Chapter Twenty-Five
The old woman on the balcony folds her washing as she cries.
I want to call out to her, to tell her I understand, but I don’t.
I don’t know why she’s crying, but I know that eventually the tears come less frequently.
It’s as if your body only has reserves of so much and you wake one day and find yourself dry-eyed, like your entire being has been wrung out.
It’s a relief actually, when you get to that stage, so I wish that for her. That soon, the release will come.
I pass the one-eyed dog, doing figure eights around customers.
The boutique owner shakes her head in mock annoyance as if she’s giving up trying to contain the creature.
I turn from the boutique and spot a familiar figure in the gift shop next door.
Hard not to, when he’s bouncing around, hands flying as he talks, bumping into displays. Tiago.
I’m about to do the unthinkable and confidently wander into the gift shop, hijack their animated conversation by saying hello when the woman he’s chatting to casually rubs his arm.
She looks under her lashes at him, plays with her hair, bites on her bottom lip in what I can only describe as a flirtatious manner.
Wanton is another word, depending on where your moral compass lies.
She’s a walking, talking textbook cliché!
I take a moment to sift through my emotions.
I’m not one to judge another woman, so why then am I judging her in the moment?
Her body, her choice, and if she wants to bite down on her ruby-red lips, then that’s OK, isn’t it?
When I land on an answer, I gasp. Could it be that I’m suffering pangs of jealousy?
It appears so, if the visceral reaction to her continuously touching Tiago is anything to go by.
The poor innocent appears completely unaware, he’s pointing to flowers, to chocolate boxes, as if he’s on a simple shopping trip, while the woman uses all her feminine wiles to relay her interest. What to do about this sudden strange desire to wrench Tiago from a pretty woman’s clutches?
I do what I always do in times of stress. I leave. Heartbeat erratic, and pulse racing. This won’t do. I can’t fall for the sidekick! Not so early into the piece, and not if he’s going to go back to the land of code in another country.