Chapter 2. Between a rock and a hard place

By Gonzalo

Rodrigo didn't contribute any money, but my father gave him one of the two-room apartments on the lower floors in exchange for his work.

Gabriel was going to get one for his work, but we ended up making another agreement; I paid him with half of an apartment that occupied the entire fifth floor.

From that moment on, it's our office; the other half of that floor is mine.

From the 6th floor upwards, the apartments were half-floors.

For the money my friend put up, my father gave him a semi-detached apartment, much more expensive than the value he had initially set. It was convenient for Gabriel and also for my father, because he didn't pay part of the bank interest, which was extremely high.

He gave me another half-floor apartment, for the money I invested, it was more or less in the same condition as Gabriel's.

It was a win-win situation for everyone.

The first year was the hardest, because the building still needed to be finished and the mortgage loan, which was very high, had to be paid off.

My mother took on all the work that came her way and stayed until the early hours of the morning sewing wedding dresses and quinceañera dresses; it was necessary. I contributed a large part of my salary, and my brother, who was still studying, worked freelance to cover his own expenses and help at home.

Before the year was out, we finished and inaugurated the building.

All the apartments were rented quickly.

We made the building suitable for professional use.

From the second year onwards, the bank loan was paid off with the rent from 8 apartments belonging to the younger children, and afterwards, once everything was rented out, we were all very financially comfortable again.

My parents bought another property on the Atlantic coast, but this time it was a house, quite large and with room for all of us to go together.

We generally went separately, sometimes we met up with my brother or my cousin who was always the first to be invited.

That Thursday I ended up with a prostitute in my apartment; it was a bachelor apartment, we often had gatherings with my friends, although I generally used it when I was with someone.

My girlfriend had no idea that that building belonged to my father.

It wasn't that I was hiding what we had, but I wasn't shouting it from the rooftops either.

My mother continued working, although at this point she no longer needed to.

She loved her job.

She had clients with a high economic level, so she earned very well.

I don't understand how women spend so much on a dress they're only going to wear once in their lives.

—You don't get married every day.

My mother used to say.

—With luck you only get married once, and if not, two or three times, and 15 years is only celebrated once in a lifetime.

On the other hand, it was a good thing that it was like that, because thanks to that and my father's work, we were raised without financial worries.

Quite a bit more than that, actually.

When we were both 18, my brother and I were given a car as a gift; that wouldn't have been possible without my mother's work.

My father earned a very good living, although he had two other partners in the real estate company and the profits were divided equally.

Anyway, he always did very well.

He manages the rentals of the building he acquired from our office, the one on the fifth floor.

I have a pretty close relationship with my father; we consolidated that when I was a little older, because when we were kids, the one who seemed to be his shadow was my brother, and I was always a little more attached to my mother…until I started my relationship with Marta.

Marta is quite jealous of my family.

I don't have major problems with my father, as long as I don't see him too much outside of my working hours.

For example, he gets annoyed when we start doing any work at home; he finds out and calls me all the time. He has these things that are very annoying.

My mother and I used to go shopping together, but I hardly ever do it anymore, and that really saddens me.

My brother and I don't go out to dinner except on special occasions.

That's what bothers me most about my girlfriend; I'm quite distant from my family.

I'm not as close to my cousin as I was at another time.

I can't talk about all of this with my family, because the relationship with Marta is strained; if I openly mention her flaws, they'll end up hating her.

My mother is not stupid and is very intuitive; she must know her better than I would like.

With Luz it's different.

They even go out for lunch or meet up to do some shopping.

I understand that they talk on the phone almost every day.

My mother is always flattering Luz and that bothers Marta a lot.

Sometimes I'm between a rock and a hard place.

That girl she keeps mentioning is an acquaintance of Luz's; I think she's the sister of a friend or acquaintance of hers, I don't remember very well, maybe she's someone's cousin. When Luz told her that she knew a makeup artist who was spectacular at her job and that she could talk to her about offering her services to the women for whom she made dresses, my mother gladly accepted my sister-in-law's advice.

From that moment on, he keeps mentioning that makeup artist; it's tiring.

So much so that even though he mentions her a thousand times, I don't even remember her name.

On the other hand, I don't feel so comfortable with my in-laws; they are distant, and at the same time, my mother-in-law seems to have to give her opinion on everything.

I try not to answer her, to ignore her, but sometimes I can't and don't want to control myself and I put a stop to her nonsense.

My in-laws and I have lunch together on Sundays.

Those hours we spent there felt like an eternity.

Then we went for a walk with my girlfriend and ended up at some shopping mall.

I, who had friends from high school, from college, from the neighborhood, from other jobs, from the club where we used to practice some sports... and my girlfriend who doesn't even speak to her own cousin.

He always gets annoyed when I get together with a group to eat pizzas, have a barbecue, or whatever is organized at the time.

Beyond all that, we're doing well sexually and I suppose we'll make it official at some point.

I'm walking into my house and I hear my mother talking to my cousin.

—I hope he comes across a girl with an ass that blows him away. You can't compare the ass of a 20-year-old girl with that of a 35-year-old who's never done any sports or gone to the gym in her life…

I don't know what my cousin answered, I just yelled that I had arrived.

They're talking about me and my girlfriend.

She immediately changed the subject, sending greetings to her husband and mother-in-law.

In that respect, my mother was like me; in fact, I am like her.

He is extremely sociable.

She has many friends, and often arrives late from her shop, where she makes and sells haute couture dresses, because she stayed talking to someone.

Although she clarifies that she can count her true friends on the fingers of one hand…I think she uses both hands and still falls short.

There are many people who love her very much.

It also has a lot of well-known people.

Marta, on the other hand, complains because she says my mother talks a lot.

Things are tough.

I love my girlfriend, although I don't know why it's so hard for me to make it official.

I can't imagine waking up with her every day.

On Thursdays, when we have those escapes, I feel like a new man.

I need that freedom.

That's why he doesn't know I have my apartment waiting for me and fully furnished.

Living with others would suffocate me.

Now, if I have time, I watch it for a while, and if I don't want to watch it, I invent some job.

I don't know how long I can keep going like this.

I talk to her every day, by phone, of course.

—We'll have dinner in 15 minutes.

She alerts me, while I approach to greet her.

Then I go to my parents' room, my dad was watching a football game lying on the bed.

He watches television from there, because my mother usually talks on the phone when she cooks, and he always asks her to turn down the volume of what he is listening to.

They've been married for many years, and they get along well because they know each other very well.

Three times a week, in the morning, I go to the company where I am now the manager.

I work from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then I stay in my own office until at least 6 p.m., and on the days I don't go to the company, I'm in the office all day. Gabriel has a similar schedule at the company where he works.

Our business has three employees.

We're thinking of hiring a fourth person; we have a lot of work and new projects keep coming in all the time.