Page 9 of Stronger Than Fate
We sat down on the couches where my brother’s group of friends was gathered, and I stayed there for quite a while. If it had been up to me, I wouldn’t have left that spot until it was time to go, but my brothers insisted I dance with them, and I had no choice but to comply. I didn’t see him again, and gradually I calmed down, though I couldn’t forget that kiss and didn’t know if I ever would. It had been an experience like nothing I’d everfelt before, an experience too pleasurable that had awakened me from a slumber.
The rest of the week passed peacefully. On Friday, I received a call from Niky inviting Sol and me to her house for the entire weekend. Niky was the girl we’d met in Mykonos and with whom we’d formed a nice friendship. She lived with her mother in a large house with a swimming pool, but she was going to be alone because her mother had gone on a trip for several months to visit her sister. We both accepted the invitation and agreed to meet at her house that evening.
When I finished work and after changing and packing a bag, I picked up my friend in my car and we headed to Niky’s house. We arrived at the address she had sent us by message and found ourselves in front of an enormous, beautiful house in a residential neighborhood. I rang the bell from the car, and the gates opened to let us in. Niky was waiting for us at the door with a big smile. She was a girl our age, very pretty and friendly. The black color of her hair highlighted the blue of her eyes, and she wore her hair at shoulder length in a modern, wavy cut.
“Hi, girls! I’ve been so eager to see you!” she exclaimed when we got out of the car.
“Us too!” Sol and I exclaimed, and Niky came down the entrance steps quickly to give us a hug.
Niky and I had connected immediately and got along very well. We would always burst into laughter at the same time and for the same reasons, even when others weren’t laughing. We had that complicity that exists between friends. The vibe between us was so good that Sol had become jealous. When I told her about Niky’s invitation, she had hesitated at first, but Iended up convincing her because without her it wouldn’t be the same. Sol was like a sister to me. In truth, she and Sean were the friends who had accompanied me throughout my life, and we were always together. Sean had been doing a postgraduate engineering program in Paris, France for six months, and I missed him a lot. He and I had always been confidants because, to be honest, he got along better with me than with Sol. He had always said there was something about Sol that made him uncomfortable. We were such close pals that at some point I had even thought he might feel more than friendship for me, but he had never said anything about it, and I was grateful because I didn’t see him as anything more than a great friend.
“You have a very beautiful house,” said Sol, looking at all the luxury surrounding us.
“It’s my mother’s house. For now I live with her, mostly so she’s not alone, but I’m trying to convince her to sell it and buy something smaller, so I can also take the opportunity to move out on my own. Come with me and I’ll show you to your rooms so you can leave your bags.”
We followed her up the stairs as she detailed the amenities of the house. She showed us her bedroom, and next to hers was one available for use; the other free bedroom was quite a bit farther away. Since it seemed to me that Sol was having a bit of trouble integrating and was still wary of my friendship with our hostess, I suggested that she use the room next to Niky’s so she wouldn’t feel separated from us. Both bedrooms were warm spaces with modern, elegant furniture. The room Sol would use was decorated in shades of beige and brown, and mine in shades of blue and brown. We left our things and went down to the kitchen for dinner. When we arrived, we found a lady who appeared to be a little over 60 years old.
“This is Roberta, and she’s in charge of feeding us very well. She’s a master in the kitchen,” said Niky.
“Pleased to meet you, young ladies,” said Roberta with a big smile.
“Delighted,” Sol and I said at the same time.
“Today she prepared meat empanadas for us. Try them and you’ll see you’ve never eaten any so delicious,” Niky affirmed.
We sat around a round table where the food was already arranged on a large platter. There was also water, wine, and soft drinks. We ate the delicious empanadas, because they really were exquisite, and talked, reminiscing about the anecdotes from our vacation together and, above all, what we had done in Mykonos after Niky had left. Niky was a clothing designer and already had a large clientele, so she also told us about her latest projects. I told her a bit more about the hotel, and although she knew it from the outside, she had never been inside, so we decided that our next meeting would be at the hotel.
After dinner, we decided to watch movies in the living room and continued laughing and chatting. It was a very enjoyable night. Since it was Friday and we had all gotten up early and worked all day, by one in the morning we couldn’t stay awake any longer and decided to go to bed so we could get up early the next day and enjoy the pool.
“Good night, girls, sleep well. Tomorrow we’ll enjoy the whole day together,” I said as I walked away from their rooms.
“Good night, Dali. Are you sure you don’t want me to give you my room so you can sleep next to Sol?” Niky asked.
“No way, I love the room I got.”
“I can give you this one,” Sol said, pointing to the door of the room she was going to use, though she didn’t seem very convinced.
“No, thank you, Sol. Sleep well and I’ll see you tomorrow. What time are you planning to wake up?” I asked.
“Whoever wakes up first can call the others, what do you think?” Niky said enthusiastically, and Sol and I agreed.
I continued walking down the hallway to the end, where the room I was going to sleep in was located. When I entered, the first thing I did was take off my shoes and put on a short, summery nightgown. After using the en-suite bathroom, I got into bed because I was really tired. I had brought a book to read before sleeping as I always did, but I knew that day I wouldn’t read even a page because sleep would overcome me. I curled up in that large, extremely comfortable bed and fell asleep instantly.
I was dreaming, I don’t remember about what, when I felt the bed moving and someone crushing me. At first I thought the situation was part of the dream, but when I heard a powerful voice, I woke up startled and tried to sit up immediately. The bedroom was dark and I couldn’t see what was happening.
“Damn it! Who’s in my bed? Niky, is that you?” asked a voice that sounded very, very familiar.
Desperately, I fumbled on the nightstand to find the lamp and turn it on. When I managed to do so and turned around, my heart stopped and my blood froze. Standing at the edge of the bed was Henry Woollardy, and his beautiful blue eyes were looking at me as if I were a hallucination.
“You?” was all he said, as he opened and closed his eyes as if to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
“What are you doing here?” I said, not using the familiar form and jumping out of bed as if propelled by a spring, looking at him with a frown.
When I stood in front of him, I noticed he was in his underwear, and I must admit that this man’s body looked like it had been carved by the gods—he was an Adonis. His gaze traveled over my entire body, missing no detail, and then I also realized how I was dressed: my black nightgown was super short and had sheer parts. After scanning my body with his eyes, he fixed his gaze on my mouth and, after a few seconds, looked back into my eyes. We stared at each other, not knowing if we were real or dreaming.
Life couldn’t be so cruel as to play such a tasteless joke on me!
“What am I doing here? What am I doing here? This is my mother’s house! Explain to me what you’re doing in my bed!”
