5

CHARLOTTE

“Maria?!” I yelled, my voice echoing through the empty house. “This is sad,” I added when she didn’t respond, and I started walking to the front door. Then I stopped in my tracks, turned around, walked into the room, and picked up the tray containing the dishes I had just used, proceeding to stack them in the kitchen sink.

We were the only ones left in this deserted estate, and I couldn’t let her do all the work while I wailed about how much of a failure my life and marriage were. Plus, I needed something to do to keep my mind off the present as I made plans for the future.

Today, I had one mission: find Rogerio and uncover the reason behind our separation. I had always assumed it was my fault, or that I was constantly making mistakes. However, upon reflection, I am starting to realize that there may be other external factors at play.

First, I thought about his parents; Rogerio had grown up under the care of his grandfather, Don Huilo, and his mother, Penelope. I had no idea about the type of life they had introduced him to, nor was I aware of the things that had happened in his childhood, but I could tell from the first day I met them that they were not good people. Yet, I stayed.

“Foolish girl,” I muttered and turned on the tap. I reached for the sponge and started washing as my mind replayed the memories of their cruelty.

“Signora Charlotte? What are you doing?” I heard Maria say and turned in the direction of her voice.

“What does it look like?” I asked dryly as I continued washing. “If we’re going to live here, I can’t let you do all the work.”

“But…”

“No ‘buts’ Maria, you can’t look after this enormous house and still look after me. I have to contribute in some way, and I’m happy to do it.”

“Signora, I—” she started to say, but I turned, locked gazes with her, and shook my head slowly.

“Don’t try to stop me; I don’t want to hear it,” I replied, lifting one of the dishes, which was drenched in soap bubbles, for her to see. “This is the last one, and unless you can convince me that I did a bad job here, I don’t want to hear anything. We’re doing this together.”

“Alright,” she said and heaved a sigh as I pulled the plug, drained the soapy water, and turned on the tap to replace it with clean water. “All I wanted to say is, you could’ve used the dishwasher.”

I rinsed the last batch and turned to see her pointing to the machine positioned a few meters from where I was standing. I chuckled and resisted the urge to tell her that I preferred to wash the traditional way. “Well, I needed to use my hands. To do something so I don’t lose my mind. This helped.”

I drained the water and arranged the dishes in their designated positions, then wiped my palms on a towel. She nodded in response and took the towel from me. “I’ll take care of the rest; you need to relax.”

“Maria, I’m heartbroken, not indisposed; you don’t have to dote over me.”

“Heartbroken, indisposed; Signora. It all sounds the same to me,” she insisted. “Regardless, you need to rest.”

“Well, I can’t go back to lying down and crying for the rest of my life; I need to do something to get my mind off things.”

“Perhaps a walk would be great? You could spend time in the garden or the pool.

“Or in the city,” I added as my eyes lit up with excitement. I knew how I was going to get information from Rogerio without being in close proximity, but I knew Maria would not approve.

“What?” She questioned with a confused expression.

“I’ll go for a drive around the city. That should clear my mind.”

“If you think so… I’ll get the driver,” she responded and started to walk out of the kitchen.

“Maria,” I called out to her, and she turned around to look at me. “We’re the only ones here, remember? The drivers are gone.”

“Oh,” She mumbled quietly and lowered her gaze. “It’s going to be hard to get used to this,” she muttered, and I chuckled.

“Oh, it’s alright; we’ll get by.” I retorted, and she shrugged.

“I’ll go call a taxi,” she uttered and started to walk towards the front door. I thought about it for an instant and decided against it.

Getting in a taxi meant that anyone could track my activities if they looked in the right places; for this mission, I had to be as discreet as possible. “No!” I yelled as she opened the front door.

She turned around and stared at me with a puzzled look. “I’ll drive,” I added and started walking to where she was standing. “It’s been a while since I drove by myself, plus I could do with some time alone.”

“Alright, Signora,” she stated, changing her direction to the garage. I followed closely behind, half expecting to see that Rogerio had taken all the cars. I wasn’t surprised to see the lot empty, but thankfully, he left the car he had bought for me on my birthday.

“I’ll get the keys,” she responded and left through a side door. I walked up to the car and trailed my fingers on the hood.

I wasn’t lying about taking a drive around the city; the only thing I didn’t mention to her was that I would be visiting the buildings that housed the penthouses owned by the Thuthais. At least the ones I knew about. If Rogerio had left a warning not to come looking for him, that only meant one thing: he was close by.

I took the keys from Maria and started the ignition. The engine roared to life, and I looked up to see my companion staring at me, a concerned expression on her face. “Don’t worry; I’ve driven one of these before. I’ll be fine.”

She nodded in response, walked to the end of the garage, and clicked the switch to open the door. As it opened up, she walked up to me and wished me luck. “I’ll open up the gates from the control room,” she said and walked away after I thanked her for her help.

I turned off the car’s ignition and sat in silence for a few minutes. It was dark, and I had spent the entire day checking every property owned by Rogerio’s family, but I had not found any indication that he lived in any of them.

I couldn’t walk to the reception and ask the receptionists; instead, I found a way to sneak into the parking lots to see if I could recognize any of the cars there. That proved futile, and I was exhausted.

Driving through the city had helped a bit; I saw the world away from the estate in a different light than I had seen it before, but all that didn’t seem to matter at the time because it was evening, and I hadn’t achieved my objective.

It felt like the universe had conspired against me, and everything was working in unison to give me a hard time. I was currently a few blocks away from the last property owned by Rogerio, and I hoped to get better results or I would lose my mind.

I heaved a sigh and started the ignition, but as I reached for the steering, I heard a familiar sound and waited. A few moments later, a black Porsche sped past me, and I ducked instantly to hide my face.

“Rogerio,” I whispered, and my eyes widened in shock as a blend of relief and curiosity washed over me. I knew that car anywhere; I could identify it in my sleep.

It was his favorite, and we had gone on different dates in it. I let out a hearty laugh as it filled me with glee to finally see that I was right about him being on one of the properties. Now all I had to do was follow him without getting caught. I started the ignition and drove in the direction I had seen the car take.

A few minutes later, he took a bend in the road, and I knew exactly where he was headed: La Sienne, one of my favorite restaurants. This piqued my interest, and I followed closely while maintaining a reasonable distance. I waited till he had parked his car in the lot, exited the vehicle, and walked into the restaurant before doing the same.

When I walked into the establishment, I realized that something was different; first, they let me in without asking for my identity, now as my eyes roamed around the place, I noticed that the décor had changed. It felt like they were waiting for something to happen.

Shortly after, I got my answer. Rogerio stood up, and the room fell silent. I had found a corner in the room where I could watch without being seen, but I still put on some dark shades, just to be extra careful.

I felt a lump in my throat as he got down on one knee and proposed to the woman who had been sharing the table with him. When she turned around to show off her ring, I had to fight back the tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. He hadn’t left because I wasn’t good to him; he had left because of her. He was getting married to his ex-girlfriend, Elena La Guerta.