Chapter 4

Seeing Her Again

After walking around my parents’ house a couple of times and making sure everything was on the right track, I said goodbye until that night.

I am used to organizing things, and to everyone obeying me. And in one thing, my father is right: I am not a friendly man. Many employees fear me, but I believe they all respect me. Sometimes I think that if they found out I had been such a cuckold that my son, in reality, doesn’t have a single drop of my blood, many of them would stop respecting me. Maybe that is one of the reasons I haven’t separated, although Daphne would have a gag order from the court. Still, I don’t know how long that could be sustained.

That night, I arrived early at my parents’ house. I did it at my mother’s request, because she stressed a thousand times that when the guests arrived, my brother and I had to be there.

Daphne came with me. She was impeccably dressed, and on her face she wore that fake smile that matched her heart.

Axel was running around, although the nanny would soon take charge of him, since his mother didn’t have much patience for him.

The boy did feel a certain affection for me, and of course, he called me “Dad.” I understand he was not to blame for what his dreadful mother had done, but I am aware that I put a wall between him and me.

At some point, his mother and I were going to separate, and I suppose his biological father would take responsibility for the child.

A few guests had already arrived when Valery and Tony, Solange’s parents, came in. Anxious, I searched for a figure that drew my attention far more than I would have liked.

“Sweetheart, I missed you!”

I don’t know where my brother came from, but I saw him wrap his arms tightly around Solange. She returned the hug, hanging from his neck. Rick was huge, one meter ninety-two, with a large build. His body was very well trained, and his muscles looked powerful.

“I missed you too!”

She answered him.

I had no idea they were such good friends. My brother had never said anything about Solange.

“Rick, this is Jeff.”

Okay, she introduced him. That means they haven’t been a couple for that long, or maybe Rick and Solange hadn’t seen each other in a long time.

“Nice to meet you.”

Rick said it, patting him on the shoulder.

“Likewise.”

The man answered him. I don’t think he liked that intense hug between my brother and my unfriendly neighbor very much.

“Happy birthday!”

My… fiery neighbor greeted my mother and handed her a gift.

“Thank you, sweetheart. You shouldn’t have gone to the trouble.”

The polite phrases continued. I don’t believe anything that unpleasant young lady says is genuine.

However, they talked animatedly until more guests arrived.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Solange, despite avoiding greeting me, looked at me and also looked at Daphne, who was standing beside me at that moment.

I decided to bother her, and taking my wife by the hand, I approached that conceited woman.

I don’t want to admit that her near indifference bothered me. I say near, because she did look at me.

“Hello, Solange. How are you?”

She blushed. That caught my attention.

I think I was paying far too much attention to her.

“Hello. Very well, thank you.”

She answered, taking a step to the side.

Did she want to move away?

“This is Daphne, my wife.”

I don’t think even Daphne understood what was happening.

“Nice to meet you, Daphne. This is Jeff.”

She introduced her partner, staying where she was.

“I hadn’t seen you in a long time.”

“That’s true. I recently came back from Italy.”

“Were you traveling?”

I asked while putting my arm around my wife.

I wanted to see her reaction, because I couldn’t possibly be indifferent to her.

“I lived there for several years.”

That was why I hadn’t seen her!

The last time I saw her, she turned around crying, because I understood that my words had hurt her. At least, that was what I had intended…

I was beside Daphne, on the sidewalk in front of the house. It was the afternoon after that night…

I humiliated her with real intent, and even today I wonder why I treated her that way, and despite my age, I still feel the urge to bother her constantly.

The truth is that I feel an extreme pleasure in bothering her. She is very unpleasant, and I… I can’t stand her.

“I hadn’t realized you didn’t live here anymore.”

I tell her, knowing I’m being childish.

Solange pins me with her cold gaze. I think she’s considering what to answer.

She shrugged, although the blush still colored her face.

“I don’t know about your life either.”

She said it as if my existence meant nothing to her.

That bothered me.

“I’m married, and I have a little boy.”

I told her, under Daphne’s astonished gaze.

