Page 51 of Until You Came Along
“I definitely will, and it makes me very happy to share it with you.”
“Me too.”
A few minutes after nine o’clock, his guests started arriving and the apartment filled with people. Baco introduced me to most of them, but later there were so many people that it was impossible to meet the last ones to arrive. His friends andacquaintances were very friendly, and I quickly felt integrated. They put on music, and many of the guests started dancing in the middle of the living room. Baco approached me and pulled me to dance with him. At that moment, “Todo de ti” by Rauw Alejandro was playing. We started dancing hand in hand, and my friend would spin me around and move very sensually. His friends, seeing that the birthday boy was dancing, encircled us and left us alone while they cheered us on. Both Baco and I danced in rhythm, but we couldn’t stop laughing. The next song was “I gotta feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas, and at that moment everyone started dancing with us again, forming a very fun group. Suddenly, Baco looked at me, I noticed he became serious, and, hugging me to disguise it, he leaned close to my ear to whisper:
“Don’t look to the right because Hermes just walked in with a woman.”
“You told me he wasn’t coming,” I reproached him, desperate.
“I swear that’s what he told me. Besides, he came to say hello this morning because he was traveling. I guess something must have happened and it got canceled. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you alone,” he said, and I noticed he was genuinely concerned.
“Please, I don’t want to monopolize you because I know you need to be with all your friends, but don’t leave me alone because I don’t know anyone.”
“I don’t plan to. He’s coming this way, try to act naturally,” he advised me, as we continued dancing and he smiled playfully to disguise what we were talking about.
“Good evening,” Hermes greeted, standing next to us. “Happy birthday, brother. Nice party you’ve organized,” he said, looking at his brother and completely ignoring me.
“What a surprise, Hermes! I thought you said you were traveling today and couldn’t join me.”
“Last-minute changes, the life of a businessman is like that. Let me introduce you to Carly, a friend,” he said arrogantly, and put his arm around the girl’s shoulders.
“Happy birthday,” she said.
“Thank you very much,” Baco said, “this is Delfina, ‘my’ friend,” he introduced me, also putting his arm around my shoulders, and I noticed he emphasized ‘my.’
The girl and I greeted each other, but Hermes continued to ignore me, though I could notice a certain twitch in his eye when he saw Baco hugging me. If he wanted to play that game, I wasn’t going to stand in his way.
“Feel free to help yourselves to whatever you want, enjoy and thank you for being here with me,” Baco said.
“Thanks, we will,” Hermes replied, and they walked away.
“Sometimes when I think my brother has reached his quota of idiocy, he surprises me by surpassing it,” Baco stated.
“I don’t want you to spend your birthday worried about me, maybe it would be better if I leave in a little while. I won’t do it now because it would be obvious that I’m doing it because of him,” I suggested.
“You’re not moving from my side, understood?” he said, looking at me seriously.
“I got it,” I said, as we continued dancing.
“When this song ends, we’ll go chat with my group of friends and you’ll forget about my arrogant brother. Several of my friends have asked about you because you left them drooling. Start talking to them and if they ask you to dance, don’t hesitate to do it, show him that you can have fun even if he’s with someone else.”
“Do you think so? He’ll realize I’m doing it on purpose.”
“And why would you do that? I remind you, gorgeous, that you were the one who rejected him. That’s why he showed up with a woman; you hurt the man’s pride, and I assure you he’s not used to that. Come on, let’s join my friends.”
We approached a group with several guys and girls, and they immediately integrated me as we began to discuss various topics. I participated, trying to forget that he was just a few feet away with a woman, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t. I felt devastated. At one point, one of the guys, whom they called Lolo, came up and asked me to dance. Baco looked at me and nodded, so following his advice, I accepted the dance. We headed to where others were dancing and started moving. Lolo came closer and began asking me personal questions—my age, what I did for work, if I had a boyfriend, and a few other things. I answered each question, also asking him some in return so as not to seem disinterested, but the truth was that I no longer felt comfortable and wanted to leave as soon as possible. If I was making the effort to stay, it was for my friend. At one point, I noticed a couple position themselves next to us, and when I turned, I found Hermes and the striking brunette he had arrived with. I made my best effort not to appear surprised and continued dancing without looking in their direction again. When the song ended, I was about to leave, but Lolo took my hand.
“Would you like to get some air on the balcony?” he asked.
“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to go back to Baco. I need to leave soon, and I’d like to spend as much time with him as possible.”
“I don’t think Baco will mind if you’re away for a few minutes,” he insisted.
“I’m sure he won’t be upset, but I’m the one who wants to spend time with him. It’s his birthday, and we’re here for him,” I said, trying to make him understand that I had no intention of being alone with him.
“We’ll have another opportunity, right?” he asked, smiling.
“Surely,” I replied, and I thought I heard a throat-clearing from where Hermes was standing, but I dismissed it.
