Diverging Paths

My face touches the softness of the pillow as my hands slide over the folds of the sheet, but my eyes refuse to open... I know that from the moment I wake up, reality will be waiting for me, so I prefer to stay in the beautiful dream where I had the best night of love with X. Just remembering it makes my body feel on fire. Then Juan's image appears in my mind; I need to pick him up from my mother's place. My son must be missing me a lot, and deep down, I miss him too.

I open my eyes and find the clock showing exactly one hour late to pick up my son. I turn to X's side... and he's not there. I take a deep breath, irritated. Once again, I wake up alone... Surprise, at least this time there was no note with lame excuses. The night was good, but we're back to reality. I get out of bed and walk towards the bathroom, where I fix my hair and find a mark left by an X on my neck; I touch it lightly with my eyes closed... and put back on my dress from the other night. I open the door to the room with the certainty that this would be the last time I would do this.

"Good morning, Sweet," X says, standing in the living room, startling me. He looks at me, surprised. "I ordered breakfast for us..."

"I'm late..." I explain awkwardly. I didn't expect to find him there, especially with breakfast on the table. "I have to pick up Juan."

"I don't think it's healthy for you to go without at least having some breakfast," X argues, going to the balcony and then returning with a cup of coffee. "At least take a sip of coffee. I'm sure your son is in good hands, and he'll understand your lateness."

I hold the cup while X walks towards the balcony, sitting and calmly sipping his iced tea. I smile and go in his direction, sitting in front of him. We don't talk; we just enjoy the beautiful view of Barcelona while I have my coffee.

"Thank you for the coffee," I say, leaving the cup on the table. "Now I really need to go."

"That's alright," X says calmly.

I get up and head towards the door, then I feel my arm being pulled, turn my body and find X's lips on mine. A light kiss...

"Have a good day," X says, opening the door.

"A good day to you too," I reply, panting.

I leave X's room dazed, touching my lips, still feeling the pressure of X's mouth. Will everything really be different?

***

"Could you tell me where you were?" my mother asks, irritated, with Juan in her arms, standing at the entrance of her house, not even waiting for me to activate the alarm of my car and approach her.

"Good morning to you too, Mother," I respond with slight irritation that dissipates as soon as I see Juan with a wide smile upon seeing me. He extends his arms toward me, excited to see that his mother is back. I smile back at my son and then take him from my mother's arms. "How's my prince?"

"Dália, we were worried about you," my mother continues, nervous. "We looked for you everywhere... and now you show up at my gate as if nothing happened."

"If you were looking for me, you would have gone to my house, where I've been all this time," I retort, tickling Juan, who giggles.

"And do you think that's not what we did? We went to your house last night, and you weren't there," my mother replies.

"Because last night, I went out with a friend of mine," I say, tickling Juan and making him laugh.

"Who? Filomena?" my mother asks, with her hands on her hips. The fact that my mother mentions Filomena makes me remember her little scene at the door of X's room.

"No, I didn't go out with Filomena," I reply.

"Hmm... that's good, because we talked to her yesterday, and Filomena didn't know where you were either," my mother says.

"Mother, what's the reason for this interrogation? I'm here, aren't I?" I ask, getting angry. "I came to pick up my son as agreed. So stop asking me where I was, because I won't tell you. The important thing is that I'm fine."

"Oh, really?" my mother asks with an incredulous expression. "Carlos called me yesterday and told me about the scene you made at dinner in front of his coworkers. He tried to call you, and you didn't answer. So, the fine is something you are not. What got into you, Dália?"

"So you mean he told you that? Did he also tell you that at that dinner, his lover was there?" I ask my mother. The fact that my mother brings this up makes me remember the scene with Filomena at X's room door.

"Lover? Carlos has a lover?" my mother asks. "How do you know that?"

"Because he introduced her to me... of course, as a friend. But the two of them were too intimate to be just good friends, Mother."

"What nonsense, Dália!" my mother says seriously. "I don't think he would be capable of that, but if he is involved with that young woman... it's understandable."

"How's that? Understandable? Do you think it's understandable that Carlos is having an affair? That he's cheating on me?"

"Yes, when men don't find what they need at home, they look for it elsewhere. They are men... they can only think with their second head. They have no responsibility for their actions."

"Then I'll divorce him," I retort, angry. "Since I thought I married a man and not an animal."

"My daughter, things don't get resolved like that. As your father already said, you, as a woman, have failed a lot, with your son and your husband. So, this was bound to happen, these things happen in long marriages. That doesn't mean you should ask for a divorce. Overlook this situation and focus on your family, which is the only thing that matters."

"When you say these things... do you even hear what you're saying?" I ask, shocked.

"As soon as you get home, call your husband and apologize for what you did," my mother orders. "You need to learn to be more tolerant, or else you'll end up a single mother. Is that the future you want for Juan?"

"I'm not you, who swallows and accepts everything just to stay married to my father. I will make my own decision without your interference..."

"Even if it costs you your family?" my mother questions.

"Yes," I reply, opening my car. "Now I have to go because I have a lot of things to do, and apologizing to Carlos is not one of them."

I place Juan in his car seat and then get into the driver's seat, giving a slight wave to my mother, who looks at me with sadness. Deep down, I am also saddened by the direction my life is taking, but at the rate we are going, the only thing I see in the end is our paths diverging.