Page 91 of Stronger Than Fate
—“Alright, we’ll stay in touch.” He gave me a kiss and left.
It was hard not to think about that message. I needed to do something to calm the anger I felt. After going back and forth for a while, I got ready to go to the gym for a bit. I changed clothes, grabbed my gym bag and left. Since it wasn’t far, I decided to walk. While on the promenade, I thought I saw Sol passing by in a car again, which was strange because she didn’t own one. Still, I could have sworn it was Sol and that, once again, she had looked at me with fury. This began to worry me and I kept walking, but I must confess that I did so while continuously looking around me. I was almost certain it was Sol and I began to feel like I was being watched.
At the gym I concentrated on doing my routine and then did some yoga. When we finished, I stayed chatting with some acquaintances, and by the time I left, it was already dark. I started walking toward the hotel, but I still had that unsettling feeling of being watched closely, and a chill ran down my spine. I was alert, tense, and on several occasions I stopped and looked around, convinced that someone was following me.
“I must be paranoid because of everything Henry has told me,”I thought, and continued walking, though I quickened my pace.
When I arrived at the hotel I was out of breath; I had walked extremely fast and I was annoyed with myself for letting Henry’s and my brothers’ ideas get to me.
Upon reaching the suite and checking my phone, I saw that I had messages and missed calls from him from two hours earlier.
“The game went longer than expected.
I don’t think I’ll make it to the hotel today”
A little while later he had sent another:
“Going to have some beers with a couple of friends
Talk to you later”
Last message:
“Why aren’t you answering?
Where are you?”
My response:
“Just got back from the gym.
Enjoy your time with your friends”
Within a minute I was receiving another message and I picked up the phone, convinced it was him, but the message was from an unknown number and they had sent me two photographs. My heart stopped. In the photos, Henry could be seen sitting in an armchair in what appeared to be a bar or pub, but the big, painful detail was that he had a woman sitting on his lap. My vision blurred with tears I didn’t want to shed, but, as he had rightly told me, I didn’t want to assume or jump to hasty conclusions, so I began to look at them very carefully. The photograph seemed recent, Henry was dressed casually, and at the same table as him, with their backs to whoever had capturedthe image, were two men watching the situation. In the first image, Henry was looking at the woman, and in the second, they were kissing and the woman was holding his face with both hands. While everything matched up because he had told me he was going for beers with friends, I preferred not to think the worst. After all, I didn’t know who had sent the message, so I did what seemed best. I forwarded the two photographs to him with the following text:
“Can you explain this?
Or does this need no explanation?”
I sat with the phone in my hand waiting for his response, but he wasn’t online. After ten minutes, my trust in him began to crumble. How could I be sure he wasn’t with another woman? Much to my regret and to be honest with myself, I couldn’t be sure. Suddenly I felt sick.
I left the phone on the kitchen counter and sat on one of the stools, not knowing what to do. I rested my elbows on the counter and held my head in my hands. We had only resumed our relationship a few days ago, and we were facing another problem already. At that moment, I began to think that we would always have too many complications to keep the relationship afloat.
“This is insane,” I murmured.
I looked at the phone again. Henry was still not connecting. In my head, the idea began to form that he wasn’t doing so because he was enjoying his time with that woman. Another message came in and I nervously picked up the phone. It was another message from the same unknown number.
“Bar Very Much”
I read the message several times. I didn’t know what to do. It was probably the place where Henry was with that woman, and whoever it was was informing me so I could see it with my own eyes. I paced back and forth not knowing what to do, but I ended up taking my phone and searching the internet for the bar’s address. Once I was clear on how to get there, I grabbed the car keys and left. Since I hadn’t heard from him, if I wanted to clear up any doubts, I had no other option. I knew it was reckless, but I had to do it. I was going to that bar.
Chapter 14
“Don’t be upset with the dry well for not giving you water; instead, ask yourself why you keep trying to draw water from a place where it’s clear you won’t find any”
—Buddhist reflection
Half an hour later, I was parking at the corner of the“Very Much” bar. As I was opening my car door, I saw his car parked in front of the bar entrance and decided to wait there. If he was in the bar, he would have to come out eventually. And he didn’t keep me waiting—two minutes later he was coming out with his arms around two people. On one side was the woman from the photograph, and on the other was a man I didn’t know. He seemed drunk and they appeared to be helping him walk, but that didn’t stop him from laughing cheerfully.
