12- Please stay happy

Casandra doesn't know how long she walked from the half-star motel to her small apartment on the other side of the city, with her dress torn at the bottom, her bare feet because it was impossible for her to hurry the pace with her party shoes, her legs barely rinsed with tap water to hide what happened, her hair loose to the sides trying to cover the marks of her naked skin, the discomfort of wearing underwear ruined and groped by someone else covering her sore intimate part and that begged to be washed hard as soon as possible to remove the feeling of dirt and worst of all is that with every step she took she felt that a part of her soul was leaving her mouth with every agitated sigh, the stitches of pain had no mercy on the poor woman, who tried not to think about it and accelerated her pace more and more, wanting to get to work on time to avoid being fired.

She arrived at the door of her mono-room and before opening it she took a deep breath and put on her best poker face, removing the anguish and bewilderment from her expression, she knew she was a mess, but she could explain it in some convincing way if she didn't burst into tears right there and then.

She walked into her house and sensed, as she approached the kitchen, the aroma of a rich breakfast, one that had not been felt in that house for months, and the sound of cartoons.

She peeked timidly and found her little brother watching the cartoons on Carmen's cell phone, Lucas was surrounded by a delicacy, a pitcher of orange juice, pots of jam, cheeses, fresh fruit and toast spread. He didn't notice the silent arrival of his older sister, he couldn't stop staring at the screen in amusement. But the one who did notice was Carmen, who looked up with a strange and uncomfortable expression for Helena, who backed away again hiding in the living room. She didn't want Lucas to see her in that state.

-Where have you been?" muttered the older woman once she reached where her co-worker was, who was in a corner hugging herself and avoiding eye contact. Carmen didn't notice the bruises the young white woman had on her wrists and ankles, the only thing she couldn't take her eyes off was her precious dress from a memory of her youth completely ruined everywhere she looked.

-Eh... I... - Helena began to stammer nervously.

-If you were going to stay all night with a man you should have warned me," The lady grabbed her purse from the rack, "I still have to go home, change and run off to work.

The redhead looked down ashamed, she was right, it was only going to be two hours at the most and she had been gone all night. She felt guilty for not having thought about her brother while she was drinking alcohol as if she had no responsibilities.

-I'm so sorry Carmen, thank you for staying with the boy, and thanks for the breakfast.

-I couldn't leave him alone with nothing to eat.

Helena nodded even more embarrassed, surely the woman had noticed that her cupboard was empty.

-I'll see you later

-Later I'll bring your dress, I'll wash it and....

-No, it's okay," he interrupted her, "keep it, it's already ruined anyway.

The lady closed the door and Helena couldn't help but throw herself carelessly to the floor. How was she going to face all the people at work if she could barely say two words without wanting to fall apart? How was she going to look her boss in the eye?

Sebastian's dark, intense eyes flashed into her mind and she felt a shiver.

He slowly stood up holding on to the wooden coat rack and shyly peeked into the kitchen

-Hi Luquitas- he smiled sideways, without showing his body- I'm going to take a bath and I'll take you to the neighbor's, when you finish with your breakfast prepare your things.

-Yes Hele," she answered obediently as always.

To the surprise of all the employees of INDUSTRIAS ALLER S.A. Sebastian arrived early, no one expected it, as soon as he set foot in the building the word spread throughout the building and everyone ran to their posts nervously, they did not want to give the grumpy CEO a reason to get angry. Anyway, the handsome young man didn't even register them, he walked with his straight and bold bearing to the elevator and anxiously climbed up to the top floor, knowing that he was getting closer and closer to his office and therefore to his secretary's office.

But why are you nervous? Aren't we supposed to be here to confirm that we don't like that simpleton woman? He chided himself. But when the elevator marked the top floor and the doors opened, a chill ran down his spine and he had to regain his composure of a man of few fleas before stepping out of the elevator.

He walked down the long hallway, adjusting his black tie and dressing his black suit, as if he really didn't care about anything else, but when he saw in the distance that his presidential secretary's desk was completely empty and didn't seem to have arrived yet, his walk became slow and erratic.

She rushed to the desk, the computer was still off and her purse was nowhere to be found. Then she turned to one of her other employees whose name she had no idea, who jumped in fright when she saw that the young man had noticed her.

-You

-Yes, Mr. Aller?

-Where is my secretary?

-I...

-Tell me!

-She's not here yet!" she exclaimed almost on the verge of tears.

Sebastian turned around like a fire and entered his office leaving everyone scared.

That woman!

The furious CEO was about to slam his door shut when he heard his female employees whispering.

-The boss is going to fire Helena if she doesn't get here as soon as possible.

-I don't think he's going to make it, you saw with your own eyes how she was last night.

-Yes, she kept dancing and rubbing herself on people.

-She was completely drunk!

-I'm sure she's asleep in some stranger's bed now.

Sebastian heard this and saw all red, he wanted to completely tear his office apart, destroy the whole city until he found his secretary to give him explanations why she was sleeping with men instead of being here at her desk taking his orders!

Helena carefully removed her dress so as not to ruin it further, put it in a plastic bag along with her underwear that had stuck to her red-hot skin, closed the bag and tossed it to the side. She was thankful that the bathroom mirror was fogged by the steam from the hot water of the turned on shower, because she didn't want to see the reflection of that bruised woman, she didn't not want to face her own reflection ever again.

She slowly stepped into the shower, moaning quietly, so that her little brother would not hear, feeling the burning of her skin from the contact of the water. She grabbed her soap and desperately began to lather all over her skin, scrubbing her legs hard, trying to get rid of the stains that at that point were already invisible but she still felt they were there, she could still feel the goo on her now red-hot skin, the nauseating smell of sex and the dirty, stale scent of the motel room.

She rubbed harder and harder, ignoring the pain she was causing herself and closed her eyes tightly, denying again and again, trying to shake off the sensation of the cold, calloused hands against her skin, the intruding fingers in her intimate part and the hot breath against her face.

She began to sob loudly, convulsing, and angrily threw the soap away, sliding down the bathroom wall into a ball on the floor.

He knew he could never get the feeling out of his body and he had to live with it.

Alan felt full, renewed, like a new man. He couldn't remember the last time he had spent a night as pleasurable as he had with the red-haired, barely curvy girl, he had no idea what her name was and if he had told her he couldn't remember. Anyway, he didn't care, he didn't need her anymore, he had everything he wanted from her.

Her bra, which was now tucked away in her drawer along with all the others, but this one above all, available to him. Her pictures, the ones he had taken of her at the motel, never to forget that this woman had once been his and that he had been the first to touch that zero kilometer skin, because yes, the woman was a virgin, he had noticed it as soon as he entered her, so tight and so new she felt around him.

He smiled looking at himself in the mirror, like a vampire who had added years of life to himself after drinking from the blood of a pure virgin woman, and walked out heading for his office, as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't ruined an innocent woman's life last night.