A Tale of Past and Present
" No."
That is the only thing that comes out of my lips before I turn around and walk in the opposite direction of X. I stride away with forceful steps towards the gardens, but I can still hear his footsteps, undoubtedly following behind me. I reach the garden when I feel my body being spun around and then pushed toward one of the huge bushes. X holds me by the arms, making me face him again, confirming that he is real and present. I push him away with all my strength and continue walking, but he pulls me back again.
"Dália, please, let's talk," he says.
"I have nothing to talk to you about!" I shout, releasing my arm.
"Dália, please," X walks behind me again. "I need to talk to you."
"I don't want to know," I reply, walking on. "You lost the right to talk to me when you left me alone at the airport!"
"Dália, I explained it to you back then," X says, running and stopping in front of me. "I told you..."
"No need to repeat it, as your words are well-preserved in my mind," I interrupt, pressing my finger against my forehead. I lower my hand and then continue walking, holding back the tears that, for some reason, wanted to make an appearance.
"I need to explain the reason for my words back then," X continues. "To tell my side of the story."
"Send it by email, as you suggested to me," I say without looking back. I stop for a moment and then turn to him, saying, "Well, there's nothing you have to say that will change the fact that you abandoned me at the airport that day."
"Pandora was pregnant," X reveals, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants. "She went to Lausanne and told me about the pregnancy and asked us to give our marriage another chance. Dália..." He approaches, but I take a step back. "I couldn't leave my family for..."
"For an affair? Because that's what we had, an affair," I say to him, harshly.
"Dália, what we had was unique..." X starts, trying to approach again.
"Oh yeah, unique, special, incredible..." I roll my eyes and then continue walking through the garden that felt more like a damn maze.
"Dália, I couldn't leave my pregnant wife at that moment. I always told you that my marriage was complicated," X continues, walking alongside me.
"What do you want?" I ask, stopping in front of him.
"What do you mean?"
"What do you want? A certificate of being a good guy and that you're not a complete jerk? What do you want me to say to you?" I retort. "Ah, I know: oh X, I'm sorry if you felt pressured to stay with your pregnant wife... You had no choice and decided not to give me an answer until today. Poor you. Let's go into that house now and have wild sex so you can redeem yourself... How about that? Is that okay for you?" I finish with sarcasm, shrugging.
"Would you have liked it if Carlos left you when you were pregnant, to be with Duny?" X counters almost like a slap. "Would you have calmly accepted your husband leaving you at the most important moment of your life? Well, he did that when he went to Portugal, didn't he?"
"You have no right to talk about my husband!" I shout, pointing my finger at him. "You have no right to drag him into this mess!"
"And you have no right to talk about Pandora," X says, seriously.
"You know what, congratulations on your new son or daughter..." I curse and then run my hands through my hair, taking a deep breath. I give a smile of disbelief that I am still there, listening to X without the slightest need.
"It's another boy."
"I don't give a damn," I say, raising my arms, walking backward, and moving away from him. "Go back to your Pandora and your children... The Dália you knew died at that airport."
I turn around and continue walking. Now I am at the garden's exit. Through the tears that have just started falling, I manage to see Rúbia's car.
"I'm divorced," X says, still walking behind me.
"I don't care," I say, approaching the car. I open the car door, but he closes it, preventing me from getting in. "You're divorced and you came after Plan B? The backup? Find someone else, I won't be anyone's second choice. Besides, in case you didn't know, I am happily married."
"I didn't come here for that, Dália. Despite everything we went through, weighing on my divorce process, I know exactly where I stand in your life," X says, running his hand through my hair. "I'm here to help you... I'm here as a friend."
"Oh, that's rich," I chuckle and then open the car door again. "You came to help me? Help with what, exactly? Well, forget that I asked you that." I finish getting into the car and close the door.
"Dália, I know," X says through the window. I roll down the window and look at him, confused. "I didn't want to get close to you. I tried once at the mall, but when you ran away... I understood that you didn't want me around. However..."
"However, what?" I ask, seriously.
"I've been talking to your father. We frequent the same circle of friends and the same café. Ramón is a very good man, and he told me about you guys. Congratulations on Marisol, on your new apartment... Anyway, he told me about the financial difficulties you're going through. I imagine how hard it must be for you to pay all the bills, with your husband unemployed and the real estate market as it is. I thought about it and saw that with my divorce, I needed a house to welcome children, friends, and the people I love." He looks at me intensely. "And you need to sell to maintain your life and your family's life with dignity. So I decided to make the most of it: I want to buy a house with you. What do you say?"
"Go to hell, X!" I respond, starting the car and speeding away, leaving X's image covered in a cloud of dust.
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