was the most exciting thing I had ever done in my life, but now I have new memories to collect.
That session with the celebration brigadeiro will surely be among them. The most special one, however, will be the day we slept in the presidential suite.
That night, I felt like Cinderella, not only because of the luxury of the place but because of everything that happened. Since then, Guillermo hasn’t done anything to bring me back to reality. It’s like stitching one dream onto the next.
When I’m with him, just the two of us and Nina in his house, our life together seems possible. There are no differences. I feel like everything is right. There’s no gap between our financial statuses or who we are in society.
But what happened today made me freefall.
Guillermo left with Joaquín to talk to the lawyer, and then the three of them came back to instruct me on what to say or not say to the police. Half an hour later, the detectives took my statement right there. I didn’t go down to the lobby or anywhere else afterward. Guillermo wouldn’t allow it.
After everyone left, he said we would make a joint statement to the press tomorrow, whatever that means.
Melissa sent a message asking if I was okay and saying I didn’t have to stay at the hotel tonight, that I could go to her place. I didn’t know what to reply, staring at my phone, thinking. Guillermo noticed and asked me what was wrong.
When I showed him the phone, he shook his head. “You’ll stay with me.”
I should rebel against his authoritarianism, but I’m not a liar. It’s with him that I want to be. With him, Nina, and no one else. So even though I know it’s foolish to cling to both of them, I replied to her, thanking her but saying I didn’t need to.
When the pilot gave the first commands for take-off, Guillermo fastened my seatbelt, but he’s been silent ever since.
I observe the profile of the man I have no idea what to call but who definitely is already part of my life and has a piece of my heart.
His square jaw is clenched, and there’s a shadow of stubble. He seems tense but not distant. His hand holds mine, our fingers intertwined, and even though I shouldn’t enjoy the sensation, I can’t deny that this imprisonment is too good.
As if sensing that I’m watching him, he turns his face, catching me off-guard. “What are you thinking?”
“I have a whole alphabet of worries passing through my head right now.”
“Talk to me.”
“Will I lose my job?”
“No.”
Now it’s my turn to look outside.
The city is tiny now, the lights shining like an upside-down starry sky.
“If that’s the case, I mean, if my job is secure, I would like to move out of the hotel. It doesn’t make sense to stay there anymore. I can already rent a simple apartment.”
I’m waiting for him to try to talk me out of it, but to my surprise, he says, “I have an apartment. It’s vacant at the moment.”
“I can’t afford a property at your level. In fact, I was thinking of a studio apartment.”
“We can talk about that tomorrow. For now, you’ll stay with me.”
Suddenly, I remember something Joaquín said.
I was so stunned that only now does it come back to me.
“Your brother told everyone that we’re together .
. . um . . . He called me his sister-in-law in front of the staff.
” Now that the memory of the scene returns, I feel my face heating up and my heart racing.
“Oh, my God! The whole hotel knows about us.”
“And what about it?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Olívia, we’re free.”
“But I’m your employee. We’re not feasible in the real world.”
The tension on his face persists. “I disagree. To me, we’re very feasible.”
“How did Joaquín find out?” I ask, ignoring that statement.
“Maybe by finding you at my house in the morning, since I’ve never let a woman stay there after Nina was born, besides the nannies. Or when I took you to have lunch with the family.”
“Are we that obvious?”
For the first time since the infernal night began, he smiles. “I know I’m very obvious about us. I want you.”
My heart, which was already beating wildly, races even faster. “Does that mean we’re . . . um . . . dating?”
Instead of answering, he gives me a kiss that takes all the air from my lungs.
Yeah, I think we still have a few more chapters of Cinderella’s story.
When we arrive at the apartment, to my surprise, Mrs. Isabel is waiting for us with Nina in her arms.
The anxiety, which had begun to diminish, comes back in full force, but before I have time to die of shame, she passes Nina to her son and hugs me.
I’m so shocked initially that I can hardly breathe. It was the last thing I expected, given how she treated me at that lunch.
After a few seconds, when I realize she doesn’t intend to let me go so quickly, I finally relax.
Then, held in the arms of the older woman, I allow myself to admit how much I’ve missed my mother. Whenever I miss her, I push it to the back of my mind because I know I need to be strong, but now I can’t control it anymore.
The crying that had stopped returns against my will, and the more she strokes my hair and tells me everything will be okay, the more the tears flow.
“Come with me. I’ll make tea for both of us.”
Only then do I realize that Guillermo has left us.
She asks me to tell her what happened, although I know Joaquín must have said something already.
I reveal what I remember, just as I did with her son, and the same disgust I noticed on Guillermo’s face appears on hers.
“This is unacceptable,” she says, indignant. “Did they find out who was behind it?”
“We still don’t have proof, but I’m almost certain it was Kathleen. Only she could get three employees to agree to something so vile,” Guillermo replies.
I didn’t notice he had come back. He comes up behind me and hugs me.
I notice that same unreadable look on Mrs. Isabel’s face, but this time, it only lasts a few seconds before she recovers. “What will you do?”
“It doesn’t surprise me that Kathleen is involved. In fact, she was the first person I thought of from the beginning,” I confess.
“She will be provisionally placed on paid leave until we prove the truth. As soon as everything is cleared up, Joaquín will work with the lawyers to punish the guilty parties.”
“Great. The important thing is to clear Olívia’s name.”