“That’s nice. Congratulations.”

At that moment, my brother joined our group.

“Sweetheart, now that you’re back, I’m going to squeeze you dry. If you’re okay with it, we can meet Tuesday morning.”

“I have an important meeting on Tuesday, but we can meet for dinner. Do you want to come with us, Jeff?”

She asked her partner.

Because of that question, I assume they don’t live together.

“Yes, of course.”

I don’t think that Jeff guy liked Solange’s and my brother’s plans very much.

“Okay, then we’ll talk. We can have dinner out, or you can come to my place. Yes, I think we’d be more comfortable at home. You know…”

She said it to Rick, and I was left outside of something.

I was the one who was supposed to bother her, not be left out of everything.

“Rick, don’t make so many plans. On Tuesday morning, we also have a meeting at the company.”

Solange and my brother looked at each other, and I didn’t understand why.

“Of course.”

My brother said, and I noticed a smile full of contempt on Solange’s lips.

I couldn’t help looking at her mouth, though I quickly looked away.

At that moment, Axel came over to complain because the nanny intended to take him to the room he used to use when he was at my parents’ house.

“You have to go to sleep. You know how this works.”

Daphne answered him indifferently.

“Mom, that’s unfair. You always send me to sleep with the nanny.”

“I’m busy.”

She replied, rather annoyed.

Solange watched everything with curiosity.

“Dad…”

“It’s your mother’s word.”

I said, although it wouldn’t have bothered me if Axel stayed with us.

“Axel, this is an adult party. Go to sleep.”

“But it’s my grandma’s birthday, and she’s going to blow out the candle…”

“I won’t repeat myself.”

Daphne said it, moving away from the group to answer a call. I suppose it must have been Axel’s father or one of her friends. She never talks to him in front of me.

Axel left with the nanny, and my brother was talking to Jeff about his gyms.

Solange moved a few feet away. She was talking on the phone, standing behind a fairly wide column, so no one could see her.

I approached without wasting time.

When she saw me, she hung up almost abruptly.

“What are you doing here?”

I asked bluntly.

“Your mother invited me.”

She said it with a trace of an Italian accent that made her voice sweeter and more sensual.

That bothered me.

“Now you’re pretending to be Italian? You grew up right next door.”

“I lived in Italy for more than six years.”

“I’m not interested in knowing about your life. You have no reason to be in my house.”

“It’s your parents’ house.”

“You’re shameless. I don’t know what you’re doing here.”

“I think you’re deaf. Your mother invited me because she found out I came back.”

“I’m married.”

“I know. You introduced me to your wife.”

“That happened because I was drunk.”

“I was drunk too.”

Did she mean that if she hadn’t been drunk…?

More than six years have passed, and sometimes I remember her, but I want to erase that sensation from my mind.

She knew I was watching her and dedicated that little dance to me from her garden…

She was naked and had no shame.

Of course she excited me. That bothered me too, because she was a conceited little girl, so sure of her beauty and her sensuality.

With every step she took, she seemed to scream that she owned the air itself.

She always ignored me.

Right now, she seemed to be doing the same.

Except now I rule my body. I am a twenty-nine-year-old man, and I control myself. She doesn’t affect me. Neither her beauty nor her sensuality affects me.

Did she become friends with my brother to get close to me?

Doesn’t Rick realize she is using him to…?

To get close to me, or maybe to make that clown she has as a partner jealous.

He really does look like a clown. I don’t know why my brother started a conversation with him, and I don’t know why the topic had to be gyms. My father hates those gyms because they pull him away from the family companies, and I’m sure the last thing he would want is for our neighbors to find out that Rick almost despises our fortune.

I don’t see it that way, but I don’t know who he partnered with for such a huge investment. That is one of the issues that has my father, who is extremely patriarchal, on edge. He doesn’t know who my brother went into business with.

Rick is doing fabulously, but my father feels excluded from a part of my brother’s life.

It is true that Rick has been very reserved for several years, which is why the way he greeted Solange caught my attention.

That greeting only adds to that woman’s vanity.