Page 25 of My Heart's Doctor
I put on my tuxedo and left home knowing that several hours of superficial conversations awaited me, where everyone wants to show off how much money they have and the expensive jewelry they’re wearing, but I could survive it. I was already used to it and prepared for all of that.
What I wasn’t prepared for was seeing Devon Dulcet at that event, looking like a goddess from Olympus. The sight of her left me stunned. I hadn’t even reached my table when I spotted her talking with a group of people, but... one of the men had his hand on her waist. This produced an enormous discomfort in me, a discomfort different from anything I had felt until that moment,a discomfort that consumed me, something I wasn’t accustomed to feeling, and I was surprised by the magnitude of that dreadful emotion.
Who was the guy touching her? I clenched my hands into fists.
Devon’s beauty, figure, and bearing stood out above all the other women invited; there was no one who could match her. I was tempted to go to where she was, but I restrained myself and didn’t do it. There was no point in going if she was with someone else. I could no longer deny that Devon attracted me immensely, I desired her madly and wanted to sleep with her, but I cursed myself for being so stupid to think that a woman like her would be single. I started walking and headed to my table to try to keep her out of my sight because seeing her with someone else had changed my mood. Her presence in my world over the last few weeks had disrupted everything, but it was clear that I would have to leave her behind.
Chapter 8
«From yes to no, how many maybes?»
—Julio Cortázar
Devon
The ringtone of my phone woke me up. Without lifting my head from the pillow and without opening my eyes, I fumbled on the nightstand and picked it up. I put it to my ear and answered. I didn’t even bother to check who was calling. My voice sounded like a zombie’s.
“Dr. Dulcet,” I said, answering the call.
“Are you still sleeping?!” my friend Orson shouted.
I had to move the phone away from my ear because I nearly fell out of bed from the shock.
“Stop shouting, pleeeease.”
“It’s nine in the morning, and I don’t know if you remember that we agreed I would accompany you to buy a dress for tonight’s dinner. I assume you haven’t changed your mind about accompanying me. So get your butt out of bed and be ready by ten because I’m coming to pick you up.”
“Orson, it’s my day off, have a little consideration for me.”
“That’s exactly why—it’s your day off and we’re going to make the most of it. We’ll go shopping, and in the evening, you’ll be my date at theEnfoque Corpcompany dinner, and we’re going to have a great time. See you in a bit.”
He hung up on me.
Damn you, Orson!
My friend had been invited to a corporate dinner, and Sylvia and I always took turns accompanying him because he didn’t like going to those types of events alone. This time it was my turn to enter on his arm, and for that, he had forced me to go shopping because he said the occasion called for a spectacular gala dress.
I dragged myself to the bathroom for a long shower. When I came out, I was a bit more awake, so I went to the kitchen to prepare my precious coffee. Having a good cup of coffee was my only vice.
At ten, my friend was calling to let me know he was waiting for me downstairs. Our destination was a haute couture house, and while he enjoyed a coffee sitting in a comfortable armchair, I went in and out of the dressing room with different dresses.
“That one looks spectacular on you and matches your gorgeous eyes,” Orson said, observing me carefully.
I was wearing a strapless design in gray silk with cascading strass details and a defined waist.
“It’s as if it was made for you,” said the boutique assistant who had helped me put it on. “You look beautiful.”
“My friend is beautiful; it will be an honor to enter that party with you. I’m sure I’ll be the envy of all the guys.”
I looked at him and winked, and the girl looked at us and smiled.
I was a tall girl with a well-formed physique because I exercised quite a bit in my free time. My hair was a light chestnut color, almost blonde, because I also had highlights. Everyone said I was very pretty, but I found it hard to see that beauty. Since childhood, I had suffered from very low self-esteem. I had dedicated my childhood and part of my youth to seekingmy mother’s acceptance and affection, something that, despite my efforts, I had never achieved. Added to this lack were the emotional aggressions I constantly suffered from her and also from my sister, and as a result, I had become a person who didn’t see herself as pretty enough, or enough of anything—I couldn’t see anything good in myself, at least until a few years ago when I had managed to get out of that limiting box in which I had been raised. From that moment on, I had lived the life I wanted and not the one others told me I had to live, although I had to acknowledge that everything I had experienced had hit my self-esteem hard, and that was something I still needed to work on.
Since my separation, I had received many invitations to go out, and although lately I had been going out a bit more, I rejected dates because at that moment I didn’t feel the strength or desire to enter into a relationship. I considered myself unworthy of the privilege of loving and being loved. The separation and everything I had experienced in the last months of my marriage had wreaked havoc on my heart, and I didn’t want to take it out of the place where I had stored it under a security lock. As I was, I felt calm and had achieved my precious inner peace, and I was dedicating myself to me as I hadn’t done for a long time.
“Very well, then this is the chosen one,” I said, turning to observe myself carefully.
“And you’re going to impress everyone.”
