Page 6 of Stronger Than Fate
We arrived at the restaurant and sat at a table next to a window. It was October, and the days were warm and quite pleasant. At that moment, I was wearing white pants and a short-sleeved blue blouse embroidered with white flowers, and no jacket was necessary. I had pulled my long hair up into a high ponytail and was wearing natural makeup. I always liked to look put-together and was quite a fashion fan.
We ordered our meals—Shrimp Risotto for Lolo and Caesar Salad for me—accompanied by a glass of wine and mineral water.
While we ate, I told him in more detail about all my adventures in Mykonos, and my brother took the opportunity to mainly inquire about the possibility that I had met someone. For them, I would always be the little one they had to care for and protect.
We were chatting animatedly when suddenly the restaurant door opened and three men dressed in suits entered. At first I glanced at them and continued talking, but when I identified one of them, my heart began to beat so hard that I could feel the pounding in every part of my body. I hadn’t forgotten that face and that walk; the one who stood out in the group for his attractiveness and elegance was Henry Woollardy. Lolo had his back to the door and didn’t see what had disturbed me, but he noticed a change in me.
“What’s wrong? You seem like you’ve suddenly become nervous,” he stated, observing me carefully.
“Why would I be nervous?” I asked, pretending to be surprised by his comment, although in reality my heart seemed to want to leap out of my chest.
“I don’t know, I just got that impression,” he said.
“Well, I assure you that you’re mistaken,” I lied, because I had no intention of saying a word about the man who had just entered.
The three men sat at a table a few meters from ours, and Henry ended up facing me. I didn’t know if he would remember me, probably not, although I remembered every detail about him, so I tried not to look at him and concentrate on my brother, a difficult task when he was only a few meters away. That day he was wearing a dark gray suit that looked spectacular on him. I didn’t understand why a man with whom I had only exchanged a few words affected me in this way, but it was clear that Henry Woollardy had made an impression on me like no one ever had.
“Let’s have coffee,” my brother suggested, unaware of my eagerness to leave there as soon as possible.
“Alright,” I replied, because we always had coffee after lunch and I didn’t want to add anything else that would reveal my uneasiness.
When Lolo raised his arm to get the waiter’s attention and order our coffees, that movement caught Henry’s attention and he looked toward our table. Our eyes met and my heart skipped a beat, but at that moment I could see his astonishment. I had no doubt, he remembered me. I noticed that the men accompanying him were speaking to him, but Henry stopped paying attention to them and couldn’t take his eyes off me. And what eyes, Mother of beautiful love! I looked away and glanced at Lolo who was talking to the waiter at that moment, but I could feel his intense blue gaze still fixed on me, seeming to draw me in. When I looked at him again, the intensity of his gaze sent a shiver down my spine and my skin broke out in goosebumps.
What is happening to me with this man?, I questioned myself, surprised by my body’s responses to his presence.
Lolo continued telling me about some hotel matters and I made my greatest effort to pay attention to him and try to forget about Mr. Woollardy. I think I had never made such a great effort to concentrate on something. After finishing our coffees, Lolo paid the bill and we got up from our chairs to leave the place. Once again I met his blue gaze, but at that moment his seriousness was such that it made me shudder. His eyes traveled over my entire body and then looked at Lolo with a frown. My brother, oblivious to the situation, continued talking to me and placed his hand on my back to guide me toward the exit. Henry’s gaze turned away from us with annoyance, and we passed by him without him paying us the slightest attention. After that, we left the restaurant and headed to Lolo’s car. During the entire journey, I kept thinking about him because, although I tried to push him from my thoughts, he inevitably took possession of them again. Fortunately, my brother attributed my distraction to the fatigue I had from the trip because on several occasions I had to ask him to repeat what he had said.
The next day I was already working in my office. A while after arriving, I heard Bastián coming into his office, because we had offices on the same floor of the hotel, and I quickly went to get Lolo so we could go greet him together and give him his gift.
“Happy birthday!” we exclaimed in unison as we opened the door to his office.
Bastián was pouring himself a coffee and looked at us with a huge smile.
“Thank you very much, little siblings.”
We approached him and the three of us shared a big hug. If there was something important to us, it was family, and the three of us loved each other with all our hearts and were very close. My brothers were the most important thing in my life and I gave everything to make them happy, and I knew they loved me just as much.
“You can’t imagine how much I’ve missed you, little demon,” said Bastián, calling me by the nickname he always used and messing up my hair.
“I missed you both a lot too.”
“You’re coming to my birthday party today, right?” he asked.
“When have I ever missed it? I wouldn’t be away from you on your day for anything in the world. Just so you know, I arrived yesterday specifically to be with you today,” I replied.
“Thank you, Dali.”
“This is your gift,” said Lolo, handing him the painting, which was wrapped in beautiful paper with a large silver bow.
“Thank you very much,” he said, looking at the large package with emotion.
My brother tore open the paper to find the beautiful painting we had chosen for him. It had been created by a Uruguayan painter who was gaining fame at a rapid pace and was already internationally recognized; his name was Baco Darwich.
“What a beautiful gift! It’s wonderful. Thank you both so much. I’ve heard a lot about this painter, and always good things.”
“We're glad you like it,” I said.
“Are you going to hang it here or in your apartment?” Lolo asked.
